Schalke completely bereft of an attacking identity

Domenico Tedesco’s failure to give Schalke a real attacking identity has turned them into the Bundesliga’s most disappointing team.

After a tumultuous summer transfer window where Schalke purchased Sebastian Rudy, Suat Serdar and Salif Sane, with former Hoffenheim standout Mark Uth as a key addition on a free transfer, expectations were still high for Domenico Tedesco in his second season at the helm.

Tedesco emerged from obscurity in 2017 to lead Schalke to an easy second-place finish in the Bundesliga, as the Royal Blues finished eight points clear of Hoffenheim, rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen to lock up a Champions League spot.

In 2018, Schalke are so far out of contention they have essentially no hope after 22 matchdays. And their latest performance, despite resulting in a draw, may have been their least inspiring from an attacking perspective.

Only four teams have scored fewer than Schalke’s 25 goals this season, and three of those teams are so deep into the relegation zone that comparing them to Schalke, a team set to face Manchester City in the Champions League, seems pointless.

Schalke’s struggles offensively can be chalked up to transfers failing to deliver and to a lack of a striker. Ahmed Kutucu has promise, but despite a slick, cool-headed counter-attack goal against Bayern Munich on matchday 21, he is too young to be counted on as the star of the attack. Kutucu also needs better service from a team whose leaders in key passes are both full-backs.

So many of Schalke’s struggles fall squarely on Tedesco’s shoulders. This ill-disciplined team has 47 yellow cards and four red cards this season, the second-highest and highest marks in the Bundesliga, respectively.

Worse yet, this team offers so little in attack. They rarely push the ball forward, never impose any sort of will on less-skilled opposition (like Freiburg), and consistently fail to place their most talented players in a position to succeed.

Weston McKinnie has shown by far the most promise as a passer and chance-creator over the middle of the field, yet instead of trying him out as a No. 10, Tedesco had McKennie replace team star Daniel Caligiuri at right-back. McKennie played well — as he usually does — but wouldn’t he have made a more profound impact on a stagnant attack by featuring further up the field?

Tedesco and Schalke must figure things out quickly now that they’re locked in 14th with more than half the season gone. Their inability to get the most out of their attacking talent is a combination of poor player evaluations and a total lack of an identity when in possession, beyond desperate balls into the box from full-backs.

Schalke has strong defenders — Salif Sane and Caligiuri are operating at a high level — but they can’t move up the table by drawing every game on the strength of their defense bailing out their lack of goalscoring.

What happened to Borussia Dortmund’s defense?

Manuel Akanji is a human calculator, one of the BuLi’s most assured passers from the center-back position and an incredibly strong athlete who rarely puts a foot wrong. While Borussia Dortmund have depth defensively in Dan-Axel Zagadou, Abdou Diallo and Julian Weigl, Akanji’s importance is becoming clearer.

Dortmund have allowed exactly three goals in each of their past three games. When BVB first had to deal with life without Akanji, they were up to the task, shutting down difficult opponents like Borussia Monchengladbach, RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, Dortmund have faltered without Akanji recently. They blew a 3-0 lead against Hoffenheim because of mental lapses on defense and an inability to deal with Ishak Belfodil or Joelinton, who both bullied Dortmund’s defenders.

The same issues were evident in Dortmund’s soul-crushing 3-0 loss to Tottenham. Not only did the defense suffer without Lukasz Piszczek — they made Jan Verthongen look like Marcelo at left back — but Akanji’s strength and awareness were also sorely missed.

Akanji’s and Piszczek’s importance to Dortmund were made obvious by their loss to Tottenham, but even with Piszczek in the lineup, BVB still surrendered three goals apiece to Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim. Akanji has been one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga this season, so BVB fans can only hope that he returns soon.

Bayer Leverkusen keep rising

With a breezy 2-0 win over 12th-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf, Bayer Leverkusen moved ahead of the pack to slot in comfortably in fifth. Under Peter Bosz, Bayer have been playing inspiring football, and young superstar Kai Havertz, who has five goals in his last seven games, is currently their top performer.

Havertz and Leon Bailey both bagged goals against Düsseldorf, and if Bayer keeps this up, they could potentially overtake a faltering Gladbach in third. However, five points still separate them from Leipzig in fourth, and Leipzig are the owners of the league’s stingiest defense; the battle for the Champions League spots behind Dortmund and Bayern will be exciting to watch.

Quick hits

• It’s safe to say Davie Selke’s stock is flying high right now. For the second straight week, Selke was in unplayable form, adding another goal to his record. Selke now has three goals and four assists in his past five games, and any Tottenham fans skeptical about his potential value should quickly change their minds.
• Of course, Hertha Berlin couldn’t secure all three points, as their curse against Werder Bremen continued. The man who sunk Berlin in the 96th minute? None other than Bundesliga legend Claudio Pizarro, who sets a new “oldest player to score” record with each goal.
• The 3-2 thriller between Bayern and Augsburg was easily the “Match of the Week,” and the best player in it was undoubtedly Kingsley Coman. Among the deadliest players in the world on the counter-attack, Coman combined his impossible close-control, blistering pace and alert crossing with clinical finishing, giving Bayern a critical boost with his two goals.