Schalke 04: 3 things that must change against Augsburg
By Josh Sippie
Schalke 04 can only see one result against Augsburg, and to get to that result, these three things need to change from the Revierderby.
Schalke 04 came back from the pause with a great big whimper, getting smashed by Dortmund in the Revierderby with the entire world watching. It left fans wondering just what it might take for the Royal Blues to get their act together and actually mount something resembling an upward thrust in the Bundesliga table.
Next up is Augsburg, hosted in what will be a cavernous Veltins Arena, and needless to say, David Wagner is going to have to make some adjustments to ensure that the embarrassing streak of results does not continue.
While it’s not exactly an easy task for Wagner, there is no reason why such a talented collection of players can’t show more of a fight then they have been, instead volunteering themselves to be the designated punching bag of all the teams competing for the Bundesliga title.
3 things Schake must fix against Augsburg
The man has to motivate his men, which is step one, but there are three other quick adjustments that he can make to make the task easier. We start with No. 3.
3. Midfield help
This is the hardest of the three on this list to accomplish, since the specific midfield help I’m referring to is Omar Mascarell, who probably won’t be back in time to be that help. His presence was, naturally, missed against Dortmund, as the midfield was about as easy to perforate as parchment paper.
But David Wagner can turn to other solutions, and I’m not even opposed to seeing someone like Levent Mercan or Nassim Boujellab get into that midfield if it means more bodies to try to stop up opposing attacks. Hell, give Alessandro Shopf another spin.
Maybe Weston McKennie can be trusted to play a deeper role, but we need that deeper midfielder who thinks to defend first, and while no one will be able to replace Mascarell, maybe there’s someone out there who can at least put up a decent impression of him.
Moving on to No. 2.