There was a lot to rebuild when the glorious Schalke 04 was relegated from the Bundesliga in 2023, stripped of champions, resources, and sponsors. Today, after two seasons in purgatory, Gelsenkirchen is starting to revive some forgotten feelings. They are winning, playing, going to the stadium – indeed: despite the stage of the Zweite Bundesliga, home matches are breaking the 60,000 spectator mark – and having fun. Much of this is thanks to Miron Muslic: the right man in the right place at the right time. The coach of this Schalke 04, who, beyond the promising path in the league, has put the storm behind him by restoring total synergy between the team and the fans. The essential ingredient for playing football around here.
It is no coincidence that in January, a star of Edin Dzeko’s caliber left Fiorentina seeking new stimuli: Schalke was the perfect club in terms of environment to feel at ease, “with fans who cheer the team on to the max regardless of performance.” Especially in recent months, after the club pulled a rabbit out of the hat. Muslic, 44, is of Bosnian origin like Dzeko – this may have helped the negotiation – and during his childhood, his family found political asylum in Austria, where he first developed as a honest striker in the lower leagues and then as a coach. The team that nurtured him on the bench is the same one where he stopped playing: Sportvereinigung Ried, in the Austrian Serie B. Not exactly the epicenter of European football. However, he managed to reinvent himself abroad: well at Cercle Bruges in the Belgian top division, with much bitterness last year at Plymouth in the Championship – Muslic took over mid-season but could not avoid relegation: “A few more matches would have been enough,” he recalled with a hint of nostalgia.
In short, at first glance, not a dazzling resume. Yet there is more that convinced Schalke’s management to bet on him last summer: especially during his English experience, Muslic demonstrated remarkable diplomatic skills, acting as a bridge between the club and the fans during the difficult phase preceding relegation. We are talking about a coach who, above all, seeks to deeply understand the reality around him, immersing himself until he identifies with the club’s values. And that is what they were looking for in Germany. “As a refugee, it’s tough to be part of something,” he explained during a lengthy report by the Times. “Rarely do you feel part of a community, a city, a country. But then there’s football. And this is the magic and the greatest beauty of this sport: everyone united for a goal, for an objective, regardless of surname, religion, or language. Just the purity of the game. Together towards a dream. If the world were as simple as the ball, we would have a better life” (and on this, there are very few doubts).
Thus, a profile like Muslic’s immediately clicked with the overwhelming community enthusiasm of Gelsenkirchen: an industrial, rough, working-class city, where everything on the weekend is oriented around Schalke’s calendar. The coach is aware of the sacrifices of his people and seeks to build a team in the image and likeness of this belief. “There are many miners around here,” he explains. “They are not interested in beautiful football, in tiki-taka. They want to see players give their all on the field, sacrifice themselves, give everything they have. We will continue to work hard, run more, play aggressively, courageously, putting these principles into practice.” And now that Schalke is at the top of the Zweite, six points ahead of third place with only four matches left to play – that is, two wins away from mathematical promotion to the Bundesliga. Muslic looks back: “In these months, we have never said ‘let’s go win the title.’ Rather, we have said ‘we will work hard and do our best. Trying to seize our opportunities, without losing our identity. There will be moments when we fall, but we will never stray from ourselves.’ These are Schalke’s values. We are a force because we have reconnected the fans to the club and to us as a team: united again towards a dream.”
A grand return to German football, translating Schalke’s identity philosophy into an appropriate style of play. It is clear that the white-blue fans are crazy about Muslic, Dzeko, and their teammates. Winning the championship would just be the cherry on top.