Raul finds perfect match in Schalke
The game finished 4-2 to Athletic, left anybody who saw it breathless at the intensity of it all and could easily have yielded twice as many goals. And, with 17 minutes remaining, it was the German side who led.
Their way of playing is, in its own way, as exciting as that of Athletic’s. Huub Stevens may not be an idealist in the mould of Bielsa, and certainly the way he sets up his back four has none of the Argentinian’s radicalism, but there is no doubting their attacking quality. The Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is revitalised after his unhappy time in Spain and has scored 40 goals at more than a goal a game in all competitions this season, revelling at having Raul creating for him in a way he never did at the Bernabeu.
The Peruvian Jefferson Farfan, still only 27 despite all his experience, offers pace from the right, while on the left, Schalke have another of Germany’s highly impressive crop of young players, the 18-year-old Julian Draxler. Although Stevens tends to set his side up in a 4-2-3-1, Lewis Holtby, nominally one of the holders, is far from a defensive player, offering creativity and dynamism from deep alongside a more orthodox anchor in the form of the Cameroonian Joel Matip. Holtby, the son of a Liverpudlian soldier but already a Germany international, is 21, Matip 20.
That blend of young players with the occasional experienced star is a theme that runs through the side and perhaps indicates the influence that Borussia Dortmund, champions last year and still leaders at the moment despite Friday’s 4-4 draw with Stuttgart, have had over the Bundesliga mindset. Youth is given its head in the Bundesliga, partly because of the wave of talented players emerging following reforms in the development system a decade ago, and the result is a vibrant and youthful Germany national side. When the era of Spain is over, it is hard to see anything other than the era of Germany taking over.
One of the most striking aspects at Schalke has been the relationship between Raul and Kyriakos Papadopoulos. One the face of it, the 34-year-old Spanish forward who has won pretty much everything he could have done in the club game and the 20-year-old Greek centre-back-cum-holding-midfielder have little in common, but they have become good friends. At Real Madrid, Raul was notorious for ruling the dressing room and it was even suggested that his politicking, the clique he built around himself even with the national side, was one of the reasons for Spain’s underperformance at international level before the emergence of the present crop of talent from Barcelona.
In Gelsenkirchen though, Raul has gone out of his way to mentor Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos admits that when Raul first joined the club he was so nervous he barely dared speak to the Spaniard, but now they are almost always the first to go over to the fans to salute them at the end of a game. Raul also has instructed Papadopoulos in how to handle opposing strikers, how to mark him and exploit his weaknesses; during matches it’s common to see Raul speaking to his protégé, helping to keep calm when the volatility of his nature threatens to spill over.
“Raul is a very great player and at the same time an ordinary guy,” Papadopoulos said. “He always helps with his experience, quality and his vast knowledge.”
Schalke, in fact, might be the perfect club for Raul, for it offers him an environment in which he can be the leader, in which he will, at least in the couple of years before he retires, always be the most vaunted player. Here he is not battling for status with galacticos, but able to manage his decline while mentoring a new generation.
The blend is working. Although Athletic’s style of play means they are always vulnerable, and Schalke average over two goals a game in the Bundesliga, it’s hard to see them giving up a 4-2 lead from the first leg. In the league, though Schalke have hit a fine run of form and should be assured of Champions League qualification. The only question is whether they or Borussia Monchengladbach finish third and take the automatic spot in the group stage.
For such a youthful side, that is a remarkable achievement.
