Kenan Karaman: The defeat is tough to take, but won’t throw us off course

“I thought we reacted well as a team after the Pokal loss in Darmstadt,” said the Royal Blues’ captain. “It was a good away performance for long periods and we hardly allowed the opponents any chances. We pressed well from the front and forced Karlsruhe into playing a lot of long balls.”

However, there were two moments in particular when the team were not fully alert. “We didn’t defend well enough for the two goals we conceded, which were both from set-piece situations. We can’t let that happen,” added Karaman. The team were forced to experience first-hand how a game can swing the other way even if you take the lead. This was something that had not happened to the Royal Blues in any of their previous ten league games this season.

It was Karaman himself who had put his side ahead. The attacker calmly slotted a 66th-minute penalty into the bottom left-hand corner. This made it 04 goals in ten matches for the 31-year-old. Karaman led from the front all game against a KSC side who are strong at home. He registered the most efforts on goal of any Schalke player, and also had the best numbers in terms of duels.

Looking ahead to Elversberg

Karaman emphasised that the team now need to work hard to quickly improve on the negative aspects of the game, before then putting a line through this defeat. “Against Elversberg, we want to give our all once again. Then, we go into the international break. That will give us a chance to recharge a bit.” It could also allow one or two players who are currently sidelined with injury to prepare for a return to action.

Despite this, the Schalke captain does not see S04’s list of absentees as an excuse for their defeats in Karlsruhe and Darmstadt. “Obviously, it was a huge blow that another player became unavailable before the game in Hasan Kuruçay. He’s an important cog in our machine. Felipe Sanchez did really well, though. That’s something else that shows how strong we are as a team,” said Karaman.