Last season, FC Winterthur was the surprise team of the Super League, now it is last, scores the least and concedes the most goals. blue Sport explains why.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- FC Winterthur have just had their best season in 50 years and are now bottom of the table after 11 rounds.
- blue Sport names 5 reasons for the downfall. There is Ogjen Zaric (35), the successor to Patrick Rahmen, who has yet to prove that he is up to the role.
- He lacks the pace of Ltaief (to Twente) and Gantenbein (to Schalke) and Keller (back to YB) between the posts. In addition, the new signings have not (yet) made an impact.
In the last three years, FC Winterthur has done what it had previously avoided in style for decades: success. It was promoted to the Super League, kept its place in the league and even qualified for the Championship Group and the Cup semi-finals with its best season in 50 years. He lost only one of 16 games in the spring - and made his fans in the almost always full stadium very happy. Courageous, attacking, with pace and a desire to play - that's how Patrick Rahmen's FCW floated through the first few months of the year.
However, no one was naive or gullible. Most of them already knew in those weightless spring days around the Schützenwiese that they had to enjoy the good times, because things would quickly go in the other direction again.
Brutally quickly, in fact, as the 1:6 defeat to FC Basel last Saturday made painfully clear to the Winterthur team - even though the crowd generously supported the team right to the end. They are what they have always been due to their tight budget (between five and six million for the first team): the number one relegation candidate. And yet there are certainly other reasons for the difficult start. blue Sport names them:
1. the coach
For the third time in a row, FCW had to let go of a successful coach: After Alex Frei and Bruno Berner, Patrick Rahmen also followed the call of a higher-paying club. However, he is now also unemployed again. Now Ognjen Zaric, at the tender age of 35, has succeeded his former boss. So far, he has failed to prove that he is up to the role.
With formation errors such as in Lausanne, when he moved Randy Schneider, who was weak in tackles, into defensive midfield and had to take him off after just half an hour when the score was 2-0, he has made himself vulnerable - also internally. Zaric should still enjoy some credit. Nevertheless, it is not far-fetched to conclude that the successful sporting director Oliver Kaiser did not have a good hand in his choice of coach for once.
2. the departures - keyword: speed
It was no one's fault that FCW lost three of its best players: Sayfallah Ltaief, the nimble, cheeky, technically outstanding winger who tore open entire defensive lines on his own and was also a strong finisher - it was impossible to keep him. He now plays for Twente in Holland. It was also to be expected that Adrian Gantenbein would leave the club. The full-back, who became an attraction on the Schützenwiese with his pacey runs, which he garnished with a goal on several occasions. He went to Schalke, and since then the statics of the game have changed. Winterthur's attacking play thrived on Ltaief and Gantenbein's pace. As expected, the club also lost talented goalkeeper Marvin Keller to YB.
3. the injured
The statics of the game! Speed! Kaiser naturally wanted to restore this to the team. He brought in Fabian Rohner from FCZ - and he tore his cruciate ligament after four games. And Nishan Burkart, the winger who played his part in the strong last season, only returned in October after suffering a fatigue fracture in his shin; he is not yet able to be the fearless sprinter and tackler he was before the injury.
Luca Zuffi, the tactical conscience in midfield and the most assured of all the Winterthur players, has also been absent for three games. And not only that: he is currently far from the form of his good days. FCW can feel that immediately. And the man who was intended to be a congenial partner on the six alongside Zuffi and was therefore brought back by YB has yet to play a game this season: Alexandre Jankewitz has been injured in his foot for months. There may be nobler footballers than him - thanks to his physicality, he is of great value to FCW in midfield.
What's more, Roman Buess has only just returned to the pitch. At the beginning of the year, he was diagnosed with a thrombosis in his brain - which fortunately was treated in time. He is missing far more as a leader and personality than as a player.
4. the newcomers
While Kaiser was rightly praised for making the most out of limited resources, he has to live with the fact that his work is viewed more critically than ever, and not just when it comes to coaching. He pulled off a coup by bringing back Fabian Frei, the former junior, but this had more to do with Frei's situation at FC Basel than with FCW itself.
In Stefanos Kapino, he brought in a goalkeeper of a certain class - but angered crowd favorite Markus Kuster, who was demoted for the second time. And offensively, the club simply does not have enough quality. Players such as Gomis, Lukembila and Baroan, who arrived in the winter, do not help enough in terms of substance. Baroan's winning goal against GC does nothing to change this verdict. And Boubacar Fofana, who also moved to the Schützenwiese last winter, is considered a talent at the club, but does not know how to use it. Labinot Bajrami, who joined from FCZ in the summer, started the season with two goals.
New central defender Lukas Mühl brings experience from Vienna and Nuremberg with him - but like the rest of the team, he went down against FCB. What to do? Kaiser has hardly any money and can't work magic. Nevertheless, some would have wished for better attacking players.
5 Matteo Di Giusto
He was the life insurance in the first one and a half years of the Super League - full of feints, refined, strong shot and with a good eye. Since the fall of 2023, however, he has struggled to find his feet again. He is still invaluable - as he proved with his three goals in the first two games of the new season. However, he has lacked that touch of genius, the wit and the light-heartedness for some time now, even if many still wonder how a player of his stature is still playing in Winterthur in his third year.
In the fall of 2023, Di Giusto's family suffered a heavy blow when his mother died unexpectedly. However, it would be inappropriate to make a connection between this loss and the sporting side of things. Rather, it hurts Di Giusto when Zaric repeatedly uses him on the side instead of in the center, where he is best suited.
Conclusion: If the owner duo around president Mike Keller and his brother Tobias do not open their wallets again in the winter or if they do not manage to increase their financial possibilities - by bringing in fresh money and new investors - Winterthur's Super League glory is likely to be over next summer. And there are currently no signs of investment.
FCW urgently needs a sense of achievement in order not to lose touch. Ognjen Zaric's team will host St.Gallen on Wednesday evening. blue Sport will broadcast the match live, kick-off is at 8.30 pm.