Schalke: 3 things Michael Gregoritsch needs to do to survive

GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - JANUARY 17: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Michael Gregoritsch of FC Schalke 04 celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Moenchengladbach at Veltins-Arena on January 17, 2020 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)
GELSENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - JANUARY 17: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Michael Gregoritsch of FC Schalke 04 celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Bundesliga match between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Moenchengladbach at Veltins-Arena on January 17, 2020 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images) /
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FC Schalke, Michael Gregoritsch
(Photo by Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

2. Get into the box

Accepting that we aren’t always going to see the most effort out of Gregoritsch, the next best thing is for him to be in the right places. Even if he isn’t busting his arse to win back every ball, he can be setting himself up for success in other ways.

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Against Hertha Berlin (the first time) and against Bayern, and also against Paderborn, there were far too many times that whipped in services went unmet.

If you aren’t going to move about and find space, at least use your physical presence to create space. Gregoritsch has the size and strength to do that. And when he does get in there, he wins headers, he nods towards goal, it’s a threat. It’s one way he can mitigate the lack of effort we too often see outside of the goal box.

This comes with acclimating, and it comes with No. 1, which I’ll get to in a second, but it’s a fairly simple fix. When your speedy teammates are blitzing down the flanks, get front and center and wait for service.

Speaking of which, the all important No. 1.