LAST season was a momentous one for FC Zurich. After a few years of largely toiling in mid-table in the Swiss Super League, Andre Breitenreiter’s side capitalised on poor campaigns from perennial title challengers Basel and Young Boys to go all the way and seal their first championship since 2009.
Things haven’t been quite as rosy this time around, though. Breitenreiter upped sticks to take the reins at Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim during the close season and his replacement, former Austria manager Franco Foda, has struggled to get going.
After five rounds of fixtures, Zurich find themselves rooted to the bottom of the 10-team league with two draws and three defeats. They have a welcome break from domestic duty tomorrow evening when they host Hearts in the first leg of their Europa League play-off but it’s fair to say the team have still to gel under the guidance of their new manager.
“With coach Andre Breitenreiter, a real euphoria developed in Zurich,” explains Pascal Moser, a football journalist working for Swiss outlet Nau.
“With a great team spirit, they managed to show a consistency that hardly anyone had expected. However, it must also be said that FCZ was certainly helped by the fact that its biggest rivals, Young Boys Bern and FC Basel, did not have a good season. Nevertheless, in the end, Zurich was a well-deserved champion.
“The new coach Franco Foda hardly deviates from the successful 3-1-4-2 system of last season. In between, he has played in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation, which hasn't really worked well yet.
“At the back, Lindrit Kamberi, Mirlind Kryeziu and Fidan Aliti are three physically very strong players in the line-up. They should also start from the beginning against Hearts.”
The Zurich backline is relatively strong but Moser says there have been problems at the other end of the pitch. Over 450 minutes of league football this term have yielded a solitary goal and the team remains in transition after some notable departures this summer.
“With Assan Ceesay, FC Zurich had to let their top scorer leave for US Lecce,” Moser said. “And Ousmane Doumbia, a strong central midfielder who is good in the tackle, is also gone.
“Both have left the club on a free transfer. Especially Ceesay, in the striker’s role, could not really be replaced. His 20 goals for the season are clearly missing from the team.
“In addition, Wilfried Gnonto, last season's rising star, has yet to get going. He could still leave the club in the summer. However, at the moment, FC Zurich’s valuation of the player and any potential buyers’ remain apart.
“The problems currently lie clearly in the offense – in the league they could score only one goal. The team can't really create many chances.”
Much like their opponents tomorrow night, Zurich’s most important player can be found between the sticks. Just as Hearts can happily rely on Scotland internationalist Craig Gordon to produce jaw-dropping saves and single-handedly change games for the Tynecastle side, so too can the Swiss champions turn to a talismanic goalkeeper of their own when the going gets tough.
Even still, the feel-good factor of last season seems very distant these days.
Moser said: “I see the strength clearly in the goal. Yanick Brecher is one of the best goalkeepers in Switzerland and already saved FC Zurich countless times last season. His qualities will also be important against Hearts.
“As mentioned, the weakness lies more in the offense, where a player is missing who can provide a clinical edge in front of goal. There is no sign of the good mood from last season. The self-confidence seems to have evaporated.”
Despite it all, the mood music coming out of Switzerland is largely optimistic. Perhaps underpinned by Scottish teams’ tendency to fall short in the continental arena – barring the Old Firm, none of our teams have reached the group stage of European competition since Aberdeen achieved the feat in 2007 – the Zurich support fancy their chances over the two legs against Robbie Neilson’s men.
After being knocked out of the Champions League by Azerbaijan’s Qarabag with a 5-4 aggregate defeat, victory over Linfield in the previous round of the Europa League means that group stage football – either in Europe’s secondary club competition or its little brother, the Conference League – is assured.
“The Zurichers have achieved their minimum goal with the victory over Linfield, they will play European group stage football,” Moser adds. “That certainly takes a lot of pressure off, which could help.
“Still, the mood is confident that Franco Foda's team can prevail against Hearts and qualify for the Europa League.”
