Leader after 4 rounds – no head of sport, no Tosin replacement for a long time: FCZ is still doing well – sport

FC Zurich is at the top of the Super League after 4 rounds – although the club has hardly strengthened at first.

FC Zurich has been without a sports director since the departure of Marinko Jurendic at the end of July. President Ancillo Canepa brought player agent Milos Malenovic on board as an external advisor, but the city club is still looking in vain for a direct successor to Jurendic.

Although the outgoing head of sport completed the squad planning before his departure, according to the club, there was little to see on paper. While other Super League clubs upgraded significantly in the summer, Zurich only steered Fabio Daprelà and the young Arad Bar to Zurich before the fourth round of the championship.

Ireland’s Under-21 international Armstrong Oko-Flex was only signed on Monday. The 21-year-old with Nigerian roots is to replace Aiyegun Tosin, who has been transferred to Lorient in the French Ligue 1, on the offensive. Other well-known departures in the summer were those of top performers such as Becir Omeragic, Fidan Aliti or the retired club legend Blerim Dzemaili.

Well-established squad

Nevertheless, the FCZ 2023/24 edition is running like clockwork in the still young season. 4 games, 10 points, 10:2 goals and 1st place is the impressive record of the city club. For comparison: A year ago, after a miserable start, FCZ only had 9 points after 15 match days.

This time, coach Bo Henriksen can fall back on a well-rehearsed squad, which also showed an upward trend in the second half of last season – also because of the quiet summer of transfers. The Dane has sent the same starting eleven onto the pitch four times so far, and they repaid their trust with points.

Parallels to 2021/22

The Zurich team had a similarly good start to the season two years ago. At that time, the team under André Breitenreiter even started the season with 4 victories, in the end they surprisingly lifted the championship trophy.

Proclaiming the FCZ as the new champion favorite would of course be too early after only four rounds had been played. SRF expert Kay Voser sees parallels to that time: “You play like in the master season. They are solid defensively and play fast and cold-blooded up front.”

Canepa recently spoke of presenting a new sports director by October 1st. And with the new Kraft Oko-Flex, things have already taken a step forward on the lawn. So the competition should be warned.