FC Schalke 04 beat Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 and gained some breathing space in the relegation battle. Thomas Ouwejan was only watching. Once again.

FC Schalke 04 picked up three very important points in the battle against relegation with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday. That made Schalke’s Dutchman Thomas Ouwejan happy. Nothing else.

“The three points were very important. We really needed them,” said Ouwejan, who had watched the game from the substitutes’ bench for 90 minutes. ”It wasn’t an easy game, really. But Kenan Karaman did a great job. He’s very important for us. We needed this win.”

On the other hand, Ouwejan would not have needed to be on the bench again. After he had played a strong game on the left side of defense, especially offensively, with two shots on target, in the home game against Hamburger SV (0:2) two weeks ago, he had to make way for the Englishman Derry John Murkin again before the away game at 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1:4) after the latter’s suspension ended.

Ouwejan had a question for Schalke’s coach Karel Geraerts about this: “I spoke to him. He told me that I actually did quite well against Hamburg, that I defended quite well and was also dangerous with the ball. He told me that it was very difficult for him, but that he didn’t choose me,” the Dutchman explained after the game against Braunschweig.

Geraerts again chose Murkin for this game. Ouwejan could also play on the left side in front of Murkin in the current 4-2-2-2-system. But here, too, he seems to be at most the third choice for the Schalke coach. Because when Geraerts made a substitution at this position after Schalke took a 1-0 lead, he brought on Tobias Mohr – and not Ouwejan.

“That would be an option for me too. I always played in midfield in the youth teams,” said Ouwejan. ‘I just want to play. For me, it doesn’t matter where. Anywhere on the left side would be good for me. I work hard. It was bitter for me not to play twice after Hamburg. That wasn’t easy, but I’m working hard and I hope to play again soon and then get my performance back.’

He still had something to laugh about. After the game, a fan gave him a self-drawn portrait of Ouwejan and his girlfriend. Even though he looked more like the former Schalke player Marco Höger in it, the Alkmaar native was happy to receive the framed picture. As a thank you, there was a photo together. In addition, Ouwejan pulled his jersey out of his pocket and gave it to the S04 fan. It was not a match-worn jersey.

But it could have been something like a mutual early farewell gift. After all, Ouwejan’s contract expires at the end of the season. Has he already thought about the summer? “I just want to play now, ensure we avoid relegation, and everything else will come later.”