David Wagner: The team dealt with the situation really well

“The most important thing is that all further Covid-19 tests came back negative. Health comes above everything else,” stressed David Wagner. The infected member of the Schalke delegation is well, reported the head coach. “He has no fever, no problems anymore and is on the way back to full health. He just feels a bit tired in the mornings.”

Improvisation needed to plan training

Wagner and his coaching team were forced to improvise on a number of occasions after the guidelines meant that the group who had contact with the infected member had to be strictly separated from the second group. “You often have to change your plans when players are injured or ill, however losing so many players in one go was unusual. We all dealt with this situation really well though,” reported the coach. “Overall, we were able to continue our training, despite the reduced numbers.”

Wagner was pleased with his side’s efforts during their time in Längenfeld. “After the eventful recent days it sounds slightly strange to say that we’ve had a good week of training,” said the 48-year-old. The days in Austria were, according to Wagner, challenging and strange. “An experience like this can bring a team closer together. It was impressive the ways the lads dealt with the situation. They simply kept going.”

A win despite tired legs

The head coach was happy for the most part after the 1-0 friendly win over Aris Saloniki on Friday (28/8) in Kematen. “You could see that we had a few tired legs out there. I think we managed to put in a good shift after a tiring and challenging week. Ahmed Kutucu scored a nice goal and we kept a clean sheet too.” It may have only been a friendly, but a win is a win. On the other hand, Wagner won’t be reading too much into the result, as “like the other games, it was only a friendly.”

Wagner also felt the team could improve on their performance, with two key players also still missing. Omar Mascarell and Salif Sané are both working on their comebacks, and trained individually in Längenfeld. Wagner commented: “I think Omar will be able to join team training next week. Salif will need a bit more time.”

Heading back to Gelsenkirchen

The Royal Blues headed back to Gelsenkirchen after the victory against Aris Saloniki. “We had originally planned to play a second friendly on the Friday, but as that wasn’t possible we decided to leave a day early and train in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday instead,” explained Wagner.

Part of the team will remain in Längenfeld however. “We will be without five players. The group will stay in Austria for a few days and train for two hours – which the local guidelines allow,” said Wagner. Assistant coach Christoph Bühler will stay with the players to take the sessions in Austria.

Two weeks until the first competitive game

“Due to the absences and the international break we will have quite a thin squad next week,” said Wagner. “Despite that, the group will continue to work hard. We only have two weeks until the cup game and the Bundesliga kicks off in three weeks.”

Wagner finished by praising the Schalke staff. “I would like to thank our staff, in particular the medical team, who have been – and still are – in regular contact with the local authorities. They’ve done a great job in difficult times.”