Despite being one of the most successful clubs in German football, Schalke have suffered two bottom half of the table finishes since claiming 2nd spot in the 2017/18 campaign and now find themselves in real danger of being relegated.
Names: Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04. Nicknamed, ‘The Royal Blues’ and ‘The Miners’.
Founded: 1904 as Westfalia Schalke
Stadium: Veltins-Arena. Capacity, 62,271.
Noteworthy Former Players: Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Jens Lehmann, Leroy Sane, Julian Draxler, Ivan Rakitic, Joel Matip, Leon Goretzka,
Manager: Christian Gross. Gross moved into management in 1988 with Swiss side Wil and in 1993 he was appointed as the head coach of Grasshopper where he enjoyed a 54.66%-win rate.
In 1997, Gross became the first-ever Swiss manager in the Premier League when he took control of Tottenham Hotspur, but he was sacked within a year and had a win ratio of just 33.33%. Gross spent 10-years at his next job, manager of Swiss side Basel where he had success and enjoyed a win rate of 58.03%.
German side Stuttgart hired the Swiss manager in 2009, but once again Gross found himself sacked within a year despite winning the majority of his matches. A move back to Switzerland with Young Boys followed before spells in Saudi Arabia and Egypt from 2014-2019 and in December 2020 he became the new manager of Schalke.
History
Schalke have won major trophies domestically and in Europe, beginning way back in 1934 when they won their first top division title. Schalke were successful throughout the 30s and 40s and went on to claim their seventh league title in 1958. The club have also claimed the German Cup on five separate occasions, starting in 1937 and most recently in 2011. Schalke’s one and only success in major European competition arrived in 1997 when they won the UEFA Cup, but the club also claimed two Intertoto Cups during the early 2000s.
As Things Stand
Schalke currently find themselves bottom of the Bundesliga table after 16 games with just 7pts to their name, only they and Mainz are yet to reach double figures in the points department.
Both scoring and conceding goals has been a real issue this season. Schalke have only scored more goals than one other Bundesliga side so far this season, newly promoted Bielefeld who sit three places and 7pts above them.
No other team has conceded as many goals as Schalke this season with the club letting in a whopping 42 goals. The next worst defence is that of Mainz, but even they have only conceded 34 goals so far.
It’s difficult to see Gross turning things around at Schalke, especially given that he has never really had much success outside of Switzerland and hasn’t managed in Europe since 2012.
Schalke look destined for relegation this season and what a sad sight it will be to see one of the county’s most successful teams drop out of the top-flight.
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