Opinion: Schalke under David Wagner are greater than the sum of their parts

“We’ve left the Blues behind,” said Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke in November 2016. “They won’t ever catch us up.”

Watzke was speaking after his club overtook local rivals Schalke in terms of membership numbers, but he also could also have been referring to the footballing fortunes of both clubs at the time.

Either way, three years later, he has been proven wrong. Dortmund may have made the short journey to Gelsenkirchen on Saturday three places above Schalke in the Bundesliga, but kicker magazine was absolutely right to describe the two rivals as “on an equal footing” ahead of the 179th Revierderby.

It was a prescient headline which ultimately proved to be an understatement. Because, although the derby ended goalless, there could be absolutely no doubt that the result flattered the Black and Yellows and that Schalke had deserved much more.

DW Sport’s Matt Ford

After Jadon Sancho stung Alexander Nübel’s hands with a fierce early effort, it was one-way traffic in the Veltin’s Arena, and it was heading in the opposite direction. Salif Sané hit the bar with a header and Suat Serdar struck the post after capitalizing on some calamitous Dortmund defending which began with Sancho losing possession and ended with Mats Hummels clearing the ball into Thomas Delaney’s face.

It summed up Dortmund’s performance on a day where Lucien Favre once again failed to get the most out of what is an undeniably talented squad. But at Schalke this season, the opposite is true.

Succeeding where others failed

This summer, when David Wagner arrived at back at the club with whom he won the UEFA Cup as a player in 1997, he inherited a squad which neither Markus Weinzierl nor Domenico Tedesco had been able to mold to their philosophies. In the past three seasons, the tenth and 14th place finishes provided a better reflection of where Schalke were than the runners-up spot in 2018, and sporting director Christian Heidel rightly paid the price.

Under Wagner however, that same squad is a different beast. Serdar and Omar Mascarell suddenly look like midfielders capable of controlling Bundesliga matches, Daniel Caligiuri is back to his creative best and Amine Harit is enjoying a breakthrough season.

At the back, Jonjoe Kenny is settling in after a baptism of fire at home to Bayern Munich on matchday two and it was little surprise to see Sané out-jumping Axel Witsel and powering a header against the bar, the Senegalese center-back having already scored twice this season.

There is still work to be done up front through. “We need real strikers’ goals this season,” said Wagner ahead of the derby, conscious of the fact that, in the top of the table, only Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim have scored fewer goals this season than the Royal Blues.

Rabbi Matondo was wasteful against Dortmund – but David Wagner isn’t concerned

The future’s bright

Against Dortmund, they had almost twice as many shots on goal, won eight corners to the visitors’ two and were caught offside five times, figures which reveal a clear superiority but did not result in goals. The main culprit was Rabbi Matondo, the teenager thrice failing to beat Nübel when one-on-one, although the offside flag was raised on two of those occasions.

 “Rabbi could have won us the game but he is just 18 years old,” said Wagner, right not to be overly critical. “He played well and he’ll score plenty of goals for us in future.”

The same applies to Ahmed Kutucu, the local Schalke fan who has come through the club’s famous “Knappenschmiede” academy and who replaced Matondo in the second half. Both offer more than Guido Burgstaller who, despite his work rate, is still without a goal this season.

Nevertheless, Schalke under Wagner are greater than the sum of their parts – in sharp contrast to their rivals across the Ruhr Valley. Borussia Dortmund may still be one point and three places ahead of Schalke, but they have certainly not left the Blues behind.

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  Schalke 0-0 Borussia Dortmund

  Dortmund produced another lacklustre performance but somehow escaped Gelsenkirchen with a point in the Revierderby. Schalke were the better side and twice hit the bar before the break; first Sane and then Serdar. Sancho was Dortmund’s main threat but was twice foiled, and Thorgan Hazard was lucky not to concede a penalty when the ball struck his arm in the box.

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  Hertha Berlin 2-3 Hoffenheim

  Hoffenheim made it three wins from three, coming out on top of a five-goal thriller in Berlin. The visitors raced into a 2-0 lead courtesy of Jürgen Locadia and Anrej Kramaric, but let their lead slip as Hertha stormed back through Dodi Lukebakio and Salomon Kalou. But Hoffenheim weren’t done and grabbed a winner through Benjamin Hübner, before Hertha’s Vladimir Darida was sent off late on.

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  Paderborn 2-0 Fortuna Düsseldorf

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  Mainz 3-1 Cologne

  A Robin Quaison thunderbolt stole the show as Mainz came from behind to beat Cologne, who had taken the lead through Simon Terodde. Jean-Paul Boetius’ close-range finish squared the game before half time and Quaison raised the roof with an amazing strike from distance. Mainz keeper Robin Zentner pulled off several key saves and Levin Mete Oztunali sealed the points with a low drive late on.

  Author: Michael Da Silva

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