It was a sentence that basically says everything about the Schalke team. When ex-trainer Manuel Baum (41) tried desperately to win his first victory in the past few weeks, he stood in front of a flipchart in the team wing and wrote the term “values” on it.
He then turned to his players and told them that they were a “worthless” team. Should mean: cohesion, fighting spirit, all the values that you need in relegation battle are missing. He was released shortly afterwards. In fan circles one jokes: Only Schalke throws his tree out before Christmas.
The winless coach (six bankruptcies, four draws in the league) tried to get this missing spirit into the team through workshops in small groups. And it actually looked like the accident of Mark Uth (29), who hit the grass unconscious after a header duel in Augsburg (2-2), welded the team together. But the harsh reality is: Schalke is in last place, has been without a win for 29 league games, and interim coach Huub Stevens (67) could not find any solutions against direct rivals Bielefeld (0: 1). The mood at Christmas – on all levels: Grinch instead of Santa Claus.
Sports director Jochen Schneider (50) is hardly feeling optimistic these days. The players feel that, of course. When Schneider, who came under massive criticism himself because of his coaching decisions, came into the cabin after the 2-0 defeat against Freiburg, he looked battered. The words that Schneider spoke immediately after the final whistle reinforced the impression. So he said: “Then stop against Bielefeld …”
Where is he going?
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Source: BILD
One thing is clear: a brutal task awaits the new coach. There is no team, only I-AGs. Even long-standing leadership players like Ralf Fährmann (32) or Bastian Oczipka (31) don’t care about their colleagues. Two years ago, the more experienced players organized cinema evenings together and ordered currywurst with fries for the team. Now the motto is: train, shower – and away quickly!
Naldo obligation caused a lot of explosive
Like his predecessor David Wagner (49), Baum could not stop this development. Also because he was missing a confidante. He would have loved to bring René Rydlewicz (47) with him to Gelsenkirchen, his former assistant coach at the DFB. Baum’s opinion: He needs an emotional guy next to him who can pull the team away. He is more responsible for the tactical. And that was exactly the topic among the Schalke professionals: that Baum could spark too little euphoria. Especially in his speeches right before kick-off.
But the Baum / Rydlewicz team did not come about after talks with sports director Schneider. Instead, Naldo (38) was added to the coaching team, which internally provides a lot of explosive. The Schalke professionals, who have been around for a long time, accuse him: When he was still playing for S04 and was demoted by the then coach Domenico Tedesco (35), he was the stinky boot in the cabin. Now, of all people, he should ensure a good mood – should …
The situation on the training ground with Vedad Ibisevic (36), when the two faced each other nose to nose, was the summit. Ibisevic wanted to practice free kicks, so they prepared the balls. Naldo didn’t want that – and knocked the balls away. Shortly afterwards, the entire training was canceled.
Baum recognized early on that the atmosphere in the team was extremely tense. Already at the beginning of November, after the 4: 1 in the cup against fourth division Schweinfurt, he gave an incendiary speech, said: “If we have eleven players on the field and one of them doesn’t do his job, we won’t win the games. Do your job! ”The reaction? Schalke conceded one goal after the next because the players didn’t do their job. Instead, they worried that Baum still hadn’t made a debut. Onur Cinel (35), the assistant coach, however, ordered a kebab truck to the training area as a nice gesture to the team.
Stevens last tried a special measure. Before the game against Bielefeld, he showed a compilation of motivational videos by the players’ women. The measure did not work. Schalke ran just 111.5 kilometers in the game. The worst value since the third game day.
Belief in relegation is waning. The rescue of S04 – it would meanwhile be a miracle.
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