Despite the 3-0 win against GC, YB is struggling for stability. The numerous personnel changes are noticeable.
Lukasz Lakomy (center) has not yet proven to be a reinforcement for YB – on Thursday against GC his team was still able to win, the guests from Zurich were too weak.
Anthony Anex / Keystone
On Thursday, the Young Boys sent signs of self-confidence into the night against the Grasshoppers in the well-filled Wankdorf Stadium – 3-0 after less than 25 minutes. But after that the action died down and concerns arose during the second half. Once again. The thoughts that are not going away are what the people of Bern are currently struggling with, looking for form, style and, above all, cohesion.
And this despite the fact that the lead over second-placed Servette has increased again to four points. The unsettled Grasshoppers come at the right time. GC as a YB construction aid. It’s all ok? Not at all. The champion shouldn’t throw too much wool in his eyes.
YB is not a major construction site, as a leader it cannot be. The big picture doesn’t seem out of place. But the Bernese region offers numerous smaller venues that have contributed to instability and, taken together, have resulted in them losing luster and conviction.
The Nsame case should not be underestimated
The serial top scorer Jean-Pierre Nsame was handed over to the Serie B club Como in the winter and has hardly made a step there so far. If it stays that way, it cannot be ruled out that Nsame will join Servette FC in the summer. In the snapshot, the 30-year-old striker’s case is accompanied by an inexplicable note regarding him and YB.
On the other hand, it speaks volumes that Nsame still leads the YB internal goalscorers list with 9 goals together with Joël Monteiro, ahead of Cédric Itten and Meschack Elia (7 each). A year ago, Nsame and Itten had different cadence with 16 and 17 goals at the same stage. YB has created a striker problem with the quarrels over Nsame, especially since Itten has not been in the form of his life for a long time.
Nsame’s noisy departure meant that the people of Bern were even more identified in the winter. In the summer of 2023, Fabian Rieder, Cédric Zesiger and Christian Fassnacht left the Super League for Ligue 1, Bundesliga and Championship (second top division in England). The double-digit million income pleased the treasurers, but didn’t make the team any better.
Meschack Elia (left) tries to fix YB’s striker problem.
Anthony Anex / Keystone
The transfer of Amenda does not contribute to humility
The departure of defender Aurèle Amenda, who turns 21 and will move to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga in the summer for an astonishingly high sum of millions, was announced early. Including performance-related bonuses, over 10 million euros are due. When Manuel Akanji left Basel for Dortmund in 2018, he was 22 years old – and worth over 20 million to the Germans.
Since the public became aware of Amenda’s transfer, the central defender hasn’t gotten any better. There have been games in the last few weeks where people asked themselves: Why did Frankfurt really want Amenda? Isn’t he overpaid? The transfer fuss didn’t help the player’s humility.
Even at the back, in the goalkeeper position, it should not be forgotten who was injured and how, who replaced whom and who was first declared number 1 and then demoted again. David von Ballmoos came back from an injury. Nevertheless, YB declared Anthony Racioppi the regular goalkeeper in September 2023. In a communiqué, YB sports director Steve von Bergen praised Racioppi over the clover.
But Racioppi, who was good in the penalty area and had quick reflexes in the goal area, made a few terrible bad passes with his foot and thus contributed to the uncertainty. So von Ballmoos returned to the goal. And this as captain. Something like this can have an impact if the structure is already shaky.
Filip Ugrinic’s toe injury was also a turning point. Like Kastriot Imeri, he came to Bern in 2022 and, after lengthy teething problems, played his way into the center and into the Swiss national team this season. But only until February 10th. Ugrinic has been watching ever since. Like the equally injured Imeri, who is one of the most expensive YB signings at 3 million euros.
The highlights of the Super League game between YB and GC on April 4, 2024 (3:0).
Youtube
The trainer Wicky was exposed to influence
All of this was overshadowed by disagreements with the master trainer Raphael Wicky, who was less flexible than the YB management had hoped and was wearing himself out. It is remarkable how anecdotes are bandied about in the YB house that Wicky only partially implemented what was suggested to him by the management. Nsame recently said in Como that he recognized in Wicky’s eyes how the coach did not always make personnel decisions of his own free will.
Repeated and apparently extensive wrangling of authority at the highest level. Not in FC Sion with Christian Constantin and his 100th coach, but under the YB umbrella, where everything runs through the strategist and club co-owner Christoph Spycher and where some people contribute their opinions – the chief scout Stéphane Chapuisat, Steve von Bergen and the head of training Gérard Castella, who has recently been on the bench. Strong influence on a coach who became champion and cup winner and moved into the Champions League.
Wicky was released at the beginning of March. Since then, YB under interim successor Joël Magnin has offered a mirage against the abysmally weak FC Basel with a 5-1 win, as it turns out afterwards. This only temporarily scratched Wicky’s paintwork. YB then remained without a goal in the games at Lausanne-Sport (0:2) and in Yverdon (0:0) and was worryingly weak at times. Eyewitnesses were even shocked by what was being presented.
The 3-0 win against the Grasshoppers, who showed signs of being a badly damaged relegation candidate in Bern, helps to brighten things up again. Is it more than just makeup? Oh, these doubts. They stay.