Hertha Berlin finished one place higher than they did in 2016 to qualify automatically for the Europa League in sixth spot. The capital city side’s season mirrored their campaign from last year when they started well before fading in the second half of the campaign. Dardai made very few changes to his squad from last season and that helped the side make a fast start, collecting 30 points in the opening 17 rounds before only scoring 19 in the second half, which was the sixth worst record. Inconsistency in terms of their home and away performances was also an issue for Dardai’s side and nearly cost them their place in a European competition. Over three-quarters of the club’s points were won at home and that will be an area the team will need to work on for next season.
Hertha’s squad had very few stand out performers and relies more on the team’s overall performances. Dardai’s focus on recruiting younger, often home grown players, means that his team are amongst the hardest workers in the league. The coach has also been able to promote a number of youth team players to the first team squad which suggests that the future of the club is bright. However, the lack of a true goal scorer in the team could hinder the team going forward, so that is likely to be high on Dardai’s shopping list over the summer. That is especially as Vedad Ibisevic is already 32 and will not have too many seasons left playing at the top level, but he did end up as the top scorer with 12 goals. Although the club benefited from a stable defence which included some very consistent performers, Ibisevic was probably the best player in the team and also led from the front as captain.
