FC Schalke 04: Die Königsblauen

FC Schalke 04 manager Jens Keller is set to quit the club for some time off football, we can report exclusively at bild.de. The German manager is said to be bored with football in his life, and has been quoted as saying that he needed to time off to ‘regain his love of the beautiful game’. The story breaks as a heavy blow to Schalke, who have been hard at work during the Bundesliga pre-season on finding a way to stop giants FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund.

Current assistant manager Peter Hermann has been put in charge until the club can make a formal announcement on who their next manager will be. Pundits are touting the now-jobless Rafael Benitez, who took Chelsea to Europa League last year, to guide Schalke to a successful season. Belgium manager and former Schalke midfielder Marc Wilmots has also expressed an interest in the job, while Spanish striker Raul has been thrown into the mix, with sources saying he would be prepared to retire from football to take over the club he played for two years ago.



Meanwhile, Schalke chairman Clemens Tönnies is left in a predicament over who to choose for the job. Schalke have looked bright in pre-season so far, with a 5-0 win over semi-professional side Wattenscheid last week, and a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hat-trick against Herne. It remains to be seen who will be chosen for the job, but Schalke will have to do it fast.

Good luck!

They're called Westfalia Herne, not just Herne!

Very nice start Good luck

AAN: cheers mate!

Louis: Sorry

P-kiddy: Cheers mate

Former Spain and Real Madrid striker Raul has distanced himself from taking over as Schalke manager. In a recent interview with Middle Eastern TV network Al-Jazeera, he was asked about the current situation at the club: ‘It is a difficult time for the club, you know, Mr Keller had not been there very long, and just starting pre-season, really shakes up the club. I do love the club there and they were brilliant for my couple of years, but I want to keep on playing football for the time being, and here in Qatar I have settled well with my family.

‘Maybe in the future I would take a job their, but in the mean time I don’t think I will. I want to keep playing football until I physically can’t, and even at 37 years old, I think I can make it to 40.’



Raul helped Schalke to the DFB-Pokal in his first season at the club, and was also influential in a Champions League campaign where Schalke reached the semi-finals. The number 7 shirt, which he wore at Schalke for two seasons, was originally retired, before the club gave it to 17 year old attacking midfielder Maximillian Meyer.

For now though, Schalke will have to continue searching for a new manager, with Rafael Benitez odds on favourite to take over at the moment. Marc Wilmots and Roberto Di Matteo are also included.

Belgium manager Marc Wilmots has decided to quit the national team job after the Schalke job opened up. He has been under constant speculation since Jens Keller quit the role at the Gelsinkirchen club earlier this month.

The former midfielder, who played for Schalke towards the end of his career is said to be pleased that he has been given the chance to manage a club that has always been so close to his heart. When asked what his plans were for the club, he answered with this: ‘I will probably play a slightly more defensive style than I have played at Belgium, as we have a fantastic defines at the club.



‘The club does not have that much money in terms of budget to spend, but the club has a very strong youth system and I will look to use that to my advantage. A lot has changed at the club in the last ten years, and I am looking forward to making the club a German and European superpower, eventually turning this club into a world superpower.’

Now that the club’s manager has been announced, the players will look to focusing on working for the season.

Nice update

P-Kiddy: Cheers, more coming tomorrow

Today we will be summarising Schalke’s pre-season into the important numbers before the first match of the new Bundesliga season. Schalke will head into the season well trained and prepared, having played a total of five friendlies.

A very good pre-season mate!

2014-01-26 09:46#156766 AAN : A very good pre-season mate!

Cheers, even better results coming

So far this pre-season, Marc Wilmots Schalke side have played a very patient possesion, holding onto the ball before launching usually deadly counter attacks. And Wilmots had his side to exactly the same again this afternoon. In his first competitive match as Schalke manager, Wilmots travelled to play SV Jena at the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld. Wilmots would take on the semi-professional side in the DFB-Pokal first round.

The match got off to a good start for Schalke in front of the 9,225 fans, when Kevin-Prince Boateng played Japanese wing-back Atsuro Uchida in on four minutes, his shot was well-saved by Wiemann, before Wiemann made it up to make another fantastic save from Julian Draxler. It was clearly going to be a busy afternoon.

Schalke didn't have to wait long though, and in the sixth minute, after some nice work from Fuchs and Boateng, Draxler tapped the ball in from six yards. Schalke didn’t have to wait long for the ball to be in the back of the net though, as Uchida made a driving run down the touchline before teeing up Julian Draxler 12 yards out to score past the keepers near post on 12 minutes.

On 19 minutes, Draxler turned provider for Max Meyer, who found his way in between the centre backs, before slightly nicely into the top corner from the edge of the area. This was the 17 year old’s first goal for Schalke. On 28 minutes, Fuchs fizzed in a teasing cross, and after an initial clearance, the ball fell to Julian Draxler via a defensive mixup, who finished cooly and secured his hat-trick already.

Max Meyer and Roman Neustädter both fired long-range strikes just wide, before Franz Wiemann made fine saves to keep first Draxler and then Boateng out from 25 yards. Half-time came and went for SV Jena, and in the 48th minute, after some brilliant keep ball from Schalke, Leon Goretzka was set up 30 yards out to fire into the top corner. It was a fantastic goal, one which bent and dipped all the way.

On the hour mark, Fuchs’ cut-back found Kevin-Prince Boateng who fired in through the keepers legs. Finally, after 68 minutes, SV Jena had a chance, and after a peach of a through ball from right back Häring, the ball fell to Neumayr, who was only kept out by a combination of Unnerstall’s fabulous save and the crossbar. A few minutes later, when Meyer’s deep free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, Neudstädter fired towards goal. He was left wondering how he hadn’t scored though, as keeper Wiemann fantastically pushed the ball around his post.

Finally, as the game neared its close, a mixture of tired legs and poor defending couldn’t keep out Boateng’s shot after Uchida’s cross. It had been a good day for Schalke in the cup, with Wilmots showing the fans what he plans to play like this season.

Jefferson Farfán is reportedly set to leave FC Schalke 04 for principality club Monaco. Chelsea have also been reportedly interested in signing the Peruvian winger, and both clubs have made offers of around £13 million. However, it is thought that Wilmots, who rates Farfán highly, is looking to hold out for around at least £18 million.

Farfán, who signed in 2008 for £8 million is said to have asked to leave the club after becoming bored by the standard he was playing. It remains to be seen whether or not Farfán will be sold, but he is not the only player leaving the club.



Chinedu Obasi, the Nigerian striker is also looking to leave the club, along with Ghanian 34 year old Anthony Annan. Both are said to be unhappy after being frozen out by the club, and are ‘looking forward to moving to a club that can appreciate our skills.’

Schalke get their Bundesliga campaign for this season underway this weekend, where they start with a tough trip to Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena.

Schalke have had a fantastic August, with some wonderful football on show for the fans as the summer dies away. Seven wins from Seven in a hugely impressive month, with 26 goals scored and just two conceded.