Falko Götz: Room for improvementIf the Bundesliga table was only made up of games played away from home, Hertha would occupy a relegation spot. After only gathering 7 points on their travels so far this season, it is obvious that the fine home form of the capital city club is keeping them in contention for the lucrative European places ata the end of the season. After the 0-2 away defeat to high-flying Schalke, Falko Götz and Co. know exqactly where they stand, and that anything better than 5th place is looking increasingly unlikely. Those seven away points represent the worst record since Hertha were promoted from the second division back in 1997. Too harmless, concentration lapses at set pieces and individual mistakes. The list of reasons for Hertha's poor away form is a long one. Götz says that he can build on his side's first half performance in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday, but is he whistling in the dark? Sure, Gimenez missed a gilt-edged opportunity to put Hertha ahead on 7 minutes, but Bastürk was sorely missed in midfield. The midfield reacted well enough, but was never able to stamp their authority on the game. Götz: "The plan was to share the workload between Pal Dardai and Mineiro and I think Dardai did especially well." The dream of playing Champions League football remains just that- a dream, because with only one away win this season (Dortmund), 4 draws and 6 defeats, they have the worst away record in the Bundesliga alongside relegation-haunted Gladbach. As Hertha won promotion from division 2 in 1997, after 11 away games away from home in their first season back in the top flight they had 9 points. In the 2003/4 season as Hertha narrowly avoided relegation they had ten points away from home at this time. At the end of that season Hertha collected 15 points on their travels. In order to beat those low benchmarks, Götz and his side must gather another 10 away points in the remaining away games against Stuttgart, Gladbach, Nürnberg, Bochum, Aachen and Frankfurt). Another thing worrying Hertha fans is the fact that the capital city side has been drawn away to VfB Stuttgart in the DFB Cup quarter final on February 28th. Götz again: "We will throw everything forward in that game. It is an all or nothing clash, and you only have once chance to reach the semi-finals." 

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