must win against Twente

Following last weeks terrible 2-0 loss to Man City and the weekend defeat to VfB, Fred Rutten has come under constant fire with his job in line. Without advancement in the UEFA Cup, which will likely require a victory in Enschede, I do not expect die Königsblauen management to return from the winter break with Andreas Müller and Fred Rutten in-charge.

While Schalke is wandering aimlessly into the match, Steve McClaren seems to be “comeback coach” of the year as Twente is playing great Football and can advance with a victory. The irony of this match could be that Fred Rutten’s fate could be sealed in his club loses to Twente, where he much of his career.

Commenting of the match, Rutten said:

“We can’t afford to go there and underestimate them.”

“I know around 90 percent of the players from last season. When they’re up against a big club Twente have a tradition of being able to focus totally on the opposition and raise their game to a much higher level. Let that be a warning to us.”

“It was the same before the game against Manchester City because obviously they wanted us to beat them. But now we need to win at Twente to ensure we don’t have to rely on results elsewhere on the final matchday.”

“In Marko Arnautovic and Eljero Elia Twente have two very good attacking wide men who are fast, tricky and excellent dribblers. Blaise N’Kufo is always capable of scoring as well.”

“Twente have very enthusiastic fans who are always 200 percent motivated and always get behind their team no matter how the game is going. I remember one home game when we were losing 2-0, but the fans gave us such incredible support they won the match for us. Without them we would never have scored three times.”

Off to early practices, I’ll be back for the match for those who want to comment.