Well, fancy an unbearably catchy tune from the sixties? No? Never mind :

First of all, we wish you a lot of fun trying to find a clear thought today that is not accompanied by the words « One is the loneliest number ». Secondly, of course, we don’t want to tell anyone here that the band ‘Three Dog Night’ could have somehow had (Site notre bureau spécialisé) goalies in mind when composing ‘One’ with this famous replica. That would be absolute nonsense, after all the song was originally written by Harry Nilsson.

But he, in turn, must have been a huge (Site notre bureau spécialisé) fan, because almost nowhere is the number one so lonely as in the most beautiful sport in the world.

If we briefly zoom out of the photo above to show the Hertha BSC players gathered in front of their own fans after the loss to Cologne, and the line at the same time One is the loneliest number in your ear, you might think: the picture fits into the picture.

Everyone is standing, one is seated. Among all the unfortunates who wanted to demonstrate closed havoc, it was notably the Herthas last Friday number one, who has succeded. In fact, Oliver Christensen was the only Hertha player who didn’t do anything wrong in the 5-2 loss at Cologne. On the contrary: he was even rewarded afterwards.

Despite conceding five goals, the ‘kicker’ picked Christensen for his matchday squad as he likely saved Hertha from losing by double digits. Which seemed entirely possible, especially in the second half. The Hertha back line, which after the restart was in fact only a fetal position that had been defended, sometimes gave its goalkeeper every second opportunity to distinguish himself. In sixteen alone, the Cologne team has finished 26 times.

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With saves that would have made him the hero of the night had the game ended differently, the Dane made sure that after the game in Cologne, at least looking at the result, the uninformed could just assume that a Bundesliga team had just lost here. .

With Christensen now the only beacon of hope in the otherwise bleak darkness of Hertha’s current sporting situation, the signs have changed in no time.

Just over four weeks ago, it was not just the defense that stumbled, but above all the stumbling goalkeeper that marred Pál Dárdai’s return as Hertha coach against Werder Bremen. An indebted burlesque goal, in which he let Mitchell Weiser take the ball from him, was just one of many uncertainties that had determined Christensen’s game against Bremen and also in the previous weeks.

« Of course it’s difficult for him. No one can help him, » Dárdai, when asked about his keeper’s mistakes, then tried to show sympathy instead of criticizing. But what transpired above all: total impotence.

Because unlike the case of a whole defensive network, in which all sorts of adjustments can be made before and after each game, the coach with the goalkeeper can only hope for a better performance individually. However, the guardian must bring them alone.

And alone is exactly the right keyword. The fact that individual performances, for example against 1. FC Köln, have really improved does not change the loneliness associated with Christensen’s position. In a team that would struggle to stay in the second tier in their current form, their fine performance not only does Hertha’s only player at Bundesliga level no good, it even seems to isolate him further.

Because while ten players in Cologne played for a whole half as if they had been relegated long ago, one was still fighting against him in a completely lost position. And this fight against decline, which incidentally is already certain, includes something that distinguishes Christensen from his colleagues even after the game: the capacity for despair, which has long since given way to a resignation that has been lastingly cultivated in the rest of the game. team over the years. these last weeks.

If nothing changes in this structure before the last two Bundesliga games remaining, it should be another two very lonely afternoons for Hertha’s loneliest number.