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What do we know about Schalke ?

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Rosco

Rosco

Worse than Brendan
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Since we're all going to be supporting them tonight I think we should get to know a little about them.


The Guardian are giving us the following five reasons as to why they might shock United

1 Morale-sapping shotstopper

Manuel Neuer, Schalke's 25-year-old goalkeeper, is often rated the world's best – at least he is in Germany. But look up his incredible performance against FC Porto in a 2008 Champions League last?16 tie on YouTube and there is actually a pretty good case to be made. His performance, often reproduced in league and Europe, was scarcely believable that night. Neuer kept out a header from two yards, then won the tie by saving two penalties. The best way to avoid a similar fate would be for Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernández to avoid what Germans call warmschiessen, the inadvertent, goalkeeper-confidence-building measure of shooting from too far, too often and too imprecisely. Better to concentrate on one-yard tap-ins instead.

2 Farfán's timely return to form

Jefferson Farfán has spent much of the season agitating for a move but the departure of the previous manager Felix Magath has rekindled the Peruvian international's loyalty. The 26-year-old has given full-backs a hellish time with his powerful probing down the right touchline, where he is more often than not ably supported by the Japanese full-back Atsuto Uchida, another tireless sprinter who has – almost uniquely among the Schalke back-four – a fine sense of defensive positioning as well.

3 Manager in Mourinho mould

Schalke's card-carrying Anglophile manager, Ralf Rangnick, once spent a year in Brighton to improve his English. "I knew I had to live there for a while if I wanted to be able to read 800 pages of Charles Dickens's Hard Times one day," he said. The 52-year-old is essentially a self-taught football auteur in the José Mourinho mould but with slightly less ego and a bigger sense of mission: Rangnick has felt under-appreciated by the Bundesliga establishment in the past and is desperate to prove his credentials on the biggest stage. His players will have been inundated with Dickens-sized dossiers on the opposition.

4 Electric home support

Fifty-three years without winning the championship have turned the Schalke crowd into a pretty forgiving bunch: Neuer was greeted with polite applause last Saturday after revealing on Facebook he would not renew his contract. The atmosphere at the Veltins-Arena (the tie was sold out in just 150 minutes) will be electric against United. Ever since they won the Uefa Cup in 1997, the locals love nothing more than taking on bigger, more aristocratic teams. Gelsenkirchen is in fact a city so mad about all things blue that even Intertoto Cup games and Biathlon events have seen capacity crowds of 60,000 in the past.

5 The R-factor

Raúl. Heard of him? You can expect this 33-year-old striker to linger in the left?sided no-man's land between Michael Carrick and John O'Shea for a large part of proceedings and to come alive in one or two crucial moments of the match. There's even a suggestion the Spaniard has a knack of scoring the odd goal at this level, which could come in very handy indeed.
Click to expand...
 
hmmmm ... they're only tenth in the Bundesliga .... I'm not feeling too hopeful.
 
They've got some decent players but ultimately this is a cup run team. They will faulter in the league because all their hopes and dreams are pinned on this tournament.

I think home win for schalke and a bit of a massacre at the toilet
 
I think as Fab says this is a cup team, with everything focused on this tournament (and the German cup too I think). I actually think they stand a decent chance of beating Manu over 2 legs. They've been playing brilliant stuff in this tournament, they've faced up to big sides and won. Quietly confident.
 
[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=45102.msg1321702#msg1321702 date=1303803741]
I think as Fab says this is a cup team, with everything focused on this tournament (and the German cup too I think). I actually think they stand a decent chance of beating Manu over 2 legs. They've been playing brilliant stuff in this tournament, they've faced up to big sides and won. Quietly confident.
[/quote]

anyone who can beat inter home and away tends to be a team not to be trifled with
 
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=45102.msg1321771#msg1321771 date=1303808095]
Watch out for Höwdes aswell. Excellent centre back.
[/quote]

and a beast in the air
 
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=45102.msg1321776#msg1321776 date=1303808596]
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=45102.msg1321771#msg1321771 date=1303808095]
Watch out for Höwdes aswell. Excellent centre back.
[/quote]

and a beast in the air


[/quote]

...and currently injured. It's highly questionable if he's able to play tonight.
 
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321816#msg1321816 date=1303811247]
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=45102.msg1321776#msg1321776 date=1303808596]
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=45102.msg1321771#msg1321771 date=1303808095]
Watch out for Höwdes aswell. Excellent centre back.
[/quote]

and a beast in the air


[/quote]

...and currently injured. It's highly questionable if he's able to play tonight.
[/quote]

Would you have him though? We could do with a beast in the air.
 
[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=45102.msg1321820#msg1321820 date=1303811551]
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321816#msg1321816 date=1303811247]
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=45102.msg1321776#msg1321776 date=1303808596]
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=45102.msg1321771#msg1321771 date=1303808095]
Watch out for Höwdes aswell. Excellent centre back.
[/quote]

and a beast in the air


[/quote]

...and currently injured. It's highly questionable if he's able to play tonight.
[/quote]

Would you have him though? We could do with a beast in the air.
[/quote]

I'd prefer Hummels or Subotic.
 
