Ahead of Schalke's game against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, Almir Nuric spoke to the German press. Nuric, technical director of Tasmania Berlin, said this of his club's league-record winless streak of 31 games: "We don't want to lose that record ... It has been ours for decades now. It belongs to Tasmania's identity."
Tasmania may soon lose that dark claim to fame, as Schalke's 4-1 loss to Gladbach means the Miners are now winless in 25 games. In what has been a truly wretched calendar year at the Veltins-Arena, Schalke has won just one league game — against Gladbach all the way back in January. The side has been outscored 28-6 in the Bundesliga since the new campaign began in September.
Not even the sacking of former USMNT player David Wagner, who oversaw the beginning of the slump, could herald a turn in fortunes for Schalke. New head coach Manuel Baum is now winless in seven games since taking the helm of this floundering ship.
In perhaps the perfect summation of Schalke's misery at the moment, Florian Neuhaus managed to sneak Gladbach's opener through a crowd of four Schalke players, including three on or near the goal line. Gladbach came into the game on the back of a 4-0 romp over Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek Champions League action and showed no signs of slowing up as it put Schalke to the sword.
It's no exaggeration to say that absolutely nothing is going right for Schalke at the moment — ahead of the weekend's game the club announced the sacking of its technical director as well as the suspension of two players and the early release of another.
Schalke released a statement saying "Nabil Bentaleb and Amine Harit will train individually, under the supervision of the first-team coaching staff, until further notice. Vedad Ibisevic's contract with the club will end on Dec. 31 2020."
Ibisevic only joined Schalke in the summer, and he will be followed closely out the door by Bentaleb, who the club said would depart no later than summer 2021.
Following last week's 2-0 defeat to Wolfsburg, striker Mark Uth voiced frustrations likely felt by many at the club in a brutally honest interview. He told Sky Germany, "I'm so deflated and angry at the moment, I could just go into the dressing room and cry ... It's so sad to show up here every time and play such toothless football. Every time, we come up a step too late ... We don't even show up for the duels, can't come anywhere close to getting a yellow card. I have no idea how we're supposed to win playing like this."
Sitting dead last in the Bundesliga table with three points after nine games, the road ahead looks no less troubling for Schalke. Next up in the league is Peter Bosz's red-hot Bayer Leverkusen side, third in the table and with five wins in its last six games. Leverkusen scored four goals on four separate occasions over that spell, and Bosz's free-scoring side will be chomping at the bit to run at Schalke's hapless backline.
The Royal Blues have hit dire financial straits amidst the coronavirus pandemic, taking out a loan from the state government and laying off low-wage workers. Miraculously, Schalke is just one point off the relegation-playoff place (16th) currently held by Mainz. While some will have their thoughts on the much-needed rebuild that this summer will bring, the more immediate goal has to be securing Bundesliga survival.
It has truly been a remarkable fall from grace for a club which finished second in 2017-18 and secured European qualification in six of the past 10 years. The two-time Bundesliga champions need to find a way out of this rut quickly, otherwise the 2.Bundesliga beckons.
