With the release of Frank Kramer, Schalke 04 admitted an obvious mistake. It’s quite late, but still. The appointment of the coach was a mistake with announcement, which now puts the club in dire straits again. A comment.
Shortly after the promotion, Peter Knäbel explained what to look out for when looking for a new coach. The sports director emphasized that due to the emotional environment at Schalke, there was no way around a courageous, offensive style of play. This created euphoria and hope for many fans, after all the club has never offered really exciting football in recent years.
The euphoria that was fueled by the promotion, including the championship and the newly won connection to the club, was correspondingly subdued when Frank Kramer was introduced as the new head coach.
On the one hand, because as a coach he did not fit the profile described by Knäbel. On the other hand, because he was not able to record any success at his previous stations and even voices were raised that he had lost the leading players in the team comparatively quickly. So it was no surprise that Kramer started the preparation with little fan credit.
It was clear to many supporters of royal blue: With Kramer as head coach, it will not be possible to stay up in the league. You would also see the Bielefeld style of play: hardly any possession, long balls, a focus on standards in order to somehow create chances.
Now, a few months later, from the point of view of S04, one sadly has to state: It was a mistake with an announcement. It is amazing that Rouven Schröder and Knäbel are apparently surprised that they have to part with their coach so early. After all, Kramer was ordered – and Kramer was delivered.
The 50-year-old has a sympathetic demeanor and definitely doesn’t deserve some crude insults on the internet. But that by no means frees him from reasonable, albeit clear, criticism. And there has been more than enough evidence for such criticism, especially in the last few weeks, but also beyond that.
Already in the preparation for the season, in the first test games, it became apparent: The courageous, offensive approach promised in advance is not to be seen. Instead, the attempt in the summer to bring a “powerful” dual leadership of Simon Terodde and Sebastian Polter onto the pitch. The resulting result: long, high balls and very little desire to possess the ball.
This style of play has continued through the twelve competitive games to date. Of course, a climber with very little financial means cannot play the league. But this approach was not promising from the start. And even more bitter: It was exactly what was to be expected with Kramer’s appointment as a coach.
All in all, Schalke got exactly what they ordered with the coaching decision.
That makes it all the more annoying that that very decision has ensured that all euphoria has evaporated. The fans are disappointed and angry again, the players are not used and have no self-confidence on the pitch and have no structure in the game to fall back on. It is a self-made emergency that will make staying up many times more difficult.
There is also no need to talk about various other points of criticism, such as the lack of chances for players like Rodrigo Zalazar, Alex Kral or Florent Mollet. Or the almost blind trust in Polter. Or the dual leadership. Or, or, or…
It’s the overall Kramer package that was a fundamentally wrong decision – and that was announced. The misunderstanding was resolved much too late. At the latest, the empty appearance in Leverkusen should have been the final line in order to minimize further damage as much as possible. Schröder, on the other hand, stuck to his personality and gave away two more games.
This emergency, for which those responsible are responsible, could have a decisive blow for Schalke with regard to the end of the season in May. It will be extremely difficult to reverse the current trend.
In that regard, it doesn’t really matter who the successor on the coaching bench will be: by choosing Kramer and the decision to stick with Kramer for so long, the Royal Blues tied their feet together in what was already a difficult race.
This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as an error with the announcement: Schalke ordered Kramer and received Kramer.
