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Karel Geraerts: We’ll give it our all to turn things around
FC Schalke will be back at home on Saturday (17/2) as they welcome SV Wehen Wiesbaden to the VELTINS-Arena. The Royal Blues will be aiming for three points and to gain some ground on the side directly above them in the 2. Bundesliga standings. “We want to win. We’re going into the game with this mindset and we’ve got to make sure we show it on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. We’ve done enough talking,” stated Karel Geraerts.
S04’s head coach went on to explain that striking the right balance between attack and defence would be crucial to his side’s chances against Wiesbaden, since “we can’t just attack or just defend. We need to put in a good performance up front and at the back in order to be successful.” The Belgian noted that this was not the case last weekend, as Schalke lost 1-0 against Holstein Kiel. He didn’t mince his words when it came to being disappointed in his team’s performance at the Holstein-Stadion.
“My first though after the final whistle was that there are some players here who don’t understand the situation we find ourselves in,” explained Geraerts. The 42-year-old noted that, fortunately, things had gone better in training this week, before scrutinising his own role. “It’s down to me to provide the players with everything they need to play well. We all – the players, coaching team and staff – need to give it our all if we want to turn things around together.”
Better individual and team performances needed
Geraerts acknowledged that sloppy passes and unsuccessful challenges are part of football. “That being said, each and every player should look at themselves in the mirror after a game and be able to say that they gave it their all,” continued the Royal Blues’ head coach. “Every single player needs to play better than they did in Kiel, but we also need to put in a completely different performance as a team. We should aim to be more consistent in terms of both our performances and also our results.”
Schalke will be without Derry John Murkin for their clash against SVWW, as the Englishman picked up a suspension after being booked for the fifth time this season against Kiel. Three more players will be absent at the weekend, though they’re all on the way back to making their comeback. Assan Ouédraogo was back involved in parts of team training for the first time since tearing his syndesmosis at the U17 World Cup in Indonesia. “It’s good to see him back on the pitch again,” said Geraerts. “Assan’s workload will start to increase little by little.”
The same goes for Leo Greiml, as the defender will also be integrated back into team training after recovering from a cruciate ligament injury. Geraerts pointed out that new arrival Brandon Soppy has also made a lot of progress this week. “If things go as planned, he’ll be back in team training on Monday.” Cedric Brunner has also been back in action over the past few days. The Swiss full-back didn’t play against Kiel, since he didn’t feel fully fit, but “he’s back to his best again” according to Geraerts.
