Further Steps Back – Hertha BSC Sacked Coach Lucien Favre

It’s one of the worst situations in football business, when you have no more opportunities to resort to excuses, especially when you’re mainly responsible for the prosperity of your team.

Hertha BSC-manager Lucien Favre lived through this said situation at the press conference after Hertha’s 1:5 loss against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and the six straight loss in a row. “I’ve nothing to explain – no comment,” said Favre at the press conference. One day after his admission, Favre was sacked by his club.

After Favre’s firing, the club has to think of some delicate questions: What did go wrong since the past season? What happened with this team, that played football at its best during the most of the past season and was red-hot favourite winning the title?

The current team isn’t comparable to the last year’s team, which united a still divided fan base in Berlin. The team’s performance popularized the club throughout the whole city, which inhabitants aren’t known for adoring football. But people flocked into the stadium to watch their new beloved team.

One reason for this said crash is personnel policy during the summer break. The team lost Josip Simunic, its defensive leader, the Croatian defender was the main factor of Hertha’s strong defensive performance last season. Furthermore the team lost its two best strikers Marko Pantelic and Andrej Voronin, who went back to Liverpool.

The transfers to balance the losses of these key players all failed. Either Artur Wichniarek or Adrian Ramos aren’t in the shape of taking over the positions of the former key players.

A further reason was the discrepancy about managing the club. The former team manger Dieter Hoeneß must recede from his position because of his controversy with other responsible persons in the club.

The new coach has to solve several problems and must be prepared for a difficult season.