The air at Schalke is getting thinner and thinner for Frank Kramer. Nevertheless, the counted coach gets another chance after the clap against Hoffenheim.
Grace period extended: Frank Kramer laced up his football boots, rounded up the team and entered the training ground on Saturday morning. A few hours earlier, the coach from Schalke 04 had lost his “final” 0: 3 (0: 2) against TSG Hoffenheim – but instead of packing his bags, he surprisingly continued with the promoted team.
“It’s a weekend with almost no break,” sporting director Rouven Schröder said on Friday evening DAZN said. It is important “that you come to yourself and discuss things”. The result: Kramer receives his second “final” when the Royal Blues travel to Sinsheim for another duel against TSG on Tuesday in the second round of the DFB Cup (8.45 p.m.).
Before the kick-off against the Kraichgauer on Friday evening, the coach at Schalke was as thin as the fine, brown line of his beard on his chin – and despite the extended grace period, it’s getting tighter and tighter for him. After the fourth Bundesliga defeat in a row, the Bundesliga returnees remain deep in the table basement.
“Frank is a fighter who concentrates on the essentials,” Schröder had nevertheless praised the coach: “I can’t blame him for one thing: he always gives everything.”
FC Schalke 04: Fans demand the ejection of Frank Kramer
And his team gave their all on Friday, receiving encouraging applause from the North Stand. Unlike the coach. “Kramer-out” shouts echoed from the ranks, while the 50-year-old stayed on the side and center lines. “Of course it scratches you,” he said afterwards, but the criticism shouldn’t bother him: “That’s not my issue.”
Instead, he focused on dealing with the embarrassing performance at Bayer Leverkusen, had demanded a “different face” and a “reaction” from his team – and that delivered over long stretches.
Biting up front, attacking the opponent early on, with determination to score – Schalke appeared offensively like they had been replaced, driven by Florent Mollet, who made his debut in the starting XI. The ball just didn’t want to go in the goal. The Royal Blues hit aluminum three times, and TSG keeper Oliver Baumann had to intervene several times when he was in great danger.
Schalke and Kramer under pressure in the basement duel at Hertha BSC
But at the back the back four, which Kramer surprisingly relied on, again revealed too many spaces. In addition, Schalke were unlucky when the video evidence intervened twice. Hoffenheim’s Robert Skov (11./59.) with two penalties and Munas Dabbur (45.+2) were the beneficiaries. “The energy was gone after the 0: 3, you have to say that very clearly,” said center forward Simon Terodde DAZN.
But until then, performance and posture were right, Kramer seemed to have found the right words, which is probably why his grace period was extended. The club’s internal “pause” button in the trainer discussion is now pressed until Tuesday.
But Kramer doesn’t manage to turn the tide in the next final either, so Schröder and Co. should quickly press “play” again. Because next Sunday Schalke travels to Hertha BSC for the important away game (5.30 p.m.). The rule there is: no losing.
