Schalke coach Felix Magath has sent U.S. midfielder Jermaine Jones and two other players to the reserve team because he was unhappy with their effort and commitment.
The move came three days after Schalke's 5-0 loss at Kaiserslautern. Schalke's reserve side competes in a fourth-tier league.
''I did not like the attitude of Jermaine Jones in matches and I did not like the attitude in practice of the other two,'' Magath said Tuesday.
The other players sent to the reserves are Ghana defender Hans Sarpei and midfielder Alexander Baumjohann.
Jones had been dropped from Schalke's squad for one game earlier this season but returned to the starting side.
Schalke's loss at Kaiserslautern came only three days after Magath's team had advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League.
After the loss, Magath said changes were necessary.
He has already cut the players' Christmas vacation to five days and has been starting morning training one hour earlier, at 9 a.m.
The loss in Kaiserslautern left Schalke in 15th place, with only three points more than bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach. Schalke was runner-up in the league last season, in Magath's first year at the club.
Magath, who has won Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, was hired by Schalke in an attempt to win the club's first championship in five decades.
''I had and still have much higher expectations from Felix Magath than avoiding relegation,'' club chief Clemens Toennies told Bild newspaper.
Schalke's next game is at home against Bayern Munich on Saturday.
