Two wins from 16 games
On May 22nd of this year the time had come. On the final 36th matchday of the 2021/22 season, FC Zurich celebrated winning the championship in front of a home crowd at the Letzigrund Stadium. A few weeks earlier, FCZ had completed the sensation with the first championship since 2009, but patience was required until the trophy was handed over. When captain Yanick Brecher finally raised the trophy in the direction of the Zurich sky, the championship celebrations had started. The club’s own social media department wrote about the moment “we’ve all been waiting for” and thanked the fans for an “unforgettable” party the next day. About half a year later, nothing is left of the euphoria at FCZ.
community
Discuss about Swiss football in formRight this way
“I think we’ve all come down to earth,” said German professional Marc Hornschuh in an interview with Transfermarkt. The championship was an “outstanding event”, but now you have to “concentrate on the now”, says the 31-year-old. There are worlds between the now from this season and the now from the past. After 16 games, Zurich are the reigning champions at the bottom of the table. FCZ were only not in last place on three matchdays. Should the FCZ actually be relegated as champions, that would be a novelty in the Super League. This scenario once existed in Germany when 1. FC Nürnberg had to move to the second division in 1969, a year after their ninth and last championship to date. “You can see how fast-moving the business is and how quickly things can go up or down again,” emphasizes Hornschuh, looking at the current situation. Zurich have not come from last place for eight games.
At the same time last season, FCZ was in first place with a three-point lead over pursuers FC Basel, and they are currently four points behind FC Winterthur in ninth place. The horror record was 0: 4, 0: 0, 0: 2, 0: 3, 1: 1, 2: 4, 1: 2, 2: 3, 1: 1 and three 0: 0 in a row, before four months Waiting time the first win in the league was won. “We didn’t perform well in the first few games and couldn’t keep up the momentum, which is why we got caught in a negative spiral,” says Hornschuh. Meanwhile, he does not attribute the sporting misery to the personnel changes in the summer within the team and on the coaching bench.
Goalkeepers like Wilfried Gnonto and Assan Ceesay, who together scored 32 goals in the championship campaign in all competitions, left the club for Leeds and Lecce respectively. With a total of eleven departures, Gnoto made the only transfer proceeds with 4.5 million euros. The income was not invested, instead only Cheick Conde cost a fee of 500,000 euros, while the remaining six additions came for free or on loan. While the squad value was EUR 43.8 million at the end of the previous season, it has slipped to EUR 25.3 million after the most recent market value update in Switzerland. The minus of 42.3 percent is by far the largest in the league, but the FCZ is still the third most valuable squad.
“In the business, it is often the case that, especially after a very good season, players or coaches arouse interest abroad and there can be transfers,” says Hornschuh. A bitter loss for FCZ was, in addition to a few top performers, the departure of master maker André Breitenreiter, who moved to TSG Hoffenheim after just one season. According to Hornschuh, under his leadership the team spirit was “outstanding”. “It was a very special, magical season, where everything worked out, which unfortunately hasn’t worked so well this season,” says the defender. Breitenreiter averaged 2.1 points per game in 39 games on the touchline, which is one of the best values in the club’s history.
For the more offensively thinking broad rider came the more defensive acting Franco Foda, who had to go again less than three months and 18 games (points average of 1) later. The fact that the personnel changes were the reason for the poor performance sounds like an excuse to Hornschuh. After all, “a large part of the team from last season is still there,” he notes. The team is now being coached by Bo Henriksen from Denmark.
FCZ defender Marc Hornschuh: “We have a long way to go”
Defining the goal for the new season turned out to be “not that easy” in the summer. Before the championship, FCZ was in other realms than the upper table region, promotion in 2017 was followed by a fourth, two seventh and one eighth place. In February, Hornschuh said in an interview with “sports1‘ that the past few years in Zurich have not been ‘so rosy’. That’s why there were “no clear goals” before the pre-season, he says. “Of course you became champions and you think you have something you want to defend, but at the same time you know that other clubs have a different budget and other options,” says Hornschuh. In the squad value ranking, Basel with EUR 39.1 million and BSC Young Boys with EUR 56.4 million are well ahead of FCZ.
Rieder breaks away: most valuable players in the Swiss Super League
“What was so special last season was that we had this flow that stayed with us for many games and that we developed through victories,” says Hornschuh. Little by little I got the feeling that I could win every game. It looks different this season. “So far we haven’t managed to win two or three games in a row. We’re working on it and I’m convinced that we can get back into that flow.” Everyone involved had to wait a long time to even win a game in the league. That had already been achieved in the national and international cup competitions, but not in the league – up to the 14th matchday. At the end of October, FCZ made a guest appearance at FC Sion, where a goal by Cologne-born Jonathan Okita was enough for the first win. “We have a long road ahead of us. That was a very small first step,” says Hornschuh. In the following game at FC Lugano, FCZ conceded their eighth and last defeat before the winter break, as the first half of the season ended with a 4-1 win against Servette FC and a positive experience.
Aiyegun Tosin hat-trick and Nikola Katic’s dream goal – with the four goals from yesterday’s home win in the last competitive game of the calendar year, we wish you a good start into the week! #fcz #cityclub #NeverUsenandGah pic.twitter.com/BhSTjlWuoF
— FC Zurich (@fc_zuerich) November 14, 2022
The winter break is now about “clearing your head and reflecting on what I did right and what I did wrong,” says Hornschuh. He was “convinced that the best way to get out of such a situation is to focus on yourself”. The recovery should not be neglected, “but everything with a view to the second half of the season to turn things around”. The FCZ professionals will be on vacation until December 4th before the preparation for the second half of the season consists of “various training and rest phases”, as the club announced. A training camp in Turkey is also on the agenda. “We have to be clear about where we stand and push each other in the team – even in our free time,” emphasizes Hornschuh. At the end of January, the away game at FC Luzern will continue in the league.
Ex-Bundesliga professional Sobiech helped Hornschuh with FCZ change
To date, the former DFB junior has played 18 games in which he collected 792 minutes – in the previous season it was 704 in 26 appearances. Before moving to FCZ, he had to struggle with injuries and personal setbacks towards the end of his time at FC St. Pauli and HSV II. He is “very grateful” that he continues to play at a level like the current one. Ex-Bundesliga professional Lasse Sobiech, who was active in Zurich in the 2020/21 season and is now under contract with Stellenbosch FC in South Africa, played a decisive role in his transfer.
“We are good friends. I don’t know exactly how the communication between him and those responsible looked. But I know that there were talks,” says Hornschuh, who was invited to Zurich by sports director Marinko Jurendic and given a contract after a trial session. “A few more years” he wants to play at the same level, he says. First of all, however, the focus is on the relegation battle.
To home page