Kay Bernstein took everything with him. Hertha BSC fans were already in the shuttle buses that took them to Braunschweig Central Station. The box on the VIP stand, in which almost the entire management of the Berlin Bundesliga team had watched the cup game, had long been empty. Only Bernstein, the club’s new president, was still seated in his cushioned seat.
Only when the victorious team from the second division team Eintracht Braunschweig appeared on the lawn right in front of him at the end of their extended lap of honor did he get up and disappear.
A good two and a half hours earlier, just before kick-off, Bernstein was standing on the steps of the grandstand. He turned to the left again, in the direction of the Berlin fan block, which was lavishly filled, held his outstretched left arm in the air and raised his fist to the supporters.
For Hertha BSC it was the first competitive game on Sunday evening in Braunschweig since the relegation in May. A lot has happened since then. New coach, new president, but above all a new spirit to permeate the club. This has not least to do with Kay Bernstein, 45, who wants to do many things differently than his predecessor Werner Gegenbauer, who was careful to keep his distance.
Recently, there has been remarkably frequent talk of a spirit of optimism, of cautious optimism, even slight euphoria. And then this! Out of the cup in the first round. Against the penultimate of the second division. After going 2-0 at halftime and leading 4-3 with 90 seconds left in extra time.
“We took the complete program with us that you can take with you in a cup game like this,” said Sandro Schwarz, the new coach. This encounter was “an extreme experience”. Extremely entertaining from a neutral point of view. For Hertha, however, the 5:6 in the penalty shoot-out after the failed attempts by Marvin Plattenhardt and Marc Kempf was extremely painful.
The fact that many fans and members feel completely different about Bernstein, that they identify more with their club again, that’s one thing; that the general mood in and around a Bundesliga club is primarily determined by the performance of the first team, the other. The defeat in Braunschweig, the dramaturgy of the game, the early exit from the cup: all of this naturally serves the old reflexes that this club triggers in many. Hertha stays Hertha.
For Sandro Schwarz, this is “a human reaction”. But he can’t do anything about the past, nor can the players who have come in. “That was the first game in this group,” said Hertha’s new coach. He also told the team the day after: “We don’t want to evaluate anything or compare anything with what was before our time.” ‘ said Black. “Of course that’s part of the emotional state. Nevertheless, it is important to take an analytical look at what the game has to offer.”
The new coach aims to instill a new attitude in the team: active, courageous, dominant, forward-looking. There was already some evidence of this attitude in Braunschweig. “We had a lot of good stuff with us. That’s what should set us apart,” said Schwarz. “In the first half we had a very good dominance. The program will be easy to maintain throughout the season. That’s what we need.”
On the surface, however, the defeat in Braunschweig is in a row with the defeats in the last three friendlies, also against opponents, some of which were inferior. The problems that became apparent on Sunday also existed during the preparation. Hertha’s defense is too easy to counter and can even get into trouble with simple wide balls. From Eintracht for the first time in the fifth minute.
Although the Berliners ultimately faced only one attacker with their two central defenders, Immanuel Pherai was able to bypass Hertha’s goalkeeper Oliver Christensen. In the end, Dedryck Boyata cleared just before the line. This scene immediately caught Schwarz’s eye in the subsequent analysis. “That was at 4:31,” he said. “We don’t start well and don’t put any pressure on the ball. Then you have to fall faster with the chain to get into a lower position.”
When the new coach was introduced almost six weeks ago, Hertha’s sports director Fredi Bobic warned against exaggerated expectations. The realignment of the team takes time. Schwarz prefers to talk about a process, and he considers such fluctuations as in Braunschweig to be quite normal in this process. “You saw yesterday that we need a lot of small steps,” he said the day after the game. “If we just play football, with a good intensity, with determination and using our speed, then we are extremely dangerous. If we make it complicated, then it will be difficult.”
That is the analytical view of things, but of course there is also an emotional one. Changes need confirmation. “A 4:3 would have been really cool,” said Schwarz.
Leading, stumbling, fighting, defying the odds: things looked so good for Hertha up until 90 seconds before the end. Hertha’s coach praised the “outstanding mentality” of his players – despite the defeat.
This outstanding mentality will now also have to show itself in dealing with disappointment. “The basic mood: upright,” demanded Schwarz of his team. “That’s extremely important.” Especially with a view to the next game, the first of the new Bundesliga season. That’s up for Hertha on Saturday. In the old forester’s house. Against 1. FC Union.