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321821#msg1321821 date=1303811607]
[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=45102.msg1321820#msg1321820 date=1303811551]
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321816#msg1321816 date=1303811247]
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=45102.msg1321776#msg1321776 date=1303808596]
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=45102.msg1321771#msg1321771 date=1303808095]
Watch out for Höwdes aswell. Excellent centre back.
[/quote]

and a beast in the air


[/quote]

...and currently injured. It's highly questionable if he's able to play tonight.
[/quote]

Would you have him though? We could do with a beast in the air.
[/quote]

I'd prefer Hummels or Subotic.
[/quote]

So you have said on numerous occasions. But it isn't answering the question.
 
[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=45102.msg1321834#msg1321834 date=1303813584]
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321821#msg1321821 date=1303811607]
[quote author=doctor_mac link=topic=45102.msg1321820#msg1321820 date=1303811551]
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321816#msg1321816 date=1303811247]
[quote author=Fabio link=topic=45102.msg1321776#msg1321776 date=1303808596]
[quote author=Hansern link=topic=45102.msg1321771#msg1321771 date=1303808095]
Watch out for Höwdes aswell. Excellent centre back.
[/quote]

and a beast in the air


[/quote]

...and currently injured. It's highly questionable if he's able to play tonight.
[/quote]

Would you have him though? We could do with a beast in the air.
[/quote]

I'd prefer Hummels or Subotic.
[/quote]

So you have said on numerous occasions. But it isn't answering the question.
[/quote]

I'd have him if we can't get one of the other two.
 
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=45102.msg1321829#msg1321829 date=1303813075]
Schalke? Beaten champions league semi finalists 2011?

Yeah ive heard of them.
[/quote]

Ha and sadly, yeah.
 
I do think that Schalke stand a chance against United.

They had quite a difficult season this year mostly because of the turmoil around Magath. At home they're normally quite strong in spite of their loss aganist Kaiserslautern this weekend. For example they've won every single home game in the CL this year, beating teams like Lyon, Valencia or Inter.

They've given up on the league quite early and are fully concentraing on the Cup tournaments. They're in the German Cup final which they're likely to win playing against second division side Duisburg. This means they're most likely qualified for Europe anyway. And with their recent success in Cup tournaments there's a huge buzz around Schalke these days.

This boost is strengthened by manager Rangnick who's quite well known for his motivational abilities. I'm sure we'll see a red hot Schalke team tonight determined to do whatever is necessary. The atmosphere at Schalke is also incredible. More than 50.000 passionate fans will do their part to make sure that United will have a tough time.

Much will depend on the home leg and if they concede or not. With Manuel Neuer they have one of the best goalies in the world right now. With him being likely to move in summer he'll be eager to prove a point with Schalke even more so because he's a local boy.

I think two encounters will be decisive. One of them is Ferdinand resp. Vidic against Raul. Raul is Schalke's top scorer this season and has scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga and in the CL. Moreover he knows how to play against United. He played against them 3 times with Real and went through every time scoring a brace twice. The other one I expect to be Rooney versus Matip or Papadopoulos. Both Matip and Papadpoulos are young lads being 19 years of age. One of them will be man-marking Rooney and much will depend on how they will do their job. Whether they can neutralize Rooney will be crucial to Schalke.

It will also be interesting to see how Evra and Giggs will deal with Farfan and Uchida. They're able to put a hell lot of pressure down United's left flank.

I'd go for a 1-0 win for Schalke.
 
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321942#msg1321942 date=1303821457]

I think two encounters will be decisive. One of them is Ferdinand resp. Vidic against Raul. Raul is Schalke's top scorer this season and has scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga and in the CL.
[/quote]

I may be mistaken but didn't he also have a very slow start in Germany and has only started to really show his class in 2011? Without him in the team I'd say it'd already be game over but now perhaps they have a slight chance. Here's hoping anyway!
 
[quote author=Akakabooto link=topic=45102.msg1321952#msg1321952 date=1303822106]
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321942#msg1321942 date=1303821457]

I think two encounters will be decisive. One of them is Ferdinand resp. Vidic against Raul. Raul is Schalke's top scorer this season and has scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga and in the CL.
[/quote]

I may be mistaken but didn't he also have a very slow start in Germany and has only started to really show his class in 2011? Without him in the team I'd say it'd already be game over but now perhaps they have a slight chance. Here's hoping anyway!
[/quote]

True, but his slow start had more to do with Magath's style of play.
 
[quote author=Mamma Mia link=topic=45102.msg1322019#msg1322019 date=1303829636]
0-0 and then 1-1 would be nice.

Not gonna happen though... Schalke will score at home.
[/quote]

1-0 and 1-1 in this case would do nicely.
 
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321970#msg1321970 date=1303823938]
[quote author=Akakabooto link=topic=45102.msg1321952#msg1321952 date=1303822106]
[quote author=Holle link=topic=45102.msg1321942#msg1321942 date=1303821457]

I think two encounters will be decisive. One of them is Ferdinand resp. Vidic against Raul. Raul is Schalke's top scorer this season and has scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga and in the CL.
[/quote]

I may be mistaken but didn't he also have a very slow start in Germany and has only started to really show his class in 2011? Without him in the team I'd say it'd already be game over but now perhaps they have a slight chance. Here's hoping anyway!
[/quote]

True, but his slow start had more to do with Magath's style of play.
[/quote]

Yeah, what I meant was he's been better than 12 goals would indicate as he had a slow start and has been excellent lately.
 
Seems Schalke don't have a defence but are totally committed to all out attack. United ripping them apart at the back. I forecast lots of goals !
 
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