Berlin – Hertha BSC is looking into the future with Bruno Labbadia – and will not come to rest in the Corona crisis due to the third change of coach this season.
The 54-year-old signs a contract with the Berlin Bundesliga soccer team for an undisclosed duration and will be leading the training for the first time on Easter Monday. As the club announced, Labbadia replaced the hapless Alexander Nouri, who was supposed to look after the team until summer. Hertha, however, refrained from this original plan after unsatisfactory appearances before the pandemic mandatory break.
“”Due to the current situation regarding the corona virus and the interruption of the season, we are currently experiencing a kind of early summer break,” Managing Director Michael Preetz said in a message from the club: “We have decided to take this opportunity to give the team a chance to continue in the next few weeks to prepare for the season, to use it and to prefer our decision in the coaching position. »
The game is currently suspended until April 30th, but Hertha, who is threatened with relegation, remains turbulent. After Ante Covic, Jurgen Klinsmann and Nouri, Labbadia is the fourth coach since the start of the current season, which was very different for Berliners. “Hertha BSC is an association with a clear, ambitious plan for the future,” said Labbadia: “We are very keen to be part of this plan and the further development of Hertha. There is a lot of work ahead of us. »
Last November Labbadia was considered a possible Covic successor. “With his idea of offensive football, his meticulousness and his ambition, he fits perfectly with Hertha BSC and our goals,” said Preetz. According to reports, however, the desired solution would have been Niko Kovac. Hertha had made several intensive efforts in the past few months to serve the former coach of FC Bayern Munich, but the 48-year-old could not be persuaded to get involved in his hometown until the summer.
Hertha started the season with Covic, but he had to leave at the end of November 2019 and was replaced by former national coach Klinsmann. The situation under the 1990 world champion improved for a short time, but Klinsmann threw down after less than three months. His appearance caused a lot of hustle and bustle and in the end a lot of trouble. After Klinsmann’s abrupt resignation with lots of noise due to allegedly lacking backing in the club, his assistant Nouri was appointed head coach.
Now Labbadia comes. The former striker previously worked for Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, VfB Stuttgart and most recently for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. He took over Lower Saxony in February 2018 in the middle of the relegation battle – and led the VW Club directly into the Europa League in just 15 months. Labbadia formed a playful unit from an insecure and lethargic team. Only he did not get on with the new head of sports Jorg Schmadtke, so he did not extend his expiring contract with VfL a year ago.
Klinsmann’s successor Nouri has hardly been able to convince since his promotion in mid-February and, with a win from four games, was unable to lead Hertha out of the relegation zone. With 28 points from 25 matches, the club is in 13th place and is only six points ahead of the relegation zone. Not enough for the Big City Club, which pursues big goals with the millions of investors from the entrepreneur Lars Windhorst and wants to get back into international business as quickly as possible in the next few years.
According to “Kicker”, the 40-year-old Nouri has not been with the team in the past few days. Although Hertha has been training in small groups again since Monday, according to a media report, Nouri stayed with his family near Bremen. Nouri’s assistant Markus Feldhoff and Werner Leuthard also have no future with the Berliners, Labbadia brings along with his longtime confidante Eddy Sozer also Olaf Janssen as assistant coach to the Spree. Gunter Kern also comes as an athletics trainer. Goalkeeper coach Zsolt Petry, athletics coach Henrik Kuchno and rehabilitation trainer Hendrik Vieth remain.
The heavily restricted training sessions with a focus on the physical area were headed by Kuchno this week. As of Monday, Labbadia will be on the grass on the Olympic site of the capital. Also, it should be officially presented at a press conference, it said. He wants to “prepare Hertha as best as possible for the day when football will be played again,” said the new coach.
