Gregg Berhalter: New Hammarby manager!

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad Academy' started by iamalfred, Dec 12, 2011.

  1. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010


    Video from the post game press conference, this time it's all in english.

    Why? Because Henrik Larsson said so! :D
     
  2. Finley

    Finley Member

    Apr 22, 2008
    Under the blue sky
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Plan B = Next game Gregg suits up and subs himself in at halftime and plays centerback. ;) Just kidding.
     
  3. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    [​IMG]

    I didn't have time to post highlights of all the goals yesterday but here they are below. Hammarby played a 2-2 draw against Falkenberg, they had the lead twice in the game but Falkenberg came back both times with a couple of nice goals. This was a game which Hammarby really should have won as they dominated most of the game and had some good chances where they didn't score. Like I wrote in his individual thread Schuler helped Hammarby look sharper in their attack and I though Baggio did well too.



    Please disregard this earlier statement by me :) Teams are now packed up very tightly behind Hammarby.

    Code:
    Öster               9    8    1    0    20- 7    25
    Halmstad            9    5    2    2    15- 6    17
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Hammarby            9    5    2    2    13-11    17
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Ängelholms FF       9    4    3    2    14-11    15
    Brommapojkarna      9    5    0    4    12-15    15
    Assyriska           9    4    2    3    14-11    14
    Landskrona BoIS     9    4    1    4    15-14    13
    Ljungskile SK       9    3    4    2    13-12    13
    Jönköpings Södra    9    3    3    3    20-17    12
    Varbergs BoIS       9    3    3    4    10-10    12
    IK Brage            9    3    2    4    10-13    11
    Degerfors IF        9    3    1    5    13-12    10
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Falkenberg          9    2    3    4    11-12     9
    Trelleborg          9    1    3    5    11-16     6
    -------------------------------------------------------
    IFK Värnamo         9    1    2    6     8-19     5
    Umeå FC             9    1    2    6    10-23     5
    
     
  4. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010


    Two translated articles form the paper. They also have an online poll up where people can vote how they think Hammarby will finish this year: 36% voted that they would get promoted, 43% that they would stay in Superettan and 21% that they would get relegated.
     
  5. prowazekii

    prowazekii Member

    Jun 21, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Full story here
     
  6. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    [​IMG]

    Hammarby just played a 1-1 draw away against Ängelholm. It's was a low quality affair where neither team impressed and the gameplay was very locked. Both goals came after some less then great goalkeeping. Schuler played the first 65 minutes and tried to make alot of runs in the Hammarby attack but didn't really get any chances. If he had been lucky then maybe he could have gotten a penalty in one situation. I didn't notice Baggio much. Getting a draw away against Ängelholm isn't a bad result in itself, but I must imagine that Berhalter is worried about the teams form because they looked quite dreadful at times today.
     
    Karen Walker repped this.
  7. Finley

    Finley Member

    Apr 22, 2008
    Under the blue sky
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Not very encouraging :unsure:
     
  8. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  9. schrutebuck

    schrutebuck Member+

    Jul 26, 2007
    Hammarby recover from a red card at 1-1, and pull out a 3-1 road victory over Degerfors to jump back into 2nd place.
     
  10. INKRO

    INKRO Member+

    Jul 28, 2011
    Good stuff, hope this means that they move on from this rough patch they've been having.
     
  11. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010


    Indeed, this could provide a great morale boost for the team. Hammarby didn't play very well again but getting a result under these circumstances will be really important for the future, they also had a few players missing from their normal starting eleven. I think that part of the team playing less attractive in the last couple of games is on purpose too as they have previously played nice but conceded easy goals on counterattacks. Berhalter has probably prioritized putting an end to that. Schuler played right wing but didn't perform very well, struggled with his first touch, and was subbed off in the second half. Baggio was alright but did give the ball away sloppily in one situation right outside of the penalty area which resulted in Degerfors hitting the post.
     
    Peter Bonetti repped this.
  12. Finley

    Finley Member

    Apr 22, 2008
    Under the blue sky
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Good to see them back to their winning ways!
     
  13. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    Hammarby lost 0-1 today at home against Ljungskile. This combined with wins for Halmstad and Brommapojkarna mean that Hammarby are now outside of the promotion spots in fourth place. Losing at home against Ljungskile is viewed by many as particularly humiliating and when the same thing happened last year there were large groups of people who confronted the players and coaches outside the stadium after the game and the club had to issue an official apology to the fans on their website. No sign of any of that today though but I do think that the season is around that tipping point where the natives might start to become a bit restless soon.

