Schalke: Markus Schubert back where he belongs, and Nubel is too

Markus Schubert has been given the Schalke starting nod for the rest of the season, putting him—and Alexander Nubel—where they belong.

Markus Schubert put up quite a fight against Bayern Munich in Schalke‘s DFB-Pokal loss to Bayern Munich. Serving in direct contrast to the 5-0 loss, which was an unbridled horror show that saw Schubert commit two defensive errors leading to goal, the 1-0 loss to Bayern—while still disappointing—was far from crippling.

Schubert made numerous saves in an effort to preserve his side’s hopes to a comeback and it was rewarded after the match when David Wagner announced that the plan was to keep Schubert in goal for the rest of the season. His words:

"Schubert will play the next games. The goal is that he will stay in goal for the rest of the season. But the most important thing now is that he stays fit. Alexander [Nübel] was composed when I informed him of the decision. He sensed it himself to a certain extent. It was a simply and short conversation."

All this does is set everything back in order. Schubert had missed out on start over the past few weeks due to an injury. That forced Nubel to fill in in Schubert’s absence.

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• Schalke 04: David Wagner just has to make it to the end of the season
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At no point was Nubel reclaiming the starting role, but it’s still nice to see Wagner setting the record straight—Schubert is the starter, Nubel is absolutely not.

In case you’ve missed all my previous rants about players leaving behind Schalke—for free—to go join Bayern Munich, let me give you an abbreviated version of my thoughts:

It sucks.

I hate it.

Sure, part of it is the club’s problem. A bit part. They have had issues with players leaving for free over the past decade and they will have more problems with it this summer, with more than just Nubel running out their contract.

But Nubel had the opportunity to make a definitive statement for Schalke, same as Amine Harit did, but instead he chose the alternative—to sit on the bench for Bayern Munich and watch Manuel Neuer.

Now he’s getting a preview of what next year is going to be like as he sits and watches Markus Schubert.

Schubert came to the Veltins with high acclaim and he has largely lived up to the hype. Plus, he chose Schalke when other clubs—like Arsenal—were also fishing for his signature. Now he’s the starter and Nubel is the observer. Just as things should be in such a situation.