Thomas Reis: Keep shoring up the defence and bring further power up front

After the final whistle, Thomas Reis summarised the game – with the head coach most annoyed at the four goals conceded, and the manners of how they came about. “We got ourselves into trouble on occasion, we didn’t pressure the man enough,” the 49-year-old said. “We definitely could have prevented one or two of those goals. Four conceded is tough to take.”

Still room for improvement

Despite the defeat and the amount of goals conceded, not all was bad news against the current Croatian cup champions. “We scored three goals of our own and translated some of our training work on to the pitch,” said Reis. Now, it’s all about working on “further shoring up our defence and bringing even more power onto the pitch up front. We definitely still have room to improve.”

It was the frantic period post-restart that decided the way the game was going, to a certain extent. “We had a great chance to go 3-2 up, but we unfortunately weren’t able to make the most of this opportunity shortly after we got level,” said Reis in his summary of the game. The side from Croatia, on the other hand, were more clinical in front of goal and made the most of their chances. Schalke came close once more in the closing minutes, but however weren’t able to find the equaliser and therefore the potential winner.

“We were given a real challenge by our opponents in Vienna and now in Split – which is what we wanted. That’s why we chose to play these teams. It’s important that we draw the right conclusions form the experience we gained today,” the S04 coach commented, who wants to ensure his team keeps moving forward in every training session and friendly match. He was thus pleased that Schalke have plenty of time to work during the winter break, far longer than usual due to the World Cup, before the Bundesliga resumes in late January.

“As coach, I’m thankful for the time I get to spend working with the squad,” said Reis, who leads his side into one more friendly before Christmas next Thursday (22^nd December, 19.00 CET) away against VfL Osnabrück. “I hope that one or two players that weren’t available last time will be able to ready to appear for this one,” the head coach explained, also referring to Marcin Kaminski, for whom the clash against Split still came too early. Kaminski has been out due to a wound in his calf, but his return to the field is firmly in sight.

A positive was that some of the Knappenschmiede talents had a chance to show their abilities with the senior team. “It is also a learning experience for them,” Reis added.

Latza wants a win to end the year in Osnabrück

Danny Latza has also voiced his desire to ensure Schalke’s 2022 finishes off on a high against the third-division outfit from Lower Saxony. “We want to keep working on our fitness but also on tactics in the coming days in training,” he said. “In Osnabrück, we would like to deliver a good performance once more and at the same time get a good result before we head into the winter break.”

The result in Split frustrated the midfielder, who commented: “All in all those 90 minutes were not satisfying. We wanted to win, and we didn’t manage that. You shouldn’t be losing a game like that when you score three times. In Osnabrück, and more importantly in the second half of the Bundesliga season, this certainly can’t be allowed to happen again.”