The defeat against Darmstadt 98 has set Schalke back further. Coach Dimitrios Grammozis gets backing – and has a difficult international break ahead of him.
Rodrigo Zalazar sat off the substitutes’ bench holding his jersey in front of his face, some S04 staff had to console the 22-year-old. The third defeat in a must-win game has left its mark on Schalke, the trend that was so positive just a fortnight ago has reversed since the 3-0 win against Dynamo Dresden.
The 2:4 against Darmstadt 98 on Sunday was the next setback after the cup elimination at the third-division team 1860 Munich and the late 0:1 defeat in the fog of Heidenheim, and it again clearly showed weaknesses: Schalke struggled with the ball after a pressure-filled initial phase, was sluggish in the build-up to the game and had far too little movement and tempo, the outsides and the top players hung in the air for the most part because of it.
And defensively, there was a lack of grip, aggression and consistency in many scenes, the guests had far too much space and received too little resistance in the direct duels. Three of Darmstadt’s goals came directly after serious ball losses in their own build-up, Danny Latza for the 1:2, Mehmet Aydin for the 1:3 and Victor Palsson for the 2:4. The rest of the defence was not only not right in these scenes.
First whistle at the break after “many mistakes “
“The game started well from our point of view with the 1:0. After that, however, we didn’t make some good decisions on the pitch,” coach Grammozis analysed afterwards and spoke of a “day to forget”. Sports director Rouven Schröder criticised the team for making “far too many mistakes”.
Peter Knäbel was in the same vein. “The performance against Darmstadt was disappointing overall. This performance is not enough to win games in the 2nd Bundesliga, that must be clear to everyone “, said the Schalke board member for sport and communication.
Already at the break, the Schalke players were sent off to the dressing room with restrained but audible whistles, and the hosts’ play only improved to some extent in the second half. Now, of course, the critical voices that had been silenced for a short time after an interim winning streak are being heard again.
Grammozis is not up for debate
Sports director Schröder’s backing for the coach came posthaste after the final whistle (“The coach is not up for debate”)and suggests that there are no internal discussions about his position in this respect, at least in the short term.
Nevertheless, Grammozis is facing seminal weeks ahead. “It’s not nice to go into an international break with such a result,” he says himself. The exchange with the sporting management remains intensive: “We talk a lot with each other and analyse the situation, we will do that again this time.”
In Saturday’s top match in a little less than two weeks’ time, Schalke now travel to fellow relegated side Werder Bremen, three places and three points behind the Knappen. “We now have two weeks to prepare as best we can for a difficult away game in Bremen,” Knäbel said. “We have to use this time carefully to eliminate mistakes and get a breath of fresh air into our game. Players, coaching team and staff, everyone together is needed. “
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, SV Sandhausen and direct rivals St. Pauli, 1. FC Nürnberg and Hamburger SV await. In view of the very close situation in the standings, these will be decisive games for Schalke’s prospects – and probably also those of Grammozis.