Of course, Schalke coach Thomas Reis also sat in front of the television on Tuesday and Wednesday and followed the progress in the Champions League, but he prefers not to claim inspirational insights for his own work: “Speaking of the Champions League in the relegation battle, that’s what I do difficult for me,” he said on Thursday with that quiet smile that often accompanies his statements and underlines his view of professional life in the Bundesliga: It’s football, it’s serious. But it’s just football. Even if Schalke 04 plays against Hertha BSC on Friday evening (8.30 p.m.) – and thus in the hot phase of the season the last meets the penultimate.
A head coach who represents one of the big popular parties in the Bundesliga at the forefront has to allow himself the comparatively relaxed attitude. Reis says that the circumstances of his unpeaceful and ugly farewell at VfL Bochum in late summer last year “hardened” him in a certain way. But it should also contribute significantly to the solid condition of the 49-year-old coach that he has not yet got to know Schalke from the abysmal side, despite being consistently placed in a relegation zone. At the moment you almost want to think: what happened to the good old Gelsenkirchen chaos club?
The Schalke professionals, who a few years ago regularly provided European Cup experiences, have rarely received as much unwavering encouragement as the following gives the current team. After a 2-0 loss at TSG Hoffenheim on Easter Sunday and a surprisingly disappointing performance, Schalke slipped back down to the bottom of the table, but the legion of blue-white fans who made the encounter in Sinsheim a home game accompanied the team into the dressing room with applause . “Maybe it would have been better if they had whistled – we should have accepted it,” said Reis. And smiles again.
So the coach had to contribute the missing boos himself: on the spot with unequivocal criticism (“underground”) and during the week with evidence via video show. The team was “self-critical”, reports the coach – “but the scenes were also clear”.
Collecting draws with resilience – that alone will no longer be enough to create the “miracle”.
The trainer refrained from interspersing current pictures from the Champions League as an instructive supplement. He is “probably not too negative” if he doesn’t express the expectation that his Schalke players will play like Manchester City, says Reis with the necessary realism. But if his players had also sat in front of the television and “looked at what makes a clean passing game”, he certainly would not have objected.
Because it will depend on the playful increase on the next matchdays if the miracle of staying in the class is to succeed. For weeks Schalke managed to string together one hard-fought draw after the next with a partisan spirit of resistance, but in the near future it will no longer be enough to avoid defeats. Schalke must win to catch up on the points account.
Reis has already announced the return of center forward Simon Terodde, 35, who was only working part-time, in the starting line-up – goals are needed! The game against Hertha is undeniably existential, but the coach sees no problem for the players in the pressure to succeed. Such an enormously important game, “it just has to make you happy,” he thinks. The stadium is of course sold out.
Unlike the popular coach, who, according to the board of directors’ guarantee, can keep his post even in the event of relegation, many players who have settled at Schalke are concerned with their personal future. Regular player Tom Krauss, 21, on loan from RB Leipzig, a declared Schalke fan since childhood, would have to return to his regular club in the event of relegation. The defender Moritz Jenz, 23, who was hired in the winter and suddenly became a folk hero, would then go back to the French club FC Lorient instead of signing the already agreed four-year contract in Gelsenkirchen.
With viable players like Krauss, Jenz and 23-year-old firebrand Rodrigo Zalazar, who also have a passion for the club, Schalke could build a side that establishes itself in the top flight. Then, despite the continued high debts, more money would be available for sport again. If, on the other hand, the path leads back to the second class, the next comprehensive personnel exchange on economical terms will take place in the summer after the radical upheavals of 2021 and 2022.
Thomas Reis is still optimistic that the disaster can be averted. After weeks of improvising because of an already dubious wave of injuries, the full squad was suddenly available to him in the days before the Hertha game. Finally competition on the training ground again, “finally making a choice – that can only help,” the trainer stated cheerfully. He seems to be really enjoying the relegation battle.
