Frankfurt 3-1 Schalke 04
Szalai

With a big match up against Juventus in the week I fielded a somewhat weakened team and it showed. They took their chances and really did deserve the win. But we can take a positive from Szalai still managing to score even with his limited game time. We have great depth in attack but I think we’ll need one more midfielder in summer.

Juventus 4-1 Schalke 04 (Champions League)
Draxler

We went 1-0 up on the 24th minute with a great left footed finish from Julian. I set up to defend the lead and some sensational goals lead to what looks like a heavy victory when in fact I think 2-1 would have been fair. Tevez scored a worldie from 30 yards which cannoned off the underside of the bar and in. That was when we looked down hearted and Pirlo made it 2-1 with a 25 yard free kick. We needed to regain the lead but it wasn’t to be as they hit us well on the counter in the second half. It’s a shame to go out but next year I’m sure we can push on further when some of the younger players have developed more.

Schalke 04 4-0 Dortmund
Huntelaar x4

What a performance from the team and more notably Klaas. Scoring 4 headed goals he stole the show. He was clinical, having 5 shots in the match and bagging 4. One of the best performances of the season, we dominated the whole game. We exploited the wings on the counter and made them pay with some precise final balls onto Klaas’s head. Amazing victory to pick the team up after 2 losses on the bounce. We head to the Allianz next week for a tough match but we’ll go into it confident as ever after giving our rivals a thumping.

Bayern 2-1 Schalke 04
Meyer

We did ourselves proud and I can’t take anything away from the lads. We took the lead through a good one on one finish by Max in the first half. But goals from Shaqiri and Ribery pegged us back. We played brilliantly, I’d go as far as saying we definitely deserved a point.

Schalke 04 3-0 Leverkusen
Meyer, Volland x2

We continue our trend of spanking teams at home with another big win over Bayer Leverkusen. Meyer really has upped his game recently and is adding some vital goals to his countless assists. Volland is also finally becoming more of a goal threat. He squandered too many chances in the opening 20 or so games but has come into his own recently and has looked far more confident.

With 6 league matches left and us sitting in 2nd place with 2 points on Hamburg we need to press on to secure our spot in the Champions League next year.

some dissapointing results man, but you're still solid at home; hopefully you can push for that CL spot and make it your own! keep it up!

Hertha Berlin 1-1 Schalke 04
Huntelaar

We we robbed of 3 points by a 92nd minute goal which cancelled out Klaas’s tap in midway into the first half. It’s a tough blow to take but with Hamburg and Dortmund both losing it wasn’t as bad as I first feared. With things still tight anything could happen.

Schalke 04 4-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Rodriguez, Huntelaar, Volland, Kaan Ayhan

Another easy win at home. We can’t stop scoring in the Veltins, and nor can Huntelaar. He’s been on fire ever since his embarrassment of Dortmund last month. Nice to see 18 year old Ayhan get on the scoreboard with a last minute screamer from a freekick. He may be a center back but my can the boy play football. He’ll get more football next year I would imagine as can play center half and defensive midfield equally as well.

Braunschweig 0-1 Schalke 04
Huntelaar

The Hunter at it again. A brilliant peice of movement by Klaas was seen by Volland who pulled off an inch perfect pass and the rest was just instinct for Klaas to rifle the ball home into the corner first touch. This win guaranteed Champions League football as Mainz lost another game in 5th place putting them out of our reach. It’s great to know that the boys have secured our goal for the season with 3 matches left to play.

Schalke 04 4-1 Augsburg
Meyer x2, Huntelaar, Draxler

Whatever we are doing at home, we are doing it right. The fourth consecutive game we’ve scored 3 or more at the Veltins. Huntelaar now has 8 goals in his last 7 matches too which is phenomenal in such a tough league. With two games left now, I think I’m going to give some youngsters a chance in the first team.

Werder Bremen 2-1 Schalke 04
Hoger

Maybe I regret throwing in mainly fringe players and youngsters going by the result as was still mathematically possible to catch Bayern if they lost their last two matches and with the Champions League final against Madrid looming near it’s possible they do slip up. Nonetheless what is done is done. Hoger got his first goal of the season here but has been slowly pushed out the side due to Leon Goretzka really stepping up his game after the winter break.

Schalke 04 1-0 Hoffenheim
Meyer

The season came to a close with a boring 1 goal win over a mid table Hoffenheim side. Meyer’s early goal sealed it and we cruised to see the game out. Nonetheless we continued our impressive home form winning 16 and losing only 1, to Bayern, at the Veltins this year.

At the start of the season, I wanted third. It would have given us a good spring board to launch an assault on the dominant top 2 that we’ve had in Germany the past 3 or 4 seasons. But we've manged to do it in one year which means I can push on my goals a year and we'll be aiming for the title now. Next year will be interesting with Bayer hoping to regain a top 4 spot after a poor season finding themselves in 7th behind Mainz and Gladbach.

