Upon being appointed, Schäfer re-called Esteghlal's captain Mehdi Rahmati who was banned from joining the team by the previous coach, Alireza Mansourian, as well as asking the management to re-sign Behnam Barzay whose contract wasn't renewed and became a free agent in summer. Schäfer also chose to continue working with Mick McDermott (whom he worked with as fitness coach in Al Ain) as Esteghlal's assistant manager, however they had a conflict later on and McDermott left the club on 30 October. Jiri Sanak and Miguel Coley were announced to replace him as Schäfer's assistant coach.