Timothée Kolodziejczak is currently allowed to appear and present himself at Schalke 04 as a guest player without a contract. In the best case, the central defender applies for a squad place. The first interim conclusion of the coach and sports director is positive.
Earlier this week, Schalke decided to give Timothée Kolodziejczak the chance to appear as a guest player. The 31-year-old, who was already active in the Bundesliga for Borussia Mönchengladbach (spring to summer 2017), has been without a contract since the summer.
This possibility is based on the current bottleneck in central defence. The injuries to Sepp van den Berg and Marcin Kaminski, coupled with the termination of Marius Lode’s contract in the summer and the sale of Malick Thiaw, leave only Leo Greiml and Maya Yoshida as skilled players in the center of defence. Youngster Ibrahima Cissé is also not available at the moment.
Accordingly, there was a certain focus on Kolodziejczak these days. Whether he can recommend himself so much that he might even be accepted into the team?
The first interim conclusion by Frank Kramer and Rouven Schröder is at least positive.
When asked about the previous impression on Thursday, the coach explained (via WAZ): “We have a bottleneck in the position. There weren’t a lot of units, but he makes a serious entry.”
The sports director did not want to look ahead to the next few weeks either, but he was satisfied: “You can tell that he has a certain amount of experience. But we will continue to test it in peace. We have to be sure if we get something else want.”
In particular, the switch to the back three, which is now being focused on, brings the central defender issue further onto the agenda. Kramer has to do a little tinkering on this match day to get them on the pitch: Alex Kral or Cedric Brunner, one of the two will leave his usual role and take over the position.
This article was originally published on 90min.com as Kramer praises guest player Kolodziejczak: “Makes a serious return”.
