HA HO HE Hertha BSC 2010-11 [R]

I'm hoping Dresden can actually make it up!

Good point....unfortunately.

I'm talking about promotion into the 1st tier and optimistically took Dynamo's promotion into 2nd tier for granted.

Considering Dynamo's financial difficulties, the club should not be a contender for further promotion for years.

No mention of Ottl coming on a free transfer? Have Hertha fans hibernated for awhile?

You act as though Andreas Ottl is an interesting talking point.

I would say he is.
For a promoted club like Hertha, Ottl is an interesting topic and a very good player.

The amount of scapegoating he had to suffer from irritated Bayernfans has, in my opinion, caused his reputation to be worse than his ability.
He is a solid player - just not for a top team.

I'd expect him to start. He's the CM version of Christian Lell: nothing special for Bayern, but a good player for Hertha. Personally, I'd rate him above Lustenberger.

Hertha BSC 2011/2012? Seems like a solid-enough lineup to ensure safety in the Bundesliga into the future.

...............................PML............................
................................................................
Ramos.....................Raffael..................Ebert
................................................................
...............Ottl..........................Niemeyer......
................................................................
Kobiashvili...............................................Lell
...............Mijatovic.................Hubnik...........
...............................Kraft...........................

If you really believe that, you must not think much of the Bundesliga.

I wouldn't like this lineup's chances against two of the Bundesliga's bottom three teams.

It would probably beat St. Pauli, but not by much.

I'd take both Frankfurt and Gladbach over this lineup.

Not to mention Koln, Freiburg, Wolfsburg, etc.

Barring a miracle season or another big acquisition, I think these guys spend most of next season in the relegation battle.

They need to improve at LB, CB and RW. I think Ottl will be a squad player at the very least, but I think Lustenberger showed that he is good enough.

We definitely need a LB and a backup RB. At LB Kobiashvili is too old. Maybe Ronny can play there, but I definitely don't trust him at all defensively. And at RW, I'm not sure if I can trust Ebert or Rukavytsya in this league. Maybe Tosun, the winger we signed from Hamburg, can be good, but we're not sure. I hope he's not the lone offensive signing, but defense is the area we must strengthen first.

I think that's a good freakin' improvement!!

I would really love for Hertha to do well in the BL this season, but it seems like their defensive lineup will really struggle to keep up.

Kraft was a good signing as he's a pretty solid keeper, but is there news of any further significant acquisitions in the back? A few members of the starting lineup are a bit older, and some fresh, young talent should really be prioritized with this return to the first division.

I reckon the offense looks good on paper with PML and Torun.

I'd love to see Berlin have a little success. So weird to have a major city not have a major club. Look at the other major cities in Europe. Good luck, Hertha!

Kobiashvili - Franz - Hubnik - Lell is not a bad defensive setup at all, especially if the 4-3-2-1 formation hinted at by Uwe Bremer in his blog turns out to be true.

Who would be the 3 though then? Ottl----Niemeyer-----Lustenberger?

I think our best lineup is still the one we played last year. Even if it means we ship a few goals here and there, our best chance is probably to outscore the opposition.

Mods can you close this, I'll start the new season's thread.