Kees van Wonderen: Find the right gaps at the right time

Six of Hannover’s eight matches under new head coach André Breitenreiter have ended in a draw.  Breitenreiter, who took over from Stefan Leitl in early January, has overseen two victories so far, while his side are still yet to lose this year.

“We’re up against a well-structured team who have the best defensive record in the league at the minute, with just 25 goals conceded. They don’t give up many chances. Our task will be to find the right gaps at the right time,” said Kees van Wonderen, who made his debut as Schalke head coach when these sides met earlier this season. The match on 19th October 2024 ended in a 1-0 win for the hosts from Hanover.

A win on Friday night would mark Schalke’s third straight victory (having beaten Preußen Münster and Hertha BSC in recent weeks), in addition to adding to their strong record on home soil in this fixture. The Royal Blues have won eight of their last nine home games against Hannover in all competitions, in addition to drawing once during this period. “Three points are what we’re aiming for,” said van Wonderen, who will once again be counting on the strong support from the stands. “The support from our fans has been incredible over the last weeks and months. We had 25,000 Schalke fans accompany us to Berlin recently, which was incredible,” he enthused.

The team are still aiming on reaching the 40-point mark as soon as possible this season. “We’re athletes and obviously want to win every game in order to climb our way up the table,” the head coach explained. This is not only important for the team’s development but also for the club, with the final standings determining the allocation of the league’s broadcast revenues.

Bulut and Kalas still a doubt

As such, van Wonderen is expecting his side to fight hard for every possible point. The Royal Blues will also be looking to select their strongest possible teams for all of their remaining matches. Hannover count five former Schalke players in their ranks currently in Brooklyn Ezeh, Fabian Kunze, Phil Neumann, Rabbi Matondo and Boris Tomiak, Head coach Breitenreiter also spent time in Gelsenkirchen, coaching the club during the 2015/16 season. However, van Wonderen was unwilling to reveal what his starting line-up would be for tomorrow’s clash.

Both Taylan Bulut and Tomas Kalas are still a doubt. “Both were managing their workloads this past week. They’re not entirely pain-free yet,” the head coach said, adding that he would have to wait until after the team’s remaining training sessions to make a decision. Ron Schallenberg, who was sidelined by a calf injury recently, has been able to return to team training.

“We have several options available at several positions,” van Wonderen shared. As a result, some players could be in action with the U23s this weekend in order to see more match practice. The club’s reserves will be in action against MSV Duisburg an hour after kick-off in the first team’s clash against Hannover 96.

Van Wonderen remains without Ilyes Hamache (Achilles tendon), Emil Højlund (thigh), Moussa Sylla (muscle strain) and Zaid Tchibara (ACL).