The FC Schalke 04 U19s have started their preparations for the new U19 Bundesliga season. Norbert Elgert then spoke about the new squad, the new mode and the season’s goal.
FC Schalke 04’s U19s have started their preparations for the 2023/24 season. In a 120-minute session, the new 27-man squad was prepared for the new season for the first time.
During a media round at the start of the preparation, coach Norbert Elgert spoke about…
… the new squad: “We have already done quite well. Matthias Schober and I always do it together. I think we’ve succeeded in complementing each other well, in strengthening each other. I think we have complemented each other well with the four young boys. Both for this year and for next year. Most people will say you had two successful U17 teams, that’s easy to do. But the calculation that you take the two successful U17 teams and you have a good U19 team doesn’t work. Because the U17s are still juniors and the U19s are definitely seniors. We notice that when we play against teams from the upper league or regional league that we can keep up well. That’s a different world again.”
… the return to the old mode: “Totally positive. The players had all had too few competitions. Also because of Corona, everyone had enormous backlogs in training and also in competition. Then the shortened rounds, that’s not really a competition. You have to accept it and in the end it was okay. For us it was one point on the final round and three on the West German, I think so, if it had gone on longer, we could have held our own there. But in the end, everyone who made it deserved it. But the round was definitely too short and we are glad to get back to normal. Because that’s the minimum the players need to prepare for the senior level.”
… the new mode from the 2024/25 season: “I don’t think anything of it. It’s unnecessary. I think it’s fine the way it is. I’ve been called by “Merkur”, “tz” and “sport1″ and asked what they think about German football and why it’s not on. I can certainly say a lot about it and I know it. But I don’t feel called upon to keep blurting it out in public. I think we have to take a different approach. Many people have thought about it, but we don’t need this mode. I am not a total enemy and opponent of it. We have to see it now and then we will deal with it in a positive way. But I don’t think it’s necessary, because we are challenged enough in this league and in the three national leagues. And that will be fine for our development. Further trips are certainly not necessary. But we’re concentrating on the round now, as we always have and we’re looking forward to it. We’ll let everything else come to us. But again, I’m not necessarily in favour of it.”
… the goal for the season: “There is no goal yet, I haven’t asked the team yet. We won’t do that until the training camp. The process and the training are in the foreground. We want to train optimally, advance the players individually and take a development as a team. And in the next few years, we want to lead as many players as possible into the professional ranks. At Schalke, if possible, and I’m optimistic that with the necessary patience and intensive work, we’ll succeed in doing that again. “