Es needed several screens to record all the journalists who wanted to be connected on Wednesday when Jochen Schneider tried to digitally explain the earthquake that shook FC Schalke 04 on Tuesday. It was not easy for the sports director of the Bundesliga bottom. When had there been such a comprehensive clean-up in German club football? Two players were suspended, one was effectively kicked out. And the technical director also had to take off his hat.
“There were decisions that were necessary for the team, the club,” said Schneider. There was no alternative to the all-round blow. Nabil Bentaleb and Amine Harit, who had committed a number of disciplinary misconduct, will have to train individually until further notice. The contract with Vedad Ibisevic, who had clashed with assistant trainer Naldo, will end on December 31. dissolved. And squad planner Michael Reschke is leaving the club.
In view of the precarious situation of the club, it is not about “individual fates”, but rather about finally fighting together again and with full energy against the increasingly threatening downward trend, said Schneider: “We have to develop a team spirit. Otherwise it will be difficult. ”He made that clear to the team on Wednesday morning.
Fight with three crises
This was the anticipated opening of the decisive man in a club that has looked disastrous over the past few weeks and months. Schalke is currently struggling with three crises, each of which would have a destructive force: the sporting downturn with now 24 winless Bundesliga games in a row, the financial misery with around 240 million euros in liabilities and the atmospheric tensions that are now almost increasing already regularly discharged in fan protests. But Schneider could not or would not give concrete answers to the major challenges.
Instead there was self-criticism. “Of course I also made mistakes. If such decisions were necessary yesterday, not everything could have gone right in the last few weeks and months, ”said Schneider. And then he appealed. “It’s totally okay that we get fucked in the face. We deserve it, ”said the 50-year-old, asking for differentiation and forbearance. “At one point or another, I would like a little more togetherness,” he explained.
Many fans find that very difficult, especially as long as it is not shown in which direction Schneider and his board colleague Alexander Jobst basically want to steer the leaky tanker Schalke. On Wednesday there was no indication whether there might still be some way to strengthen the team despite the empty coffers, let alone whether Schalke – which occupies the members and divides the fans – would actually tackle the much-discussed outsourcing and, if so: when and in what form. “Legal form, registered association or corporation – that is not of interest at the moment. What counts is that our professional team stays in the First Bundesliga, ”said Schneider.
The only question is: how is that supposed to work? Schneider is still convinced that the team in its current composition is strong enough to maintain the class. A new “togetherness in combination with the potential of the troops” is the key to this.
However, there are more and more doubts about the potential. And because of Tuesday’s decisions and new injuries – after central defender Salif Sané, striker Gonçalo Paciênca and possibly left-back Bastian Oczipka are also out – the task for coach Manuel Baum should be even more difficult.
In any case, Schneider’s remarks made it very clear why he considered the drastic measures to be inevitable: He apparently saw the need to protect the coach. He was not allowed to admit that (“it’s not about respect for the coach”), but it is obvious: If Baum, who only succeeded David Wagner at the end of September, should be further destabilized – the club would be almost helpless.
Will Büskens help out again?
Schneider is therefore trying to close ranks – especially with well-deserved former Schalke players. It is noticeable that in the succession plan with regard to the position of the squad planner, a name came up that has a very beneficial ring to Schalke: Mike Büskens. The coach and “Eurofighter” – Büskens won the Uefa Cup as a player with Schalke in 1997 – will take over the duties of Reschke together with Sascha Riether and René Grotus. Büskens had already helped the club out of a jam several times as an interim coach.
Schalke had to get a new “cohesion”, emphasized Schneider again and again. “We have to be careful not to let ourselves be completely divided. The image that we give is devastating for me, “he said audibly emotionally,” that’s devastating! ”
This is indeed an apt description of the state. It is understandable that Jochen Schneider suffers massively from this. He couldn’t hide that, nor does he have to. But that doesn’t release him from his duty to point out specific ways out of the crisis. And that takes a lot more than just conjuring up solidarity.
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