Our next opponents: 180 degrees turnaround with Klinsmann

Position

The football pundits in Germany were unanimous: There could not be a much bigger change in a coaching position at first sight. The change from Ante Covic to Jürgen Klinsmann at the end of November also means: from a man from the club to a colourful cosmopolitan, from long-term youth coach to the former Germany coach. The 180 degrees turnaround became necessary after losing four times in succession and becoming involved in a relegation battle under Covic, who was only appointed in the summer. Hertha have battled under Klinsmann: A narrow defeat against Borussia Dortmund for openers was followed by a draw at Eintracht Frankfurt – and last Saturday brought the first salvation: The Old Lady secured a 1-0 victory over the surprise package from Freiburg – the first win for Klinsmann as coach of the capital club and the first three-pointer for Hertha since the beginning of October. That has given the Berliners some breathing space as the team moved up to 13th in the table. Hertha are still in the DFB Cup with Schalke 04 providing the opposition at the beginning of February 2020.

Personnel

Just the staff that Klinsmann – the interim coach to the end of the season – has brought with him is full of big names and has attracted the attention of the media: Assistant coach Alexander Nouri has already been head coach at Werder Bremen and Ingolstadt, Markus Feldhoff was a striker in the Bundesliga including for Bayer 04. Plus, the Germany goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke will be looking after the Hertha keepers at least up to the end of the year. And another old acquaintance of Klinsmann's from his time as Germany coach has also arrived: The long serving Germany international and Hertha legend Arne Friedrich also took over over as team manager from the end of November. Klinsmann has brought about changes in terms of tactics: In contrast to his predecessor Covic, who usually played just one genuine striker, the 55-year-old is playing two men up top – initially Davie Selke and Dodi Lukebakio, then with Selke and captain Vedad Ibisevic as the central strikers and Lukebakio out wide against Freiburg. In particular, the Belgian, who was signed from Fortuna Düsseldorf in the summer, is one the Werkself will have to look out for: Lukebakio is not only top scorer for Hertha this season with four goals but also the best provider with four assists. Klinsmann has a full squad to choose from at the moment – once again including the goalkeeping position: The regular number one Rune Jarstein is back between the sticks for the capital club after returning from suspension.

Problems

Hertha are very much dependent on individualists in attack. A lot depends on individual moves by Lukebakio or the Dutch dribbler Javairo Dilrosun. The key components on the pitch and cohesion up front are not really working as yet this season. Last term, Ondrej Duda was often the man for the job but the Slovakian has not really found his feet in the current campaign. He's often on the bench and Klinsmann has even put him in the reserves playing in the Regional League North-East. The week before that, Duda was in the starting line-up for the first team. Where will the playmaker be when the game in Leverkusen kicks off on Wednesday?

Potential

Hertha Berlin are a Bundesliga club that could be worth following in coming years. The reason: Lars Windhorst. The businessman became an investor in the club in June 2019 and since November his investment group Tennor have acquired control of 49.9% of shares in the limited company. There is great ambition. "Our clear target is for Hertha to become a top club in Germany and Europe in the next few years," announced Windhorst in an interview with Bild am Sonntag in September. Will we see Hertha Berlin in the Champions League soon? Bringing in Klinsmann as interim coach at least provides a taster of an extravagant future for the club.

Prediction

Before the Berliners can start dreaming of success on the European stage, they have to deal with the reality of a relegation battle. However, it's looking good at the moment: The team have settled down under Klinsmann and have now celebrated their first victory. In addition, the quality of the squad should be enough to ensure staying in the top flight.