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The numbers are simply staggering: FC Schalke 04 have not won a Bundesliga match since 17 January (2-0 against Gladbach). Since then there have been eleven applause and six draws with a negative goal difference of 7:46.
David Wagner and Schalke have gone 17 games without winning. Only two coaches, Bernd Hoss (Blau-Weiß Berlin / 21 matches) and Ludwig Schmidt (Tasmania Berlin / 20), were able to lose more time with a consecutive club in Bundesliga history.
The question many fans are asking after the historic 0: 8 applause in Munich (biggest loss in 50 years): How much time can Wagner lose? (SPORT1-News from 7.30 pm LIVE on TV and STREAM)
Pressure grows on Wagner and Schneider
night SPORT1-Information, the Pott-Klub could pull the cord at the weekend (Bundesliga: FC Schalke 04 – Werder Bremen, Saturday from 6.30 pm on LIVETICKER). The club leaders expect a clear reaction. The 48-year-old would not survive another major defeat. In any case, Wagner doesn’t have much credit at Schalke anymore. Sports director Jochen Schneider remained faithful to his coach until the end, but the pressure on him gradually increased.
The number of people at the club who view Wagner critically has risen again following the debacle of Bayern’s triple winner. Squad planner Michael Reschke and parts of the eleven-member supervisory board no longer really believe in a reversal with Wagner.
Most of all, they were shocked at the way they were defeated. The team was slaughtered defenseless and the coach only looked at him helplessly from the outside, that is the tenor of many club leaders.
Wagner said after the applause: “It was too naive that we wanted to continue playing after the fourth or fifth goal.” Not a few in the club believe that this is exactly what the coach is responsible for. For many, it is also questionable why Wagner again exchanged forwards in the 65th minute with Benito Raman for Rabbi Matondo and in the 79th minute with Steven Skrzybski for Goncalo Paciencia.
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Schalke disappointed by Bayern gossip
Schneider, who brought Wagner in May 2019, recently emphasized on SPORT1-Interview you want to stay calm even if you lose your opening game. When asked if he was concerned about possible calls for the coach’s removal in case of bankruptcy, the Swabian replied: “No, I don’t have that. What matters is how we work and how we play.
But it was precisely the “how” in the 8-0 loss to Bayern that left many Schalke players disappointed.
the image-Zeitung wrote Monday that at the insistence of the supervisory board, Schneider was “strongly recommended” to contact potential free coach candidates like Sandro Schwarz. This matches the information from SPORT1.
The selection of German coaches with no S04 experience is limited. In addition to Schwarz, Daniel Stendel (most recently Midlothian), Maik Walpurgis (most recently Dresden), Tim Walter (most recently Stuttgart), Alexander Zorniger (most recently Bröndby) and Bernd Hollerbach (Mouscron) are currently on the market.
That is why the name Marc Wilmots has already been mentioned within the association for a possible interim solution. The 51-year-old former Schalke professional was Iran’s national coach until December 2019.
Black in conversation as his successor
Back to black. Explosive: The ex-Mainz was recently again and again a candidate for Schalke’s rival Bremen on Saturday as a possible successor to Florian Kohfeldt.
Black and Schalke? That might fit. Schneider has been following the 41-year-old’s work for a long time and wanted to bring him to RB Salzburg in his role as Coordinator Sport Global Soccer at Red Bull. But Schwarz refused at the time.
On Saturday Wagner enters a kind of final with Schalke. “We have to shake ourselves now and show the reaction against Bremen that we expect from ourselves,” the manager said.
And Schneider also increased the pressure. Given his circumstances, the sporting director said with an unusually aggressive response: “I expect a significant increase in performance against Bremen, which is also reflected in the result.”
For Wagner this means: win or fly!
