Die Knappen! Schalke 04 07/08 thread (part 4) [R]

[Schwalker]

Outstanding so far. He's already considered a leader, took control of the midfield from his first appearance on the pitch. Best debut at Schalke I can remember.
And as far as I noticed anyone is enthusiastic about him. He probably will increase jersey sells as well.

I agree...A mature player and a natural leader, as opposed to some younger players with inflated egos we also got :rolleyes:

[johan neeskens]

Outstanding so far. He's already considered a leader, took control of the midfield from his first appearance on the pitch. Best debut at Schalke I can remember.
And as far as I noticed anyone is enthusiastic about him. He probably will increase jersey sells as well.

Great, I'm so pleased for him! And for Schalke of course. We could end up playing each other in the third CL qualifying round btw as you're seeded and Twente aren't.

[Schwalker]

Great, I'm so pleased for him! And for Schalke of course. We could end up playing each other in the third CL qualifying round btw as you're seeded and Twente aren't.


That´s not a draw I´d like...:o

Apart from the friendship between our hardcore fans, the closeness between Enschede and the Rührpott, the uncertainty of the outcome and the small stadium available in Enschede I prefer some minor, very minor club...:D

[logout]

We could end up playing each other in the third CL qualifying round btw as you're seeded and Twente aren't.

That would be a worst case scenario for me. Maybe for Rutten and Engelaar too.

[johan neeskens]

That´s not a draw I´d like...:o

Apart from the friendship between our hardcore fans, the closeness between Enschede and the Rührpott, the uncertainty of the outcome and the small stadium available in Enschede I prefer some minor, very minor club...:D

We're playing our home game in Arnhem as construction of the stadium expansion is ongoing (it won't be so small anymore in two months time with a capacity of 24,000). Arnhem is even closer to Gelsenkirchen than Enschede is!

I wouldn't like the draw much either but considering the short time to plan travel for the away game (should we get to play away first), drawing a club that's located within driving distance isn't so bad.

[aloisius]

schalke draw the strongest unseeded team, atletico madrid.

this is will be tough to say the least.

certainly a very exciting way to start a season , though

[logout]

schalke draw the strongest unseeded team, atletico madrid.

It's frustrating. Bad luck with the opponent and first game at home again. Twente is unlucky too, I guess. At least a club within swimming distance..

[natenate101]

Good luck vs. Atletico, they are a fairly strong squad but are very inconsistent with their performances...and their defense is always shaky! They've added Heitinga and Ufjalusi, but you can still catch them out. I'd say you've got a good chance, maybe 50-50.

[ForeverRed]

Ouch, sorry for the bad luck.

Aletico's weakness for a while has been their defense but they've improved that A LOT by signing Heitinga and Ujfalusi and everyone knows about their firing power so it'll be hard to say the least.

Best of luck.

[sting-ray]

i really think heitinga is overrated.. not worth more than 5 mio

[ForeverRed]

i really think heitinga is overrated.. not worth more than 5 mio

Almost no player is worth their market price nowadays. I understand why you might think Heitinga is overrated, he has had severe drops in forms while at Ajax but he is very versatile and when in form and on top of his game he is a quality player. Perhaps a move to Spain is exactly what was needed to get there. Plus, he is still only 24.

[Fleischmütze]

Hello Forum, my first post

In my opinion Schalke is favourite. They have 2 weeks advance in the preparation of the season and the most important player of Madrid is in Beijing (Agüero). Rafinha is absent too, but he is not that important player as Agüero.

Allthough Madrid invested a lot in the last few years I think Schalke is underestimated by many fans. They have a strong team and had always top placements in the last seasons and reached the quarter finals of the champions league this year.

They lost no single player and made two super trades with Farfan and Engelaar. These two players give Schalke more quality than last year and there is an atmosphere of departure in the club with the dutch Coach of the Year Fred Rutten.

Valencia and Porto were beaten by Schalke last season and Atletico isn't stronger for sure.
But Schalke is stronger than last season :D

Schalke - Atletico 2:0
Atletico - Schalke 2:1

[Fleischmütze]

I just hope that Schober or the third keeper will be an effective ersatz for Neuer.

[Schwalker]

I just hope that Schober or the third keeper will be an effective ersatz for Neuer.

Schober almost gave me an heartattack yesterday when he gifted Aachen the ball inside the box, the poor Aachen guy was so perplexed that he lost his balance and missed..:D


Welcome to the forum btw..always nice with a new poster!

[sting-ray]

Almost no player is worth their market price nowadays. I understand why you might think Heitinga is overrated, he has had severe drops in forms while at Ajax but he is very versatile and when in form and on top of his game he is a quality player. Perhaps a move to Spain is exactly what was needed to get there. Plus, he is still only 24.

what you say is true... the spanish league is very different than holland ;)

[johan neeskens]

Bad luck with the draw people. Could've been even worse though (see Twente). Anyway here's hoping to you advancing.

[johan neeskens]

what you say is true... the spanish league is very different than holland ;)

Yes, Real Madrid's budget alone is bigger than the combined budget of all eredivisie clubs, for starters.

[Dead Fingers]

New Season thread
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=727370