Super League: FCB stagnant, but Ciriaco Sforza remains optimistic

The FCB is there, but Sforza says: “The dollar has long been overthrown”

FC Basel are not yet living up to their league success. After eight games, they are eight points behind Young Boys. But the confidence far outweighs the results.

peter lerch / keystone-sda

In the 26 league games of calendar year 2020, FC Basel have never won more than two games in a row. The balance is balanced: 10 wins, 6 draws, 10 defeats. Clubs that usually play against relegation could boast of something like this.

For the FCB, determined to resume the series of championship titles interrupted two and a half years ago, the numbers make us think. During this period, Basel have only won two games in a row, but never three or more. In the current season, each of the three wins was followed by a defeat.

FCB has been playing in the Super League for almost a year and in the previous two and a half years it hasn’t fared much better. In the still young season, the rhetoric at the knee of the Rhine is definitely more convincing than the performances.

The most recent linguistic image – Schnitzelbank could have turned out to be an excellent subject if he failed – was the one that coach Ciriaco Sforza tried saying weeks ago that it had to be “overthrown”. This means: once this dollar has been toppled, there is no longer any obstacle that can stop the FCB. This in turn means: Then everything will work by itself.

After defeating YB 1: 2 in the penultimate game, Sforza told “Telebasel” that the dollar had not yet been overturned. Was the money already spilled when Basel won the extra home match against Lausanne-Sport (2-1) during the week? Maybe.

But on Sunday the dollar suddenly seemed to be in the way again. Basel lost 1-0 in Lugano despite a handful of good chances. Opinions now differed greatly. The Basler Zeitung headlined: “The dollar is still standing”. Captain Valentin Stocker said the dollar was heavier than expected. Sforza vehemently contradicted him: the fallow deer had long since been overthrown.

Many coaches around the world try to emphasize the positive after defeat. “To take the good with you”, as they say. Sforza is one of them. But those who want to be knocked down should only explain the losses and gloss over in exceptional cases, especially in the Swiss league. Colleague Gerardo Seoane of arch rival YB has never had to provide information on the reasons for a defeat in the last 14 Super League games. Sforza, however, four times in just eight games this season.

Heinz Lindner, who last guarded the Basler Tor in place of the coronavirus-infected Djordje Nikolic, also used a different image on “Telebasel”. After the various transfers, the team still has to get used to it a bit, but then “the car will be up and running”. A car is when opponents can’t shut it down. No less strong rhetoric can be heard in FCB by the club management. President Bernhard Burgener said that after the latest acquisitions (Pajtim Kasami, Timm Klose) the team was so strong that you had to become a master.

The season is still young and the calendar – also due to postponements – has not been exactly good for Basel. In their eight games they had to play five away games, while Young Boys played five times in Wankdorf. A lot is possible if the goat is actually out of the way.

It’s been eleven years since FCB started the season even worse than now. After eight rounds, the Basel team led by coach Thorsten Fink finished seventh with nine points, 13 points behind leader YB. In the end, they won the first of eight consecutive league titles ahead of the Bernese who had already declined in the fall. (abu / sda)