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David Degen has not had any clever ideas so far, writes…
Kubilay TürkyilmazBlick columnist
When things don’t go smoothly, cockfights ensue. This is no different in the case of FC Basel with the dispute between Fabian Frei and Taulant Xhaka. I don’t want anyone to tell me that Frei just wanted to tell his team-mate that he didn’t approve of the fact that some players didn’t go to the fans after the game. A look at the faces of the two is enough…
Anyone who has been used to winning for twenty years and is now losing for the seventh time in a single season is out of practice in this discipline – and is reacting accordingly.
After losing to FCL: Thick air between Fabian Frei and Taulant Xhaka(00:27)
At the beginning of the season I was hoping that with Alex Frei as coach and Martin Andermatt as his back office, with David Degen as a strong man and his brother Philipp as player supplier. The preliminary round taught me better. And after the game against Lucerne, the hope for a better second half of the season is back where it was in December: tending toward zero. The runner-up simply doesn’t have the mental potential for second place this season.
And so the club is becoming more and more the new GC. To what was once a highly successful club, whose talent-seeking strategy has had to bid farewell to its earlier ambitions. Basel has also degenerated into a betting club that plays Russian roulette with talented boys. That can work, but that’s the exception. Because the committed players are unfinished.
This strategy is okay in itself, but then you have to do two things: First, learn to deal with defeat. And second, have patience.
But because nobody wants that in an environment so spoiled by success, Granit Xhaka is absolutely right in his criticism. This strategy cannot be that of FCB.
However: There is not enough money for a complete change of strategy with the acquisition of new, experienced players. And because there is no money, clever ideas are needed. David Degen has not yet provided proof that he has this.
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