In the duel of the disappointed, only one victory counts for both of them
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Christian Gross as a new bearer of hope
Christian Gross will be the new head coach of the Schalke 04 crisis club. The Swiss, who worked for VfB Stuttgart ten years ago, will take over from interim coach Huub Stevens. Gross was most recently active in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Hertha and Schalke are far behind their own expectations. For both teams, a victory in a direct encounter is mandatory. At Schalke, of all people, the new hope is not yet eligible to play.
Et was a break that didn’t deserve the term winter break. The FC Schalke 04 players only had eleven days to gain some distance from the Bundesliga and the constant setbacks of the past few months. On Saturday, the struggle for survival in the will continue for you and the club. A victory in the duel of the disappointed at Hertha BSC (6.30 p.m., Sky and in the WELT live ticker) is a must for the Royal Blues to send a sign of life in the relegation battle.
In the eleven days since winning the second round of the DFB Cup in Ulm, the club has been anything but calm. The new coach Christian Gross and the return campaign of the left-back Sead Kolasinac are supposed to create the much-needed optimism in the Schalke team, who have not been victorious in 29 games.
Kolasinac played for Schalke from 2011 to 2017 until he moved to Arsenal in the Premier League. Due to injury problems and a corona infection, he only played one game for Arsenal this season. The loan deal, for which Schalke is said to have paid an estimated 2.4 million euros, came at the right time for the 27-year-old. If it does not work with relegation, he is back in London – if Schalke still manages to turn things around, he could stay in Gelsenkirchen.
“The club is currently in a very difficult situation. In the coming weeks and months I would like to do my part to ensure that we get as many points as possible, ”said Kolasinac. Together they will be able to stay in the league: “I’m 100 percent convinced of that. Returning is an absolute matter close to my heart. “
Gross, who was introduced on December 27 as the new Schalke coach and successor to the dismissed Manuel Baum, plans to appoint the captain immediately and to disempower the previous captain Omar Mascarell. Signing a left-back won’t be enough to get the team back on track. The terrifying appearances in the first 13 games of the season with only eight goals scored showed that the defense is not the biggest construction site of Gross.
Gross is “firmly convinced of relegation”
The Swiss urgently needs reinforcements on the offensive to prevent the club from relegating the club for the first time since 1988. Until then, he has to work with the squad that has so far disappointed. Especially since Kolasinac is not yet eligible to play in Berlin. “I expect total commitment from the team, that they throw everything in and give 100 percent. If the team gets everything out of it, I am absolutely convinced that they will stay in the league, ”said Gross.
With Hertha, Schalke meets an opponent who, like themselves, lags far behind their own claims. With the millions of investor Lars Windhorst behind them, the Berliners thought they were on their way to the European Cup. Despite the 80 million euros that Hertha spent on new players last year, the balance sheet is sobering – Bruno Labbadia’s team is only three points ahead of 16th place, but already eight points behind the Europa League qualifying rank Ironically, local rivals Union occupied.
A duel from better days – Schalke’s Alessandro Schöpf (l) and Marvin Plattenhardt fight for the ball in the DFB Cup eighth final last season
Source: pa / dpa / Rolf Vennenbernd
The Berliners have not yet found each other as a team and convinced in very few games. Now they run the risk of making themselves the idiots of the league by losing to Schalke. Labbadia is not afraid of being embarrassed because Hertha has ended the Schalke winless series: “I never go into a game with fear, but with optimism. The team should do the same. We want to start the new year with a home win. ”The 54-year-old also needs that so that there is no coaching discussion in Berlin.
Transfer rumors about Hertha BSC
The disappointing performance recently made calls for reinforcements louder. According to information from the “Gazetta dello Sport”, Hertha is said to be interested in the Italian international Federico Bernardeschi from Juventus Turin. Center forward Emmanuel Dennis from Club Bruges and the former Frankfurt Luka Jovic, who is only a reservist at Real Madrid, are also traded.
Manchester United’s Timothy Fosu-Mensah is reportedly a right-back candidate. The 374 million that Windhorst has invested in the club so far are not just a blessing when looking for new players, especially in Corona times. Potential entrants know about Hertha’s solvency and often call for unrealistic salaries.
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