There are ups and downs in the current season, which is difficult for FC Schalke 04 supporters to understand. The important home wins against Braunschweig and Wehen Wiesbaden were immediately followed by a setback in the 2nd Bundesliga. There can still be no talk of breathing a sigh of relief for the Royal Blues in the relegation battle. The lack of consistency was also criticized by sports director Marc Wilmots after the bitter 3-0 loss in Magdeburg on Saturday evening.
FC Schalke appeared desolate, especially in the first half, and didn’t even get into the game in Magdeburg. It wasn’t until the second half, after S04 head coach Karel Geraerts made four substitutions, that things got better.
“I had the feeling that Magdeburg had two more players on the field. We didn’t get into the duels and stood too deep. We have to analyze that. We played with a chain of five and with three men in midfield to be strong “That didn’t work,” said S04 sports director Marc Wilmots about Schalke’s insufficient first 45 minutes.
The performance improved a little in the second half, but the Gelsenkirchen team couldn’t achieve anything worth counting. On the contrary: After the 13th (!) defeat of the season in the 2nd Bundesliga, it is only due to the equally poor results of the relegation rivals 1. FC Kaiserslautern (0:4 against Karlsruher SC) and Hansa Rostock (0:2 against Fortuna Düsseldorf). that the lead over the relegation place is still four points.
Wilmots asserts: “We have to get out of this collectively”
After the game ended, Marc Wilmots didn’t want to hear about Schalke being in too much of an apocalyptic mood and tried to make more perseverance slogans: “We only lost three points. The ups and downs bother me. It’s hard for the fans, and for me too “I was also angry. But we have to get out of this collectively.”
Next Friday, FC St. Pauli, none other than the current league leaders of the 2nd Bundesliga, will be appearing in the Veltins Arena.
“We don’t have to talk so much, keep our mouths shut and prepare quickly for the game against St. Pauli,” said former Eurofighter Wilmots, looking ahead to the coming days.