“Our measures taken”: Schalke’s hopefuls are threatened with expulsion

“Our Actions Taken”
Schalke’s hopefuls are threatened with expulsion

FC Schalke is playing one of the worst seasons the Bundesliga has ever seen. Shkodran Mustafi was supposed to give royal blue a boost in winter. Now the 28-year-old has been sorted out. And there are many indications that he is experiencing a low point in his career in Gelsenkirchen.

Shkodran Mustafi made six games for FC Schalke 04. The 28-year-old came to the bottom of the table in the Bundesliga at the beginning of February as a bearer of hope, who at the time still believed he would somehow manage to stay up. After all, Mustafi was already world champion, in 2014 with the DFB-Elf in Brazil, he was supposed to organize and stabilize the holey defense. That didn’t work. On the one hand, because Schalke will also be mathematically second division in a few weeks. On the other hand, because Mustafi disappointed (probably too high) hopes. Not only the athletic ones, however. And that’s why his sixth game for the Revierklub seems to have been his last.

Before the 2-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen this weekend, Mustafi was dropped from the squad at short notice. Officially “for sporting reasons”, it said on the official Twitter account. If the “picture” is correct, however, not only the 16 goals conceded from the six games with his participation are decisive. According to the tabloid, Mustafi is said to have shown “zero self-criticism” despite unconvincing performance and has also “trained poorly in the past two weeks”.

The 0: 5 in Wolfsburg could have been Mustafi’s last game for Schalke.

(Photo: imago images / Joachim Sielski)

Which is why coach Dimitrios Grammozis then deleted him from the line-up, who declared after the 19th defeat in the 27th game with now 17:71 goals: “We have taken our measures and decided on the best possible squad. The way we perform in Leverkusen justified that. ” Which translates to mean that Mustafi, who is experienced in the World Cup and Premier League, is currently not good enough for one of the worst teams in Bundesliga history.

Grammozis had protected the defense chief after the 5-0 defeat in Wolfsburg, who had initiated the bankruptcy with an own goal. According to the coach, Mustafi was “very important to us in the team because he embodies what we demand: the unconditional will”. This now seems to have no longer been recognizable for Grammozis, who should also be on the royal blue sideline in the 2nd Bundesliga.

The “Bild” concludes that the fifth Schalke trainer for the current season is “personally extremely disappointed”. From Mustafi, the defender brought in as a bearer of hope, who after his youth at Hamburger SV was active for Arsenal in the Premier League, for Valencia CF in the Primera Division and for Sampdoria Genoa in Serie A. A remarkable career, also because Mustafi, at almost 29 years old, should be in the prime footballer’s age. Which now seems to have reached a low point with relegation and sorting out on Schalke.

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