Miron Muslic: We stepped things up a gear

After several tiring training sessions, including one on the morning of the game, Schalke produced an impressive performance against a Ukrainian side who are just days away from the start of their new season. “I thought we played very well, especially when you consider how intense these first three weeks have been,” said Muslic. “They’re further along in their preparations and physically ahead of us at this stage, but we took another step forward as well.”

Having given his players 45 minutes each in the previous friendlies against FC Gütersloh (2-1 defeat) and FC Erzgebirge Aue (4-2 win), the head coach stepped up the workload by giving his starting XI a full hour. “We stepped things up a gear and the lads did an excellent job. The final 30 minutes were good as well.” The workload will continue to be increased to improve the players’ ability to cope with the demands, with the summer heat at the training camp providing an extra test.

The performance was capped by goals from Moussa Sylla (54’) and Bryan Lasme (64’). “Having players up front who can pose a threat is the basis for everything,” said Muslic. “Moussa is continuing what he’s shown throughout pre-season so far and is in fantastic form. I’m also really pleased for Bryan that he got his goal.” New signing Satoshi Tanaka also earned praise from the head coach: “He’s exactly the type of player we were looking for. He really pushed himself for 60 minutes and gave everything he had.”