Schalke were one of the most inconsistent teams in the league this season resulting in a mid table position for a side used to playing in European competitions. For the previous five campaigns, Schalke were able to qualify for either of the European competitions, but next season Schalke will only have the domestic competitions to focus on. For other managers that failure has cost them their job, but Markus Weinzierl looks likely to get a grace period, possibly because of the fact that Schalke were excellent at some points in the season. For example between round 5 and round 12 Schalke were unbeaten in all competitions – a total of 12 games of those 10 were wins. Similarly, later in the season their run to the quarter final of the Europa League showed a lot of quality and they should have beaten eventual runners up Ajax who they led for a long period of time. Overall, though, Schalke failed to show up in too many games and their performances against teams that finished in the European places were very poor – they only picked up 13 points against them all season long.
Schalke’s squad has plenty of younger players who will learn and grow from this season as their squad is one of the youngest on average in the league. Younger in fact than rivals Borussia Dortmund who are considered to have a squad filled with potential stars. Weinzierl was able to promote a few players from the club’s highly successful youth team. There is plenty to be positive about for next season therefore, although some important players have either agreed to leave or will be transfer targets this summer. Sead Kolasinac and Leon Goretzka have both been strongly linked to other clubs and those two were among the stronger performers this season. Schalke will likely have a busy transfer window in the summer as they try to arrange a squad which will be able to get them back into the top sides in the league.
