FC Schalke 04: Die Königsblauen

So far, Schalke have been playing some excellent fluid counter-attacking football, while also managing to incorporate a very solid defensive system which does not see them concede many. Marc Wilmots’ unorthodox 3-4-2-1 formation(three centre-backs, two wing-backs and defensive midfielders, two centre midfielders, and an attacking midfielder) has caught many teams out, and Wilmots will be hoping that it can get the better of all the Bundesliga teams in the forthcoming half-season.

Schalke were always predicted to come third from the start of the season, but that would have been third, some way behind Bayern Munich and Dortmund. So far, it looks as though Schalke may be joining these two in a bid to win their first domestic title in 50 years. Schalke could not do this without Ballon d’Or contender Julian Draxler, who in his 28 matches, has scored 18 and assisted a further 13. He has been a vital player in the team, playing in either of the two more attacking central roles. Schalke are through as a first seed from their Champions League group, where they topped Arsenal on head-to-head record, and in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals, Schalke will face FSV Frankfurt from the Bundesliga 2.

It is important to mention players such as Christian Fuchs, with his 10 assists, Huntelaar with his nine goals in 10 starts. The whole squad reads impressive figures and average ratings. However, Wilmots still wants to improve on what he has, and is said to be in the market in January to find a new goalkeeper and a new frontman to replace the ageing Huntelaar.



Fraser Forster of Celtic is believed to be Wilmots’ first choice for goalkeeper, and he would replace Hildebrand, who will leave on a free at the end of the season, Unnerstall, who has played particularly well in his first full season, and Fährmann who has yet to play. Mattia Perin of Genoa is also being lined up in case Forster cannot be bought to the club.



Another of Wilmots’ targets is young Danish talent Viktor Fischer. The Ajax attacker is said to be very interested in a move to the VELTINS Arena. The youngster can cover both up front and at left wing, as well as central midfield and centre attacking midfield.

It remains to be seen how much Wilmots has to spend, but after what he has done this season so far, he deserves a decent amount.

Today on bild.de, we will bring you all the latest facts and stats that you need to decide who should win the Ballon d’Or for this year. We will be going over the main three contenders for the prestigious award, as well as looking at a few of the impressive names on a star-studded shortlist.




Firstly, we start with Portuguese winger and striker Cristiano Ronaldo. The tall and strong striker has been having a fantastic season so far, picking up 27 goals in 26 appearances. Although he has only picked up 3 assists, his average rating still reads of at 7.88 for the season.

The powerful Portugal captain also picked up his hundredth cap for his country in October, and at 80 minutes per goal, he must be considered a major contender for this years Ballon d’Or.




Arguably the best footballer of all-time, Lionel Messi has been having a stellar season, picking up an average rating of 8.02 over 18 matches. Over this time, he has scored 13 goals and picked six player of the match awards. Although he only has two assists, the Argentina captain has been firing on all cylinders as he has picked up six goals in three games to send him to second on the Champions League goal scorers for this season.

The Argentinian maestro makes an average of almost 6 dribbles per game, and boasts a record of being the lucky omen for his Barcelona team, with the team winning 16 out of 18 when he has played.




A huge surprise so far this season has been the immense form of German midfielder Julian Draxler. The 20 year old has been in excellent form for his Schalke team, scoring 18 in 28 matches, as well assisting 13 times. Although his average rating may be 7.67, he has picked up 8 player of the match awards and has a pass completion percentage of over 75%. He is firmly on par with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo over this season.

Although the German has not added any caps this season, he has scored one goal in his six Germany appearances, and is seen as one the rising stars of the game, if not a current one.

Many of the other names included on the Ballon d’Or shortlist for 2013 are household names, with the likes of Ribery, Iniesta and Pique all up there challenging for the title of the best footballer in the World, and from Germany we are lucky to see Bastian Schweinsteiger, as well as Dortmund teammates Mats Hummels and Marco Reus. These three accompany the inexperienced Draxler.

Schalke returned from their winter break prepared for a tough run of games, but will be hoping that they don’t carry their performances through with them.

Good win v Wolfsburg after going down early. Shame about the Stuttgart result but Werner is a real talent. Keep it up

2014-01-27 21:10#157096 P-KIDDY : Good win v Wolfsburg after going down early. Shame about the Stuttgart result but Werner is a real talent. Keep it up

Cheers, looking to maybe sign him when I have more money.

Schalke have to day announced the signings of Germany Under-21 striker Kevin Volland from Hoffenheim for a fee of £24 million. After it was reported that Schalke manager Marc Wilmots did not have money to spend, he has forked out a large sum for one of Germany’s top prospects. The 21 year old scored on his Germany debut in November, and the Bundesliga’s second top scorer this term.



Schalke have also agreed the signing go Aleksandar Ignjovski for a fee of £925,000. The Serbian defensive midfielder is very good mentally, but potentially lacks the strength to be a top class holding midfielder. The Serb was signed after it was agreed that Schalke could activate the ‘buy now’ clause in his contract, after the Gelsinkirchen side had agreed to sign him on a bosman at the start of the summer. This news came as it was announced that American international Jermaine Jones would join Stuttgart on loan until the end of the seaosn, with an option to buy.

The others leaving the club were Peruvian winger Jefferson Farfan, who left for a measly £3.3 million to Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen, after being frozen out at the VELTINS Arena. Adam Szalai, the Hungarian striker, returned to the Netherlands and to PSV, where he joined for £3.7 million.

After speculation over his future and a possible move to either Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain, Julian Draxler decided to stay until at least the end of the season. Christian Clemens, former Germany Under-21 winger, joined Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season.

With the squad Schalke have, they can now begin to mount a serious title challenge, and try to knock Dortmund and Bayern of their perches.

Volland is a great signing. A bit costly but by the same token, I've seen him transfer for more. Should follow in Huntelaar's footsteps nicely

2014-01-27 22:35#157119 P-KIDDY : Volland is a great signing. A bit costly but by the same token, I've seen him transfer for more. Should follow in Huntelaar's footsteps nicely

Should fill his role nicely, going to have Volland in front of Draxler, Goretzka and Meyer in the future

Thanks a lot guys, means a lot coming back to the site after a while and getting this sort of reaction to my story. Hope you keep reading, and I will have more update tomorrow so stay tuned!

Although Schalke’s football style may not have the passing and possession statistics like a Barcelona, they do have a knack scoring goals. Lots of them too. Here are Schalke’s results for an important February.

What tactic are you using?

You're doing great!

Razwy: I use a downloaded tactic, which I customized slightly and made it better for the team.

AAN: Cheers mate, it's going well

Schalke have had an excellent month, and even though they stuttered when they were beaten late against HSV, the picked up a fantastic win in the Revier derby against rivals, pegging them back and reducing the gap between the two clubs to a single point.

What role does Huntelaar have?