Schalke have a lot of potential but must become more stable in defence, new coach Roberto Di Matteo said at his presentation at the Bundesliga club yesterday.
The former Chelsea manager Di Matteo asked for patience as he aims to improve a team that has won only two of its official 10 games this season, have been dumped from the German cup and rank a modest 11th in the league.
“Qualifying for the Champions League remains the aim,” the 44-year-old said.
Di Matteo, a former Italy midfielder who coached Chelsea to the 2012 Champions League and FA Cup title, replaced Jens Keller at the helm on Tuesday in the wake of a 2-1 league defeat against Hoffenheim.
His first match comes after the international break, an October 18 Bundesliga date with Hertha Berlin. He will also face his former club when the 1997 UEFA Cup champions Schalke host Chelsea in the Champions League on November 25.
Di Matteo said he has not consulted Keller, but has talked with Germany coach Joachim Loew with whom he played together at Swiss club Schaffhausen.
“It is a good team which has a lot of potential up front but some problems in defence,” said Di Matteo.
But he warned that success may not come immediately, saying: “I have a lot of work ahead of me to get out of this small crisis. You will also need patience to improve everything. You need solid defence and a good structure to achieve something in attack.”
But Di Matteo dismissed fears that he would impose an ultra-defensive game plan like in that C’League final. “If you look at the statistics of my teams you will see that they have always scored a lot of goals,” he said.