Thomas Reis: The next 19 games are all huge

“We can’t be doing things like that in competitive games,” said the 49-year-old, referring to the two penalties that Schalke gave away in the draw against FC Zürich (2-2) and the defeat to 1. FC Nürnberg (1-0).

Just like against the Swiss side three days before, Schalke had a few good chances in the rain against the second-division team on Tuesday (10/1), but weren’t able to take them. “We should have gone ahead. The first half belonged to us and we played some good football,” reflected Reis.

However, the second-half performance was unacceptable for Reis. FCN had the better chances after the break and the Royal Blues struggled to create any notable opportunities in front of goal. As was the case against Zürich, S04 conceded a penalty late on and that proved to be decisive. Ibrahima Cissé brought down Jermain Nischalke in the box on this occasion. “He was relying on his body and thought he had the situation under control, but that wasn’t the case. He has to learn from this. The opposition striker was clever and ran across him. We made too many tactical and technical mistakes in the second 45 minutes. It was really disappointing and wasn’t acceptable. We know we can’t perform like that. All our players want to be on the pitch for our first competitive game, but that wasn’t good enough,” stated Reis, who will go over the display during a video analysis session with his team.

Two winter signings, Jere Uronen and Niklas Tauer, both appeared for the first time in Schalke colours during the game against Nürnberg. “Jere put in a solid display on the left side. A few tactical things weren’t quite right, but that’s totally normal after only training a few times with us. He was clearly in fine fettle and has integrated quickly into the team,” praised Reis. Niklas Tauer wasn’t able to complete full training sessions at times during the training camp in Turkey. “He wasn’t particularly sharp during the first few minutes, but that’s no big thing. We’re pleased to have both lads with us now.”

Not long to go until the Bundesliga returns

The setup in Belek gave Reis the chance to train exactly what he wanted to. “The lads dealt with the workload pretty well. The intensity during training sessions was really good,” lauded Reis. “The biggest disappointment was losing both Sebastian Polter and Justin Heekeren to injuries. We would like to wish them all the best and a speedy recovery.”

The final game before the Bundesliga returns will take place on Saturday (14/1, 15:30 CET) at home against SV Werder Bremen. “The starting XI at the VELTINS-Arena will be one that could well be the same a week later in Frankfurt,” revealed the head coach. He made a number of changes during the games in Belek, thus giving himself a chance to see all fit players in action. Reis made 10 substitutions at the break against FC Zürich (plus Andreas Ivan had come on in the first half for the injured Sebastian Polter): “It wouldn’t have made much sense to let a group play the full 90 minutes. That would have then impacted how much they could have trained in the following days.”

Reis stressed that his players will have to continue working hard during the final days before the season restarts. “The next 19 games are all huge. We will constantly have to fight hard. It’s important that we remain mentally strong, even though it will be tough. Nothing will be handed to us for free. The players know that.”