Are Schalke ready to bounce back? A summer of rejuvenation sees Germany's sleeping giants buzzing with positivity
Whit Monday, which fell in late May this year, is a day of rest in Germany, one where the nation sits down for a hearty meal and a spot of relaxation. That wasn’t the case for Schalke’s new CEO Matthias Tillmann, though, who was likely the busiest man in the country as he kick started a whole new era at one of European football’s biggest clubs well ahead of the new season.
The 39-year-old former Trivago managing director and Deutsche Bank investor was boldly announced as the youngest-ever leader of the Bundesliga 2 side in October 2023. He took over the reins on January 1, and two days later was joined by club great Marc Wilmots as his sporting director. From there, the duo put together a grand plan that finally kicked into motion four months later at a team meeting.
Sweeping cuts were made on Whit Monday (20 May) across the playing staff, coaching team, and all the way down to physios and match analysts.
Club legend Mike Büskens was dismissed after a combined 20 years as a player and assistant coach, and responded on social media, with Schalke the story of the day both in the sports pages and front covers.
Two days later, Tillman broke cover, admitting it was an “unpleasant and painful” day but one that was meticulously planned and analysed carefully, even if it felt like a “radical blow”. In the long-term, Tillman insisted: “Clear decisions bring success. We are sure of that.”
To understand why such a day of revolution took place shouldn’t be too difficult. Everyone knows Schalke, the seven-time German champions with one of the highest weekly attendances in world football, whose academy produces the game’s best German players like Manuel Neuer and Mesut Özil.
People also remember them kicking off the return of football during the Covid-19 pandemic with a 4-0 defeat to rivals Borussia Dortmund, and also the infamy of what happened from then on. Schalke would go one game short of the longest winless run in German top flight history at 30 games, ending the following 2020/21 campaign with their first relegation in 30 years.
An instant return was to follow, but so was relegation straight back down, and then, during the 2023/24 season, the Gelsenkirchen giants even came dangerously close to tumbling down into the third tier.
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It was clear that even with the quick return to the top flight in 2022/23, all was not well. The club had been through a staggering 10 head coaches in just over three years and were struggling to adapt to life outside of a top flight where they finished runners-up as recently as 2018.
Explaining the situation, Tillman put it incredibly bluntly. "In the past four years, no positive development has been evident,” he said. “The sporting development has been volatile with a negative trend, the squad value has not been built up to any significant extent, and due to relegation in 2023, it was also not possible to rehabilitate the existing structures. What came out of the Knappenschmiede (academy) was also clearly too little in relation to what the club invested there.
"Perhaps unpleasant decisions were not made at one point or another in the past, which then contributed over time to Schalke 04 finding itself in the situation we are in now."
Those comments were made soon after the clear-out, but now it was time for the rebuild to begin. Tillman’s decisiveness certainly impressed one man in particular, head coach Karel Geraerts, who was seen as a huge coup when he arrived in October 2023 after his impressive trophy wins and Europa League exploits at home in Belgium with Royal Union Saint-Gilloise.
Geraerts could have been forgiven for being worn out by the 2023/24 season, but instead announced he’d be staying on days later on May 27, revealing he was impressed by what he’d seen, despite the previous days being “intense,” and “not easy for anyone.”
"Internally, we have discussed how the path should look, what is important to us,” Geraerts said after making his decision. “We agree on how we want to understand and see football: courageous, intense, hungry for victory. We will plan the squad and put together the staff. Discussions are currently underway.”
Key in those discussions were Ben Manga, who had arrived weeks earlier and been given the role as Schalke’s new director of squad planning, scouting, and the academy. Formerly an executive at Eintracht Frankfurt and Watford, along with numerous other sides as a scout, the Equatorial Guinea international brought with him the knowledge of smaller budgets and lower league football that the former Bundesliga regulars were crying out for.
"He’s remarkably calm," Tillmann commented. “Ben works in a very structured way and is someone who knows exactly what he wants. What particularly impresses me is that he always thinks two or three steps ahead.
"It is also good that there are passionate discussions. Friction generates heat. That is what they say and that is how it is. As long as you use it well, it is an optimal constellation. Of course, you will have to put out a fire here and there if too much heat is generated, but that is completely fine as long as everyone always keeps the bigger picture in mind."
Thinking at least two steps ahead, Manga began stocking up his team, even before the painful but crucial financial boosts that came from selling the latest stars off their incredible production line, Assan Ouédraogo and Keke Topp.
A total of 11 new recruits made their way over to Gelsenkirchen, including Moussa Sylla, reportedly the club’s most expensive purchase in five years. Other moves were made too, more players were told they had no future at the club, while their star player from previous campaigns, Kenan Karaman, was nailed down and given the club captaincy from the departing Bundesliga 2 legend Simon Terodde.
As the pre-season approached, the numbers of arrivals increased. Ron-Thorben Hoffmann was brought in from rivals Eintracht Braunschweig to fight for the number one spot, and Manga flexed his scouting muscles by landing Felipe Sánchez from Argentine side Gimnasia to fill in at centre-back. Later, Emil Højlund, the younger brother of Manchester United’s Rasmus, also landed, with Schalke reportedly beating Bundesliga competition to the forward’s signature.
Pre-season then began, and it was clear Manga was onto something. Sylla, who’d been handed Schalke’s no.9 shirt, started with two goals in one half of football, and four games later he was up to his seventh.
Hope among the fanbase finally started to grow, and that applied to the players too. “I think that the club is doing a lot of things right this summer and is following a clear plan,” new arrival Amin Younes said. "The squad has been significantly rejuvenated, the hierarchy is still being formed - with our new captain Kenan Karaman and his deputies Paul Seguin and Tomas Kalas at the top."
On the pitch, Ron Schallenberg added: "I am very, very happy with how we performed in the first two weeks. It certainly wasn't all perfect, but you can see very clearly, the will and attitude are 100 percent there - and that is a very, very good basis for the season."
Whether intentionally or not, Schallenberg tapped into the old school by mentioning will and attitude, which had carried the club for much of the recent past, but has perhaps been lacking at times.
Arguably though, it is Younes who said it best. There - for once - is a clear plan, and with the difficult readjustments in May now behind the club and followed by a positive pre-season, six years of hurt could too be consigned to the history books if everything continues on track when Bundesliga 2 resumes.
Schalke open their 2024/25 campaign at home to Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday 3 August.
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