Schalke 04: 3 players who must step up in Omar Mascarell’s absence
By Josh Sippie
Schalke 04 looks to be without Omar Mascarel for the foreseeable future, so here are three guys who need to step up in his prolonged absence.
With the Revierderby now upon Schalke and the great beyond to follow, the prospect of not having Omar Mascarell for awhile is bothersome. When things started to really get bad before the pause, one of the contributing factors was Mascarell’s absence from the midfield.
But while Mascarell won’t be back for some time, numerous other Schalke stars have returned from injury. And this club has too much quality to live or die by the presence or absence of one particularly remarkable defensive midfielder. Still, it’s not going to be an easy task, and it’s not just something that’s going to happen. It has to be a priority to ensure that Mascarell’s absence is accounted for.
Which becomes considerably more difficult with the one clear-cut solution—Benjamin Stambouli—also out for the foreseeable future. So yes, Die Knappen is getting healthier, but they aren’t quite there yet.
Schalke needs these 3 guys to cover for Omar Mascarell
In the meantime, though, the resources are there to cover for Mascarell’s absence. It just needs to be emphasized and emphasized again. Here are those three players.
3. Suat Serdar
As you can well imagine, the bulk of who needs to step up resides in this midfield. Suat Serdar was another guy that the Royal Blues were struggling without, but for completely different reasons than Mascarell. For Serdar, it was his threat to goal, his gliding between defense and attack.
Serdar is already a pretty reliable defender. He is among the best on the team in winning the ball back, but his primary drive will always be getting forward and ensuring that his attackers have support from deep.
Not much needs to change for Serdar. I’d hate to tell him anything other than “just be yourself,” because that is clearly working so well. But he has to be extra conscious of his midfield mates and knowing when to stay home. Defending the defense was Mascarell’s job, now it’s a team effort, and it requires all hands on deck.
Next up, No. 2.