Bundesliga: Schalke's wait for a win continues

Schalke 1-1 Stuttgart, Veltins Arena
(Thiaw 30' - Gonzalez 56' pen.)

Six games in and Schalke still haven't won.

The draw at home against Stuttgart means it is now 22 league games without a win for Schalke, marking the second-worst run in Bundesliga history (Tasmania Berlin went 31 games without a win in 1965/66). 

Malick Thiaw's header might have been enough to give Schalke a first-half lead, but it wasn't enough to cover up another poor performance. Make no mistake, Schalke were fortunate to get a point.

Stuttgart out shot, out passed and out tackled their hosts. Schalke's midfield kept leaving gaps that prompted head coach Manuel Baum to spend most of the game shouting "close up the middle" from the sidelines. Schalke struggled to do that and more, leaving Wataru Endo — who has won the most challenges in the Bundesliga — to clean up, winning ball after ball.

Stuttgart push

Baum's instructions were well-intended but they seemed to do little more than just add to Schalke's stress. Passes were misplaced, their was a distinct lack of attacking drive or creativity.

"We were harmless going forward," Baum said afterwards. Indeed, this is a side so bereft of confidence and in such poor form that it has now become a conversation of quality. "I'd have given us a C minus today," Baum said, when asked what grade he would have given his side's performance.

Given that Schalke won a point, a passing grade is probably fair but it remains generous. An inexplicable handball from Salif Sane gave Stuttgart the equalizer they needed and deserved, and a second then looked a certainty for the visitors.

That it never came was on the one hand a testament to Schalke keeper Frederik Ronnow, but also a reminder that Stuttgart are not quite as ruthless as they perhaps could be.

Gonzalo Castro was audibly frustrated with the performance of the referee, but that was not the reason Stuttgart failed to pick up three points that should have been theirs for the second week in a row.

For Schalke, their winless streak is accompanied by an historically bad -17 goal difference and an attack that has managed just two shots on target in their last two games. Everything about the club at the moment is blunt.

Their delayed German Cup first round draw next week comes at perhaps the perfect time for a side desperately in need of a boost.