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Ron Schallenberg on an unfamiliar role, support from within the team and reuniting with old friends
Ron Schallenberg earned rave reviews for his display in the 3-1 win over league leaders St. Pauli, and did so while playing in an unfamiliar position. The 25-year-old, primarily a defensive midfielder, partnered Tomas Kalas in the centre of defence on Friday (1st March). It was a change that surprised not only S04’s opponents, but Schallenberg himself.
“The coach told us the plan the day before the game,” reveals Schallenberg. “I trained in that position in our last session before the game. It worked very well. We played man-to-man – we wanted to force the opponent into playing long balls. I had to push forward for that quite a bit, and Paul Seguin would close up the gaps in the back four,” explains Schalke’s number 6, who continued: “You could see that our game plan was working completely. Every player did their job to a T. We gave very little away and scored three great goals, and the fans were 100% behind us. Overall, it was a successful evening.”
Good advice from Kaminski
Schallenberg was helped in adjusting to his new role by teammate Marcin Kaminski. Schalke’s regular central defender had to settle for a place on the bench against St. Pauli, but told Schallenberg the day before the game that he could contact him if he needed any advice. “It just goes to show that the character of the team is a lot better than some people like to make out,” says Schallenberg. “I really appreciate the support from Marcin.”
The 25-year-old says he was only too happy to accept his teammate’s offer, and was able to get some tips on pushing forward and closing gaps in behind the back line. On the pitch, meanwhile, Schallenberg’s job was made a great deal easier by the reassuring presence of Kalas alongside him.
I really appreciate the support from Marcin.
Looking forward to facing his former club
Schallenberg was however not a complete stranger to this position. “During my time at SC Paderborn 07 U23s, I was used in defence for half a season. But that was a long time ago.” “And if I’m honest, it wasn’t a complete success,” he added with a chuckle. It worked out better this time. Schallenberg impressed in particular with his good positional play, quality on the ball in the build-up and strength in individual battles.
Paderborn themselves are the Royal Blues’ next opponents on Saturday (9th March, 13:00 CET). The match will again be played at the VELTINS-Arena. It will be a special game for Schallenberg: “I’m looking forward to facing my former club.” It’s still unclear if he’ll be used as a centre-back again against his old teammates. What is certain though is that “we want to continue our momentum and back up the team performance we showed against FC St. Pauli.”
