Draxler made a really good pass leading up to the first goal. How was his overall performance? Also any idea how long Uchida is going to out for?
Tuchel's astute tactics at Mainz allowed his players to maximize their potential and punch above their weight. I'd love to see what he can accomplish working with top talents like Draxler, Meyer, Ayhan, and Avdijaj.
Really strange result, considering the run of play in this game. Schalke honestly seemed quite capable of winning this game, but completely capitulated in the final quarter of the game, and their own half. Boateng was sluggish, but he was making some decent tackles and breaking up play well some points. The defense on the winning goal was absolutely shocking, and I'm not sure what they've been doing in training.
I really think we just need an new outside perspective. The club needs someone to with no Schalke experience and no previous dealing with Heldt to properly evaluate the first team and design an effective strategy going forward. I doubt that type of thing will happen because it may eventually reflect bad on Heldt. I think we had more possession in every game we lost last year, except for the Bayern games. That's a problem IMO. It says we have the talent to dominate possession, but we're not using it effectively enough to penetrate the opposing defense.
If Draxler can elevate his game to another level, Schalke can make a go for second place. Draxler has so much potential.
I had a thought about this. Look at our pre-season games. Howedes didn't really have a pre-season. Neither did Kolasinac. Ayhan was all over the place, playing center mid, center back, even on the wing. Aogo was all over the place. Fuchs was primarily playing as a midfielder. Boateng played most of preseason as a #10. Choupo was playing strictly as a striker. Is it any wonder none of these guys look ready for a season? The exact same thing happened last year. It took us a while to build cohesion because we really didn't play any preseason games with anything close to a first 11 on the field.
That was the feeling I got. From my experience as a player, and judging by the amount of time they've had together, I reckon their training so far has been primarily fitness-based. The tactical training that may have received, has been at too much of a theoretical/blackboard level, and not played out on the training pitch enough.
...the identical thing was said about a man called David Moyes just over 1 year ago... (just substitute Mainz <-> Everton, and the Schalke players <-> ManU players)
But ManU had a terrible roster. They finished exactly where they should have last season. I don't think it's a good comparison at all.
Lineup changes today: Choupo-Moting as striker with Huntelaar out, Meyer back in the starting eleven, Kirchhoff and Höger as the central defensive mids. Schalke's new tunnel referencing the club's mining tradition
He's really going to need to take his chances A LOT better than he did against Hannover96. Good idea. I like it, but I hope that stone/rock is solid, and not hollow, like at some theme-parks and swimming pools.
Schalke could have gone for the lead there. Choupo-Moting got greedy and went for a tough shot from impossible angle. Meyer was left open in the middle and would have converted that. But overall a much better display in the second half.
Except Moyes used very primitive and archaic tactics to turn Everton into a firmly midtable team and it should be no shock that those same tactics did the same to united. Tuchel's actually very progressive and clever with his tactics and we've seen even Favre, the best coach in our league, pick things up from him as has the beloved Jurgen Klopp. So actually they're radically different if you look just a little bit past that one sentence...
Can someone post an injury update if they find one? Three injuries today. I'd love to know the status of Kirchoff and Ayhan.
Appears to be leg muscle problems for Kirchhoff and Ayhan. Still waiting for a full diagnosis on Kirchhoff. But nothing serious for Ayhan and should have quick recovery. KPB missed the match due to inflammation of the ankle and Huntelaar had the flu. Both are improving and should be ready for the match-up against Gladbach in two weeks. Uchida has resumed training and is also close to returning.
Keller hopes Uchida will be ready for BMG on 9/13, but Uchida himself isn't sure about the timeline. He's still doing rehab alongside regular training, at less that 100% load. Obviously no September NT callup for him. He was one of the few guys who showed up to play for Japan during the WC, so who knows if he'll step it up a gear when he returns.
This sucks, setback in Goretzka’s return as he’ll likely be out for another 2 months. Experiencing further complications on the leg muscle tear. Disappointing news and raises more questions about the medical staff. At this point, I just hope he takes the time necessary to reach a complete recovery. One of my favorite players last season, and a significant factor in the Rückrunde. Gonna need him healthy and at full strength for this campaign.
So Draxler came off injured against Argentina... Hoewedes has looked like one of the few mildly competent players for Germany.
So looks like Draxler had a pulled muscle in his right thigh. From what I've read it's nothing serious and he should be able to return to play following the international break. He has been withdrawn from the NT for now though. Sidney Sam has been called up for the Euro Qualifier match on Sunday vs Scotland.
Uchida's back! Started in a friendly today. http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga/news/2014/schalke-gewinnt-6-0-gegen-auswahlteam-fc-schalke-04.php Schalke: Wetklo (46. Wellenreuther) - Uchida (46. Fritz), Friedrich (46. Platte), Kehrer, Aogo - Neustädter (69. Itter), Höger (69. Lohmar) - Clemens, Boateng, Barnetta - Obasi Interesting that Felix Platte was involved, one of our promising forward prospects. Also Thilo Kehrer, 17 year old CB and captain of our U19 played 90 minutes. Finally, Lohmar is a starting defensive midfielder for our U19s and he was subbed in late. I don't know who Fritz is. I assume it's Moritz Fritz, from our reserve team.
http://www.bundesliga.com/en/liga/news/2014/0000301177.php Japanese international Atsuto Uchida (foot), Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (cold), homegrown midfield talent Julian Draxler (hamstring) and captain Benedikt Höwedes(international duty) took part in Tuesday's session alongside the likes of goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann (eardrum), academy products Kaan Ayhan (muscular) and Max Meyer(cold) and summer recruit Sidney Sam (international duty), who all reported for duty 24 hours earlier.
http://www.derwesten.de/sport/fussb...eller-setzt-wohl-auf-friedrich-id9814090.html Good chance that Marvin Friedrich will make his debut and be in the starting lineup tomorrow versus Gladbach. He's currently first choice for the right-back position, with Ayhan moving back into central defence.