“Fearful and far too kind” – Schalke sounds the alarm

The clear words expressed concern. “We always talk about wanting to be aggressive, intense and courageous – but there was no sign of that,” said Youri Mulder. And then Schalke's director of professional football dissected the team's performance in detail. "We were a bit afraid. We were too nice, much too nice," explained the royal blue club icon.

Mulder hits the spot. Because in the 0-1 home defeat against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday, the Bundesliga promoted team only looked like a tired imitation of what distinguished Schalke during the last second division season and also in some games of the current season. There was no sign of the adjectives “intense, aggressive” and “courageous”, which were actually characteristic of the team’s demeanor in most games under Miron Muslic – and which can also be read as a constant reminder on a wall in the professional performance center – on the pitch.

That gives Mulder pause. "We didn't do what we normally do. Normally we are tight on the pitch, we stress the opponent, we are difficult to beat. We weren't like that in the first half against Mainz," said the 57-year-old. In fact, the team gave the impression that they just wanted to play along a bit - and were therefore punished by the much more determined Mainz team.

“We completely slept through the entire first half and parts of the second half,” said goalkeeper Loris Karius, one of the few Schalke players who reached their performance limit this Saturday. Without the goalkeeper, who has been in top form for months, the defeat would probably have been significantly greater. Mainz had two big opportunities in the first sixty seconds. The visitors' opening goal by Phillip Tietz (24th minute) was an almost logical consequence - also due to the hosts' passivity.

Schalke were particularly disappointing on the offensive. They also failed to score in their third home game of the season. What was surprising was the lack of secondary virtues: the determination to win second balls or duels, the follow-up after ball losses.

This was atypical for Muslic's team - and gave him something to think about. Above all, the “biliousness” was completely missing, criticized the coach. "It's actually a Schalke virtue that we work football. If you then lose every duel for 65 minutes, it becomes extremely difficult in the Bundesliga," said Muslic. For him, he left no doubt, these are alarm signals - despite or perhaps because of the five points that were already collected after six match days. This means that Schalke are on the verge of relegation, but that can be deceptive: with further such ideas it will only be a matter of time before that changes.

"If you lose twice in a row and don't worry about it, that's not good either. I think you're allowed to hang in there and worry," Mulder explained. He even expects this. “If I’m a player and I lose twice in a row, I worry all week.”

There is consensus on this point. The worryingly flattening performance curve gives rise to self-criticism. "I think that was our worst game so far, you have to admit that honestly. The tackling was subpar, there were so many bad passes, and Mainz showed us how an experienced Bundesliga team plays," said Kenan Karaman. The captain has a lot to work on - especially with regard to making the right decisions on the pitch.

The biggest construction site remains the offensive. On paper, Muslic has a few alternatives - but the Royal Blue attackers have so far failed to provide lasting proof of their suitability for the Bundesliga. This also applies to Edin Dzeko, who is now 40 years old. The veteran experienced a bitter afternoon against Mainz. With a laceration to his head, Dzeko had to be substituted after 60 minutes - until then, the 2010 Bundesliga top scorer was completely out of touch with the game.