Don't forget guys, it's a Friday night game tonight as we travel to the Hauptstadt to face Hertha Berlin. It will also be the first time we face Markus Babbel as a coach against us. Well, after a disappointing 1 point in 2 games where we conceded just 2 goals - an invalid penalty and a poor goalkeeping error - we are left with an opportunity to get things back on track in this early season, against a newly-promoted team. Hertha have had a decent start to the league - gaining draws away to both Hamburg and Hannover. They did however lose their only home game thus far - 1-0 to Nuernberg on the first day. We have to aim for a win, nothing else will do after the last two weeks. A loss will leave a lot of people speculating over yet another 'fehlstart'. Let's not have that, boys. The first 11 will see changes for the first time in this season. For certain: Khalid Boulahrouz is now suspended, so Celozzi will start at right-back. A last-chance for him? He has to prove himself if he is going to try a breakthrough this season, and it will be in his interests to start immediately in this game. Should be some added pressure. Schieber is still unlikely to be in the match squad (a bit frustrating how long his 'Trainingsrueckstand' is taking to be recovered), but Gebhart could well feature in the match day squad. First time this season for him. I still think it will be Gentner and Harnik on the wings with Hajnal as creator, for now. But all will have to up their game if they wanna stay first 11 long-term this season. I really, really want a win from this one. First Auswaertssieg of the season, please!
Lol, vfbfan, we made the same post literally at like the same time. Sorry I didn't see one from you, so I figured you were busy for the weekend or something.
Haha, no probs. Could some moderator please merge these? I read your post from the other forum - where did you get the Grygera/Boulahrouz transfer info from? I have heard nothing of any such move and it doesn't seem likely to me. What I really want to see in this game is a better offensive performance. Tasci and Maza have been strong in central defence in all games so far - only conceded 2 in 3, and they were both not responsible for either of these goals. But we have not done enough going forward. Last week this was especially clear, we created maybe one good chance all match. At home! It was really an awful performance. If this does not change soon, we could see a reversal to a two striker format. The loser in this scenario? Hajnal, who has had a poor start to the season. He admits this and is looking to return to his best ASAP. Tonight would be a good start, and his position will come under threat if he does not improve. The wingers are also unsafe: Gentner has been one of the better players in both the last two games, but there are still question marks over him, and Harnik was very poor last weekend. With Gebhart and Okazaki fit again, both these players will be under heavy pressure for their starting spots without a big step up today. So that's one to follow. PP will be on the bench again, Schieber still not fit enough it seems.
1893 news is an excellent, honest source for info. It's a bunch of guys in Germany who tweet out information found in Bild, etc., but in English for us Americans http://twitter.com/#!/1893news Check out its stream, you'll see the information there. Also, if you are on Twitter, check out http://twitter.com/#!/Jens1893 -- he's really great!
Starting lineup: [LINEUP-4-5-1]Cacau,Okazaki,Kuz,Hajnal,Kvist,Harnik,Molinaro,Maza,Tasci,Celozzi,Ulreich[/LINEUP-4-5-1] Interesting that Okazaki got the start over Gentner. Thank you! Also, Kuz and Kvist switched sides? I always thought Kuz was the RDM and Kvist the LDM? Let's gooooooooo
I wasn't so sure about it live, but on replay it was clear the defender didn't get near the ball in the least. Should have been...
Yeah, it would have been an unlucky foul for the defender, but he still caught Harnik enough to make him fall. The back-heel in the build-up was nice.
First half thoughts by player: Ulreich: He's not that bad of a GK. Made a couple great plays. Molinaro: Very ineffective today going forward. Maza: So sturdy in defense, but leave the going-forward to Tasci lol Tasci: Great as always Celozzi: Has actually played ok. Not bad at all, but not great Kvist/Kuz: Both have been excellent controlling the game Okazaki: One of the better players on both sides first half. I feel like he can score one this game. Hajnal: Excellent free kicks as always. Not creating much on offense though. Harnik: Simply not a great finisher. Has had good defensive interactions though. Cacau: Has been Cacau. ---------- Thank goodness we didn't get Ramos. He's not very good! Ebert has been their best player. Lassoga has been nonexistent. We should not lose. I expect to win this 1-0 or 2-1 in the second half. We've thoroughly dominated!
Boka on in the 60th for Celozzi. He's playing RB. Wuuuut? Celozzi must have been that bad? lol For what it's worth, Hertha was not that good on Celozzi's side. I thought he did ok on defense. His crosses in going forward were lacking however.
Pogreb on for Hajnal. We are going to 4-4-2 with the mids being Okazaki-Kvist-Kuz-Harnik. More a 4-2-2-2 with no center attacking... We have really dominated and it's too bad we haven't scored. We keep pushing up more and more too, and Berlin is getting closer to breaking open a fast break type goal... Getting scary.
I'm sorry, but Harnik is the weakest link in attack. He just makes the worst decisions and can't finish. Some how he's always in the right spot. And some how, without fail, he makes the wrong decisions. We need Gebhart back.
lol at the big Russian trying to get a cross off while the other (smaller!) VFB players are inside the box...should be the other way around.
BS goal by Berlin. Absolute BS. Poor Maza slips on the wet pitch, and they get a breakaway and a BS goal. ARGGGGGGG