FC Schalke 04 is currently in the winter break. These statistics from the first half of the season stand out.

FC Schalke 04 is currently preparing for the second half of the Bundesliga. Coach Thomas Reis and his team need a show of strength in order to work their way up to a non-relegation place by the end of the season. After a disappointing first half of the season, the Königsblauen are at the bottom of the table.

One of the main reasons for the poor performance is the harmless offensive. The Schalke attack has been lame so far. 13 goals in 15 games is the weakest figure in the league. S04’s most successful scorers are Simon Terodde and Marius Bülter. Both have scored three times so far. All other Bundesliga teams have a top scorer with at least four goals.

After FC Augsburg, the Knappen have the second fewest shots on goal (168). At the same time, only four clubs hit more crosses than S04 (145). However, Schalke were also a little unlucky in their finishing with seven goals. The best provider of assists is Tobias Mohr with five assists.

All in all, coach Thomas Reis’ team has a hard time playing forward. On average, Schalke achieve a possession rate of 43 percent – 18th in the league. The passing rate is not much better (75.4 per cent/ 16th place). Chief defender Maya Yoshida had the most ball contacts (852).

As far as the running rate is concerned, the Gelsenkirchen team is in the midfield. With a total of 1710 kilometres, they are in eighth place. Königsblau is similarly ranked in terms of the number of sprints and intensive runs. But the quality does not match – Schalke lacks speed. The fastest Schalke player was Henning Matriciani with 34.07 kilometres per hour. This makes him the slowest among the fastest players of all clubs.

The Schalker with the most runs in the first half of the season is Tom Krauß. He ran 147.2 kilometres. League-wide, however, the young midfielder is only in 32nd place. Krauß is also the Schalke player who has won the most duels. He has won 170 duels and is twelfth in the league rankings. Yoshida has the best duel quota. Only four players were more successful than the Japanese (64.8 per cent).

Yoshida is also Schalke’s perennial favourite. The veteran was always in the starting eleven and was only substituted once shortly before the end (1339 minutes). This figure can only be topped by goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow – he played all games from the first to the last minute.