Schalke 04: 3 hidden positives in another embarrassing defeat
By Josh Sippie
2. (Relative) defensive composure
One of the most shocking aspects of the Revierderby was just how bad this defense was. They were getting torched left and right, from Salif Sane to Jean-Clair Todibo. In the early parts of the season, this defense was a constant bright spot, and they can regain that if they can just get a little confidence back.
Augsburg was not a match full of confidence, but it must be said that the centerback pairing was actually relatively good, barring the misplaced pass by Salif Sane that led to the second goal. Individual mistakes were at an all-time high for the Royal Blues, but for the gross majority of the match, Sane and Matija Nastasic combined to stump Augsburg, who simply used that opening set-piece goal to carry them. They mustered so little outside of that.
A big reason why is because Sane and Nastasic did such a good job taming the Augsburg attack. And again, I know that sounds dumb since we gave up three goals, but all three goals were individual instances—a set-piece and two individual mistakes. One mistake was Sane’s. Aside from that, this centerback pairing did their job quite well.
On to No. 1.