Miron Muslic: Play with aggression and at a high intensity from the first second

“It’s an important game for the team and for the fans as well,” said Muslic. “I want the lads to be aggressive without the ball and play at a high intensity from the very first second. We need to make life as difficult as possible for Bochum with a courageous performance.”

The effect the supporters at the VELTINS-Arena can have on a game was on full show in the opening match of the season against Hertha BSC. “We could sense the positive energy and spirit around the place against the Berliners and noticed how our passion on the pitch can help to fire the fans up – and vice versa. We gain more energy from the support of the fans,” explained Muslic.

Aiming to defeat a strong opponent

The fact that this weekend’s opponents played Bundesliga football last season doesn’t change the fact that Muslic and his team want all three points on Saturday night. “Bochum have a lot of individual quality and my opposite number, Dieter Hecking, is one of the most experienced coaches in Germany. They’re hoping to finish near the top of the table and have put together a squad capable of doing just that. Nonetheless, we want to get the better of them this weekend.”

Both teams are level on points after the opening two matchdays, having each won once and lost once. The two sides both also progressed to the second round of the DFB-Pokal last weekend. “Bochum had a difficult opening game (4-1 defeat in Darmstadt), but then played well and dominated Elversberg (2-0 home win). They could have won their Pokal game a lot more comfortably too. BFC Dynamo couldn’t have had any complaints if VfL had been 2-0 up after 20 minutes,” commented Muslic. In the end, VfL, like S04, were forced to play another 30 minutes and eventually won 3-1 after two goals in extra time.

Muslic has used training this week to continue to work on the team’s basic principles and has been happy with the way the sessions have gone. “We’re on the right track,” added the head coach, revealing that one of his priorities since taking over as Schalke boss has been to work on the team’s defence. “Defensive stability is the foundation for success, and it’s something the club hasn’t always had in recent times.” The 42-year-old believes it’s now difficult to score a goal against his team, with the Royal Blues keeping a clean sheet in the DFB-Pokal last time out and only conceding from a penalty in Kaiserslautern.

“The next step for us is to develop clear and specific attacking patterns of play. We know we have room for improvement in this regard,” he admitted, while also pointing out that captain Kenan Karaman, a key attacker, missed the whole of pre-season. Emil Højlund and Bryan Lasme, the match-winner in the DFB-Pokal game at 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig last time out, also missed several training sessions and friendlies at the start of Muslic’s tenure due to respective injury problems. As a result, the S04 coach believes it’s understandable that his attackers are not yet fully in sync with one another.

Schallenberg available again

All three of those players, as well as Loris Karius, are available to play VfL Bochum. Schalke’s number 1 will return in goal on Saturday after Justin Heekeren played against Lok Leipzig, his reward for some strong performances in training.

Ron Schallenberg is also set to return to the starting XI after missing the game in Leipzig due to a thigh issue. “We made sure to rest Ron to ensure he’d recover as quickly as possible,” explained Muslic. Everyone that featured in Leipzig, including those who came away from the game with a slight knock, has been given the all-clear by the medical team. That means the coach will only be without the injured trio of Tomas Kalas, Peter Remmert and Zaid Tchibara, giving him plenty of options for his matchday 3 squad.