After a long search, FC Schalke 04 presented the rather unknown Miron Muslic as a new head coach in this country. With the obligation, the heavily stricken district club also initiates a U-turn, as the tactical idea of the 42-year-old sometimes differs significantly from its predecessors. And it carries risks as well as the data.
Miron Muslic had not yet signed at FC Schalke 04, since fluttered trouble already into the house. In England, where the Austrian left Prymouth Argyle burned on his now ex-club. In Gelsenkirchen because some fans criticized the election of the new trainer.
The tenor: The Schalke bosses had created a precise job profile to find a suitable successor to Kees van Wonderen. German should speak the new and “understand” the 2nd league, CEO Matthias Tillmann emphasized in the “Kicker” at the end of April when he was asked about the Raúl rumors at the time. Muslic, a completely unknown person in this country, only meet the former condition, according to the skeptical Schalke followers.
Schalke icons like Peter Neururer (“It makes no sense to talk about sporty things at Schalke 04”) or Huub Stevens (“I was also very surprised – nobody had calculated”), initially spoken back from “Sport1”. The new sporting management under board member Frank Baumann will certainly “have thought something about it,” the Schalke century coach added hopefully.
And even on the Supervisory Board of the Knappen, persuasion had to be done, since the idea with Muslic did not want to get caught at first. Skepticism, amazement, criticism: spirit of optimism in your own camp looks different.
What Baumann thought
Frank Baumann, who worked on the Muslic deal on June 1st, was immediately concerned about pulling the helm around. He was “surprised” that the “second division criterion was so strongly anchored in fans and media”, the ex-bremer explained in his imagination. Instead, this only played a “subordinate” role.
Baumann made it clear: “Rather, the condition was that we need a fit to the Schalke game idea. And that we want to have someone who can develop and make players better.” The first thing to do was determine which football Schalke should stand for in the future – namely brave attack football. Then you went on a search.
Here Schalke 04 goes to the risk
With the choice of coaches, FC Schalke 04 takes a risk for several reasons.
First of all, there would be the financial aspect: In order to buy the football teacher from his actually long -term contract until 2028, no fewer than 700,000 euros were due, according to media reports. A lot of money for the financially battered club, which has worn numerous coaches in recent years.
Then a look at the previous vita of the new Schalke trainer is enough to be able to set up the thesis: A club like FC Schalke 04 could be one size too big for Miron Muslic. Neither the SV Ried or Florisdorfer AC from Austria, nor Cercle Bruges from Belgium and certainly not Plymouth Argyle have the radiance of the proud district club. They also do not belong to the shark pool category.
In addition, some of his stations are not very promising at first glance. In Ried, he was released early in his second term (January to March 2021) after only ten games (no victory). With Plymouth, where he only hired last January, he could not prevent the descent into the third division.
The greatest risk potential harbors the tactical approach of the coach.
U -turn at S04: Which football Muslic wants to stand for
After his arrival in Gelsenkirchen, Miron Muslic quickly clarified which football he wants to stand for. The game orientation at Königsblau should be “inspiring” and “offensive”, paired with high use and running intensity.
A look at the numbers of Coachinsidethe world’s strongest scouting database via professional trainer, underpins this tactical requirement. Muslic therefore follows “a proactive and offensive game idea”, whereby he tactically adapts his formation to his squad. At his previous stations, he had, for example, with both three and four-way defense chains, which is very high.
“In his own possession of the ball, he is concerned with depth with width and a vertical offensive game. He lets the ball play an intensive midfield pressing to force the opponent to mistake,” says coachinside.
The intensive pressing specification means that the Muslic teams achieve almost half of their goals (48.44 percent according to the available data from 2021) by switching after ball conversions. Only every tenth goal results from a separate possession phase. In Plymouth, his team had just 38 percent possession of the ball, which meant the last place in the league comparison.
On the other hand, at Schalke you were used to completely different football under Kees van Wonderen. The Dutchman relyed on his own possession (54 percent, third place in the 2nd Bundesliga), around a quarter of the goals were based on it.
Does that work with Muslic and Schalke 04?
It is quite questionable whether the team can be able to call the Miron Muslic called and run-intensive pressing style. The Schalke squad has undergone numerous changes in recent years, caused by constant change in the management positions.
Video: All important statements from the new Schalke boss
Maybe the troop, which was responsible for the worst placement of the club’s history, must be rebuilt in several positions so that the playing style works. The counter insurance must be an important focus in the compilation. It is no coincidence that the Muslic teams, according to statistics, collect four out of ten goals after loss of ball.
Baumann also knows: “It will take some time for the squad. We will certainly not go into the season with the squad who is there at the start of the training.” However, a lot depends on possible sales, such as those of Taylan Bulut and Moussa Sylla. For example, if Schalke’s best striker of the pre -season, a replacement must first be found that fits into the tactical concept of the trainer.
And if the plan opens at Schalke 04 …?
If the Schalke plan opens with the tactical U -turn, the long -awaited offensive football could actually be performed in the arena in the future. Muslic’s coaching star was once opened in Bruges when he led the team into international business in the 2023/24 season. In England he took the eleventh place in the “Muslic table”, which only comprises the 21 second division games under his direction.
Muslic at Plymouth Argyle (source: coachinside)
His 1.24 points per cut were not enough to stay in the league mainly because the team did not perform at all under predecessor Wayne Rooney. Seen in this way, the trouble of the Plymouth bosses is understandable that despite long-term contracts, the head coach did not know his way to the club and instead weeted into the Schalke spotlight.
What could also hope for Hope on Schalke: In Plymouth, the “Expectation Index”, which was measured by Coachinside, was the team cut off in the table compared to the squad values? – With a remarkable 8.5 out of 10 Muslic, it managed to tease the strengths of your own players out – something that Kees van Wonderen did not succeed.
In the “Expectation Index” in 2024/25, however, he only came to 4.5 out of 10 …