Hasan Kuruçay: Things are getting better week by week

Last Friday (26/9), Hasan Kuruçay once again showed off his all-round capabilities alongside his defensive prowess. He not only kept a clean sheet, but also played a clever through ball to Kenan Karaman whose shot then fell to Finn Porath for the only goal of the game. “The last few games were fantastic and keeping a clean sheet is always nice,” said Kuruçay. “To then take all three points at the end, especially at home, is a great feeling.”

The 28-year-old joined S04 shortly after the start of the season and was given a spot in the starting XI against Kaiserslauten after just one week of training. “I was really thrown in at the deep end,” explained the defender, who for the three months prior was without a club and worked independently and intensively on his own fitness: “Things are getting better week by week though.” Kuruçay has started five of his last six league games for the Royal Blues, only being brought on as a substitute once against Kiel, as he was suffering from a cold in the week leading up to the game.

S04 have only conceded four times across their first seven 2. Bundesliga games this season – a joint league best with SC Paderborn. The defender knows the league well from his time at Eintracht Braunschweig and insists that the defensive performances this season are not solely because of the defence itself. “It’s not just been about us in the back three, but more so the team as a whole. The attackers, midfielders and our goalkeeper help us as well. We have players with real quality in every position and if everyone gives everything, we can defend against anything.”

Experience helps

The 28-year-old is sure that, despite his still young career as a Royal Blue, the understanding he has with his teammates is strong. He has played primarily alongside Timo Becker and Nikola Katic, however this will now have to change due to the injury Becker picked up in the game against Fürth. “Timo is a great player and a fantastic person. In Mertcan Ayhan and Felipe Sanchez, we have two young players with a lot of quality that could be brought in to replace him.” They would also benefit from the wealth of experience within the team: “Nikola, Loris Karius, Ron Schallenberg and I are leaders within the team, so of course we’ll do what we can to support the younger lads.”

Kuruçay is not surprised at all with the team’s brilliant start to the season with five wins in seven games: “Schalke is a big club – everyone expects us to play well and we want to meet those expectations.” The 28-year-old doesn’t dare make any predictions as to what this season could hold in the long run: “Everyone has their dreams, but we take things game-by-game and only look ahead to the weekend with the goal of getting another three points on the board.”