Schalke 04: Omar Mascarell the only boost between now and then

Schalke 04 likely won’t see many boosts between now and the end of the season, but Omar Mascarell is definitely worthy of excitement alone.

Schalke 04’s situation isn’t going to get a lot of help from external sources. Even when the transfer window hits, it’s unlikely that David Wagner (assuming he still has a job) will be able to solve all the problems the club has, all at once. But this season still has one saving grace to look forward to, and that’s the return of Omar Mascarell.

Along with Suat Serdar and Amine Harit, Mascarell’s absence has provided such a conundrum for Die Knappen. Of course, all of this is happening in the midfield too, to make matters worse. Three of our four best midfielders are out of the picture and two of them are out for the year.

Mascarell’s absence ranks right up there with Harit and Serdar in terms of immediate impact. His selfless prerogative to play defense first, defense second, defense third, and, if there’s time, maybe move a little bit into the attack, make him invaluable.

Omar Mascarell gives Schalke 04 something to look forward to

In fact, the Spanish midfielder has been on a fast track to player of the season for being one of the few guys on this club that is consistently reliable. He can be counted on week in and week out to do a job.

As it stands, there’s no one else like that at Schalke. Salif Sane may be getting back to that place and Ozan Kabak is pretty close, but for the midfield? There is no consistency. Even Serdar and Harit are inconsistent and while Weston McKennie is growing, he isn’t quite to that level of consistency yet.

Mascarell is, though, and if there is one thing that the Royal Blues need more than anything right now, it’s some damn consistency. You just never know what you’re going to get with these guys—other than a loss—and it’s sapping the morale of the team. If there was any left to begin with.

But while there is very little else to look forward to in Schalke-land in the coming weeks, the return of Mascarell is one such thing. And these days, having something to look forward to makes a huge difference.

Mascarell is tentatively looking at a Jun 7th return, but even that is a little wishy-washy. Still, it’s something, and something is a lot better than the big bowl of nothing we’ve been eating.