In terms of sport, the trend at Bundesliga bottom FC Schalke 04 is upwards, but the lack of goals remains a serious problem. Before the guest appearance with the high-flying team from Union Berlin, the Knappen are looking for a new hope for the attack – a role that winter surprise Soichiro Kozuki was recently unable to fill. Coach Thomas Reis asks the Japanese for patience.
From league five to league one – within a few months! The promotion of offensive talent Soichiro Kozuki to the Schalke professional team was THE feel-good story in Gelsenkirchen in winter.
And the wing runabout got started right away like the fire brigade. On his debut in Frankfurt (0: 3), the 22-year-old was one of the most conspicuous players on the side of the Royal Blues, a few days later he even scored his debut goal against Leipzig (1: 6).
Since then, however, Kozuki has noticeably lost his ease, with the most recent three zero numbers, the former junior national player remained quite inconspicuous.
Time for a breather? Coach Thomas Reis is torn. “The bar has been set high. I’m not dissatisfied at the moment,” said the trainer on Friday at the game day PK about Kozuki.
Due to the probable absence of winter newcomer Tim Skarke, however, there will probably be no wing alternative, according to Reis, otherwise he “could have given Kozuki a break”.
Reis: Target point sharing “cannot be the world of Schalke”
With or without Kozuki in the starting XI – Reis wants to tackle the upcoming task at Union Berlin with confidence.
“We want to win there. Just playing for one point isn’t my world and it can’t be Schalke’s world either,” the 49-year-old clarified.
The gap to relegation place 16 is currently five points. Schalke had recently played 0-0 three times in a row for the first time in the club’s history.
“We kept the zero – not because we bricked, we worked actively. Only we didn’t manage to reward ourselves three times. If we get three points in Berlin, this series can also be seen very positively,” Reis clarified .