David Wagner's league record at Schalke was 36 matches, 9 wins, 12 draws, 15 defeats, 39 goals scored, 69 goals conceded, 39 points and 1.08 points per game. That is looked at as being poor yet it is better than Allardyce's record with us last season, of course over a longer period.
The tale of Wagner's time at Schalke is quite simple to follow and is a tale of 2 stories. They started the season very strongly and only lost 3 matches in the first half of the season, including a win against Leipzig and draw with Dortmund, and went into Xmas in 6th place chasing down European qualification. They started the second half of the season with a 2-0 win against Monchengladbach. They then lost 5-0 to Bayern and that was beginning of his downfall. 10 of the next 16 were defeats and 7 were hammerings of 3 or more goals.
Schalke should have replaced him last summer but they stuck with him and then sacked him after 2 matches of the new season anyway. The fact that Schalke then went through 4 more Head Coaches last season shows the mess that that club was in and that can't be solely lumped at Wagner's door. In the same way that our relegation can't be lumped solely at the door of Allardyce. His mistakes at Schalke, such as not persisting with a consistent system (started with 4-2-3-1 but then starting experimenting with 442 diamond, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-3-3-1, 3-4-1-2 and 3-4-3) and the very poor defence in the 2nd half of the season should be looked at and thoroughly scrutinised.
We also should not ignore the absolute mess that Schalke have been in since 2014. No consistency, going through a new coach every season, no identity, poor financials and selling their star players. In the summer of 2019 Schalke had 16 arrivals and 13 departures. Last summer was 19 arrivals and 24 departures. You can't tell me that that doesn't damage a team, its players and any cohesiveness.
If it is him then I'll be fine with appointment. I think he needs more time away from the game but I'll happier with him than some of the other main contenders.
The tale of Wagner's time at Schalke is quite simple to follow and is a tale of 2 stories. They started the season very strongly and only lost 3 matches in the first half of the season, including a win against Leipzig and draw with Dortmund, and went into Xmas in 6th place chasing down European qualification. They started the second half of the season with a 2-0 win against Monchengladbach. They then lost 5-0 to Bayern and that was beginning of his downfall. 10 of the next 16 were defeats and 7 were hammerings of 3 or more goals.
Schalke should have replaced him last summer but they stuck with him and then sacked him after 2 matches of the new season anyway. The fact that Schalke then went through 4 more Head Coaches last season shows the mess that that club was in and that can't be solely lumped at Wagner's door. In the same way that our relegation can't be lumped solely at the door of Allardyce. His mistakes at Schalke, such as not persisting with a consistent system (started with 4-2-3-1 but then starting experimenting with 442 diamond, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 3-3-3-1, 3-4-1-2 and 3-4-3) and the very poor defence in the 2nd half of the season should be looked at and thoroughly scrutinised.
We also should not ignore the absolute mess that Schalke have been in since 2014. No consistency, going through a new coach every season, no identity, poor financials and selling their star players. In the summer of 2019 Schalke had 16 arrivals and 13 departures. Last summer was 19 arrivals and 24 departures. You can't tell me that that doesn't damage a team, its players and any cohesiveness.
If it is him then I'll be fine with appointment. I think he needs more time away from the game but I'll happier with him than some of the other main contenders.