Jakob Fimpel: Need to bring our qualities from training to the pitch

Fimpel was in the dugout for last weekend’s 2-0 loss in Düsseldorf, and wasn’t satisfied with what he witnessed from his side. “We’ve analysed our performance. The only thing that matters is that we manage to bring the intensity and quality from our training sessions this past week into Sunday’s game against Elversberg – we have to show a different side to ourselves,” Fimpel said during the pre-match press conference. The Royal Blues will face a tough challenge this weekend, as Elversberg are amongst the top three sides in the division in terms of ground covered, sprints and intensive runs.

The visitors still have plenty to play for on the final day of the season. Head coach Horst Steffen’s side are currently in third place and in the relegation play-off spot, while they sit three points behind 1. FC Köln. Should the Billy Goats lose, a win would be enough for Elversberg to even finish inside the top two due to their superior goal difference. The race for the play-off spot remains tight, however, with SC Paderborn level on points with Elversberg in fourth and Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Kaiserslautern not far off either (both on 53 points).

As a result, Fimpel is able to draw comparisons to the situation leading into last weekend’s game against Fortuna. “It was also like a final for Düsseldorf and we barely saw any of the ball in the opening stages. We cannot allow that to happen again this time,” he said. The interim head coach is choosing to focus on what his side can accomplish on the pitch, rather than the success of their opponents. “We can definitely praise Elversberg for their success this season, but for me, the priority is to see my players put in a far better performance than last time.”

The visitors will be able to take plenty of confidence with them into the game, as they are currently riding a seven-match unbeaten run. Their last defeat in the league dates back to 15th March (1-0 vs. Preußen Münster), which is also their only loss from their last 14 matches. Elversberg have been able to take points off some of the league’s top teams this season, such as Hamburger SV (0-0), Fortuna Düsseldorf (1-1) and SC Paderborn (1-1), celebrating important victories along the way such as the ones against SSV Jahn Regensburg (6-0), Hannover 96 (3-1), 1. FC Nürnberg (3-1) and Eintracht Braunschweig (3-0).

Fimpel will be without several players this weekend once again. Janik Bachmann, Tomas Kalas and Paul Seguin will all miss the match against Elversberg, as will Emil Højlund (illness). Defender Tidiane Touré also picked up an injury during training on Friday and will also miss Sunday’s match as a result. “I feel bad for him on a personal level, and we now need to wait until an official diagnosis is made,” Fimpel explained. Due to the number of injured players, Yassin Ben Balla and Pierre-Michel Lasogga from the club’s U23s will be included in the matchday squad. “Both are able to provide a different sort of input with their level of experience than any younger alternatives,” the head coach said.

Official farewells ahead of kick off

FC Schalke 04 will also bid farewell to seven players ahead of kick off and thank them for their efforts for the club over the last years. Mehmet Can Aydin, Marcin Kaminski, Tobias Mohr, Michael Langer, Ralf Fährmann, Dominick Drexler and Aymen Barkok will all depart the club after their contracts are set to expire at the end of the season. CEO Matthias Tillmann and director of professional football Youri Mulder will present each player with a goodbye gift before the warm up gets underway.