Everything changes in a month: two historic clubs swap laughing stock tag | OneFootball

You can currently see just how much good or bad summer preparations and lofty season goals are really worth by looking at two traditional German clubs.

"We have to set ourselves up so that we can play for promotion, and nothing else counts," Hertha coach Stefan Leitl announced before the season. Meanwhile, Schalke’s Director of Professional Football, Youri Mulder, set a modest and, to many outsiders, amusing goal: “Not to change the coach!”

By early September, both protagonists could swap what they said and no one would doubt their sanity. It shows just how much the wind has completely shifted at both clubs within just over a month.

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The confidence of the Old Lady was just as justified at the beginning of August as the understatement in Gelsenkirchen. The chests at the Olympic Stadium swelled even more with the signing of Dawid Kownacki. The Pole was never able to gain a foothold in the Bundesliga with Werder, but one tier down he was always a goal threat in Düsseldorf (53 goal contributions in 95 games).

At the same time, most of the family silver (e.g., Reese and Cuisance) was kept. The departures of Ibrahim Maza and Derry Scherhant were compensated with 14 million euros, and Paul Seguin, another potential leader, was brought in.

Schalke was at rock bottom

At Schalke, it was time for yet another fresh start, after a previous season that could hardly have been more embarrassing. The first transfer window under new sporting director Frank Baumann saw 30 squad changes and a new head coach: Miron Muslic. The Bosnian-Austrian football coach was an unknown quantity in Germany up to that point. So was his predecessor, Kees van Wonderen, which is why Muslic’s appointment was met with much skepticism.

According to 'Bild', there were two dissenting votes in the S04 supervisory board against hiring Muslic. Preparation was also bumpy. Overshadowed by major defensive blunders, the dress rehearsal for the competitive season opener in front of the home crowd ended in a 2-4 defeat to FC Sevilla.

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Then, on the first matchday, the self-proclaimed promotion candidate met the unsettled Royal Blues. The turning point. S04 suddenly played with the passion and fighting spirit found in every fan’s dream. There was no trace of Hertha’s self-confidence; defensive leader Leistner admitted after the final whistle: "We let them take the game away from us."

On the royal blue side, images of “aura farmer” Muslic and turban-wearing defensive chief Nikola Katic went viral. Perhaps surprised themselves by their newfound strength, Schalke promptly lost in Kaiserslautern a week later. But the team followed that with two wins and are now sitting in third place in the table.

Rallying cries at Hertha

At Hertha, optimism has long since given way to rallying cries. "I’d actually prefer a somewhat bumpy start to the season—if not to say a shitty start—rather than stumbling at the finish line," says Hertha president Fabian Drescher. Ahhhhhh, right. Sure, you can’t win a league at the start of the season, but you can lose it. That’s worth a fiver in the cliché jar.

Fittingly, the next matches for both clubs are against opponents who were also expected to be in different positions before the season began. Schalke visits recently relegated Kiel (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.). The Storks are in a nosedive similar to BSC’s. After four games, they have just three points to their name.

Hertha travels in the evening to face the unbeaten league leaders. That this team calls Hannover home is something only the most optimistic would have predicted a few weeks ago. Christian Titz, who was also newly appointed at Maschsee, has quickly molded 17 new signings into a functioning collective. Will it help the Berliners to go into a match as underdogs for the first time?

After just a few matchdays, expectations and reality are already worlds apart at two traditional clubs; every matchday has the potential for a turnaround. Schalke and Hertha have already shown how quickly moods can change.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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