Schalke Seeing Green-White At Every Turn

First Team
Friday, 11.01.2008 / 16:56

There seems to be just no avoiding Werder Bremen for Schalke 04 at the moment. After the 1:1 draw on match day 11 at the Veltins-Arena, there was a month of peace for the ‘Royal-Blues’ before the amusing, if not embarrassing, advent calendar error.

There seems to be just no avoiding Werder Bremen for Schalke 04 at the moment. After the 1:1 draw on match day 11 at the Veltins-Arena, there was a month of peace for the ‘Royal-Blues’ before the amusing, if not embarrassing, advent calendar error. A printing error by the Italian production company responsible for the calendars led to Diego, Borowski & Co. greeting some rather unimpressed Schalke fans during the holiday period. Behind every Schalke door was a Green-White shirt!!! With Christmas just behind them, Schalke are now faced by the Bremen club again right at the start of the New Year. On Saturday, 12.01.2008, at 6:05pm cet, the pair will clash in what is to be the ‘Final’ of the Victoria-Cup in Kundu, Turkey (live on DSF).

 

Gathering points – one-by-one

 

Schalke made their trip to Antalya on the back of five successive match days in the Bundesliga without defeat. The Gelsenkirchen side made a very positive start to the season going nine games without a loss before their luck ran out and they suffered a 2:0 defeat in front of their own fans to newly promoted Karlsruhe SC. Schalke were to have to wait a further four games before they could again notch up a win – a run which included their 1:1 draw with Werder and a bitter 0:1 against Energie Cottbus. Ten points from their last four games has seen trainer Mirko Slomka’s side bounce back and secure fifth spot before the winter break. But no one at the club can really consider that satisfying. After last season’s close call in the race for the championship, a UEFA Cup spot would be clearly too little for a club weighed down with the burden of great expectations. The plan for the second half of the season will have to be to avoid so many drawn games. Just two defeats looks good on paper but when the statistics also show a total of eight draws in the first half of the season then there is certainly room for improvement – last season Schalke played out just five draws in total.

 

In contrary to their less than impressive Bundesliga record for the first half of the 2007/2008 season, the ‘Knappen’, as their fans know them, have had more success on the European stage. Slomka’s men are the only German side to have made the last sixteen of the Champions League, and that was no easy task considering the challenges of a group containing Chelsea, Valencia and Trondheim. Schalke only managed to score five goals in their four games but conceded just four with their 3:1 win in the final group game against Trondheim proving vital. S04 are also still involved in the DFB Cup after wins against Eintracht Trier and Hanover 96.

 

Two new signings can`t over-shadow injury headache

 

The clash between Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 will be one between two equally ambitious sides. The ‘Royal-Blues’ began 2008 with a 3:1 win over SC Freiburg. In the second half of that game, new signing Zé Roberto ( from Botafogo Rio de Janeiro) made his debut for Schalke but their other prominent new man, Albert Streit (signed from Eintracht Frankfurt) is still recovering after a meniscus operation and he will have to wait patiently for his first outing in ‘Royal-Blue’. S04 have had to come to terms with the departure of experienced full-back Dario Rodriguez during the winter break. The Uruguayan international cited personal reasons for his return to his homeland. Mimoun Azouagh also bid Gelsenkirchen farewell before Christmas, signing for Bundesliga opponents VfL Bochum. Against Werder, Schalke will also have to make do without German internationals Kevin Kuranyi (lung infection) and Christian Pander (knee injury) as well as Matthias Abel ( cruciate ligament tear).

 

Comparable preparation planning, comparable personnel difficulties and comparable ambitions!! The tie between Werder Bremen and Schalke could be an indicator for both sides as they ready themselves for a tough second half of the season – could be!!!

 

John Muldoon

 

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