Dhe year 2020 is spectacularly crisis-ridden in the football city of Gelsenkirchen, only perhaps the most common symptom of the decline was not yet to be observed at this time of horror: a change of coach. After the shockingly weak performance of FC Schalke on Saturday evening against Werder Bremen, which resulted in a clear 1: 3 defeat, there are now many indications that this age-old Bundesliga ritual of combating the crisis will be the next step.
David Wagner simply cannot find any means to end the now 18-game series without a win in the Bundesliga, that should have consequences. “The question is, are you part of the solution or part of the problem? I believe I can be part of the solution. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the arguments in the form of results are missing, ”said the coach at Sky. To make matters worse, defender Ozan Kabak spat on Bremen’s Ludwig Augustinsson, who was lying on the ground, during the first half – a scene that caused waves of outrage during the game and could soon have consequences under sports law. “It’s not nice, it has nothing to do with football. It’s not fair play, ”said Augustinsson.
So it was another day to forget for all supporters of the former Bundesliga giant, which had already started badly. Schalke was actually hoping to finally be able to play in front of an audience again. Several thousand tickets had been sold. But on the night before the game, the incidence value of new corona infections in the city rose again above the limit of 35, which is relevant for holding spectator events. So people had to stay home. At some point after the long Corona break, all other teams were able to experience the uplifting feeling of at least playing in front of a small audience, only the Gelsenkircheners are still stuck in the ghost game swamp of spring.
Then in the run-up to the game, Amine Harit had also tested positive for the corona virus, and Wagner had to replace an important player again. And when the game finally went, it wasn’t long before Schalke were behind again after the terrible 8-0 defeat by Munich at the start of the season. Joshua Sargent had released himself well from his opponent after a corner, headed, and Niclas Füllkrug deflected the ball on the way to goal (22nd). As in Munich, coach Wagner seemed paralyzed in his coaching zone on the sidelines. Arms crossed, expression petrified.
“We have to take all malice, we take all criticism, which is rightly there, and from malice and criticism we will generate energy. And we’ll let this energy out, ”Wagner announced. None of this happened, but Bremen, who started the season with a 1: 4 against Hertha BSC, drew the strength of a precious away goal. After another standard situation – a free kick from the half field – Füllkrug headed the 2-0, the Bremen attacker appeared completely free in front of Ralf Fährmann (37th). Before half-time, Schalke only had a halfway passable chance of a header from Gonçalo Paciência (43.).
After the break, the old and new bottom of the table experienced a somewhat stronger phase; the best minutes of the season so far. Substitute Vedad Ibisevic had a wonderful chance when he was able to head on goal from nine meters away, but put the ball just wide of the post (52nd). Nassim Boujellab (54th) and Ibisevic (55th) came to other dangerous deals, but Schalke suffer from the typical bad luck of a serious crisis. “That is difficult to explain,” said Ibisevic on Sky TV
Quite different from Bremen, who received a penalty after a difficult duel between Kabak and Füllkrug and used the Füllkrug to score his third goal (59th). That decided the game, and the failure of Kabak, who saw yellow and red shortly before the end, may well have to deal with another coach. The 1: 3 in stoppage time by Mark Uth will probably no longer help Wagner. His Bremen colleague Florian Kohfeldt left the stadium happy and spoke of a “deserved victory”.
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