Search
Login
Please log in with your user data.
Youri Mulder: We all have to pull together
The director of professional football has sights firmly fixed on the future. It is obviously important for Youri Mulder to analyse the past season, identifying weaknesses and drawing the right conclusions in order to prepare for a more successful new campaign. Important personnel decisions are also pending at Schalke, for example the selection of a new head coach. In addition, Frank Baumann will begin in his role of board member for sport on 1st June. The 56-year-old spoke to the media about these current topics and schalke04.de has summarised the key outtakes.
Youri Mulder on…
… the poor performance in the past season:
That does not necessarily always stem from a lack of desire or heart. As a player, you have to be free in your thinking. No matter how good you are, your mentality is the decisive factor. It’s probably no coincidence that we got our only point in the last six games when down to 10 for the majority of the game against HSV, since the team were suddenly free in the sense that they knew they had nothing to lose. We lacked this ease too in our play often. Fundamentally, our performances were too erratic. When things were going for us, we had hardly any injuries but then could not repeat the feat in the absences of Moussa Sylla and Kenan Karaman. On the whole, I think we somewhat got carried away with the positive moments over the course of the season.
… the timeframe for appointing a new head coach:
We are currently holding talks. It is an ongoing process, but we want to have the new coach finalised and announced in the coming weeks. It is important that he fits the profile created from the outset. In principle, we at Schalke need to stand behind our coach more once again. We always say that that he is the most important figure. However, in truth, he is the most vulnerable, especially here at Schalke. The players sense that, too.
Every first team player, regardless of whether they are a new signing or someone who has been at Schalke for some time, must try to produce the best they can.
… the shared responsibility to build better team spirit:
What matters to me is that the football should come first at Schalke, so we all have to pull together again. Admittedly, that’s not always so easy at a club as big as Schalke, because there’s always a lot of outside noise. However, we have to face up to that.
… the future of club captain Kenan Karaman:
I spoke to him after the final game against Elversberg. Kenan will remain here with us next season and will continue to perform. Immediately after the game, he said something out of frustration that was misinterpreted by some. Kenan is staying. He will not look for another club.
… squad planning for the 2025/2026 season:
In my eyes, it would make sense to have a smaller squad come the end of the summer. The look of that will be decided in collaboration with the new head coach. The players currently loaned out at other clubs will be a focal point when it comes to planning. You have to look at each player individually. Where did things go well, where not? Bryan Lasme, for example, hardly played at Grasshopper Club Zürich due to injury, whereas Emmanuel Gyamfi’s loan speel in Venlo worked out well for.
We will obviously also sign new players. The difficulty with scouting is recognising whether a player can cope with the increased pressure, which you need to be able to do if you are to make it in sport. Recruiting is a very important part of professional football. The same applies to every first team player, regardless of whether they are a new signing or someone who has been at Schalke for some time – they must try to produce the best they can – for the good of the club, but also for their own careers.
