Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average, don’t follow up
Amine Harit
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Moroccan
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 16/6/1997
- Current Club: Schalke
- Career: Nantes, Schalke
- Position: 10
- Secondary Position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Playing as the 10 behind the strikers in a midfield diamond, Harit had a strong game. He has a slim build and lacked strength but was agile with a good burst of pace. The Moroccan looked to drive at the defence and wanted to travel with the ball, showing good ability to start counter attacks. He had great dribbling ability and progressed the ball well with good ball control, quick feet as well as using feints to get past defenders. He had good ball mastery, able to shift the ball and make quick decisions in tight spaces.
He was calm and elegant on the ball. He worked hard and pressed quite well. Also, he made good late runs into the box and had good link up play with the strikers with support runs. Harit also had the freedom to roam and would drop really deep into midfield to help the defence in buildup but at times it wasn’t that necessary and took up other’s space. His passing was good, spreading play well and with good weight most of the time. Most attacks came through him and he was dangerous on the counter.
Rating: B1 / A2
A talented player who needs to add some physicality and aggression. I think Schalke is a good place for him right now but would expect bigger teams to look at him soon.
Jean-Clair Todibo
Player Profile:
- Nationality: French
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 20/12/1999
- Current Club: Schalke, on loan from Barcelona
- Career: Toulouse, Barcelona, Schalke (L)
- Position: Centre Half
- Secondary Position: Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Coming off the bench late in the first half, Tobido gave an impressive performance. The young defender is extremely elegant and calm on the ball, able to deal with and evade pressure very well. He made good progressive passes into midfield and played some good diagonal passes to the left back in space. He is tall with a decent frame but not that aggressive. He could get pulled out of the line a little easily but his marking and awareness were fairly good and he didn’t have that much defending to do.
Rating: A2
After a disappointing start at Barcelona, a move that might have come too soon, Tobido has regained plaudits in Germany and is still a very exciting prospect that Schalke will do well to keep a hold of.
Ozan Kabak
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Turkish
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 25/03/2000
- Current Club: Schalke
- Career: Galatasaray, Stuttgart, Schalke
- Position: Centre Half
- Preferred foot: Right
Kabak is a mature defender who is well build and uses his body well. Although he’s strong and physical he lacks explosiveness and seemed quite heavy footed with average pace. He had good awareness and was an intelligent defender though. He did well in the box, being strong in the air and didn’t have to defend 1v1. Also, the Turkish international communicated well and organised the defence, putting in a mature display.
He’s extremely calm on the ball with good technique to get crisp passes with top-spin. He was good under pressure and played some good passes into midfield as well as some longer balls into attackers. Unfortunately, he was brought off at the end of the first half with a knock but put in an assured performance until then so I definitely need to watch him more.
Rating: A2
Schalke were allowed to buy him very cheaply and he is a good option for a lot of top clubs this summer.
Alexander Nubel
Player Profile:
- Nationality:German
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 30/09/1996
- Current Club: Schalke, joining Bayern Munich in summer
- Career: Paderborn (Y), Schalke, Bayern Munich
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: Right
The young keeper has already agreed to join Bayern Munich this summer as a Neuer replacement. Nubel wasn’t called into action much, making a few easy stops but put in a strong performance overall. He showed strong hands, catching a very powerful shot above his head and did well under the high ball with some catches and punches. He is aggressive and brave, not afraid of a challenge. He is calm on the ball with good distribution, able to kick long distances and did well to distribute quickly to start counter attacks.
Rating: A1
Weston McKennie
Player Profile:
- Nationality: American
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 28/08/1998
- Current Club: Schalke
- Career: FC Dallas (Y), Schalke
- Position: Central Midfield
- Secondary Position: Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
The American midfielder is well build and fairly physical, using his body well defensively. He covered a lot of ground and supported the right back both in attack and defence. He made some good support runs on the counter, getting into good areas but didn’t offer himself to the defence much in the buildup. He didn’t receive on the turn in deeper areas but in the final third opened up his hips well and spread play. He played a few nice passes in the final third but wasn’t that progressive in the buildup. He pressed well and was physical in defence but seemed less comfortable defending deeper areas 1v1.
Rating: B2
Timo Becker
Player Profile:
- Nationality: German
- Age: 23
- Date of birth:
- Current Club: Schalke
- Career: Rot-Weiss Essen, Schalke
- Position: Centre Half
- Secondary Position: Right Back
- Preferred foot: Right
His first of two league starts for Schalke this season, the natural centre half was used as a right back by Wagner. He definitely grew into the game and ended up with a decent performance. He looked like a centre half out of position to start, not being particularly comfortable at travelling with the ball and in tight situations under pressure, but he eventually did quite well to travel into space and look for passes down the line.
He’s tall but slim but wasn’t that explosive or athletic. In defence he could have been more active and not allowed the attacker as much space, he slowed the attack and prevented the player from going past him pretty well but didn’t win the ball back enough and got beaten to the byline with a burst of pace.
Rating: C