Unbelievable season for you Raheem! Did so well to get that 2nd spot, let's hope next year you can go one better eh? I assume you got big prize money as well, considering when i was Stuttgart i got 23M and finished 12th
Should help a lot!

@Aaron Yeah, I think it was 41m off the top of my head! I've been given a 39m transfer budget and we made a profit of upwards of 40m over the course of the season if I remember correctly.

Player of the Season

Klaas Jan Huntelaar

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With that goal tally, who else could it be? Klaas always showed up and did what he does best; putting the ball in the back of the net. With 23 in the league he won Top Goalscorer and Players Player of the Year. Although I deployed him as the spearhead of my attacking 4 and as a poacher too, I didn’t expect him to create too much. More just for him to be there to finish off the moves created by that flowing and creative 3 behind him. But with an impressive number of assists he can’t be faulted for his willingness to drop deep and play in Volland or Draxler behind their respective fullback.

And who can forget THAT match. 4 goals against a Dortmund team who reached the semi’s of the Champions League and clawed their way back into the top 3 after a very poor start to the season. We have a brilliant goalscorer on our hands and I’m deleighted to have him here.

u21 Player of the Season

Julian Draxler

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This was close, Meyer certainly gave Jules a run for his money here with an impressive 9 goals and 12 assists in 30(8) appearances. But Draxler showed why he is one of the most promising youngsters this season. After Holtby’s departure the in January 2013 Draxler really has filled his boots and become a top top player, almost single handedly taking us to Champions league spots in the end of the 2012/13 season.

But he’s continued his fine form under me. Playing as a left winger with a license to roam wherever he please, he often drifts in off the wing and plays a reverse pass for Klaas to tuck one away. His dribbling ability is frightening as he just jinks his way past players as if they weren’t there. If anyone can make something out of nothing, it’s him. Stats don’t lie either with an impressive haul of assists and chipping in with a decent goal tally. He’s only going to get better and I can’t wait to have him develop more and more under my coaching.

Team and Tactics Overview

We played well. We are capable of more. And I fully expect us to push Bayern that little bit further. The team is settled, Volland, Aurier, Kirchhoff, Rodriguez, Goretzka and Krul were all new additions over the course of the year. I’m not looking for too much this summer, maybe one more midfielder and a couple of youngsters but I’m only looking to tweak the squad. Some players will be going if I can get rid of them, Barnetta is back from loan and I don’t need him. Fuchs and Kolasinac might go too with Aogo arriving after a season here on loan. Matip should also be on his way after a season away on loan. Obasi too. These players are all on €40/50/60k and they won’t be regulars so lets get rid of them and bring in hungry youngsters who want to show the world what they can do.

We played some great football, home and away. We tended to take our chances at home but buckled under the pressure away and a few players were guilty of squandering easy chances which could have lead to us challenging Bayern more. The 4231 we play is good, the 2 defensive midfielders act as a double pivot, one drops between the center halfs as the full backs push on in a ‘half back role’. Whilst the other acts as a regista, looking to carve his way through the opposition midfield to find any of the 3 players behind Klaas. I’m a fan of possession football but not the way Barcelona do it. I want there to be a purpose behind keeping the ball. Of course, reset and play a few passes around the back but then I want the ball into Draxler/Meyer/Volland#s feet and I want them to run at the defence. They are all capable of beating their man with ease, all 3 are fast boys.

Relentless attack is the best form of defence. Look at Ajax, they do it beautifully.

I’ve also got an alternate line up to keep things fresh, a 3-2-2-1-2. 3 center backs, 2 wing backs, 2 center midfielders then an attacking midfielder with 2 ahead of him. Going back on what I’ve just said, this one is for keeping the ball with a more patient build up. Sure I want us to play the ball in their half, but less gung-ho. More artistic. I want us to carve out opportunities rather than forcing them. It works well against sides that set up to defend. The patience in attack can often lead to slips in concentration.

If a player is constantly being run at. He knows what to expect. He’ll be switched on all the time.

But if you are going to slow it down, play further away from him. Attack him less. He’ll get a sense of security, “maybe he won’t run at me, he’ll play it back around”. That’s the moment you look for that final pass, that spark which creates a goal. I used it towards the end of the season at home and we won the matches 3-0, 4-1 and 4-0. It works, exactly how it should in practice. It relies on mental weakness, and with players like Klaas and Draxler who are always moving they’ll find the space and make the defenders pay for it.

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Emre Can, 20, has joined Schalke on a deal tying him to the club until 2018.

