Only a few months ago the future looked promising for Schalke 04.
The German club strengthened its roster with the signings of Adam Szalai, Felipe Santana, and Leon Goretzka, while midfielder Julian Draxler opted to extend his contract despite interests from teams in La Liga and the Premier League.
But three games into the Bundesliga season, Schalke has collected a single point, conceded a startling nine goals and scored only four.
"Schalke didn’t expect one point in three games," said coach Jens Keller after the loss to Hannover 96 this past weekend.
While it’s still early into the season and Schalke can easily turn its fortunes around, the pressure on Keller is mounting.
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Of course, injuries are partly to blame for Schalke 04’s poor start, but that still that doesn’t excuse the current squad from underachieving and committing uncharacteristic errors.
"When one or the other always sleeps for a second, it becomes difficult to defend. The task has to do with responsibility and concentration," said Keller after an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Wolfsburg on Aug. 17.
Last week, die Koenigsblauen drew 1-1 at home against Greek side PAOK Salonika in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier playoff match.
Many thought the German side would come away with a comfortable win, but it was far from easy and only highlighted the team’s ongoing problems: their inability to defend, play a full 90 minutes, string together decent attacks, close games out, and lapses in concentration.
But as telling as the match was, it was really only an extension of their domestic performances.
Schalke started the Bundesliga campaign on the wrong footing. After a disappointing draw against Hamburg to open the season, Keller decided to make two noticeable changes to the line-up. Unhappy with Roman Neustaedter and Joel Matip, he opted to go with Santana and Marco Hoeger, hoping for a stronger defensive display. But the results weren’t any better and Wolfsburg ended up hammering the Ruhr club.
Following the loss, team official Horst Heldt and Keller organized a meeting, which one regional newspaper in Germany even referred to as a Krisensitzung (crisis meeting). Keller showed the team video footage as well as replays of mistakes they had made during the match.
The brief conference was supposed to help Schalke learn from the Wolfsburg defeat and focus on the upcoming PAOK match. But it didn’t prove too effective. While admittedly they played far better in the playoff match, frailties continued to show and the team conceded a goal late in the second half. Benedikt Hoewedes had one of the best chances in the final ten minutes to finish the game, but failed to convert, and Schalke settled for a draw.
Fingers are already pointing at Keller, whose coaching has come into question. Keller, of course, barely has any Bundesliga experience aside from a two-month stint at Stuttgart back in 2010, and as an assistant coach the year before.
Many were actually shocked when the club hired the former Schalke 04 U-17 coach in the first place, after sacking Huub Stevens in December. Even then, many reckoned he was only going to be a temporary replacement, as the club was constantly being linked to FSV Mainz 05’s Thomas Tuchel.
It’s important to remember, though, that Keller did lead the team to a fourth place finish last season. He should also be applauded for giving young players opportunities and including them in the starting 11.
Besides, no team is immune from injuries and certainly Schalke has been hit with more than its fair share lately. On top of Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Chinedu Obasi, they also lost their most prolific goal scorer in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He missed the first leg of the qualifier and will remain out for at least a month. That places more pressure on the likes of Jefferson Farfan, Draxler and Adam Szalai.
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The recent spell of injuries may also explain the club’s reluctance to sell Teemu Pukki, who has been linked to Celtic. Another transfer rumour, if true, involves Arsenal’s Lukas Podolski. It may not sound as farfetched, considering that after the loss of loanee Michel Bastos, who played on the left side, Schalke’s has looked less convincing on the wing. While Christian Clemens currently plays in that position, Schalke may be looking for someone more experienced.
In all fairness, it’s always difficult to decipher the exact reasons for Schalke’s current mess. From the periphery, one can only speculate about the internal problems at the club. Most observations are reduced to what transpires on the pitch.
Aside from the coaching situation, there has also been a lack of leadership. Perhaps certain veteran players such as Jermaine Jones, Farfan and even Timo Hildebrand could do more to provide a sense of relief to younger players when challenges arise. It’s safe to say that since Raul’s departure, that sort of leadership and stabilizing force has been missing from the team.
Regardless, what Schalke urgently needs right now is less drama and more wins.
Alima Hotakie is a Toronto-based writer. Follow her on Twitter.