    Baggio and Schuler played the full 90 minutes for Hammarby and Patrick Hopkins did the same for Ljungskile. Unfortunaly this game was only shown on internet PPV so I can't personally comment on the performance. The best I can give you are some relevant, and less then happy, quotes translated from the Hammarby forum:

     
  14. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    [​IMG]
    Ćatović playing against Hammarby earlier in the season.

    The papers are for the second time this week reporting that Hammarby are close to signing forward Admir Ćatović. Supposedly they are close to agreeing to a 1.5 year deal with the negotiations likely to be finished this upcoming week. He's a forward who has scored 5 goals in 10 games so far this year in Superettan. Personally I've never been very impressed with him previously but Hammarby are in need of players who can score and their two current forwards only have one goal each this season. Difficult to say whether Ćatović will keep scoring at the same rate throughout the rest of the season though or if he's only been on the hot streak of his career so far. I'm kind of thinking that it's the second option and his goalscoring will dry up again if he plays for Hammarby, but hopefully he will continue producing for Berhalter.
     
  15. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    Unfortunaly Hammarby seem to be in free fall as they lost again, this time against a team who before today only had six points in eleven games. Schuler came on in the 58th minute while Baggio didn't play because of a slight injury.

    In the first six games Hammarby won 16 out of 18 possible points, but after that they have only managed to collect 5 out of 21 possible points. This in contrast to the top three teams who are looking very strong at the moment, here's how the last five games have looked for the top four teams:
    Code:
    Öster             W W W W W
    Brommapojkarna    W W W W L
    Halmstad          W W W W D
    Hammarby          L L W D D

    Next up for Hammarby is a game against unbeaten Öster.
    Code:
    Öster              13   12    1    0    29-10    37
    Brommapojkarna     13    9    0    4    25-18    27
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Halmstad           11    7    2    2    23- 9    23
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Hammarby           13    6    3    4    18-16    21
    Ljungskile SK      13    5    5    3    20-18    20
    Ängelholms FF      13    5    5    3    18-17    20
    Landskrona BoIS    13    6    1    6    19-19    19
    Jönköpings Södra   13    5    3    5    25-25    18
    Varbergs BoIS      13    5    3    5    18-20    18
    Assyriska          11    5    2    4    18-13    17
    Falkenberg         13    4    3    6    19-19    15
    IK Brage           12    4    3    5    14-17    15
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Degerfors IF       13    3    2    8    18-24    11
    Trelleborg         12    2    3    7    13-20    9
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Umeå FC            13    1    3    9    14-30    6
    IFK Värnamo        13    1    3    9    12-28    6
    
     
  16. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    Here are a few smaller updates on things happening around Hammarby to keep everyone informed:

    One of the owners of swedish football site Fotbolltransfers writes on his blog that Hammarby has made a "lucrative" contract offer to Ćatović who I wrote about a few posts earlier in this thread. He also reports that he saw Berhalter on location watching the latest home game and that every time Ćatović did anything on the pitch Berhalter would write in his notebook.

    Not having a forward with dependable goalscoring is definitely a weakness for Hammarby compared to the three teams that are ahead of them in the table. Maybe even the main weakness together with the mixed player quality in their back line. The number nine role for Hammarby has been shared between Sinan Ayranci and Billy Schuler but after 13 games they have only scored one goal each.

    Öster and Halmstad on the other hand have the leagues top scorers in Freddy Söderberg (who, to make matters worse, is a guy that Hammarby got rid of a couple of seasons ago because he never scored) and icelandic signing Guðjón Baldvinsson, both with 11 goals each. Brommapojkarnas best forward Pablo Piñones Arce has missed part of the season due to injury but is back now and he is also very effective with six goals in seven games.

    So it's very understandable that Berhalter might be looking at solutions in this area.

    The second bit of news is alot more unreliable so take it with a grain of salt. Rumour has it that one of the best players on the team, Sebastian Castro-Tello, has missed a couple of trainings and a meeting with Berhalter. He was apparantly arguing alot with one of his teammates in the latest game too and Gregg subbed him off early in the second half. Castro-Tello then proceeded to get yellow carded while on the bench. Like I said, it's uncertain if it's true, but if it is then it will be Berhalters first major test when it comes to man management and things like that. If not true, then it will be his first experience handling the type of false rumours that always start up when the team is losing.

