Opposition Check: FC Schalke 04

Looking into the present. The FC Schalke 04 professional team’s form curve is pointing upwards. In December, Schalke celebrated impressive victories against two of the league’s current top teams – against SC Paderborn (4-2) and SV Elversberg (4-1). In any case, head coach Kees van Wonderen’s team remained unbeaten in December and January. After the winter break there were two wins, one draw and two defeats. The Royal Blues are currently in eleventh place in the 2nd Bundesliga. We’ll take a closer look at the Lilies‘ upcoming opponent in our opponent check.

“I’m not Harry Potter,” said Kees van Wonderen when he was introduced on club TV. What did he mean by that? “We can’t do magic, we can’t make what we want to see in the end possible in a short time. But we are going into the process and want to take a step every day.“ Although the Dutchman started his term at the Royal Blues with two defeats, the process he described at the beginning has become more and more visible, especially in the last few months. FC Schalke 04 remained unbeaten in December and January, and the team recently celebrated a 2-1 win over Karlsruher SC.

The 56-year-old knows from his own experience as a player and coach how to stabilise a team and celebrate success. As an active professional, the former Feyenoord Rotterdam right-back won the Dutch championship, the Supercup and also the UEFA Cup.

Such great triumphs have not yet been achieved on the sidelines. However, in 2018 he coached the Dutch U17 national team to the European Championships as head coach and then became Ronald Koeman’s assistant with the senior national team. Things were also consistently positive for van Wonderen in club football. With the Go Ahead Eagles Deventer he achieved promotion to the Eredivisie before coaching SC Heerenveen from 2022 to 2024 and keeping the team consistently in mid-table. He expects his team at Schalke “to do everything they can to get better every day.”

Darmstadt seems to suit Schalke – unfortunately. The two teams have already met ten times in the Merck Stadium at the Böllenfalltor: the guests from Gelsenkirchen left the pitch as winners six times. The last duel in April 2022 will also have fond memories for the Royal Blues: Schalke secured the three points with a 5-2 win over SV Darmstadt 98. Marius Bülter shone with a hat-trick, while Simon Terodde for S04 and Phillip Tietz for SV 98 scored twice. Based on this record, Schalke should travel to Bölle on Sunday (23.02/1.30pm) with a lot of confidence.

The first time in the professional squad. The first time at VELTINS Arena. The first time FC Schalke 04. But only as a guest. In December 2013, the young Kenan Karaman was in the DFB Cup round of 16 for the first time in the professional squad of TSG Hoffenheim under coach Markus Gisdol. Even though he didn’t play a minute, just warming up on the Schalke Arena pitch must have impressed the German-Turkish football newcomer. At that time he left the stadium with a 3-1 win in his pocket.

Today – over a decade later – the VELTINS Arena is his sporting home. Karaman has been wearing the royal blue jersey since 2022 – and is leading the way this season. He has only missed one competitive game so far due to a yellow card suspension. And last season he impressed with 29 appearances and 13 goals. But that wasn’t enough for him: “I always want to be better and get better! This season I would like to lead the way again with goals and assists and give the team a good feeling,” said Schalke’s number 19 to the Bild newspaper.

And the 30-year-old has confirmed this statement so far. The attacker has already scored eleven goals and prepared two more in 21 second division games this season. The following applies to him: whether on the training pitch, in the dressing room or in the mixed zone. The 31-time Turkish international puts himself at the service of the team everywhere. Coach van Wonderen is also more than convinced by his captain: “Kenan is a real leader. He has the quality to decide games.”