Dimitrios Grammozis has already been counted out by many a Schalke fan – but sporting director Rouven Schröder strengthened his coach after the 2:4 against Darmstadt
“Tausend Freunde, die zusammensteh’n”, sang the Schalke fans, explicitly praised by Schröder, as always before kick-off. After the final whistle, the sporting director himself insisted on this on the “Sky” microphone: “We will stand together.
This slogan was, of course, directed at coach Dimitrios Grammozis, whose team once again failed to come up with any really sparkling ideas against the sometimes irresistible, sometimes ice-cold Darmstadt team in possession of the ball.
Grammozis explains the glaring mistakes
However, Schröder, who saw two Schalke goals, believes that the home game – Schalke’s third defeat in a row in the competition – was lost in a different way: “The game showed that with fewer mistakes we could have won it for ourselves,” thought the 46-year-old, who, like his coach, criticised the glaring “mistakes in the build-up to the game”.
Grammozis explained them as follows: “We lost our way in the opening. We kept the ball too much in our own half and wanted to force it too much. Today we played more with our heart”, said the coach, whose club needs a “good performance” (Schröder) after the international break against Bremen.
Specially in one point Schalke’s sports director made a rather credible impression. Schröder was asked if there was already the infamous coach discussion. His unequivocal answer: “No. “