Matriciani is experiencing bitter debut: Schalke loan in Mannheim disappointed

Matriciani is experiencing bitter debut: Schalke loan in Mannheim disappointed

After a moving farewell to FC Schalke 04, where he was very well received by the fans, Henning Matriciani has now joined SV Waldhof Mannheim. The change took place just a few days before the "Deadline Day" when the coach of the Schalke team, Karel Geraerts, no longer wanted to plan with him for the new season. Matriciani hopes to find a new chance in the 3rd league.

his debut for the new club took place in an exciting southwest derby against 1. FC Saarbrücken, with Matriciani stood on the pitch from the start. The first few minutes were promising for him and he acted as a safe backing in the defense. But the game quickly took an unpleasant turn for the 24-year-old.

a debut with an unpleasant course

Compared to the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, where over 60,000 fans are present at the games of FC Schalke 04, Matriciani and his new teammates only dealt with around 15,000 spectators in the Carl-Benz Stadium. The pressure to show good performances there is no less. However, the game developed into a challenge when Matriciani intervened in the 41st minute when he did not really anticipate a passport and the Saarbrücken Sebastian Vasiliadis took the opportunity to head the ball into the net. Matriciani could not jump high enough to prevent the gap, which clouded the mood on the Mannheimer.

The situation tightened after the half -time break for the newcomer from Gelsenkirchen. While the offensive of SV Waldhof was hardly dangerous in the second half, Matriciani fought a penalty. In his own penalty area, he fouled the player Amine Naifi from Saarbrücken, which led to the allocation of a clear penalty. Fortunately, Naifi failed to accommodate the ball in the goal and shot next to it. For Matriciani it was a moment of taking a deep breath, but the pressure on the team remained high.

The struggle for relegation

The 0-1 defeat against Saarbrücken has serious consequences for SV Waldhof Mannheim. After four game days, they are only one point at the end of the table, which makes the situation anything but rosy for Matriciani. The relegation battle is a familiar experience for him, since he fought for relegation with Schalke 04 last season. His previous performance in the derby leaves room for improvements. The fans and the team hope that Matriciani will discover his potential in the coming games to lead the SVW out of the crisis.

Matriciani will be under pressure in the next games, to prove themselves and to play out his skills as a solid defender. The coming weeks could be decisive for whether the new step in his career will be seen as a success or failure. A quick adjustment will help him to pull the helm around for Mannheim and maybe even make his old fans of Schalke 04 proud.