Rudolf Skacel is the archetypal journeyman footballer. In his whistle-stop, nine-year career, the Czech midfielder has turned out for seven clubs in six countries across Europe. But what motivated his latest upping of sticks - a loan move from Southampton to Hertha Berlin in January?

"I pressured on Southampton to let me go on loan somewhere," Skacel said. "Why? Either I played at the left back or not at all. Moreover, we were not fighting for the Premier League places.

"I had some options where to go but they somehow fell through. Not before two days ahead of the transfer deadline day I received the offer from Hertha and everything was sorted out in the last minutes of the deadline day."

The 28-year-old, who followed manager George Burley from Hearts to Southampton for £1.6million in 2006, appears to be relishing his new life in the German capital, and would not rule out an extended stay.

"I don't want to comment it. If I say somewhere that I like it there, everything goes wrong afterwards, like at Hearts for instance. It looked like I was to stay there long but [Vladimir] Romanov, the club owner everything destroyed there then.

"Now I am satisfied and I would like to stay. But it will depend on the management how satisfied they will be with me. If I can speak for myself, I am missing nothing in Berlin."

When it comes to Hertha's imposing home, Berlin's Olympic Stadium, Skacel may admire the aesthetics, but he prefers the atmosphere of smaller away arenas.

"It [the Olympic Stadium] is beautiful, both from outside and inside. But it is not great at all for football. It is a huge stadium and if 40,000 come to see a game, it looks like a small number of spectators in such a huge stadium.

"We are a young team and need a support. That is also why we prefer playing away where the atmosphere is better. This stadium is simply complicated for both fans and players. Moreover, people in Germany don't like Hertha. We are in the capital and so every team wants to beat us twice so much."

As for the Bundesliga itself, the Czech international said it was too soon to draw conclusions, after just a handful of outings.

"I don't want to make any judgements after five games. I am glad that I am playing on the left-hand side. I can run up and down along the line which suits me as I can go attacking as well. I play almost always in midfield and don't have to defend so much."

Hertha travel to Rostock on Saturday, with Lucien Favre's side unbeaten in five games.

Will Tidey / Vasek Kadlec / Eurosport