"There is no such thing as 120 percent": Gross will not save Schalke either

Sunday, January 03, 2021

"There is no such thing as 120 percent"
Gross will not save Schalke either

By Stephan Uersfeld, Berlin

FC Schalke 04 will just continue like this in 2021. After a bankruptcy at Hertha BSC, the first fans resign themselves to relegation to the Bundesliga, the players are not doing well and the new coach Christian Gross is already practicing perseverance.

The man, who ended his coaching career in May to join the sinking ship Schalke 04 at the end of December, says: "I'm not interested in the gray area. Schalke is a challenge and that's why I accepted it." The game hasn't started yet. Maybe the football teacher Christian Gross is not yet aware of the challenge he has accepted there. He says he is looking forward to "Mission 2021" and that he feels full of energy and fit. Gross speaks strong words from the motivation book. He demands 100 percent, because "120 percent does not exist." He prefers to "praise" because "everyone is down after a series like this" and speaks of the "basic attitude of the people in Gelsenkirchen: stand together!"

The Schalke are known to be quarreling like never before. There is no longer any cohesion between fans and club management. Everyone mistrusts everyone and above all, the former chairman of the supervisory board, Clemens Tönnies, hovers with the poison of his fortune. This mission, which can certainly be understood as a flight to the sky for Gross, is no easier after the desolate 90 minutes in the Berlin Olympic Stadium and the 3-0 defeat against Hertha BSC. The 66-year-old will also have become aware of this. Words alone will not save Schalke.

The Swiss tall is already the fourth Schalke coach this season. After David Wagner, Manuel Baum and Huub Stevens, this is the next shot from sports director Jochen Schneider, an old friend from common times in Stuttgart. The mandate to him is clearly formulated: Somehow win a game and then maybe another and still stay in the Bundesliga. Essential for the survival of the financially stricken Ruhr area giant, which at the beginning of 2021 is no longer even a laughing stock. An entire country feels sorry for Schalke. There is a curse on them.

Gross remains motionless

This is also shown by the game at Hertha BSC, a very grateful first opponent for a new coach. Gross has turned a few screws, relying on the experienced Ralf Fährmann in the gate and the American Matthew Hoppe in the storm. He also has a small chance in the initial phase, which the Berliners passively lead, otherwise he won't fall further or further. Because you can't fall back on Schalke. So bad, so without self-confidence, they'll be playing again soon. Once they come to a good conclusion through Mark Uth, but after a counterattack the national player fails free-standing against goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow. Then it's over.

"When the opponent is down, the rooms are always closed for the first few minutes and at some point the rooms are bigger again, then we can play better," said midfielder Vladimir Darida after the game. This patience pays off for him and Hertha. The Czech managed two assists, Hertha even three hits from Matteo Guendouzi, Jhon Cordoba and Krystzof Piatek. It could have been more. Again and again they attack the weak left defense of Schalke, but often play the attacks too weakly.

Schalke leaves the ball and midfield to the hosts, defends itself at least physically with numerous small fouls, but there is not much left in terms of sport and Christian Gross remains motionless on the sidelines. He's a few steps from the dugout. Blue jacket, black cap and hands buried deep in the pockets. Sometimes it shows a route, but it is seldom heard. Unlike Ralf Fährmann, whose cheers fade away in the empty stadium. Schalke goes under after an okay start. The doubts about the Bundesliga suitability are even greater. It's the worst Schalke team in league history. Only Tasmania was worse. You had to play the Bundesliga back then because the political situation required it. A first league without a Berlin club was inconceivable. They soon disappeared and never returned. Now is a festival for them, the best marketing in the club's history.

Tasmania fans increase the pressure

A few hours before kick-off, they increase the pressure again. Around a dozen fans gathered in front of the stadium, kept all their distances, and presented their pleading appeals to the Schalke team to the journalists arriving. "Ass up and win, your gas (prom) bottles" or "This is our record! Ra Ra Ra Tasmania (The Original)" is written on hastily made cardboard boards. They would not have been noticed in pre-pandemic times. In the guest block, their support of the Schalke team would have caused minor tumults, probably also in the rest of the stands. But this is an easy game for them. As it has been for months, when the record is slowly beginning to crumble and the Berlin amateur club wallows in the attention. They fuel interest with an avalanche of interviews and remind us of the situation at the time. They immediately ensure that the potential new record holder has to live forever with the stigma of having been worse than Tasmania.

The experts are already arguing whether Tasmania's series in the 1965/1966 season is at all comparable with the current Schalke series, because this would come about across seasons and not within one season. The absurdity of this discussion has potential for the amateur club. You could insist on this fact and just keep pointing your finger at Schalke. So what is great fun and image gain for an amateur club from the Berlin district of Neukölln, makes the heavyweight from the Ruhr area despair.

"I'm not doing well," says Alessandro Schöpf after the 3-0 defeat against Hertha BSC. "I think our games speak for themselves. That's how I feel too. If you don't have a chance every game, you always get in the face, that's exactly how you feel. The pressure is getting bigger and bigger. Every game goes a bit for us Time gone. It will be very, very difficult if we continue like this. Some people are laughing at us that we haven't won 30 games. I'm sorry for every Schalke player. We have to work our asses even more and whatever like winning a game as soon as possible. "

Kolasinac alone won't be enough

The next chance to do so is next weekend against Hoffenheim, who have been disappointing this season. If this does not succeed, the experts will continue to argue about the record, Tasmania will continue to claim it for themselves and Schalke will slide deeper and deeper into the red zone. "That", says Gross after the game with little conviction, "will not be the case."

The Schalke’s next, last cartridge should also prevent the setting of the record. Her name is Sead Kolasinac. A Schalke boy who ended up in the Premier League and who is now returning as a savior. In December he made two games for Arsenal. Once in the League Cup and once in the Europa League. "We really have to have 100 percent fit players," says Gross, and then goes into his expectations of the newcomer: "That his experience, his personality and his spirit help us get out of there."

Kolasniac alone won't be enough. Everyone at Schalke is aware of that. Mark Uth demands reinforcements "who help us immediately" and Gross is also thinking of new players. But that takes money. Will Clemens Tönnies step in again, will any transfers from Ozan Kabak or Rabbi Matondo, who was still traded as a newcomer to Manchester United in the summer, wash up enough in the coffers and who would want to join this suicide mission at all?

The times are uncertain at Schalke. The first fans have come to terms with the relegation. You have lost faith. Nothing speaks for Schalke anymore. In the last 30 games they have drawn 10 and lost 20. They scored 15 goals and conceded 76. From the next 20 games they now need a little over 20 points. In the coming week, however, they will have to grapple with Tasmania Berlin. Does the record fall and would it even be recognized? Is everything still getting worse? Gross and Schalke still have a few hundred kilometers to reach the gray area.