Tor crisis grows into Tor phobia
Schalke 04 desperate, being disgusting is not enough
02/09/2023, 8:55 p.m
FC Schalke 04 urgently needs victories in order to be able to get involved in the fight against relegation. Finally one should succeed against VfL Wolfsburg. At the same time, coach Thomas Reis’ team finally has to shed its frightening innocence.
And again Thomas Reis asked for something he will not get. Patience was rare at FC Schalke 04, even when times were good. Now the bottom of the Bundesliga table is running out of time – and the coach senses the unrest. “I know that things are progressing too slowly for many,” said the 49-year-old ahead of the home game on Friday (8.30 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker at ntv.de) against VfL Wolfsburg. “Everyone is eagerly waiting for us to pull in a threesome,” Reis stated, “we want to finally make that happen. You have respect for every opponent. But you shouldn’t do it like that with Köttel in the Buxe walking around.”
Most recently, the Royal Blues didn’t concede a goal twice in a row, but didn’t score themselves either. “It’s only possible step by step,” said Reis, who had to wait a long time or even in vain for the promised reinforcements in winter. Looking at the lack of goals for the strikers around the second division record scorer Simon Terodde, he added: “Of course it keeps you busy. But you still have to be brave, not tense up. You just can’t give up, the knot has to burst.” Reis therefore demands: “What we have done very well in the last few games – the aggressive, the disgusting – must continue.”
Can Playmaker Zalazar finally help?
Reis left it open who will go in search of goals against Wolfsburg. Terodde, with 30 goals significantly involved in the rise, as well as Marius Bülter has only been successful three times, winter signing Michael Frey so far no reinforcement. And the recovered playmaker Rodrigo Zalazar? Have “great qualities on the offensive”, said the coach, but a change could weaken the defensive stability again.
For Schalke, however, it’s time not only to prevent goals, but also to score some. Because after a little more than 100 days on the Schalke ejection seat, the Reis balance sheet is miserable in numbers. Five points from eight games are on average (0.63) only slightly better than the result of his fired predecessor Frank Kramer (0.60), three goals in eight games with decent chances (0.375) even worse than his meager record of the first ten Bundesliga games (1.00). After all, Reis has stabilized the shaky defense. 15 goals were conceded (1.875) – compared to 24 under Kramer (2.4). Without the 1: 6 debacle against RB Leipzig, the bottom conceded only nine goals in seven games.
Reis establishes authority for himself
Reis, whose ex-club VfL Bochum meanwhile scored twelve points, has at least gained authority. First he cut promotion hero Mike Büskens, actually intended as an “eternal” assistant coach, from his staff, then he put the veteran Ralf Fährmann back into the Bundesliga goal for the first time in 20 months. He is also well received in and around the club with his direct manner as an assimilated Ruhrpottler.
But the bottom line is sobering: three points down on the saving 15th place, which VfL Bochum occupies, have now become eight. With eleven points at this point, as Schalke 04 now have, 16 out of 19 teams have ended up being relegated from the league. The fact that CEO Bernd Schröder recently emphasized that he “would also go into the second division with Reis” is on the one hand forward-looking, on the other hand probably not what the coach had hoped for when he started at the end of October.