FCB is a mess: these are the faces of the Basel mega-crisis

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Whenever Geneva reporter legend Daniel Vizentini is in Joggeli, he tells the same story. From October 1998. The great Servette is a guest in Basel. Lonfant, Fournier, Rey, Patrick Müller. Future champion coach Gérard Castella is on the sidelines. Geneva won 2-0 after two goals from Franck Durix. It is the last victory for the Grenats in Basel.

Until Saturday. Napkin wins. In the Joggeli. Thanks to a shockingly weak FC Basel. A club that is in a huge crisis, without a win in nine games. The table reads like a horror story. 18 points behind arch-enemy Zurich, the worst goal difference in the league comes from a relegated team. The 0-1 defeat against Servette is another low point, but the faces of the crisis are the same from week to week.

Heiko Vogel has already proven that he is a good trainer from a technical point of view. For example, last season he coached FCSG coach Peter Zeidler through a system change. Vogel also resorted to tactics against Servette, starting with a 4-1-4-1, but switching to a three-man defense in the second half. When asked if it was a good idea to burden an already troubled team with system changes, Vogel responded evasively. Servette operated with high balls, so he changed. In principle, he sees the unimaginative, alarmingly weak performance against Geneva as a positive. There was ‘a little bit’ missing, the ‘mercy at the end’. Remarkable words because FCB hardly had any chances. While Vogel glosses over the performance, his centre-back Adrian Barisic speaks bluntly: “We have to accept that we are playing badly.” If FCB continues to play this poorly, Heiko Vogel will soon be history.

They have proven that Fabian Frei (34) and Taulant Xhaka (32) are great players. The two won a total of 15 titles for FCB, experienced countless magical European evenings and became legends. But at this point, they still don’t know that they still have it. Frei remains silent after Servette’s bankruptcy, Xhaka says sentences that reveal deep things: “I don’t know if half the players here understand what it’s about. What it means to wear this jersey.”

They have shown that Renato Veiga (20) and Thierno Barry (23) have potential. That they are good players, not yet. Sure, Veiga made an exclamation point in the 2-2 draw against FCZ, but then disappeared. And you can almost feel sorry for Thierno Barry. His journey in Basel started with two dismissals in two games and he hasn’t put one foot in front of the other since.

He has proven that David Degen (40) is a good sports director and has an eye for young talent. Zeki Amdouni to Burnley for 18 million, Andy Diouf to Lens for 15 million, FCB will earn a total of more than 50 million this transfer summer. Degen has so far failed to prove that the volatile bundle of energy is a good president.

And Daniel Vizentini? He no longer wants to tell that story from October 1998. Instead, we will talk about a certain Yoan Severin in the future. The man who scored on Saturday. And defeated the 25 year curse.

Source : Blick