Around the traditional football club FC Schalke 04, after relegation from the Bundesliga, the demand quickly grew to return to the top flight immediately. S04 icon Olaf Thon doesn’t want to know about a promotion obligation.
Despite the huge upheaval and in view of an almost complete replacement of the squad last summer, FC Schalke 04 went into the second Bundesliga season as one of the big favorites in one of the top two places. The goal in the environment of the Knappen was clearly the resurgence.
Club legend Olaf Thon does not want to know about such a promotion obligation. “No, I’m not going with that,” he replied to “Sport1” and referred to the strategy presented by the club: “Schalke says they have a three-year plan to get back into the Bundesliga.”
Dimitrios Grammozis’ team is currently fifth in the lower house, only two points behind leaders Werder Bremen. In between there are three other aspirants for promotion: Hamburger SV, SV Darmstadt 98 and FC St. Pauli.
Thon remains skeptical, despite the recent 2-0 win against SC Paderborn: “I don’t want to say: ‘They’re going up now’ because they don’t play like that yet.”
Olaf Thon identifies key players at FC Schalke 04
In the back of his mind, Thon still has the embarrassing 2-1 defeat against Fortuna Düsseldorf. “They played really badly against Düsseldorf,” he complained. The coach’s tactical considerations “backfired,” and Schalke also made “outrageous and individual mistakes.”
The 55-year-old also emphasized once again how big the upheavals have been in the Revierklub in recent months. “A football team thrives on the fact that one wheel fits into the other. How is that supposed to happen when an entire team is replaced, when players leave and others come in in the half-season?”
In the opinion of the 1990 world champion, central defender Salif Sané may be a “key” for the fight for promotion. “Because he has an ability in both defensive and offensive headers” that the defender “has not yet been able to exploit” due to injuries.