Pál Dárdai: It will be hard to beat us – the new season of the Bundesliga begins!

– You could spend much more time on Lake Balaton last summer than this season.
– That's what happens when you work as a head coach – Pál Dardai, who took over the first team for the second time in January, started the interview with Nemzeti Sport after Thursday's training session of Hertha BSC. – This time I only had three weeks to rest, but that was amazing. It rained only once at night, and there was a strong wind only twice, so couldn't go out by boat on that day. Otherwise, everything was nice and good at home. It was a little difficult to return to Berlin from the summer in Zamárdi, but work awaited me.

– Did the preparation go just as well as the vacation went?
– Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to complain. What I've asked the players to do is fully implemented, and I'm satisfied with them. In the last few weeks, they've only had a day and a half of rest, and they've been working all along. I feel like we're a step up, and we're starting to look good.

– Is that what Sunday's German Cup match in Meppen also showed?
– It shouldn't fool anyone that we won the game in extra time against our third-division rival. I told the boys days earlier that we weren't going to be on top physically, and that we've got to reach our best form for the season opener against Cologne. I added that all that matters against Meppen is winning – I don't care whether we advance in extra time or with penalties. In the first half of the match, we had several big opportunities ahead of us. If we were more precise, we shouldn't have had to wait until the 92nd minute for the winning goal. Regardless, I didn't feel for a second that something was wrong. Also, it is worth browsing through the rankings: several topflight teams have suffered against smaller teams, and Eintracht Frankfurt has been eliminated. It matters a lot that the season started earlier in the lower divisions.

– Before the Bundesliga kicks off, what do you say: has Hertha strengthened or weakened?
– I wouldn't bet on the fact that the final squad has now been formed. I hope at least one, but rather two wingers will still arrive. There is no doubt that selling Jhon Córdoba was good for the budget, but with his departure, ten or twelve goals "bounced off." Sami Khedira has retired, our 18-year-old, club-raised defender Luca Netz has signed with Mönchengladbach, and Mattéo Guendouzi and Nemanja Radonjic, who have been on loan at us, have not stayed. Although the latter would have been welcome to continue in the team. The future of Brazilian player Matheus Cunha is also in question; he returned to Berlin the other day as an Olympic champion. Hats off to him because he joined the squad in time, which is not always the case with Brazilians. He's already training. If he doesn't complain of fatigue, I'll definitely send him to the pitch in Cologne. The Olympic gold cheered him up - and now he can cheer the team up.

– Let's look at the other side: the arrivals.
– We made a good deal with Stevan Jovetić, especially since we didn't have to pay for him... He's not just a great footballer, he's intelligent, his game culture can help a lot. The question is how well he can pick up the pace of the Bundesliga. In Suat Serdar's case, there is no question about that, he is at a good age and although he is only twenty-four years old, he has significant Bundesliga experience behind him. He shoots well, he passes well, he makes deep runs the way he is supposed to. Kevin-Prince Boateng is now in his 35th year. He was born in Berlin, started his career here, and it cannot be ruled out that he will finish it here. He may not play 90 minutes anymore, but with his loyalty to the club and routine, he can help us both on the pitch and in the locker room. Davie Selke returned from Bremen, he scored our goal in Meppen, I trust him, too. All in all, we have three or four excellent footballers, but the others also bring the level they need. Unfortunately, Hertha is in a situation at the moment where they can't spend money, but I'm used to it at the time I was their head coach for the first time. Looks like it's my fate, but no problem, I'll work it out. Our primary goal is to have a stable year. This, of course, also requires that we won't get seriously injured.

– Let's hope it won't happen, but what if the key players fall out one after the other?
– Then it'll be trouble. But we'll work that out, too.

– You don't seem nervous.
– The time I was nervous has passed. There were years when I saw Hertha as my fourth child, and it was unhealthy for me. Let there be no mistake, the club is as important to me today as it used to be, but I'm like, someone else should be nervous.

– Will Hertha be a hardworking team?
– We have lost one game in the last 10 stakes matches. We lost 2-1 at Hoffenheim's home in the last round of the previous league, but we would've deserved at least one point. After we've been able to finish the preparation matches without defeat, I say it's going to be hard to beat us. Whoever we're playing with, we're going to make it difficult for them.

– Kicker wrote, before you took over the team, that because of a wide variety of languages, excessive smartphone usage and a fairly large ego of several players caused problems in-house. If your German colleagues were to peek into the dressing room today, what would they see?
– That we've made tremendous progress in terms of discipline and team unity. In fact, when I took over the team in January, the team spirit was in bad shape... It's all good now. With the departure of some footballers, the Spanish and French languages are gone, and only German and English remained, so it's healthy. The mentality is good, the mood is good, and my intuitions are good – sometimes I feel weird about it, though. When the coach says such nice things, that's when stuff happens.

– Can Hungarian words be heard in the dressing room?
– I only speak German with my son Martin at the training center. Although that's an exaggeration because I don't even talk to him as much as I should. I don't want it to look like I'm favoring him. Besides, we need to keep an eye on him. He's nineteen years old, he shouldn't be overloaded or dragged here and there. He's had several promising offers, but he still belongs in Hertha. What his mother and I asked from him, he did it, he's successfully graduated, and now he's going to continue his football school. He's definitely on the right track. Sooner or later, however, he's going to be in a hole, too, and if he gets out of it, that's when he'll become a real footballer. At the age of 21, if he has 60 or 70 Bundesliga games in his legs, he can go wherever he wants. Later, if the question becomes current, he can decide which national team he wants to play for. At the moment, all he has to do is work and stabilize his place in the starting lineup.

– The Bundesliga starts in Cologne on Sunday. What do you expect?
– It's not going to be easy. At the start of the season, no one knows what to expect from each other. We can hold on to what I said: I think we're okay. I'm optimistic; we want to come home with at least one point. Three would make me happier, of course.

– Your best ranking with Hertha is a sixth place. Would you be satisfied with this now as well?
– Last season we almost got eliminated – only the staff, Pál Dardai and the Holy Spirit kept the team in. After that, how wouldn't be satisfied with the sixth place?!

Translated by Vanda Orosz