GC is reminiscent of the masterful FCZ of last season

The Grasshoppers are unbeaten after four rounds in the Super League and are surprisingly in second place. Their performances contrast with the chaos in the club.

Renat Dadashov (above) is one of the GC gems. He used to be considered a huge talent at RB Leipzig, now he wants to relaunch his career in Zurich.

Alexandra Wey / Keystone

A club in an identity crisis. A weak last season. A troubled environment with adventurous ambitions. Little public credit. Traded in the media as a candidate for relegation. A championship title about as realistic as a ready-made football stadium in Zurich in 2024.

That’s how it was at FC Zurich in the summer of 2021 before the new season. And that’s how it was at GC in the summer of 2022 before the current season.

Like their city rivals twelve months ago, the Grasshoppers have made an excellent start to the championship and far exceeded expectations. After the 1-1 draw on Wednesday at FC Luzern, who were also unbeaten, GC are in second place with eight points from four games – only the better goal difference of title favorite YB prevents them from leading the table.

The launch program was complicated. But GC also scored a point in a 1-1 draw against the Young Boys in Bern, and they won the home games against the Cup finalists Lugano (2-1) and St. Gallen (3-2). “Something is created because the players are passionate about it,” says coach Giorgio Contini. And: “We didn’t steal our eight points.”

The great achievement of the coach Contini

Perhaps the game against St. Gallen on Saturday was emblematic of these Grasshoppers. Not everything went smoothly in a playful way, soon the guest was 2-0 in the lead. But GC remained combative and in solidarity, forced the turnaround. And that, although the club leaves a chaotic impression with Chinese investors who still make you wonder what exactly the plan behind the commitment in Zurich is – in the crooked construct with Wolverhampton Wanderers as a partner club. The Grasshopper Club still lacks credibility and public interest.

It is Giorgio Contini’s remarkable achievement to have remained calm and focused amidst this turmoil. A kind of wagon mentality developed in the squad as a defiant reaction to the gloomy forecasts of the observers and to the difficult circumstances.

You don’t actually dare to connect this GC with the FCZ high flight a year ago. There are interesting parallels, however. Like the champion coach André Breitenreiter at FC Zurich, Contini relies on a functioning 3-5-2 system. The Grasshoppers have already caught up three times from a deficit, which was a specialty of FCZ last season.

In addition, like Breitenreiter, Contini masters the game with the media, he is quick-witted and humorous. On Wednesday, after the draw in Lucerne, he said he had to stand on his head last season to find his team in the table.

And the ball rolls, bounces, flies for the Grasshoppers. In Bern, the YB defender Mohamed Camara missed the empty goal from two meters in stoppage time, in Lucerne Pius Dorn failed in the final phase after a header on the post from close range by the strong GC goalkeeper André Moreira. “You can earn luck in the game,” says Contini.

GC has new and interesting options on offense

Viewed soberly, GC will hardly remain a top team. Whereby: Wasn’t that also said about the FCZ twelve months ago? At that time, for example, it was said that there was a lack of a goalscorer before Assan Ceesay miraculously established himself as a goal-getter. At Grasshoppers, 23-year-old Renat Dadashov, on loan from Wolverhampton, has impressed so far. He scored in Bern and Lucerne and would like to boost his career after a number of injuries.

Dadashov used to be considered a huge talent at RB Leipzig and excelled in Germany’s youth squads, but the strong striker now plays for Azerbaijan. Attacking midfielder Meritan Shabani, also 23, also joined GC in the summer from Wolverhampton. He was once promoted to Bayern Munich before his career stalled.

Brazilian attacker Guilherme Schettine is not yet eligible to play. “Our squad has grown, which gives us a lot more options,” says Contini. This is also due to the fact that several players are healthy again after sometimes serious injuries.

Striker Giotto Morandi, for example, is one of the most exciting footballers in the league on a good day with his enthusiasm for the game. The poisonous Captain Amir Abrashi conquers balls in central midfield like in his best days and unnerves the opponents. The powerful builder Tsiy Ndenge could even prove to be the king transfer. The German-Cameroonian grew up in Mönchengladbach, suffered a few setbacks, switched from Lucerne to GC in the summer and is dominating the build-up with his physique. “We missed such a strong type of player last season,” says Contini. And finally, Petar Pusic, who suffered from Long Covid, is also available again.

All of these footballers still have potential to improve after a long absence. Like André Breitenreiter at FCZ a year ago, Giorgio Contini is also the admonisher. After the Lucerne draw, he felt his team hadn’t been brave enough; live on television he said that too few eggs had been shown.

It’s an early and fragile fortune from GC. But that’s exactly how it was with the sensational leaders FC Zurich a year ago after four match days.


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