Frederik Rönnow probably doesn’t like to think back to his season at FC Schalke 04. In the relegation season 20/21 he was loaned to the Königsblauen.
When FC Schalke 04 hosts Union Berlin on Saturday, it will be a reunion with an ex-keeper: Frederik Rönnow has been playing for the Eisernen since last season and has meanwhile established himself as the number one. The Dane probably doesn’t like to think back to his time in the Ruhr area.
He moved to Frankfurt in 2018, but due to some uncertainties, Kevin Trapp was put in front of him. At the end of September 2020, he was loaned to Schalke in exchange for Markus Schubert. Mistake. He made seven appearances for the Knappen, then dropped out for four games due to a strain and lost his regular place again to Ralf Fährmann. After that he suffered from groin problems and was out again. After the current number two Fährmann was absent, he still made four appearances, but was relegated to the bench again after his recovery.
In addition, it was the epidemic relegation season in which he joined the club. Four coaches, relegation at the bottom of the table, and five coaches: David Wagner, Manuel Baum, Huub Stevens, Christian Gross and Dimitrios Grammozis. His record in the Schalk goal is correspondingly meagre. In the eleven games with Rönnow in goal, Schalke picked up four points, without a single win. The goal difference: 6:27, which is a nightmare, especially for a keeper.
Nevertheless, his services were worth one million euros to this year’s Europa League participants. In the summer, he replaced Andreas Luthe, who had left for Kaiserslautern, as Union’s number one goalkeeper. Coach Urs Fischer relied on the 30-year-old in all four matches. With success: With seven points from the first three games, Union is in third place in the – admittedly – not quite meaningful table. Last Saturday, Champions League participant RB Leipzig was beaten 2-1. The next success should follow on Saturday in the Veltins-Arena. Incidentally, it would be the first for Rönnow in which he is on the pitch.
