Unintelligent Football Players Face Rejection from Their Own Supporters
Things are still spiraling down for FC Schalke 04. The shift in coaches hasn't resulted in the desired turnaround even after two matches. The team's performance against Greuther Fürth was weak for a considerable time, but there's a hint of optimism towards the end.
The gloom hasn't left Gelsenkirchen easily. It's taken residence in the Erle district, where the once-majestic FC Schalke 04 plays. It's not going anywhere soon. Each attempt to revitalize football in the area meets with the resilience of the melancholy. New coach, Kees van Wonderen, hasn't found any compelling reasons yet to make the melancholy depart. Following their loss against Hannover 96 in the debut, there was a home defeat that was stinging in its manner more than its outcome. Against Greuther Fürth, it was a 3:4 loss.
The melancholy in Gelsenkirchen isn't an alien feeling that came from far. City and its guest have shared this toxic bond for years, if not decades. And the Schalke footballers are suffering from an extreme version of this relationship. They've been living with it for a long time. An end? It doesn't seem likely. The hurt of failure has become chronic, and a cure isn't available at the moment. On Sunday, the once-mighty stand on the brink of falling into the relegation zone. The looming threat of sinking into third-tier football is once again looming.
Last season, the catastrophic outcome was avoided with an arduous effort. And as the league operation resumes, the tired bones must carry heavy loads. Unlike the elders of the city, the current generation of footballers isn't delivering much. Against Greuther Fürth, they couldn't produce anything significant for a long time. The Royal Blues were trailing 1:4, with a fragile defense and no forward strategies.
That the game turned exciting at the end was surprising. The guests were playing with a man advantage, courtesy of Felipe Sanchez's yellow-red card shortly after the break (48.). His absence from the field was mistakenly overlooked by the coach, who attributed the loss to poor defense and lackluster attack. "It was a day where anything that could go wrong, did go wrong," van Wonderen acknowledged. "We didn't defend well enough and lacked pressure in attack. Conceding four goals at home is too much."
Frustration, Disappointment, Despair
If the Gelsenkircheners were to take anything positive from the game, it's that their determination remains unbroken. Despite the struggling team's efforts to find a way forward, they scored twice more, but the injury-time goal wasn't a threat to the guests' victory.
After the final whistle, the Schalkers went to their designated stand. It's a regular occurrence in professional football. The home stand can be a place of recognition, admiration. It can provide comfort, or it can be a platform for criticism. The home stand is always a platform for exchange. But what the Gelsenkircheners experienced then was harsh. They were rebuffed by their fans, dismissed with jeers. That's the harshest form of disappointment. It's not just an outburst of anger, but also desperation.
Things couldn't get any shittier, Captain Paul Seguin lamented on Sky: "We had something else in mind. We're not performing like we deserve Schalke 04. The goals against are too cheap." The same complaint was echoed repeatedly. And the question kept resurfacing: Aren't they all aware of the precarious situation in Gelsenkirchen? Despite the long-term disappointing and disheartening performance, the new coach's words from the week earlier were still resonating: "Our motto is: We want to have a team next year that plays at the top. But our focus right now is on the present, on the game against Fürth."
Five years ago against Manchester City
The present is far from the beautiful dream many in Gelsenkirchen yearn for. It's hard to believe that this club played against Manchester City in the Champions League as recently as March 2019. Five and a half years have passed, and Ulm, Braunschweig, Münster, and Regensburg are the teams that Schalke now matches up against.
Of course, it must be mentioned that Man City was far from being on par in 2019, losing 0-7 in the return leg. The underdog Schalke managed to put a smile on the sky-blue giant's face by putting up a remarkably valiant effort. Back then, Schalke was undone by the likes of Leroy Sané, Phil Foden, and Raheem Sterling. This Saturday afternoon, Roberto Massimo with his brace, and the powerful Branimir Hrgota, were the invincible final bosses.
And the visitors from Franconia, also shaken by a coaching change, didn't have trouble scoring goals. The Gelsenkirchen team displayed an absurdly poor defensive performance once again. Massimo was allowed to score twice with minimal pressure, and Damian Michalski was also unmarked for his header goal. The Schalker goal to make it 1:2, scored by young Max Grüger, came out of nowhere.
Van Wonderen, who emphasized before the game how much the challenge intrigued him, was hit harder than anticipated by the Schalker ground. And he immediately regurgitated a cliché that has become the taboo phrase for the crisis: "The only way out of this is together. We have to fight our way out."
Despite the change in management, the struggles continue for FC Schalke 04, as demonstrated in their 3:4 loss against Greuther Fürth. The team's performance in the first half of the game was poor, trailing 1:4 with a faltering defense and lackluster attacks.
In the face of yet another disappointing result, Captain Paul Seguin expressed his frustration, stating, "We had something else in mind. We're not performing like we deserve Schalke 04. The goals against are too cheap." This sentiment was shared by many, as the fans voiced their disappointment with loud jeers following the match.
