Schalke 04: El Hombre de Oro

MEULENSTEEN HAPPY WITH SCHALKE TIE

Manchester United manager Rene Meulensteen has revealed he remains confident after being drawn against his former club Schalke 04 in the UEFA Champions’ League Group Stage.

‘The Red Devils' landed Schalke in Group D, as well as Spor Toto Super League champions Galatasaray and Liga Zon Sagres winners Sporting Lisbon.

Meulensteen led Schalke to their first Bundesliga title since 1958 last season, and after swapping the Gelsenkirchen outfit for Man United, the Dutchman is confident his side has a strong hold on the German champions.

”I’ll definitely be expecting a tough game when we face Schalke next month but I’m confident we can get the result expected of us.

“I believe that as much as Maradona has tried to implement his methods onto his squad, there will still be an echo of my style of play, so I’m confident in our ability to halt Schalke.”

After replacing Tata Martino in the summer, Meulensteen has become United’s third manager since the retirement of his ex-partner Sir Alex Ferguson in May 2013.

Man United’s start is proving to be more promising than the previous season, winning all but one of their five games in all competitions so far, meanwhile sitting 3rd in the Barclays Premier League.

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Arsenal – Cedrick (£10m), Saido Berahino (£15m)
Aston Villa – Sebastian Coates (£975k), Gary Hooper (£1.2m), Islam Feruz (Free), Josh McEachran (£950k), Suso (Loan)
Blackburn Rovers – Wes Hoolahan (Free), Jake Livermore (£1.7m), Henri Lansbury (£1.3m), Fabio da Silva (£4.3m), Anthony Pilkington (£1.3m), Danny Simpson (£1.8m)
Cardiff City – Danny Rose (£2.6m)
Chelsea – Moussa Sissoko (£17.25m)
Everton – James Forrest (£2.2m), Emmanuel Adebayor (£525k), James Milner (Loan)
Liverpool – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£33.5m), Michael Bradley (£1.6m), Angelo Ogbonna (£12m),
Manchester City – Adem Ljajic (£24.5m), Clement Grenier (£12.5m), Adriano (£8.5m), Andros Townsend (£10m), Will Hughes (£11m), Mario Balotelli (£23m)
Manchester United - Alexander Kacaniklic (£17.25m), Sofiane Feghouli (£12.5m)
Newcastle United – Tin Jedvaj (£5m), Daley Blind (£6m), Luuk De Jong (£5m), Alex McCarthy (£4.8m)
Norwich City – Magnus Wolff Eikrem (£4.7m), Adam Matthews (£2.1m), Adam Szalai (£7.5m), Jack Colback (£2.9m), Antonio Luna (£2.6m)
Southampton – Michel Vorm (Free), Jordan Rhodes (£10.5m), Manuel Fernandes (Free), Kyle Waker (£4.6m), Martin Kelly (£4m), Ryan Bertrand (£11.75m), Jordan Archer (£175k)
Stoke City – Chris Wood (£2.5m), Sam Byram (£2.2m), Jack Hunt (£5m), Luis Alberto (£1.2m)
Swansea City – Eren Derdiyok (£7m), Neil Taylor (£3m), John Souttar (Loan), Simon Mignolet (£3.8m), Antonio Nocerino (£1.6m)
Tottenham Hotspur – Wilfried Bony (£15.5m), Oriol Romeu (£11.5m)



AS Monaco – Carlos Vela (£17.5m), Vlad Chiriches (£7.5m), Jordy Clasie (£5.5m), Georgi Milanov (£10.5m), Serge Aurier (£9.5m)
AS Saint-Etienne – Kevin Constant (£2.6m)
Girondins Bordeaux – Jimmy Briand (Loan), Kevin Gameiro (£1.6m), Phillip Hosiner (£500k)
LOSC Lille – Elderson (£850k), Vegard Forren (£3.3m), Hugo Mallo (£2.6m)
OGC Nice – Bertrand Traore (Loan), Federico Peluso (Loan), Marco Benassi (Loan)
Olympique Marseille – Ola Toivonen (£4.7m), Sami Khedira (£5m), Lacina Traore (£4.5m), Mario (£3.3m), Nabil Ghilas (£2.6m), Nelson Oliveira (£1.8m), Ignacio Camacho (£4.3m)
Olympique Lyonnais – Andrea Bertolacci (£3m), Dries Mertens (£2.5m), Benoit Tremoulinas (Loan), Ezequiel Lavezzi (£1.1m), Wesley Sneijder (Loan), Alexandre Lacazette (£3.4m), Mousa Dembele (£6.25m)
Paris Saint-Germain – Alex Grimaldo (£23.5m), Mamadou Sakho (£10m), David Ospina (£9m)
Stade Rennais – Carlos Martinez (£1m), Yoan Gouffran (£1.2m), Alexandre Coeff (£1.25m)
Toulouse – Nabil Bentaleb (Loan)



