Surprising how low folks rate Wes here. Clearly the technically worst of the 5 midfield Schalke options? Also the thinking that past performance of the team guarantees the same future result next year. Kind of like when Pulisic joined the "dumpster fire" Chelsea, they were destined to finish mid-table, oh my god what an awful situation! And the other players were so good compared to Pulisic - he won't play, let alone start. And then last fall as he was settling in the sky was absolutely falling when he was left off the roster one game (I too thought this was a bad omen). But, he did what he does and things work themselves out. Wes is Wes and he's better than we know here. The people that see him day in and day out (coaching staff) start him week in week out. He has 3rd best stats for a BL midfielder since the restart on a team that can't win. Again, I'm an optimist. Good things will come to Wes if he stays or leaves. He is a great player with BL goals, champions league goals, lock starter for mid-table BL club. What other American prior to 2018 accomplished this at his age?
Again, as I mentioned, I have no idea what of the many names thrown out are realistic. But Schalke, it appears, are not in a position to upgrade their team next season. And even at current man-power and make-up Schalke are not playing the kind of positive, possession soccer that I think would best allow a young player with Wes' considerable abilities to develop a higher-level type of game. I haven't bothered to look, for instance, at Schalke possession stats for their games this year, but my instinct is they've had many games with possession % in the low 40's, even 30's, and very, very few over 55%. That's not the kind of play where you develop calm attacking skills, where you get comfortable in possession and develop skills and vision in build-up play. Wes is very effective counter-attacking player and B2B harrier/disruptor. But there are teams out there, in the Bund and in the EPL, that have the ball much more, especially against bottom-side teams, and if Wes could go to one, I'd think that would be better for him. Does Wes have a legit option at one of those clubs? I dunno, I'm not his agent. But if he does, I don't really see the advantage to staying at a Schalke that you have told us is really tight for coin. You are free, of course, to disagree.
Average possession 49.6% for this past season (edit: just BL games, from whoscored.com). Seems pretty middle of the road to me.
And a little breakdown on possession % for Schalke's BL season, since I was curious: Losses (13 games) 45.4% (range of 21 to 71%) Note: 71% in a 0:3 loss to Augsburg! Draws (12 games) 50.8% (range of 27 to 66%) Wins (9 games) 51.9% (range of 35 to 67%) Not sure what the rest of the teams averages are. But, there is a tendency of higher possession correlating to a win, but not sure if it is statistically significant or not.
I saw part of that Ausburg game - Schalke went down 1-0 really early. Aus sat back and countered. Aus had as many, if not more, goal scoring opportunities despite possession numbers. But overall Schalke's possession numbers are better than I expected. I'm going to guess 2020 much worse than fall 19 was. Still didn't play a style that played smart possession often enough for what I think would be best for Wes, and if they're selling top talent and have already written off any kind of Europe challenge next season, does not seem like the best option for Wes; but, of course, it depends on who really wants him.
If this Schalke was a chore to watch, just imagine the almost-broke we-sold-most-of-the-better-players Schalke next season.
i mean mascarell scored 0 goals and had 1 assist in 2000+ minutes. looking at xg and xa and weston clearly has better numbers than him. at what point are westons tactical and technical deficiencies not that clear? schopfs end product wasnt great either, but still considerably better than mascarell though well short of weston. is he clearly better tactically than weston and more skilled? maybe weston just has different skills? will say as someone who watched schalke, those two guys were complete passengers most of the time and weston at least was visible.
I have found that when someone uses the word “clearly“ in a post it is usually attached to an extremely debatable statement of opinion.
I guess it's time to clarify the parameters. Wes needs to be in London or close enough to share a weekly meal with CP - ideally brunch.
For the players it is probably about the money more than PT consideration. Most of probably think they can beast out most other players for a spot.
If you watched Schalke you would know that Mascarell is a #6 and considered one of the better young tactical #6 in the BuLi. Not sure what XG or XA have to do with skill/tactically clever? Are you confusing offensive production with skill/tactically clever?
I made that statement and I rate Wes very, very high which is why I would like to keep him. Much like Jermaine Jones before him, Wes may not be our most technical CM but he may be our most important CM. He sets the tone and spirit for how the royal blue is supposed to play; relentless, spirited, with heart and soul! That is why supporters love Wes!
tactical nous and technical skill are only important insofar as they contribute to production for central midfielders. agreed mascarell is a dm and not a cm, but you originally included him in that classification.
Do they have to cover the $200M loss before the next season, or at least cover most of it with strong proof it will be re-cooped over next season? If they sell Rudy, Benteleb, and Sedar how close could they get to the $200M? I get it that the current market isn’t the same so they’ll get less. Someone posted a graphic of each player’s salary, it is kind of sad McKennie is the lowest earner out of everyone. They could be looking at keeping him as the most cost effective player if they can make up the debt elsewhere.
To be fair, this is a completely different statement than "Wes is our least technical CM of all." Personally, I regularly see Wes think of and execute passes that are simply rare to see from others in the Schalke midfield.
They did not finish the season as middle of the road, roadkill maybe. As your stats after this post showed, they might look middle of the road when you view their season in it's totality but right now they are dreadful and only getting worse next season based on the financial situation. Schalke's season was the most lopsided fall from grace I can recall. They started out on fire and looked to be legitimately making a run at a CL spot and then nosedived in spectacular fashion and I don't see how they come out of it until a few seasons from now.
this is the probs in a nutshell. They have out and out said they are not considering CL play next year. They just want to not drown. Again, I like Schalke, but if I'm an ambitious young player looking to develop "top team" veneer, I don't look at Schalke circa 20-22 as the place I have the best chance to do it. Now, will he have realistic offers from teams in better stead to be "top team" contenders in the next 2-3 years (and will he feature for them if he does)? My guess is "yes" but only time will tell.
The official party line (which I agree to a large extent) was explained by Wagner is his latest interviews. We will have those core starters back and that should make us more like the first half squad. We were very good the first half of the season (within 3 points of Bayern) when we had most of our starters available. When we lost 6 to 7 starters we were a below average squad. Serdar only had 19 starts (7Gs), Harit 24 starts (6G, 4As), Sane 13 starts, Mascarell 24 starts, Stambouli 9, Nastasic 15, Burgstaller 13, Uth 4.
It is an operating loss so it is mostly accounting and somewhat COVID related. We have a 62K+ stadium which is always filled and the loss from those empty seats did not help. The state has agreed to kick in 45MM so already working on the deficit...