Friday Musings and Hertha Preview

By: Chris | November 14th, 2008

A look at the visit to Berlin to face Hertha, and a quick recap of the news as HSV continue down the road to good health and maybe, just maybe, a result away from home.

Hertha, much like Hannover, have Die Rothosen’s number in Berlin. Witness: In the previous 10 matches played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Hamburg have zero–ZERO–victories, 2 draws and 8 defeats, scoring 7 goals while conceding a whopping 31(!). Interestingly, one of the draws came this past April, a thrilling (ha!) nil-nil affair. That match was the closest Hamburg have been to winning in Berlin in 10 years. In a match where 5 HSV regulars were suspended, including Rafael van der Vaart, David Jarolim, and Vincent Kompany, the key play was the missed PK by Ivica Olic.

Hertha come into Saturday’s match fifth in the Bundesliga table on 21 points, with an overall record of 6 victories, 3 draws and 3 losses, and a home record of 3 wins, 2 draws and a single defeat (to Cottbus[?!]). They have impressive 1:0 victories over Leverkusen and Hoffenheim. Leading scorers so far are Liverpool loaner Andriy Voronin and Marko Pantelic (3 goals apiece). Hertha come off a huge win last week with a 1:0 result at home versus (then) table-toppers Hoffenheim. Pantelic is probable for the match, having suffered a thigh injury in the Hoffenheim match. Things are really looking pretty good in Berlin right now.

Hamburg are coming off a decent, if unspectacular, showing versus Dortmund with a 2:1 victory. Both sides of the Croatian Combination scored–Petric in the 9th minute and Olic in the 33rd. The story was once again a tale of two halves with HSV dominating play in the first half and reeling in the second. The lack of focus for a complete 90 minutes continues to plague Hamburg, and has been their downfall (especially in the first half) of their three 0:3 defeats on the road this season. For Hamburg to get a result this week, they need to play a strong first half and follow it with a focused second half. Mladen Petric continues to showcase the value of his transfer with 4 goals in league matches (6 in all competitions), with his strike partner Olic also having tallied 4.

The injured list is starting to clear out, with Nigel de Jong and Marcell Jansen both having trained all week, and are expected to play. De Jong should start, sending Alex Silva back to the defense from De Jong’s spot in the midfield. This should necessitate either Bastian Reinhardt or Joris Mathijsen (he of a new 4 year contract extension) going to the bench. My guess is that it will be Reinhardt who sits this week. Guy “don’t spell my name Dimmel” Demel returns and likely starts at right back, displacing ex-Hertha junior Jerome Boateng. Glass Joe Jansen is fit to play, and should start at left back, sending Dennis Aogo to the pine. The enigma that is Thiago Neves has also recovered from a stomach virus that plagued him for the better part of a week and is on the roster for the trip to Berlin. Paolo Guerrero has been training hard trying to regain his form, but there is no indication as to whether he or Neves will start behind Petric on Saturday. And finally, a fond “Welcome Back” to Romeo Castelen, who has recovered enough from 2 arthroscopic knee procedures to begin training this week. It remains to be seen whether he will make the roster for the Hertha match (probably not). So here’s my stab at a possible starting lineup:

Rost

Demel Silva Mathijsen Jansen

De Jong Jarolim

Trochowski Guerrero Olic

Petric

And after all that, I came across an article on Mopo which says that Jansen is not fit to start (Aogo stays in), and that BMJ may go with more defensive tactics, starting Colin Benjamin at midfield, supplanting Piotr Trochowski (?). Here’s what that lineup would look like:

Rost

Demel Silva Mathijsen Aogo Jansen

Benjamin De Jong Jarolim

Trochowski Guerrero Olic

Petric

So what to make of this? Frankly, I would rather have Trochowski and Olic wide supporting Petric and sit Guerrero/Neves if BMJ wants to go with a more defensive look. I don’t think you want to EVER willingly sit your best player, and let’s face it, Guerrero is, ahem, a little off his game.

BOTTOM LINE: If BMJ goes defensive, I like a 1:1 draw or maybe, just maybe, a 2:1 victory for Die Rothosen; if he sticks with his “regular” starting XI, I foresee bad things–maybe 2:3 for Hertha.

Lots of news this week regarding some of the younger names at Hamburg. Belarus international Anton Putsilo has been training with Lokomotiv Moskow and will likely join them during the January transfer window, when his loan deal from Dynamo Minsk is up. Loan deals are being examined also for Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, Macauley Chrisantus (more reluctantly) and Anis Ben-Hatira. These guys are all very good prospects and when players like Jerome Boateng aren’t getting PT anymore, what are the young guys’ chances?

The really big story in the Hamburg papers is the HSV board of directors election, coming up in January. The crux of the matter is that there is a sizeable contingent of supporters who want to see Berndt Hoffman ousted as chairman of the club, and there are a couple of candidates who are wooing these votes to get themselves elected to the board and get Hoffman out. More next week.