Despite the fourth defeat of the season that FC Schalke 04 suffered at Eintracht Braunschweig at the end of the first half of the season last Sunday (1:2), the Royal Blues are going into their well-deserved winter break as autumn champions. S04 sports director Youri Mulder has now explained what made the team so strong in the first half of the 2025/2026 series.
First of all, the 1997 Eurofighter and current sporting director of FC Schalke 04 gave head coach Miron Muslic’s team a big compliment for the 37 points they had scored: “It’s an incredible number, even if it’s a shame that we lost in Braunschweig. We could have even had a few more points, but 37 points is already very impressive!”, said the 56-year-old to Schalke club media.
When asked about the most important aspects of what made FC Schalke so strong in the first half of the season, the Dutchman said: “There are many reasons. Of course, team spirit is one of them. Team spirit arises when work is done well, it is fun and there are results. There is a coach who does a good job. But also a squad that has been well strengthened.”
Last summer Schalke once again experienced a major upheaval. Not only was the coach changed once again, but a large number of new players were also signed. The new defensive players in particular have made an impact, as Youri Mulder emphasized.
“Timo Becker is someone who came home here. The connection with the fans was also very important. Nikola Katic is a player who gives us so much stability. The fact that Loris Karius extended was also very important. This axis, together with Kurucay, who also came in, and El Faouzi provided a lot of stability,” said Mulder, listing the top performers in the defensive area.
Mulder remembers Stevens’ motto
With only ten goals conceded in 17 games, the Gelsenkirchen team has by far the best defense in the entire 2nd Bundesliga. According to the sports director, the newfound stability is also the decisive reason why the Knappen are finally back on the promotion path in the second league in their third year.
“We’ve simply conceded too many goals in the last two years. That’s been our priority, that we become more stable. Not just as a club, but also as a team. You become stable when you’re difficult to beat, when you make the opponent feel disgusting. It’s very difficult for the opponents to get something here.”
Youri Mulder referred to the famous quote from Schalke’s coach of the century, Huub Stevens: “First of all, what Huub said applies: ‘The zero must be there’. We will always score the goals!”