FC Schalke 04 has to go to the district derby at Borussia Dortmund. The differences between the two clubs have probably never been greater. Nevertheless, the Royal Blues sense their chance in the Bundesliga duel.
So far it is not publicly known whether Mike Büskens and Gerald Asamoah will give the FC Schalke 04 players an extra seminar entitled “This is how the district derby works” will give. After all, the assistant coach and the head of the licensed player department are two of the very few in the club who still have many years of experience with this explosive game. After all, the stadiums of the two Bundesliga opponents are only about 40 kilometers apart.
From the current professional squad, only substitute goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann has experienced several times how hot and emotional this duel can be. All other players who will slip on the royal blue jersey in the Dortmund stadium on Saturday (September 17th, 2022, live ticker from 3.15 p.m.) will experience a premiere.
That also applies to S04 coach Frank Kramer. Unlike the opponent from Dortmund, where significantly more than half of the professionals have already experienced this special encounter.
maintain tradition in the short term
“The team is extremely curious. One thing is the experience, the other is the positive emotion you take in. When you think: We really want to rock one.”said Kramer on Thursday afternoon.
And Florian Flick is also optimistic. “I think there are already enough people here who can give us experience. You can already tell that the tingling starts in the dressing room.”said the S04 professional.
The good old Schalke tradition of holding a public training session the day before a district derby, which often attracted well over a thousand fans and emotionally charged the players, will now take place at short notice.
Actually, those responsible for Schalke had not planned it. The pressure from the impressive Schalke fan scene was apparently so great so shortly before this special game that a rethink took place.
“We’ve always emphasized that we want to take the fans with us. Now we think it’s a very good time to get in tune with the fans.”said Kramer. This is also what the fans want.”to participate“.
Growing membership
The club, which once took up the cause of being more approachable than the other Bundesliga clubs and wanting to keep close to the supporters, is apparently also approaching the general process of cutting cords.
The players should be able to use this extra portion of energy quite well. Hardly ever in the history of the two clubs have they been so far apart. Only in terms of membership (Schalke currently has well over 160,000 members due to recent growth) are the two clubs about the same.
Financially dependent
In all other (sporting) areas, the discrepancy is enormous. Schalke have a personnel budget of between 34 and 37 million euros. This puts them second to last in the Bundesliga rankings – ahead of VfL Bochum. BVB, on the other hand, invests around more than 210 million euros in its players.
While Dortmund have set themselves the goal of replacing FC Bayern Munich as the serial winner of the German championship if possible, S04 has a less attractive survival motto. The goal of the season for the next two years is one and only: staying in the league.
“I don’t think that’s one size too big for us. There’s a reason why we’re in the league. You can see things aren’t going so well at Dortmund. We’ve won the first game now, we want that courage we also take away”said Flick briskly.
Entrance tickets in advance
Despite all the optimism of those involved, the debt (around 183 million euros) puts pressure on the club, which – in contrast to the past – has imposed itself not to spend more money than it earns and also wants to reduce liabilities in the long term. Money has to flow for this. It is probably for this reason that those responsible have decided to sell tickets for all home games of the season.
In the past, there were usually only tickets for three or four home games in advance. In this way, Schalke can generate an earlier cash flow. A win in Dortmund should bring the club, if not more money immediately, at least spontaneously more sympathy.
“It’s a derby where one is perhaps a bit bigger than the other – our challenge will be to overcome it anyway. I think that’s good, I’m looking forward to it.”, said Schalke’s sporting director Rouven Schröder. Mike Büskens and Gerald Asamoah will be watching closely.