Coach Mario Frick under pressure: now the FCL must save its season

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

FC Luzern had set two goals for this season. Winning the cup and reaching the champion group. The former had to be written off prematurely – too early – after the embarrassment in Delémont. And since Sunday afternoon, there is a greater threat than ever of missing the second goal of the season.

The frustration about SLO’s bankruptcy runs deep. For the first time since the third matchday, the team from Central Switzerland is outside the top 6. The season is at stake. The mood at the Allmend is correspondingly bad on Monday. Lausanne again showed where the problem lies. Although the FCL is regularly dangerous in the game, it hardly scores goals. Of the last six games, there were only four. But according to the xG value (expected goals), this should have been more than double.

Harmless attackers

This brings us to keyword inefficiency. The FCL fired 524 shots this season. The return is poor with 34 goals and results in a success rate of 6.5 percent. No one else in Super League has such a low value.

Efficiency was already a problem in Lucerne last season. Coach Mario Frick (49) has repeatedly described it as a shortcoming in recent weeks. The Liechtensteiner has not yet found a solution to this. Although he knows from his own experience as a once successful photographer what it takes to score goals.

However, Frick has not yet been able to convey this knowledge to his attackers. He’s already tried a lot. Not only with game ideas, but also with a lot of staff. He has already deployed seventeen different wingers and strikers during his time at FCL. There are nine this season alone. However, the fact that no one has become a hard-working goalscorer isn’t just his biggest flaw. The sports management around sports director Remo Meyer (43) also has to tolerate questions.

Six games as hope

However, inefficiency is not the only problem. Frick knows that too. In fact, there is a second major flaw in Lucerne’s game. It’s the standards. Be careful, here’s a particularly worrying statistic: the FCL has defeated more than 130 corners this season. Not a single goal resulted.

When Frick is asked about it, he repeatedly emphasizes that he is missing many big players with good aerial qualities this season, such as the departed Pascal Schürpf and Marco Burch and the injured Ismajl Beka. That may be true. But there are plenty of examples that corner kick variations without big players can also lead to a goal.

Creativity is now required from Frick and his staff. They have six games left to turn the season around. And it doesn’t matter how the goals are scored. Because in the end it all comes down to whether Lucerne gets into the top six or not. Coaches and sports directors are assessed on this.

Source : Blick