Position
Last weekend's 3-2 defeat against FC Augsburg was a painful defeat for Schalke 04 in many respects. They showed great strength in fighting back after going 2-0 down with goals from Simon Terodde and Tom Krauß. And then they conceded another goal to the team down to ten men – Augsburg's Mergim Berisha was sent off on 71 minutes for a second yellow card offence. The two Schalke goalscorers spoke as one after the game: "It really hurts to suffer a blow like that," said Krauß who was unable to really celebrate his first goal in the Bundesliga. And Terodde also vented his frustration: "It really hurts when you lose 3-2 at home against ten men."
Schalke's sporting director Rouven Schröder wanted to take the positives from the disappointment: "We gave our all. The way we fought back is Schalke. We'll keep our heads held high. We need that attitude."
It was the second narrow defeat for the Royal Blues after the 1-0 reverse in the derby at Borussia Dortmund and is the fourth loss this term. The promoted team have only clocked up one win so far with a 3-1 victory against VfL Bochum. The team under head coach Frank Kramer have six points from eight games and are currently 15th in the table, which is not significantly better than this weekend's opponents Bayer 04. The defeat against Augsburg was also painful because two important players in Sepp van den Berg and Rodrigo Zalazar suffered bad injuries in the game.
Personnel
Augsburg central defender Sepp van den Berg suffered a serious ligament injury off the ball. The 20-year-old Dutchman, on loan in Gelsenkirchen from Liverpool since the end of August, will not play again this year. The same applies to attacking midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar (23). The Uruguayan, who played a big part in Schalke's promotion last season, suffered a fractured metatarsal in the clash with Augsburg. "It's extremely tough," said Rouven Schröder but he added straightaway: "We have shown many times in the past that we can deal with losing players, however serious, as a group – and we’ll do it again this time. We have absolute confidence in the squad."
The Austrian Leo Greiml (21) or the Czech Alex Kral (24) are alternatives in central defence alongside regular starter, the Japan captain Maya Yoshida (34) while the Pole Marcin Kaminski (30) misses out through injury. New signing Cedric Brunner (28) could come into the team at the right side of the back four on Saturday. The former Arminia Bielefeld player has missed the last three games due to muscular problems but he returned to full training at the start of the week. New signing Tobias Mohr (27, from FC Heidenheim) is an attacking option on the left flank as is the Dutchman Thomas Ouwejan (26).
Frank Kramer has confidence in the two Germany U21 internationals Tom Krauß (21) and Florian Flick (22) in central midfield. Krauß, who was loaned out to Schalke 04 from RB Leipzig at the start of the season, has been in the starting eleven for all games up to now. He has been seen as one of the strongest Royal Blues players for weeks and was voted Schalke Player of the Month for September. The main players in attack are Dominick Drexler (32), the best provider in the team with three assists to date, Marius Bülter (29) the top scorer for Schalke with three goals and the Swede Jordan Larsson (25). Experienced striker Simon Terodde (34) either plays as a lone striker or as a strike duo along with Sebastian Polter (31). Marius Bülter has also played in attack.
Performers
Schalke have scored half of their ten goals from set pieces. That is the third best return of all Bundesliga clubs. The Royal Blues invest a lot in their games, are strong in terms of competing and running and are – with the exception of the 6-1 defeat against Union Berlin – mostly well organised in defence. In addition, new signings Tom Krauß, Tobias Mohr, Maya Yoshida, Sepp van den Berg and Cédric Brunner have quickly developed into key players under the new coach Frank Kramer.
Problems
Schalke are not yet a settled team due to the many changes in personnel. That has had an effect on the penetration of the attack. Simon Terodde, top scorer in the second division last season with 30 goals, has only found the back of the net twice so far. Fellow striker Sebastian Polter, a new signing from Bochum, has not yet lived up to expectations with only one strike so far.
The continuing weakness on the road for the Royal Blues is striking with a run of 32 games in the Bundesliga without a win. They are not far away from the negative record set by Karlsruher SC who went 35 away games without winning between 1976 and 1981. The last victory on the road for Schalke was a 2-1 win in Bremen in November 2019. Schalke have conceded a lot of goals in the second half this season with 11 out of a total of 17, and six coming in the final 15 minutes.
Prediction
The targets for this and even the following season have been clearly defined by the club management: "Staying up twice. 40 points – twice," was the short and sharp assessment of supervisory board chairman Axel Hefer. If that target is achieved then it would have "the same value as our promotion," said board member for sport and communication Peter Knäbel who is not looking to talk down the big club: "That's not false modesty." Instead, probably more of a realistic assessment of potential. That is still limited by the tight financial situation at Schalke 04. Finance boss Christina Rühl-Hamers therefore declared: "We are bit more capable of acting and remain ambitious but modest. We are on the right track but a long way from where we want to be." Over the long term, Schalke must "again be a beacon," demanded chairman of the board Dr Bernd Schröder who was director of marketing and distribution at Bayer 04 until the end of last year. The club wants "to make football and the region strong again." October could provide the first major assessment of this situation. There are five games to play until the end of the month. After the match at the BayArena, Schalke play TSG Hoffenheim twice in the Bundesliga and the DFB Cup and that is followed by fixtures at Hertha Berlin and at home to SC Freiburg.
