Football Season Guide

They've earned a reputation for solving all manner of problems in recent years in a calm, efficient manner, and it's played a huge role in them winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles. I'd struggle to look beyond them repeating the feat this season too, barring something very unexpected occurring. Admittedly, they made some big losses pre-season. Their best CB Wuthrich returned to Switzerland but that transfer has been coming for a year or two; it was not unexpected. They've brought in good alternatives, particularly Oermann. Yalcouye and Scherpen's loan spells ended but they already had good replacements lined up. Indeed, Sturm Graz felt so assured with their replacements that they've been actively seeking the next wonderkid to join their ranks, and they've found some very interesting players. Ex-FC Basel youngster Kayombo has been superb in pre-season friendlies, for example, and there are very high hopes for Polish midfielder Rozga. In other words, they're in a strong position - again. The only bad news for them was that GK Daniil Khudyakov (designated to as the mainstay following Scherpen's departure) sustained a freak injury, severely damaging his wrist whilst cycling. It's unclear how long he is out for. Bignetti and Lorenz are yet to debutise in the Bundesliga so they've naturally found an artful solution - loaning Vitek, former Blau-Weiss Linz GK for the season, if the Austrian media are to be believed (nothing official at time of writing this preview). They might be a little irked at having lost some promising players like Sorg and Schopp pre-season, players they were gradually easing into the fold. They've found replacements though, and will continue to do so because that's their way nowadays. This is a very efficient team and they should prove it again this season, even if the start slowly whilst new faces adjust. One thing to keep in mind is their attack. They expected to sell Boving pre-season due to the interest in him but it's not happened - yet. Should one domino piece elsewhere (e.g. Sesko) fall though, he probably will. Should that happen, and Jatta picks up one of his many injuries per season, they'll be short of experienced/reliable players in attack. They had that problem briefly last season but of course resolved it after a few weeks. Overall, given their lack of genuine competition, they should really be looking to win the Bundesliga again.