The German u21 international has made a big money move to the Gelsenkirchen club from Bayer Leverkusen earlier this morning. The fee is estimated to be around the €25m mark, with a €47.5k a week deal being signed. Not all fans are sold however as the 20 year old has only majorly featured in one senior season. At Kicker we do think the fee is somewhat excessive for the dynamic midfielder who is likely to be played in the defensive midfield 2 in Raul’s system. Whether he will replace Roman Neustadter or Leon Goretzka in the starting XI is still up for debate. It’s unlikely the €25m man will be left on the bench for many games so places are up for grabs in the center of the park.

“Emre is a brilliant capture for the club. I didn’t want an overhaul with Sam and Aogo joining on prearranged transfers we now have good depth in the squad. Emre is exactly the type of player we want here at Schalke. He’s a dynamic boy, capable of filling in at left back and center half but he’ll be used primarily in the center of the park for us. I want us to be able to push on this year and challenge Bayern that bit further. With the quality here I don’t see why we can’t do that. We have a young squad which is getting better and better every week and Emre is going to be a key player for us this season.”

Earlier in the window Schalke have gotten rid of some players that were unlikely to make first team football as Sead Kolasinac has joined Hoffenheim for €4m, Fuchs has joined Gladbach for €1.3m and Barnetta has left for Udinese for €1m. Whilst youngster Aydogan, who is held in high regard by the staff at the Veltins, has joined Spanish side Valencia on a season long loan.

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Player of Pre-Season: Klaas Jan Huntelaar

Klaas carried on his fine form in pre-season netting 6 goals in 3 starts and 3 substitute appearances. Let’s hope it carries on through to the start of the season which starts with a tough Super Cup Clash against Bayern at the Veltins. I never take pre-season results to heart. It is about gaining fitness and bring the players sharpness up, the results mean nothing. But nonetheless 6 wins out of 7 is never going to harm team morale.

The Super Cup

Things went brilliantly for the first hour. Krul saved a penalty from Kroos and Huntelaar put us 1-0 up on 70 minutes. I was sure we were heading for my first trophy, if you can call it that. I brought on another center back and looked to just see the game out. Bayern piled on the pressure with wave after wave of attack but couldn’t break through our back 5. Until Shaqiri was pulled down in the box and went, rather theatrically, to ground. To my bemusement the ref pointed to the spot and this time they didn’t make any mistakes. Alaba stood up and dispatched to make it 1-1. Ok, there were only 5 minutes left then it would go to penalties. But Bayern, our nemesis from last season, did it again. Shaqiri broke free of his marker and finished superbly from the edge of the box condemning us to a 2-1 loss with them scoring 85th and 88th minute goals. Frustrating as it was, we challenged Bayern like we never did last season and could have so easily come out of the match with a win.

Schalke 04 1-2 Bayern Munich
Huntelaar


Some good news however as we've pulled an easy tie in the DFB-Pokal against third Division Side Rostock away from home. Hopefully a good win will be enough to pick the boys back up for the start of the Bundesliga.

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What an incredible start to the season, if we avoid the loss to Bayern. 5 wins on the bounce and 1 goal conceded. I wish I could give a player award to someone else but it’s tough not to give it to Klaas. He just cannot stop scoring goals, so lets be honest I’m not going to complain.

Rostock 1-3 Schalke 04 (DFB Pokal)
Clemens, Aogo, Draxler

A routine victory here. We scored all 3 in the first half and took our foot of the pedal. The team was mainly rotation players but we have very little depth on the left hand side so Draxler started and had a great match tormenting their full back. We have gotten semi-professional side Pipisreid in the second round which should be an easy win for us and an opportunity to try out some youngsters.

Bayer Leverkusen 0-3 Schalke 04
Hoger, Szalai, Huntelaar

What I thought would be a very tough opener turned out pretty well. I went with the 352 formation and it paid off with both strikers scoring good goals. We looked very solid at the back in this one, with them only getting 2 shots off all match.

Schalke 04 3-0 1860 Munchen
Volland, Wojtkowiak (OG), Huntelaar

Newly promoted 1860 were at the end of a spanking here as we didn’t take our foot off the gas. Their keeper did well to keep the score down to just 3. Volland scored a one on one which he so often bottled last year so maybe it’s a sign of things to come. And of course Klaas got his routine goal. A sight we are becoming very used to already this season.

Schalke 04 3-0 Braunschweig
Huntelaar x3 (1 Pen)

And again, and again and again. He simply cannot stop scoring, if I asked him to stop I don’t think he’d be able to. With 5 in his opening 3 league games and 6 including his goal in the Super Cup. Draxler assisted two here to opening his assist tally for the campaign and I’m sure there’s plenty more after an impressive 16 last season. I still hope there is more end product from the 3 behind Klaas this year. They scored 27 combined last season but I want 40+ this term.


Nurnburg 0-1 Schalke 04
Draxler
Volland

As I say I want him to score more he does. A tough fought victory here after Volland got sent off for a horror tackle on the stroke of half time. We never really looked like conceding even with 10 men, another 3 points and the 4th clean sheet in a row in the league.