FCB chairman Degen attacks his own players

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1: 6 lunge and crash in the lower half of the table: But the FC Basel players quickly forgot about the fiasco in St. Gallen. “If we make it to the final, the 1:6 won’t matter,” said captain Fabian Frei, looking ahead to the second leg in the Conference League semi-final against Fiorentina.

President David Degen, on the other hand, had to bite through the bankruptcy longer. Because the horror scenario is now approaching. Not represented internationally next season despite a glorious European Cup campaign. Horror scenario because FCB depends on the income from the European Cup. And on transfer income, which only becomes lucrative if the players can present themselves internationally.

Without European Cup income next season, the club will probably have to sell its gems such as Amdouni and Diouf in the summer to keep their heads above water financially. Despite additional income of 40 million francs (transfers and European Championship), there was a loss of 1.2 million francs in the 2022 financial year. And Degen recently announced: “2023 will be the most difficult year financially in the club’s history.”

The competition takes precedence

Against this background, bankruptcies like the one in St. Gallen are pinpricks for the FCB boss. “I tremble every day at the scenario of missing out on international business,” Degen admitted at Monday night’s general meeting. And then expressed his displeasure with the performance in eastern Switzerland: “I would have liked to have left after 15 minutes. Something like that should not happen to us! The championship must be the top priority!”

According to Degen, he has been telling everyone at FCB every day for weeks that the competition is the most important competition. And Cup and European Cup just a nice addition. Degen continues: «I also think the players understood my words. But in St. Gallen, some probably ignored them. We made nine changes compared to the game three days earlier in Florence. And then act like that. I have a problem with the attitude of the players who are new to the starting eleven.” Criticisms have included well-known names such as captain Fabian Frei, goalscorer Andi Zeqiri and top scorer Darian Males.

Degen indirectly takes the blame for FCB’s two faces this season. As a result of the club’s strategy to be a hot spring for international talent. “It may be that young players from abroad prefer the European Cup showcase to the daily life in the league.” According to Degen, he would like to reach the final of the Conference League against the approximately 1,000 members in the room, just like all FCB fans. “But the most important are three wins in the last three league matches!”

Source : Blick