Coach Franco Foda irritates with his actionism

In the sixth competitive game, FC Zurich finally managed to get their first win of the season. The champions won 2-0 in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round in Belfast on Thursday night against Linfield FC’s semi-professionals. They had lost 8-0 to FK Bodö/Glimt in Norway just a week earlier.

If FCZ wins against Linfield as expected, it will at least qualify for the third-class Conference League – and will fight in the play-off against the Scottish representative Hearts of Midlothian with good prospects for a place in the Europa League.

It is one of the club’s goals for the season to reach a European group stage. In the Champions League qualification, FCZ failed because of the Azerbaijani representative Karabakh (2:3 away, 2:2 at home after extra time). And in the Super League, after three rounds and before the home game on Sunday against FC Sion, the title holder is in last place with one point and 0:6 goals.

The outside players Guerrero and Boranijasevic are slowed down

At FC Zurich, after the start of a stutter, they make an effort to stay calm. Sports director Marinko Jurendic describes the atmosphere in the club as “positive, good, calm”. Jurendic has the pleasant quality of classifying things factually, which is noticeable in the emotional football business. He stayed sober on the high last season and now he shows no sign of unrest. One would like to be there when Jurendic and the sometimes impulsive FCZ President Ancillo Canepa discuss things with each other.

But even if Jurendic rightly points out that the season is still young and FCZ need time after the changes in summer, the first appearances of the champions have left question marks. The new coach Franco Foda started with the aim of making the team tactically more flexible. And so Foda mixes up the staff in the strict program with loud English weeks until the end of August, makes seven, five, six changes to control the load. Above all, however, he puts the players on the field in different systems, which is irritating because FC Zurich worked brilliantly in the 3-5-2 system under André Breitenreiter last season.

When Zurich now line up with a back four in defence, the defenders often lack coordination. And season-leading wingers Adrian Guerrero and Nikola Boranijasevic are significantly more effective and less defensively vulnerable when set up in front of a three-man central defence. Foda defends his measures by pointing out that he wants to develop the team and players. He says: “I don’t understand this debate.”

This season the ball no longer rolls for FCZ

It is difficult to understand why Foda does not rely on masterly automatisms and stability, especially in view of the intensive program at the beginning of the season. His actionism doesn’t help the players. At YB, for example, the trainer Gerardo Seoane was smart enough in 2018 to continue the successful work of his predecessor Adi Hütter for the time being and only gradually make appropriate adjustments. Of course, sports director Jurendic would never publicly criticize his coach. He says players are experienced enough to switch between different systems. That is part of the development.

However, the encounters in the championship could have gone differently for FCZ. Against YB at 0: 4 in Bern, Antonio Marchesano missed a penalty shortly after the break when the score was 0: 0, most recently at 0: 2 in St. Gallen FCZ hit the post and crossbar three times. Luck has left the champions, which Jurendic does not want to use as an excuse: “We had enough chances, we lacked accuracy in the end.”

So far, the new players have not been very convincing, which does not surprise Jurendic. The sporting director explains in detail what effects a change of coach and the departure of key players such as Ousmane Doumbia and Assan Ceesay have on the structure – and why it can take longer for this change process to be completed and all additions to be integrated.

New striker Donis Avdijaj is a dazzling figure

And the transfer activities are by no means complete. The courted players Becir Omeragic and Wilfried Gnonto, whose contracts expire in 2023 could still be sold in August. The club don’t want to lose her on a free transfer like Doumbia and Ceesay.

A few days ago, Zurich also announced the commitment of another striker. The 25-year-old German-Kosovar Donis Avdijaj was once considered an outstanding talent at Schalke. When he signed his first professional contract in 2014 at the age of 17, it included a €49 million release clause. However, Avdijaj primarily caused a stir with private escapades and lack of discipline, once he even committed a hit-and-run after an accident.

Avdijaj crashed and trundled through Europe for years. He played for Sturm Graz, Roda Kerkrade, Willem II, Trabzonspor, Hearts of Midlothian, Emmen, Limassol and most recently Hartberg. In Austria, the six-time national player from Kosovo started the current season convincingly, scoring twice in the first game.

Jurendic says Avdijaj made a calm, mature impression in the talks and knows the coach Franco Foda from their times together at Sturm Graz. “He has had a lot of experience at a young age,” says the FCZ sports director. “We believe that he can help us with his extraordinary skills and develop with us.”

Perhaps Gnonto’s departure was anticipated with Avdijaj’s commitment. Whether the FCZ squad is actually better staffed than last season, as President Ancillo Canepa euphorically claimed a few weeks ago, can only be judged after the end of the transfer period at the beginning of September. Jurendic says you can never be sure that the different player types and characters would immediately fit together. “But we are convinced of our decisions.”