Sebastian Rudy may hold the key to a Schalke rebound

When Sebastian Rudy transferred to Schalke from Bayern Munich last summer, it was seen as a fresh start for the defensive midfielder. Mired on the bench in Munich, Rudy found himself in a constant battle for playing time when competing against Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara, Corentin Tolisso, Javi Martinez, Renato Sanches, and Arturo Vidal over the past year.

Even when Vidal moved on to Barcelona, the intense battle for playing time came down to nothing more than a numbers game. In the prime of his career, Rudy needed to make a tough decision and ultimately chose a transfer to Schalke where he would be able to start and be an integral part of a squad looking to make a run at the league title.

The Hinrunde, however, was not kind to Rudy nor Schalke.

Domenico Tedesco's squad struggled mightily domestically to find its identity and to ward off injuries. Doubt also crept in about Tedesco's ability to maintain stability with the squad as Schalke fell lower and lower in the table with much focus on Rudy's inability to provide the consistency and strong presence in the defensive midfield that Schalke had hoped for.

Today, however, Rudy looks like he has finally reached a level of comfort with Schalke and was one of the squad's top performers in Die Königsblauen's 2-1 Ruckrunde opening win over Wolfburg last week.

As Tedesco told Eurosport.de (as captured by Bulinews.com and featured in BavarianFootballWorks.com's Daily Schmankerl), Rudy came to Schalke with the heavy weight of expectations on his shoulders, which hindered his play.

"It hasn’t been easy for ‘Basti’ here from the beginning as he joined when the preseason was over. We’ve said again and again that we don’t want to put a huge backpack on him," said Tedesco. "You automatically wear this backpack when you come from Bayern München, when you’re playing for the national team and you join Schalke 04. It’s our job to speed up these proceedings."

With Rudy now providing a strong midfield presence defensively, Schalke can deploy its arsenal a little more aggressively. Mark Uth is back and healthy and American Weston McKennie (who will miss today's match against Hertha Berlin due to yellow card accumulation) give Schalke some excellent options to lead the offense, while forwards Haji Wright and Steven Skrzybski seek to gain more acclimation with the squad's current composition.

With Guido Burgstaller and Breel Embolo currently banged up, Schalke will continue to look to veterans like Daniel Caligiuri to contribute on both ends of the pitch. Meanwhile, Salif Sane and Matija Nastasic are slowly evolving into a capable pairing, but need more time in front of goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann to really establish themselves.

In the end, though, Rudy is the player who holds the key to Schalke turning itself around. A respected veteran and German international, Rudy has the talent and expertise to dramatically impact each game for Schalke.

As his comfort level increases, Rudy should become that vital keystone to the Schalke's lineup as the club makes it run at becoming a contender in the Ruckrunde.

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