Miron Muslic on…

…his first impressions of the club:
I really wanted to come to Schalke. Coming into contact with the club for the first time does something to you. It felt good right from the start and my meetings with Frank, Ben, Matthias and Youri only served to confirm my first impression. You get a sense of the club’s size and impact. I’ve met many people over the past days. In talking to them, you get to know the fan culture at the club and their passion. It’s clear to see just how important of a role Schalke play in their lives. We want to take up this challenge and proceed with enthusiasm at every level, step by step. 

…dealing with the pressure:
As soon as I accepted the offer, I could sense just how big of a club Schalke are and the sphere in which the club operates is. However, that doesn’t affect my day-to-day work. We’re in a performance-based business and have to be able to deal with pressure and find solutions. That also applies to each and every player, no matter which club they play for. It’s extremely important for me to find the right balance in my daily tasks. I’m a team player and we want to develop a playing style as a staff that we’re then able to bring to the pitch, so that the fans recognise that something is happening here. As a result, we’ve structured our staff in a way that will provide the greatest possible benefit to the players. We exemplify the highest standards of performance and the right mindset, which is what we want to introduce to our daily work and hopefully implement on the pitch soon. 

…his approach:
I know how to deal with people, with staff and players. I know what I want to see and can clearly communicate this so that everyone knows what their role is. When we play together as a team, the lads must know what they have to do at all times – on the pitch, during training and during our analysis sessions. I’m 100% convinced of our potential. We will restructure certain things, off the pitch as well. 

…his playing philosophy:
We want to be aggressive and play with a lot of intensity and bravery, as it’s a great fit for Schalke and the culture of the club. We want to be active and ramp up the intensity. Our game is defined by aggression, intensity, constant pressure on the opponent, quick transitions and getting the ball forward. This also requires a willingness to act quickly, to be constantly alert. This will be a process, but we will see the first signs of progress relatively quickly.

…the team and squad planning:
The squad has the right qualifications. It’s up to us to manage to generate a new feeling of enthusiasm, to get people on board. There will always be a couple of changes in every transfer window. We’ve signalled our intentions by signing Soufiane El-Faouzi. That’s the sort of player we want: hungry and prepared to give it everything they’ve got. That also fits well to Schalke: being willing to get stuck in and to accept some suffering, in order to achieve big things. We will implement this with the current squad and will continue to see out players with the right temperament that fit to this philosophy and to Schalke. 

…the size of the squad:
We have a big squad at the moment. We’ve done a lot of video analysis so far, but I haven’t been able to experience working with the lads firsthand yet. I’ll give myself the necessary time in my daily work, before working together with Frank, Youri and Ben on getting our squad to the right size. We need to wait and see how pre-season and the transfer window go. 

…the disappointing end to last season and how he hopes to get the fans on board:
I’ve picked up on just how passionate the fans are and they can rightly demand everything of us. It’s up to us to perform as a team, to bring in a new energy and get get people on board and to excite them. They need to see that players will give it their all when playing for the Royal Blues. Whenever I’m speaking to people, then I get the feeling that my story and that of my family is very similar to many other stories here from Gelsenkirchen: not an easy time, constantly having to fight against resistance, working hard for everything and sticking at it. So I think I fit in very well here, also as a person.

… his position at the club and regarding transfers:
I recently watched the press conference with Frank, which lasted about an hour. After four pages, I gave up trying to take it all down. He is right that this is not a one-man show – I am a dedicated team player. All decisions are made together and in the best interests of Schalke. The fact that we have different opinions on various profiles is natural and is why we hold several discussions each day.

… his role in signing Soufiane El-Faouzi:
This was something we made happen together. The final part in convincing a player to join has to come from the coach, therefore I explained our new directive to him. The way he plays football suits us down to the ground. He possesses an entrenched passion and fire, which goes hand in hand with the Schalke DNA.

… delegation of responsibilities within the coaching staff:
Volkan takes charge of the goalkeepers and his seamless transition from the academy was important to us. He suits us well as a person, wanting to improve himself and the players every day. Tim takes care of the defensive side of things, solidifying things at the back, along with set-pieces – he has done a very good job in this department previously and feels comfortable operating within our set-up. I’ve worked with Adin and Eddie for a long time. Eddie’s work revolves around the chemistry in attack, specifically the connections between the strikers, possession in the opposing box and counter-pressing. Adin deals with how we prepare our attacks when we have the ball, how we get into the final third and how we organise the rest of the defence.

… long-term goals:
I have never made a career plan. The state of things in two years’ time does not concern me, rather simply the current day-to-day work. I am fully aware of where this club is at right now, so I’m not going to make any major promises at this moment in time. I’m proud to be Schalke coach. Coming from Bosnia, I followed the Bundesliga from an early age. My appointment as coach of this prestigious club has made my whole family very proud.