    Finally on a more lighthearted note: after the latest press conference video Hammarby fans have noticed and discussed that managing Hammarby has taken a toll on Berhalters thinning hair. One can only imagine how little hair will be left after a full season of ups and downs. :)

     
    Mr Martin repped this.
  17. INKRO

    INKRO Member+

    Jul 28, 2011
    Gregg's gonna start looking like Bob after this season isn't he? :eek:
     
  18. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010


    An expected 0-2 home loss for Hammarby today against Öster. The league leaders started the game at a frantic pace and took an early lead in the fourth minute. Hammarby only really had one major chance in the first half where Ayranci was through with the keeper but finished poorly. Instead Öster scored another goal in the 34th minute. Hammarbys play improved a little towards the end, perhaps because Öster sat back a bit, but overall it was a very fair result. Husidic played 71 minutes and I thought he was one of the better Hammarby players with the exception of a really sloppy free kick which caused a 3-on-1 counterattack where Öster should have made it 0-3. Schuler started but was taken off at half time after a very poor performance.
     
  19. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010
    Translated article.
     
  20. iamalfred

    iamalfred Member+

    Aug 15, 2010


    Another unconvincing performance from Hammarby as they drew 1-1 away to Jönköpings Södra. They did have some good chances to win the game, for example a shot off the crossbar and a guy put through alone from the halfway line, but their finishing remains ineffective. Baggio played the full 90 minutes and I thought he was one of the best players in this game. Schuler came on in the 83rd minute and had a good chance on a cross where he was just a bit too late to connect with the ball.
    Code:
    Öster              15   14    1    0    33-10    43
    Brommapojkarna     15   11    0    4    28-18    33
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Halmstad           14    8    4    2    30-14    28
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Ängelholms FF      15    7    5    3    24-20    26
    Hammarby           15    6    4    5    19-19    22
    Jönköpings Södra   15    5    5    5    27-27    20
    Ljungskile SK      15    5    5    5    21-22    20
    Landskrona BoIS    15    6    2    7    23-25    20
    Varbergs BoIS      15    5    4    6    22-25    19
    Assyriska          14    5    3    6    20-19    18
    Falkenberg         14    4    5    6    21-21    17
    IK Brage           14    4    4    6    16-22    16
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Degerfors IF       15    4    2    9    20-27    14
    Trelleborg         14    3    3    8    15-22    12
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Umeå FC            15    2    4    9    18-32    10
    IFK Värnamo        15    2    3   10    15-29     9
    

    The club president wrote an open letter to the fans on the official website last week. Among other things he declared that Berhalter and the director of sports has the full confidence of the board. That's of course positive, but also negative in a way that there is a need for the club to have to declare such a thing at all. He also wrote that they have the economic resources to act during the summer transfer window and that they have the ambition to both strengthen and add depth to the squad.

    The league will now pause for a couple of weeks. This will probably be a welcome break to give Berhalter some time to come up with a new plan. Hammarby have only managed one win and three draws in the last nine games.
     
  21. Gorky

    Gorky Member+

    Jul 28, 2006
    NYC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The dreaded "vote of confidence" ugh
     
    chalaron repped this.
  22. Fanatical Monk

    Fanatical Monk Member+

    Jun 14, 2011
    Fantasyland
    Not good signs. Not sure it's his fault they have no finishers. Seems like other than that they are a decent squad. I remember him tempering early success, and saying they weren't promotion favorites.
     
  23. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Alfred, what position were Hammarby in at the same stage last year?

    It seems as if the fans are angry because expectations that were raised by the fantastic start to the season have been dashed. Maybe those expectations were unrealistic, maybe not. The real question is whether a club which has been under-performing for years has improved (significantly) over last year's position. If it has, Berhalter has a good case to make; if it hasn't, he has a strong case to answer.
     
  24. Gorky

    Gorky Member+

    Jul 28, 2006
    NYC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    According to the chart from BaraBajen posted by iamalfred in the previous page, Hammarby were 6th last season and 10th the year before after 15 games. This year they are 5th.
     
  25. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    So no meaningful improvement in position and even the promotion playoff receding over the horizon (Halmstad are 6 points clear with a game in hand and a whopping +16 goal difference). The great start to the season only rubs it in. In any league Berhalter is under real pressure.
     

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