Frustrated U.S. midfielder helps Berliners knock off Chelsea in his first start of the season
Tony Sanneh’s expectations had been burnished by recent experience, so it’s been to his surprise – and confusion – how Hertha Berlin coach Juergen Roeber has chosen to utilize his talents the first seven weeks of the season.
After earning significant playing time during Hertha’s rise to third last spring in the German Bundesliga, then again during the club’s preseason matches in July and early August, Sanneh has found himself, more often than not, watching from the bench.
The American midfielder saw all of 41 minutes of action – spread over three appearances – in Hertha’s first eight games, all the while enduring Roeber’s criticism of his nature and his defensive abilities.
He finally got his first start of the campaign – and his first real opportunity to contribute – in a 2-1 stunner Sept. 21 over London giant Chelsea in the Champions League. Sanneh, whose second-minute cross set up the first of two Ali Daei goals, needed little else to convince him he’s wanted at Hertha.
“I know they think really highly of me,” the former D.C. United standout said. “They’ve made it clear they feel I’m one of their top players – they keep telling me that.”
But Roeber, who played with the NASL’s Calgary Boomers, sees Sanneh as a work in progress, and he’s doing what he can to mold the 28-year-old Minnesotan into a fine, tough German player.
Learning the German mentality
Trouble is, Sanneh’s not German.
“They do have problems with my mentality,” he acknowledges, sighing with frustration. “[Roeber] wants me to learn the German mentality. It’s obvious they’re pretty serious over here all the time, and they don’t like it when it appears things are being taken lightly.
“I’m a pretty easy-going guy, with a smile on my face. Sometimes I think it comes across as being arrogant or that I don’t care.”
That, and what Roeber sees as defensive deficiencies, have made for a difficult couple months for Sanneh, who figured to get his share of on-field time until a confrontation with his coach during Hertha’s final preseason test.
The offseason additions of 19-year-old sensation Sebastian Deisler from Borussia Moenchengladbach, Kai Michalke from VfL Bochum and Greek international Kostas Konstantinidis from Panathinaikos, as well as veteran Thomas Helmer’s acquisition on loan from Sunderland at August’s end, has heated competition for midfield positions, and Sanneh’s time has suffered.
Sanneh’s first start of the season was against Chelsea. He played 66 minutes until cramps forced him out.
“It was good to go out and be involved and come out on top,” he says. “In preseason, I was starting games, and I thought it would just be a matter of time before I get games under my belt.
“Wherever I play, I’m comfortable – the level is definitely not a problem – but I play so sporadically … it’s disappointing for them to use me this way.”
Sanneh admits he has a difference of defensive opinion with Roeber.
“We use different defensive schemes than I had at D.C. and the U.S. national team,” he says. “Whether you agree or disagree, it’s different and difficult on the field. All your instincts tell you to do one thing you think is right, but you have to do it another way because that’s the way the other 10 guys are going to do it.”
He’s nonetheless been used to bolster the Hertha defense in the late going, and he played on the left wing against Chelsea. He’s also played up top, on the right wing, as a marking back and as a defensive midfielder.
“The key is that when I get a chance to play, I do well,” he says. “It puts it on them to play me.”
Sanneh did well early against Chelsea, beating his man on the flank and finding Daei for an eight-yard header. He said he was happy with his play, but Kicker magazine – Germany’s premier soccer publication – gave him a rating of 3.5, the equivalent of a C-minus.
The victory lessened some of the sting of Hertha’s failure to hold on in its Champions League opener six days earlier in Istanbul, where Galatasaray overcame an early two-goal deficit and earned a 2-2 tie on Gheorghe Hagi’s penalty kick.
Things haven’t gone much better in the Bundesliga. Hertha, hit with a series of injuries, particularly at the back, has gone winless since routing Hansa Rostock and has half of leader Leverkusen’s 14 points after six matches.
Struggling is nothing new for Hertha. Its history includes a couple German titles in the 1930s and little else. The club had existed in the Second Division and, on occasion, the lower rungs of the First for many years until UFA, a subsidiary of the German media giant Bertelsmann, offered financial support in 1995.
The club, $10 million in debt when UFA arrived, hired Roeber in January 1996. He guided Hertha into the Bundesliga the following season, survived at the top level with an 11th-place finish the year after that, then grabbed a Champions League spot by climbing to third last spring.
Caught in the Berlin euphoria
The timing couldn’t be better. Berlin is going through a renaissance, primed by its restoration this year as Germany’s capital, and the city – always boisterous in support of the club – has caught Hertha in its euphoria.
“They’re definitely fanatical about the team here, and about the situation in the city,” says Sanneh. “It seems everyone is on the bandwagon. There’s a lot of hype, maybe excessive hype about the team. We’re just coming to the top, but they expect a lot because of last year.”
Sanneh would like to play soccer the way he knows how, how he likes. It’s an uphill battle.
“It’s hard for me to be creative,” he says, “to go play freely while always thinking [about] what they’re thinking, trying to do what they want me to do, not what makes me a good soccer player.”
He has no regrets about coming to Germany.
“Berlin’s a great place,” he says, “and it’s still a great team. I’m holding my breath knowing my time will come. It’s a long year, too early to make any decision. We’ve got a very friendly group of guys, I’m playing at a very high level, in one of the country’s biggest stadiums, often in front of 70,000 people.
“I’m playing in the Champions League, the money’s good – I can’t say I regret anything about coming over here.”
by Soccer America senior editor Scott French