Bayer Leverkusen – Tiago Ilori (Loan), Nacer Chadli (£9.25m), Marco Davide Faraoni (£8m), Massadio Haidara (£6.5m)
Borussia Dortmund – Lazar Markovic (£24.5m), Anthony Brooks (£8.25m), Vaclav Kadlec (£8.75m)
Borussia Monchengladbach – Victor Moses (£4m), Vladimir Weiss (£3.3m), Johaness Flum (£3.7m)
FC Bayern Munich – Havard Nordtveit (£9.75m)
Hamburg SV – Andre Hahn (£3.3m), Daniel Caligiuri (£4.5m), Fabio Borini (£4.4m), Christoph Kramer (£4.7m), Anthony Knockaert (£6m), Yordy Reyna (Loan)
Stuttgart – Julian Schieber (£600k), Leonardo Bittencourt (£2.6m)
Wolfsburg – Ishak Belfodil (£7m), Jonas Hofmann (£4m)



Ajax – Valon Berisha (£1.2m), Fabian Monzon (£2m)
AZ Alkmaar – Kingsley Coman (Loan)
FC Twente – Nick Viergever (Free), Angelo Henriquez (Loan)
PSV Eindhoven – Markus Henriksen (£5.5m), Eugenio Mena (£5m)



AC Milan – Emmanuel Badu (£550k), Andrea Poli (£3.3m), Rafael da Silva (£5.75m), Federico Fazio (£6.75m), Martin Skrtel (£2.8m), Jesus Navas (£6.75m), Marco Capuano (£2.6m/CO), Gabriel Torje (£6.5m/CO), Jonathan De Guzman (£8.75m)
Fiorentina – Marquinho (£2.2m), Gael Kakuta (£2.3m), Blerim Dzemali (£3.6m), Nicolas Lodeiro (£5.75m), Mohamed El Neny (£3.1m), Diego Contento (£3.1m)
Roma – Valon Behrami (£3.5m/CO), Edin Dzeko (£8m), Thiago Motta (Loan), Matteo Musacchio (£2.9m/CO)
Inter Milan – Saphir Taider (£5.25m), Isaac Cofie (£4.8m), Albin Ekdal (£3.6m), Alberto Paloschi (£5.5m), Marco Sau (£8.75m), Camillo Zuniga (£1.7m/CO)
Juventus – Jorginho (£18.5m), Nicola Murru (£15.5m/CO), Luca Marrone (£950k), Faouzi Ghoulam (£700k/CO), Alexander Merkel (£1.7m/CO), Josip Ilicic (£4.2m/CO)
Napoli – Walter Gargano (£325k), Abel Hernandez (£700k), Luca Cigarini (£1.4m), Giacomo Bonaventura (£14m), Jan Vertonghen (£9.75m), Younes Belhanda (£8m)
Lazio – Paolo De Ceglie (£4.8m)
Sampdoria – Mauro Icardi (£1m), Manolo Gabbiadini (£3m), Jonathan Biabiany (£2m), Alberto Masi (Free), Zoran Tosic (Free), McDonald Mariga (£1.1m)
Udinese – Nicolas Lopez (Free), Mauricio Isla (£3.4m), Guido Marilungo (£425k), Pablo Armero (£1.1m), Ogenyi Onazi (£4.4m/CO), Guiseppe Bellusci (£2.6m)



Benfica – Souza (£3.8m), Lucas (£1.1m), Felipe Gutierrez (£9m), Luccas Claro (£3m)
FC Porto – Casemiro (£1.5m), Emilio Nsue (£3m), Joao Mario (£800k), Romarinho (£2.4m)
Sporting Lisbon – John Guidetti (Free), Dimitri Payet (£13.5m), Ola John (£525k), Kaka (Loan)



