The tension in both camps is at least nerve-racking and the bilateral relationship between Schalke 04 and VfL Bochum is more explosive than ever. Nevertheless, on the day before the possibly fateful clash between the two Ruhr area clubs in the Bundesliga (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.), Rouven Schröder does not shy away from affectionately calling the opposing general “Reisi”. The Reisi is “definitely someone who has worked hard for everything,” praises Schalke’s sporting director, for example, addressing one of the characteristics that he thinks he shares with the Bochum head coach. Their biographies are also connected in terms of sport. At the side of Thomas “Reisi” Reis, 48, Schröder, 46, had defended the VfL penalty area at a young age when he still wore a blond mop of hair on his now bald head.
Among other things, Reis and Schröder in a duet helped on the evening of April 28, 2001 to fend off an intruder who was particularly unpopular in Bochum and who, with the strong support of his sympathizers, had invaded the stadium on Castroper Strasse. Schröder remembers precisely: “1-0 Freier, 1-1 Mpenza, Ebbe Sand was the opponent. We with a back three, Reisi was central, I was on the right. There was a clear announcement and we worked well together.”
What neither Reisi nor Schröder could know: that this evening, which was celebrated as heroic in Bochum circles, caused a destructive work. The opponent Schalke lacked the points due to the thin 1:1 to celebrate the championship three weeks later longer than just 4:38 minutes (then the Munich Bayer Patrik Andersson stepped into action). The Bochumers themselves remained on the last place in the table and were relegated.
The conditions in the area were clear at the time: Schalke and Borussia Dortmund were fighting for the crown, Bochum was in the background. Today, BVB looks down on the regional turf war as a global brand, while Schalke and VfL – despite continuing unequal proportions – are now united in a duel for remaining in the top division, which the table football with the title “Not & Spiele” aptly marked. Schalke, who have been oriented towards the European Cup for years, must see this alignment and proximity as declassification. Especially since it has less to do with their strengthening and more to do with VfL’s problems that they are the favorites for Saturday: Bochum are still without points, but Schalke, who are also without a win, are hardly any better with three points.
Against this background, the report that the former Bochum player Schröder should have tried in May to win the former teammate Reis for the vacant coaching job in Gelsenkirchen hit a sensitive point in the VfL audience. There was talk of sabotage, both in terms of the alleged poaching of Reis and the fact that it became known in the press in time for the derby. Some Bochumers believe their cocky neighbors can do anything anyway – except for charity.
Schröder has developed a standard answer for all questions on the sensitive topic of coaching: “As a sports director, you have to have discussions,” he explains quickly: “I haven’t said anything about names so far, and I won’t do that now either.”
Rouven Schroeder
(Photo: Robin Rudel/Sportfoto Rudel/Imago)
Apart from trying to keep inconveniences away, the Schalke sports director really has other problems. Compared to the previous week, the past few days, which were all about the landmark game against Bochum, were a time of leisure and relaxation. The effort and restlessness of the transfer window is still visible to Schröder. “Like three transfer periods at once” he perceived the summer business during the second major conversion of the Schalke squad.
He went into the final transfer phase under the impression of a catastrophic 1: 6 home defeat against Union Berlin and with the knowledge that he absolutely had to sell Amine Harit, 25, who was almost unaffordable for Schalke: “That’s survival training. You know you afterwards, in any case, whether you are up to the whole job.”
Until the exchange deal with Olympique Marseille was completed, Harit was the last professional with a contract from the old era when Schalke was still paying multimillion-dollar salaries. Not without insidiousness did the French open trading the night before the stock market closed, believing dramaturgy and psychology were on their side. But Schalke held back, says Schröder: “We didn’t let ourselves be made into a pawn, according to the motto: They have to sell anyway.”
The supervisory board and board of directors outlined the maximum willingness to compromise, and Schröder knew that he could face the other side’s conditions with a clear conscience: “Then I was able to go into the negotiations authentically again. It felt right because it came from the inside, too say: No, we don’t do it that way.” Marseille agreed to the Schalke model and Schröder was proud: “We showed strength there. The club has definitely improved its profile during this time.”
But not always this summer did the club management, who was strictly on an austerity course, and the sports director, who had to convert a second division team into a first division team with little means, immediately find consensus: “Of course there are discussions when you fight for a player or it thinks it’s a shame when someone has to go,” admits Schröder. His personal rejection of the Japanese hero Ko Itakura apparently turned into a drama (“the worst Facetime call ever”). Itakura had become too expensive for Schalke with the transfer fee, salary and additional costs, now he plays for Gladbach. Schröder thinks: “That’s exactly the topic to show everyone what the new FC Schalke 04 is. In the past, the deal would have been done in three seconds.”
Nevertheless, the question arises as to whether Schalke have not made themselves smaller this summer than is good for the club. The rapid rise is an almost unexpected opportunity that, if obtained, would have justified greater investment in the sport. Is the club now exaggerating with the number reason, changing from one extreme to the other? Sports director Rouven Schröder supports the rigorous line with a plea ready for a presentation: “If we don’t make it, then some will say: ‘Would you have preferred to spend a little money there.’ On the other hand, imagine: We invested risky and still didn’t make it – then we would have the double fiasco.The relegation in the Corona pandemic cost the club an incredible amount of money.Above all is the long-term future of the club, the we mustn’t endanger it. That’s why it’s the right way.”
In the neighboring city, VfL is no different for the same reasons. By selling defenders Armel Bella-Kotschap and Maxim Leitsch, Bochum earned around 15 million euros – the most expensive addition is defender Dominique Heintz with a rental fee of 60,000 euros. The fact that the encounter between fellow sufferers Schalke and VfL in the Revier is known as “the little derby” is not an insult to Bochum this time, but a title that does justice to both sides.