Football Season Guide

Few sides in the Bundesliga consistently go through so much turmoil as Schalke and remain near the top of the league. After a season that had both highs and some significant lows coach Andre Breitenreiter was sacked as coach and replaced by former Augsburg coach Markus Wienzierl. The new manager must surely be given some time to get his side up to scratch otherwise the club will never be able to challenge for honours. But the pressure will be on the new manager straight away to turn his new side into a team who can challenge for a top four which is becoming increasingly hard to get in. Schalke have a highly talented squad and that has mostly been maintained this season though the departure of Leroy Sane to Manchester City means they have lost one of their brightest talents. Joel Matip has also moved to the Premier League which means their options at the back are quite limited now and should either Mateja Nastasic or Benedickt Höwedes pick up a long term injury as they did last season then they could have problems there and might have to rely on an aging Naldo and Kaan Ayhan who is back after a loan spell with Eintracht Frankfurt. Midfielders Roman Neustädter, Marco Höger and Younes Belhanda also left over the summer so the likes of Sidney Sam who was on the fringes last year will get a chance to step up. Though some more cover for central midfield will surely be forthcoming as their resources there look stretched. Most of the additions have been at the back with Coke from Sevilla and Abdul Rahman on loan from Chelsea right and left backs respectively. Coke got injured in pre season and will miss the early stages of the season but in the long term it looks likely that Junior Caicara will play as a more attacking player after some woeful defensive performances last term. Perhaps the most exciting addition is Breel Embolo who had an impact with Switzerland at the European Championships. He will hope to establish himself quickly alongside Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who looked set to leave the club this year. Despite having some potentially excellent players in the form of Johannes Geis, Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka, none of them have quite found the consistency required. In addition the squad overall lacks the same quality that sides who finished above them last year have and so this term they will probably be aiming to get into the Europa League again. In the group stages of the Europa League Schalke should easily go through meaning a late season run in that competition could also be on the cards.