CSKA Moscow – Bruno Ecuele Manga – (£7.5m), Brice Dja Djedje (£5m)
Dinamo Moscow – Christian Ansaldi (£3.5m), Marcelo (£10m), Eliseu (£600k)



Atletico Madrid – Allan (£8.25m), Jose Callejon (£4.5m)
FC Barcelona – Fernando (£15.5m)
Malaga – Emiliano Insua (£775k), Robin Tim Becker (Loan), Robbie Kruse (£2.3m)
Real Madrid – Guido Vadala (£4.9m), Sebastian Rode (£7.5m), Samir Nasri (£6.5m)
Real Sociedad – Iago Falque (£1.5m)
Sevilla – Miguel Torres (£1.3m), Leandro Cabrera (£1.6m), Jose Enrique (£2.6), Sandro Ramirez (£5.5m), Maya Yoshida (£7.75m)
Valencia – Joaquin (Free), Jonathan Pitroipa (Free), Branislav Ivanovic (£1m)



Celtic – Fernando Torres (Loan), Nick Powell (Loan)

September 2015

Farfan (1), Matip (10)





Damiao (24), Farfan (52) – Yarmolenko (47)





Wollscheid (45+2) – Damiao (70), Fuchs (83)





Jovetic (49, 62), Pastore (69), Höwedes (72)





Farfan (53) – Ekici (pen 45+2)

Bundesliga Table

UEFA Champions’ League Group D

Schalke’s Player of the Month

Jefferson Farfan

Once more, the Peruvian is proving to be our greatest threat on the pitch and is showing signs of enduring a fantastic season.

Maradona’s Verdict

September was another quality month to add to our solid start to the season. I expected to beat Hertha Berlin but I was pleasantly surprised to have taken down all three of Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Gladbach. We should have defeated Werder Bremen, a draw that sees Bayern Munich level us at the top of the Bundesliga, but sometimes you have those type of games where you are clearly the better side but things go against you.

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MARADONA SWIPES AT RENE

Schalke 04 manager Diego Maradona insists he will not take Rene Meulensteen’s approach when he faces his former club Sporting Lisbon on the 1st October.

The Manchester United boss revealed he was confident that he knew how to stop his former team Schalke before losing 2-1, with Maradona has stating he holds too much respect for Sporting to ever have the same ideology as the Dutchman.

”Some managers will always think they know exactly how a team is going to play and what the opposition’s weaknesses are, but I’m not like that.

“I’m a firm believer that every opponent needs to be treated with respect, regardless of how strong, weak or familiar they are.

“I’m not expecting an easy game against Sporting and trust their team have enough quality for me to dis-value the thought that I know their flaws.”

Meanwhile Schalke got off to a winning start in the UEFA Champions’ League; Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Sporting had to settle for a point versus Galatasaray.

The Liga Zon Sagres holders currently sit in 2nd place behind FC Porto in the Portuguese League under the Norwegian.

KLOPP OVER GUARDIOLA

Schalke 04 boss Diego Maradona has revealed he prefers his bitter Ruhr rival Jürgen Klopp to Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola as a manager.

Despite regarding both managers as two of the best around, Maradona admits he’s more inclined to the style of Borussia Dortmund’s Klopp as opposed to his Spanish speaking counterpart.

”I believe they are both fantastic managers, perhaps two of the very best at the moment, but I’ve always been a fan of Klopp.

“Everything about Klopp’s style of play is fantastic, so much so that I’d compare it to some of the great Real Madrid or Manchester United sides of the past.

“I’ve been a big advocate of Klopp’s tactics since 2011 and simply love the way Dortmund’s play bursts from possession football into devastating counter attacks.

“Again, Klopp seems to be a great guy with a great aura about him. I’m surprised some of the bigger teams haven’t lined up to try to lure him away from Germany.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m also a very big fan of Pep and his style of play. I, myself have modeled my tactics on their playing style, so I can see many top managers in the future use Pep and Klopp as a blueprint for success.

“I’m relishing the chance of coming up against both this season and hope that this experience can really take my game to another level.”

Schalke will face Dortmund on the 31st October and will take on Bayern Munich twice in the following month for the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal.

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