Schalke: Staying in the league would be “like a championship” for Thomas Reis

Duel against Hertha is waiting

Coach Thomas Reis compared staying up with FC Schalke 04 to winning a championship title. “We were written off a few months ago – staying up in the league would be like a championship for us. I don’t think many would bet on us right now. And that’s what makes it so appealing, that’s what motivates me personally,” said the 49-year-old in an interview with the media group.spark“. He was “still firmly convinced that we can stay up in the league”.

The Royal Blues are bottom of the table with seven games to go before the end of the season and are two points behind relegation rank 16 and five behind the saving bank. Measured against the rest of the program, S04 have one of the most difficult tasks in the league ahead of them: the average placement of the remaining opponents is 7.6 – only TSG Hoffenheim (7.4) expects a supposedly more demanding challenge. Before Schalke plays FC Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt or RB Leipzig, among others, the duel with direct competitor Hertha BSC is scheduled for Friday (8:30 p.m.).

Reis is preparing his team for the relegation cracker against the Berliners with “soccer talk”. “Rhetorically, I’m not one to underpin tactical elements with foreign words just to make it as complicated as possible,” he emphasized. He speaks the football language “because it’s my own”. However, after the 2-0 loss in Hoffenheim last Sunday, he had to adapt. “Because you can’t present yourself like you did in the first half in Hoffenheim,” he said. “So this week I will take a close look at which players are suitable for this phase at the moment. We now have to find the right people who can withstand this pressure.”

Reis also said: “If an Ihlas Bebou runs away from us three times in Hoffenheim because he simply has this quality, then I can accept that. But I have a problem if everything is not tried to prevent it.” He therefore expects a clear reaction from his players against Hertha: “We have to try to win the duels with all our might. It may not be a nice game, but I don’t give a damn.” Hertha won the first half of the season 2-1.

Schalke coach Reis: “If we keep the league, demands will increase again”

When asked to what extent preparations for the coming season were underway, the coach replied: “Of course we’re not naïve. We see which players are there for both cases, I’m involved in discussions. We’d rather plan the first division case.” With a view to S04’s future in the upper house, he said: “Should we hold the league, the demands will rise again, but that’s Schalke 04 too. It’s logical to go there at some point wanting to come back to where you were a few years ago.” However, it is the case that clubs such as SC Freiburg, Mainz 05 or FC Augsburg are now “light years ahead”.

To home page