Miron Muslic: We know what Hertha are capable of

There’s not long to go now until competitive football is back auf Schalke. New head coach Miron Muslic has overseen six weeks of pre-season, which has included plenty of training sessions in Gelsenkirchen, a training camp in Stubaital, eight friendlies and last weekend’s Schalke Day and final game against Sevilla. “We’re all looking forward to Friday. We’re ready,” said Muslic.

The coach looked back on the past six weeks: “We used the time to start the journey we want to go on together. We’ve taken a number of big steps in the right direction in a number of areas.” A big part of the work done in pre-season was implementing his new style of play, as well as ensuring the defence is more solid. “The lads have taken our ideas on board and try their best every day to implement them. We have made clear improvements, as was evidenced in the three games against Panathinaikos, St. Gallen and FC Twente where we didn’t concede a single goal.” Nevertheless, the 42-year-old still feels his team can improve in certain regards: “The next steps in our journey will be improving our attacking patterns and developing connections. We’re definitely on the right track and are as good as we can be after six weeks.”

Schalke’s opponents on the opening night, Hertha BSC, are a club hoping to win promotion to the Bundesliga this season. “They have strengthened their squad and have a clear spine within their team with some top players. Coach Stefan Leitl’s style of play is clear to see.” Muslic isn’t looking to focus too much on the Berliners going into Friday evening: “We know what they’re capable of and have thoroughly analysed their game. Our mindset, however, is to perform to the best of our ability and to start the season with a win at home.”

Muslic almost has his full squad available to him for the opening matchday. Janik Bachmann and captain Kenan Karaman returned to full training at the start of week. The fixture against Hertha will come too soon for Hasan Kurucay, who only signed for the Royal Blues on Tuesday (29/7). Defenders Vitalie Becker and Mertcan Ayhan are both fit to play after being rested for the final friendly against Sevilla. “Giving them a break was definitely the right decision. They both had a great pre-season but aren’t used to that intensity over an extended period of time,” explained Muslic.

Friday night will be a special evening for Timo Becker. The defender returned to the Knappen over the summer from Holstein Kiel and will start against Hertha. “We want him to be a part of the new spine of our team. This spine will then be able take on responsibility,” commented the coach. “Timo bleeds Royal Blue but also puts in performances and is a smart leader. He’s desperate for the season to start, we all are.”

The Hertha game will be Muslic’s first competitive match in charge of Schalke at a sold-out VELTINS-Arena, which he’s unsurprisingly looking forward to: “Schalke Day and the friendly against Sevilla was a fantastic experience and I enjoyed every second of it. However, a lot of people have told me that it was just the warm-up for the first league game against Hertha. We’re all excited to experience the atmosphere in the ground on Friday night!”