Schalke 04: 5 reasons to stay positive after Revierderby defeat
By Josh Sippie
3. Salif Sane is back
Whoo! The big man! The best aerial defender in the world, statistically speaking. He was supposed to be out for the year, but he’s turned that pause into a positive and returned to action early.
The Revierderby was not the return he might have dreamt of, but that was the case with everyone. Salif Sane didn’t look good back there, he looked outmatched and outclassed at every turn, but you have to take into account the fact that he’s been out of the game even longer than everyone else. He hadn’t played a competitive match since November 3rd.
People are expected to be rusty after that long of an injury layoff, but they’re expected to be rusty after not being able to train as a team for two months either. By that standard, this individual performance was to be expected altogether.
What I said before applies to Sane on an individual level too—don’t judge his quality based on this performance. We know how good he is, we know what he can do. Let him get his feet back underneath him and I’ll wager these kinds of collapses don’t happen anymore.
Next stop, No. 2.