{"id":14055,"date":"2017-07-27T16:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/?p=14055"},"modified":"2017-07-24T21:12:45","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T20:12:45","slug":"fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/","title":{"rendered":"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our pre-season campaign was solid, the signing of Javier Pastore has got the fans loving me, and my players are all performing out of their skins, sort of. I\u2019m hoping the struggles to defeat Duisburg in the German Cup was simply a blip as I prepare for my Bundesliga debut. Hopefully the press don\u2019t ask me questions in German.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leon Goretzka is back from injury for the new season but I\u2019m still without Uchida and Coke, although I\u2019m relieved that Felix Platte, who\u2019s injured for six months, is actually on-loan at Darmstadt. Clearly my observational skills need to be worked on.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve pretty much settled on my first XI but I will be making a number of changes throughout the campaign and I\u2019m aiming to use the full extent of my squad, especially with the involvement in the Europa\u00a0League.<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

We trail on the opening day following a wonder goal from Karim Bellarabi and Franco Di Santo\u2019s equaliser doesn\u2019t keep us level for long, as Kevin Volland scores on his debut. It\u2019s a frustrating start to the season against a top-four rival and it\u2019s clear I have a lot of work to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

The awfully timed international break that falls after Deadline Day means I have to wait to get back into action. I lose both Sead Kolasinac and Dennis Aogo before the window slams shut but I finalise a signing of free-agent Gianluca Curci to bolster my goalkeeping options and also land midfielder Jordi Quintilla, again for nothing. With the money from my sales, I also sign striker Andrea Pinamonti from Inter Milan\u2019s U20 side – he was fantastic for me in my previous save with Southampton.<\/span><\/p>\n

We return from the international break by smashing five past Mainz, where Franco Di Santo ran the show and Pastore got his first goal for the club, before dispatching St. Etienne 3-0. A goalless draw with Ingolstadt was followed by another Di Santo inspired victory, a 3-0 win over Hertha Berlin, but a disappointing performance against Eintracht Frankfurt leaves us with a 2-1 loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our month concludes with a trip to Ukraine in the Europa League to face Zorya, where a heavily rotated side including Andrea Pinamonti and Eric Chuopo-Moting start in what, admittedly, is a bold decision. After just ten minutes we’re 1-0\u00a0down to a team you’d expect to find on a scrabble board and an injury sustained to Sascha Reither, one of few first-team players actually selected, has left me cursing. Staring down the barrel of defeat Quintella, who came on just minutes earlier to make his debut, smashes home an equaliser.<\/p>\n

I’m pleased we turned that result around and overall September has been good to us. We have a solid four points to kick-off our European campaign and we’re sat ninth in the Bundesliga, three points off the top-four, but I genuinely believe we’re showing some promise – mostly because of Di Santo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If anything is to ruin my optimism though it’s the clash at home to league leaders Bayern Munich to begin October. I’m also without first-choice right-back Reither, who’s out for three months, and given the fact he’s 33 I think we may have to put him down. Thankfully, I had an epiphany before that match and already looked at the market for a replacement.<\/p>\n

We’re unfortunate to lose 4-2 to Bayern and Baba Rahman’s red card there means I have a bit of a full-back crisis to contemplate during the international break. There were plenty of positives in the defeat to Bayern but three games without a win is concerning. With a few tweaks, we should be okay.<\/p>\n

Prior to the next game against RB Leipzig, an injury occurs to Leon Goretzka in training, with the midfielder set for a few months out, and another training injury leaves us without first-choice goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann for a few weeks. Honestly, I think they’re kicking boulders in training.<\/p>\n

We lose 2-1 against Leipzig, which sparks a team meeting, and I’m pleased with the response as we win 3-0 against Feyenoord; putting us in control of our Europa League group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It’s clear that the Europa League may be my best chance of securing a passage into the Champions League but I need points on the board in the Bundesliga. Against Wolfsburg we crumble, again, going 1-0 down fairly early on and then losing Bentaleb to a straight red card. There are still positive signs though and I’ve earmarked a few changes to make before our next match.<\/p>\n

In the end we draw 1-1 with Wolfsburg, a result the fans are delighted with as we were considered underdogs, but I know in my heart we can, and should, be doing better. It’s time to get tough.<\/p>\n

I’ve trusted in the players, they’ve let me down. I know my system, I know it works. I need to be ruthless. I’m expecting tears next episode, hopefully not my own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our pre-season campaign was solid, the signing of Javier Pastore has got the fans loving me, and my players are all performing out of their skins, sort of. I\u2019m hoping the struggles to defeat Duisburg in the German Cup was simply a blip as I prepare for my Bundesliga debut. Hopefully the press don\u2019t ask […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":14235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,90],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke - The Higher Tempo Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke - The Higher Tempo Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our pre-season campaign was solid, the signing of Javier Pastore has got the fans loving me, and my players are all performing out of their skins, sort of. I\u2019m hoping the struggles to defeat Duisburg in the German Cup was simply a blip as I prepare for my Bundesliga debut. Hopefully the press don\u2019t ask […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Higher Tempo Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheHigherTempoPress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-27T15:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-24T20:12:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"255\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Challies\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@twitter.com\/challies11\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thehighertempo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josh Challies\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/\",\"name\":\"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke - The Higher Tempo Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-27T15:00:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-24T20:12:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/59d4d03689f6f4e55d1647b5481b5f16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg\",\"width\":479,\"height\":255},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Higher Tempo Press\",\"description\":\"Football Manager Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/59d4d03689f6f4e55d1647b5481b5f16\",\"name\":\"Josh Challies\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/avatar_user_109_1500449862-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/avatar_user_109_1500449862-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Josh Challies\"},\"description\":\"Freelance journalist with an unhealthy obsession for Football Manager. Prone to tactical meltdowns, overexcitement and annoying rival managers. Arsenal fan for my sins.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/twitter.com\/challies11\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/author\/josh-challies\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke - The Higher Tempo Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke - The Higher Tempo Press","og_description":"Our pre-season campaign was solid, the signing of Javier Pastore has got the fans loving me, and my players are all performing out of their skins, sort of. I\u2019m hoping the struggles to defeat Duisburg in the German Cup was simply a blip as I prepare for my Bundesliga debut. Hopefully the press don\u2019t ask […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/","og_site_name":"The Higher Tempo Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheHigherTempoPress\/","article_published_time":"2017-07-27T15:00:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-24T20:12:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":479,"height":255,"url":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Josh Challies","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@twitter.com\/challies11","twitter_site":"@thehighertempo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Josh Challies","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/","name":"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke - The Higher Tempo Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-27T15:00:03+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-24T20:12:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/59d4d03689f6f4e55d1647b5481b5f16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/deuce-bigalo_480.jpg","width":479,"height":255},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/2017\/07\/fm17-european-gigalo-challenge-part-2-struggles-schalke\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FM17 European Gigalo Challenge Part 2: The struggles of Schalke"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/","name":"The Higher Tempo Press","description":"Football Manager Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/59d4d03689f6f4e55d1647b5481b5f16","name":"Josh Challies","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/avatar_user_109_1500449862-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/avatar_user_109_1500449862-96x96.jpg","caption":"Josh Challies"},"description":"Freelance journalist with an unhealthy obsession for Football Manager. Prone to tactical meltdowns, overexcitement and annoying rival managers. Arsenal fan for my sins.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/twitter.com\/challies11"],"url":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/author\/josh-challies\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14055"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14463,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14055\/revisions\/14463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehighertempopress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}