Herthas U23 in the Regionalliga Nordost – A transition team in a transition year
Tue 03/19/24 | 06:11 am | By Anton Fahl
Image: IMAGO / Matthias Koch
Also because Pal Dardai’s dream of a “mini-Ajax” is increasingly becoming a reality for the professionals at Hertha BSC, the U23s are playing a surprisingly mixed regional league season. But the reasons are more complex. By Anton Fahl
Benjamin Weber’s expectations were fulfilled. Maybe even faster than hoped. Last Friday afternoon, the sports director of Hertha BSC, when asked about the club’s U23s, said: “I expect us to be successful in the coming weeks and get points. Training is much more fun when you win games,” said Weber in an interview with rbb. “The goal and task is to get back on the road to success – just as we showed at the beginning of the season.” And lo and behold: The “Hertha Bubis” delivered. On the same evening, the Berliners somewhat surprisingly won 2-1 against SV Babelsberg 03, who are currently in 5th place in the Regionalliga Nordost.
The success was particularly surprising because of the form before the game in Potsdam against Herthan: Previously, coach Stephan Schmidt’s team had not won seven games in a row (six defeats, one draw). Looking at how the U23 season has progressed so far, one thing can be said: it started off strong, but fell even more sharply.
Hertha’s second team started the season with four wins in a row – only to slide further and further into the bottom of the table. As things stand, the Berliners are in 15th place with 28 points, the gap to the only safe relegation spot (FC Hansa Rostock II) is twelve points.
In the balancing act between youth football and men’s football
The raw numbers are sobering – especially when compared to previous season records for Hertha’s U23. Under Ante Covic, who looked after the “Hertha-Bubis” until the summer of 2023, the Berliners finished ninth in the previous season with 52 points. In the 2021/22 season they even cracked the 60-point mark, which was equivalent to 8th place.
At this point, it is fair to point out a mantra that those responsible at Hertha have always repeated like a prayer wheel: the development of individual players outweighs the results and performance in the fourth highest German league.
One person knows this better than anyone else: Benjamin Weber. After all, the Hertha veteran was responsible for the club’s youth work as head of the football academy from July 2014 to February 2022, before the 43-year-old left in January 2023 returned to the Old Lady as sports director. “The U23 is the central transition team to manage this difficult balancing act between youth football up to U19 and the transition to the men’s area,” emphasizes Weber.
In other words: As long as as many players as possible recommended their performances for a higher level – i.e. Hertha’s professional squad – it was a successful U23 season.
A “mini-Ajax” in the Berlin Olympic Stadium
And it is precisely at this point that we come a decisive step closer to the answer to the question of why Hertha’s regional league team is performing so below average in the current season. Because: The permeability from young talent to professionals has never been as great as it is this season.
While Dardai’s dream of a “mini-Ajax”, a competitive professional team consisting largely of Berlin’s homegrown players, is increasingly becoming a reality, Hertha’s regional league team seems to be suffering from precisely this circumstance. Conversely, this permeability also means that young, highly talented kickers are missing from the second team. “That’s why it’s not always easy when it comes to the U23,” says sports director Weber.
In the sporting leadership at Hertha BSC for a good year: Andreas “Zecke” Neuendorf (left) and Benjamin Weber. Trainer and personnel questions will be asked again
Nevertheless, the reasons for the U23’s stagnating development are more complex. Coach and catcher Ante Covic became a U23 coach after successful years transferred to the U16 last summer and replaced by Stephan Schmidt, who had previously coached the U17. Without necessity, one might think. However, it is an open secret that Covic and Dardai have a strained relationship, which has not always been conducive to fruitful cooperation at the interface between the academy and the professionals.
In this respect, it is at least understandable that those responsible decided to fill the U23 coaching position when it was clear that Dardai would be responsible for the fortunes of the professionals in the 2nd league.
However, despite all the personnel fluctuation, there has been no apparent footballing style or development under Stephan Schmidt since then. The “Hertha boys” thrive on the individual class of their individual players, and the team’s defensive performance is regularly disastrous. Only bottom team Rostock II have conceded more goals so far this season (50 in 26 games) than the second team, the Old Lady (49 in 25 games). In addition, experienced players such as Tony Fuchs (33), returnee Änis Ben-Hatira (35) or Nader Jindaoui (27), who also had to struggle with health setbacks from time to time this season, can only partially live up to the leadership roles he has been assigned.
Pal Dardai, head coach of Hertha BSC
All of this culminates in the interim balance of the U23 – and also goes back to personnel decisions for which Andreas “Zecke” Neuendorf is responsible. Since the beginning of 2023, the club legend has been “Director of Academy & Licensed Player Area” at Hertha BSC. According to rbb information, “Zecke’s” work is being assessed increasingly critically internally.
The Old Lady is once again looking forward to an exciting summer – on all levels. Trainer and personnel questions are asked again – and answered.
The “Berlin Way” must continue, the rise should be accelerated
The “year of transition” that has characterized the radical upheaval and… The averted insolvency in the summer of 2023 has been and is being talked about again and again, but it is slowly but surely coming to an end. The return to the upper house should be accelerated in the coming season – if only from an economic point of view.
One thing is already clear: the proclaimed “Berlin Way” must continue – if only from an economic point of view. “This is something that concerns our entire club. We want to be approachable and humble. And at the core, youth work is a top priority for us,” says sports director Benjamin Weber. “That’s our path. The U9 is just as much a part of it as the U17, the U19, the U23 and the professional team.”
Fittingly, Pal Dardai made this clear at the press conference after the home win against Schalke 04. “It’s a transition year. From day one, the goal was to push through with the young players, integrate them and train them further. To have team spirit and an axis that we can strengthen next year in a position-specific manner. So that we can say in August: ‘ “Okay, everything worked out. We’re playing for promotion,” said the Hungarian, already looking ahead to next season. He firmly rejected questions about his personal future. “This is not Dardai FC, this is Hertha BSC. We would like to thank the academy for raising such players and for them being here.”