Youri Mulder: When your opponent goes down to 10, you really want to be winning

S04’s director of professional football ultimately regarded the 0-0 draw in the team’s opening match of 2025 as two points dropped. “When your opponent goes down to 10 men with 20 minutes left and the score is still 0-0, you really want to be winning from that position,” emphasised Mulder.

Nevertheless, he saw the improvement in the side’s display over the course of the 90 minutes as a positive. While Schalke remained too passive in their attacking play during the first half, they created a handful of good chances after the break, but in the end just lacked that finishing touch. “I couldn’t quite work out our early performance,” he commented regarding the cautious start to the match. “We kind of needed that first half in order to find our feet in the match. Braunschweig were also good defensively but we played better after half-time.”

Mulder on Højlund, Murkin and new signing Karius

The Royal Blues suffered two blows in terms personnel on matchday 18, with striker Emil Højlund having to pull out of the squad shortly before kick-off due to thigh problems. With only a few minutes remaining in the match, Derry John Murkin then hobbled off the field after a foul challenge. Mulder reports that a judgement will be made on both following results of tests. The Dutchman also left the door open to potential new acquisitions from the transfer market.

Goalkeeper Loris Karius has settled into the team well since his signing on Tuesday (14/01). “The fact he chose to join us is really great. He is a down-to-earth guy who knows that he still has work to do.” Schalke’s new number 27 was able to catch a glimpse of his teammates in action as he supported from the sidelines in Braunschweig.