With the fans behind them, Schalke 04 wants to take a step out of the crisis. A home win against Hertha BSC is mandatory.
At Schalke 04 the club is simmering, the team is deep in crisis – but interim coach Matthias Kreutzer did his best to spread optimism. “I experience the team as absolutely united. For me it is crucial that we all go in the same direction – and together,” said the coach before the landmark duel on Sunday (1.30 p.m. / Sky) against fellow relegated Hertha BSC.
Kreutzer’s task is tricky: just seven points from the first eight games, in which 18 goals were conceded, means a terrible interim result. The planned resurgence is currently significantly further away than the possible fall into the third division. The first game under Kreutzer after the dismissal of Thomas Reis ended with a bitter 1:3 at SC Paderborn.
“None of us were satisfied after that,” reported Kreutzer. During the analysis, “we expressed our opinions honestly and openly. It was very constructive, extremely good and extremely energetic.” The words should be followed by actions, “we have to stabilize the defense so that we don’t concede three goals every time. We can’t score that many goals,” demanded the 40-year-old.
It’s not just sporty things that aren’t going well – there are also apparently more internal power struggles than ever before. According to media reports, an opposition has formed in the club that wants to unseat the current management – but they are supposed to be looking for a successor to the fired coach Reis. But the question still arises: Who would want to do this to themselves? Since Domenico Tedesco led Schalke to runners-up in 2018 and was fired in March 2019, there have been nine further coaching changes.
Things will never be quiet at Schalke anyway, but the club at least longs for consistency. Meanwhile, Bild and WAZ reported that the unspecified opposition is dreaming of bringing Oliver Ruhnert back. Jenen Ruhnert, who was head of Schalke’s youth department until July 2017, then moved to Union Berlin as a scout, quickly rose to manager and turned the second division team into a Champions League starter.
Ruhnert reacts to Schalke rumors
But what arguments does Schalke have for Ruhnert? Swap the premier class for a relegation battle in the 2nd Bundesliga, give up a squad that has been formed over the years and start from scratch? If it weren’t for Ruhnert’s old ties to Schalke and the proximity to his family in the Sauerland, the Berlin strongman’s answer would probably be a clear “no.” “This topic has already been discussed extensively several times and I will not go into the content of it again now,” he told the “Bild” newspaper: “My full concentration is on the task at 1. FC Union Berlin.”
In any case, Schalke has to concentrate on the here and now. Matthias Kreutzer wants to see his team play “courageously and with full conviction” – ideally on Sunday against Union’s city rivals Hertha.