FC Schalke: A tale of two very different Michael Gregoritsch’s

FC Schalke were thoroughly smashed by Bayern Munich, and one man in particular didn’t do a lick about it—and that man was Michael Gregoritsch.

FC Schalke were supposed to make some kind of showing for themselves at the Allianz Arena, but that ended before it could even start. I’m trying to just forget it happened, but that’s tough to do. It was awful. Not a lot of players were up to the task ahead of them, and Michael Gregoritsch was just one of those players.

Gregoritsch was coming off a performance of the season against Borussia Monchengladbach. The Austrian, in his debut, scored a goal, added an assist, and had a clearance off the line. He created four chances, he won six aerial duels. He was a one-man monster, but he didn’t need to do it alone.

Against Bayern Munich, it was a different story. He did next to nothing. He only touched the ball 16 times, he created nothing, he had no presence in the air. It just wasn’t there.

These were two very different performances. They could not be any less different. In one, he was everything. In the other, he was nothing. Sorry, it’s true.

More from Release The Knappen

• Schalke 04: Arkadiusz Milik would take everything, but he’s worth it
• Schalke 04: Ozan Kabak makes Jean-Claire Todibo pass quietly
• Schalke 04: Omar Mascarell the only boost between now and then
• Schalke 04: David Wagner just has to make it to the end of the season
• Schalke 04: At least we still have Weston McKennie

So the big question—which Michael Gregoritsch is the real Michael Gregoritsch? That’s easy. We haven’t seen that one yet. We’ve seen him at his best and we’ve seen him at his worst. He’s not going to be as good as he was against Monchengladbach consistently and I’d wager we’re never going to see him as bad as he was against Bayern Munich ever again.

Unless we play Bayern Munich again.

This match was an anomaly. I guarantee you that. This was not the Schalke that’s been coming together so beautifully. This was a complete and spontaneous collapse. All at once. Everyone sucked, so how can we sit here and wonder if this is the real Michael Gregoritsch when it wasn’t even the real Schalke?

That’s the news I’m here to tell you. In the tale of two Michael Gregoritsch, there really is only one. And while we haven’t see him yet, we are going to see the Monchengladbach one far more often than we will the Bayern Munich one.

It’s been a hard weekend for Die Knappen, but don’t lose faith in anything, least of all Michael Gregoritsch. He’s a fantastic talent who will continue to skew our fortunes towards the positive.