Stat of the Day: Hertha Explained

By: Jan | March 10th, 2009

Statistics haven’t been too kind to Hertha this season. Wether you look at possession, shots on target or one-on-one situations – all the bragging rights relevant numbers usually favored Hertha’s opposition once the match was over. Numbers which reinforced the believe that this team was riding it’s luck and robbing others of their well deserved three points. Should Hertha somehow end up winning the title, they will probably be one of the least liked champions ~~ever~~, ~~for decades~~, ~~in years~~ since Bayern won it last year.

Hertha’s coach Lucien Favre meanwhile keeps insisting that there is no secret: “There is no secret. We work step by step.” That last sentence sounds like an empty phrase at first, but starts to make more sense once you know what Favre is actually working on – step by step.

Mastercoach, a company specialized in analyzing football matches and maybe in need of some PR, used the current perplexity of the fans, media and Hertha’s competition to release some numbers, which for a change tell you something about Hertha and not their opposition.

Time on the ball: Last season the average time a Hertha player spent on the ball to stop, control and pass it was 1,9 seconds compared to 1,1 seconds this season. Here’s something that Favre and his players have been working on. This makes Hertha the fastest passing team in the Bundesliga and would place them among the best in the Champions League. Hertha’s “fastest” match was against Bayern (2-1), where they only needed 0,9 seconds to circulate the ball. Their closest rivals in the Bundesliga are Hoffenheim (1,3 seconds) and Stuttgart (1,4 seconds).

Passing accuracy: Hertha didn’t sacrifice accuracy for speed though. In fact they managed to increase the accuracy of vertical passes from 55% back in August/September to 60% now. A very good value compared to other Bundesliga sides, but still a bit short of the best teams around the continent. They should start aiming at 70% over the next couple of months.

Mileage: The average mileage of a Hertha player gradually increased from 9,7 km in August, 10,3 km in September and up to 10,8 km in October – a 1,1 km increase. What’s interesting about these numbers is probably that it doesn’t so much demonstrate an increase in stamina, but a psychological effect. Josip Simunic recently said in an interview, that one of the things that are different this season is that the players now understand what the coach wants and trust him. In other words, they realized that his training methods and tactical drills aren’t just his way of doing things, but actually improve the performance of the team. Hertha like to attack in numbers, even when they counter attack there are usually 4-5 players going forward. Once Hertha lose the ball they are also very quick to get behind the ball again and restore their defensive organization. A high mileage is very helpful for this approach.

At the end of the day these numbers don’t fully explain why Hertha top the table either, but it’s a new approach for a change.