"Hertha aren't just coming here tomorrow for the carnival," said the 46-year-old coach at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. "We're up against an opponent that has enough potential to beat teams from the top half of the table. They proved that when we met earlier in the season (1-2) and also in the final game of last year against Leipzig (3-2). Hertha have enough quality to get a result here. Pál Dárdai knows how to set up a team. And that's why we have to be ready from the start to give our all," said Herrlich who warned against "getting our heads in the clouds" after reaching the last four of the domestic cup competition.
With Herrlich at the helm, the Werkself have only lost one of their ten games at home (five wins, four draws). And with the five home wins, the Herrlich team have as many points after 21 matches as they did in the whole of last season. The target is clear, i.e. building on that points count – best of all with season win number ten that would guarantee remaining second due to the better goal difference compared with third-placed RB Leipzig. However, Herrlich is unwilling to be distracted by such thoughts: "We had a great reception in the press for going through to the semi-finals and are still seen as a likely to finish second in the league. But as I said last week, we are not a typical second-placed team. I've looked at the stats today and since the introduction of the three-point rule there has never been a second-placed team with so few points."
Herrlich announces rotation
Talking to the press, Herrlich revealed his priorities for tomorrow's match. "Hertha have scored almost half of their 28 goals from set pieces. We have to be wide-awake and fully focused and we did that really well in the last few games with the exception of the first goal in the Bayern Munich game. The rest of their goals have been scored from crosses. So it will be really important for our players on the flanks to try and prevent the crosses and – if that doesn't happen – maintain out shape in the middle and close down the opposition. Our central defensive pairing, Jonathan Tah and Sven Bender have done a brilliant job in that respect recently."
He will be able to call on both for the match against the team from Berlin and he also has Julian Baumgartlinger as an option in the squad after his recovery from illness. The boss has announced he wants to rotate again: "We've done that a couple of times this season and the players who have come into the team have always lived up to their potential. We have a very balanced squad where everybody wants to make their contribution to the cause."
