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Kees van Wonderen: Bring that same energy
The Royal Blues are away at 1. FC Kaiserslautern this Sunday (27/04) at 13:30 CEST. The Red Devils may have had a change at the helm this week, but the seventh-placed side are still in the running for promotion. FC Schalke 04 head coach Kees van Wonderen spoke at his press conference about the challenge that awaits his side at the Betzenberg.
Character and fighting spirit, two attributes that S04 showed in their 2-2 home draw with Hamburger SV last time out – and that’s exactly what the boss wants to see again in the trip to Kaiserslautern. His side had to play almost the full 90 minutes a man down after Kenan Karaman’s early red card. “We need to bring that same energy and that ambition that we had with ten men into our four remaining games,” said van Wonderen. “We need to keep fighting for each other and for our goals.”
We’re looking forward to a good atmosphere there and a real battle with a side who are fighting for third place.
Those remaining matches will certainly provide a challenge, with the Knappen set to face all four sides between fourth and seventh. FCK are currently three points adrift of the promotion play-off spot and can still dream of the top flight, in spite of their poor form that has seen them win just one of their last six games. A recent run of three straight defeats against 1. FC Magdeburg (2-0), 1. FC Nürnberg (2-1) and Eintracht Braunschweig (2-0) has seen Markus Anfang replaced at the helm by Torsten Lieberknecht. The new head coach, who once donned the Red Devils’ colours and has previously led SV Darmstadt 98 to Bundesliga promotion, is now tasked with turning their fortunes around and securing third place.
New coach, same team
Van Wonderen doesn’t feel like his match preparations have been heavily affected by the change in coach: “They may have a new head coach, but the team and they qualities they have are the same. We’re well prepared for that and know what to expect,” explained the Dutchman. “We’re looking forward to a good atmosphere there and a real battle with a side who are fighting for third place. We’re expecting it to be a high-intensity clash.”
A solution in mind
Kenan Karaman will definitely not be part of the action, having been handed a two-match suspension for his red card against HSV. Ilyes Hamache also isn’t an option for the squad. Christophe Antwi-Adjei, who missed out last weekend, has trained well this week though. With a couple of days still to go until the match, Kees van Wonderen is keeping his options open as to who could replace the S04 captain up front: “We have a number of possibilities and I have a solution in mind. We will see on Sunday whether it bears fruit.”
The Hamburg game saw striker Emil Højlund get his first minutes of 2025, coming on in the closing stages for fellow striker Moussa Sylla. After a long period on the sidelines and just seven appearances this season, Schalke’s head coach is hoping there are better times ahead for the Dane: “Emil has huge potential to develop. A lot of people are hoping to see that and he expects it from himself too,” said van Wonderen. “I just hope that he can now stay fit and get a lot of game time to continue that development.”
