Football Season Guide

A supremely disappointing campaign last season, fuelled by extreme inconsistency and managerial changes, led to them ending the season without any European football. Somewhat surprisingly, that did not result in boss Seoane being sacked, which is their usual modus operandi - perhaps they're learning. Ironically, Seoane is part of the problem, but he's by no means the biggest issue. Simply put, this team is not a team - it's a group of individuals, which is why they're so horribly inconsistent. That's how things went for all of last season, and the season before that, and the season before that. Unsurprisingly, that trend has continued in their pre-season friendlies. It's almost pointless to analyse their transfer activity because nothing seems to change anything. I mean, on the face of it, bringing Zesiger home is a massive deal - he's easily one of Switzerland's best centre-backs in general, let alone the Super League. I think making Pech's loan move permanent was an inspired choice too - he really came into his own toward the end of last season. Nothing seems to change anything in the capital though. Players come and go, but the outcome remains the same - disappointing. They'll have good runs and bad runs because they're incredibly reliant on confidence levels. In terms of positions, they've opted to take a risk up front by letting Bedia's loan move end, placing full faith in misfiring striker Essende. Unless they plan on reintegrating Tsimba following an unsuccessful loan spell at Grasshopper Club Zurich, or Cordova for that matter, then there's no real backup for Essende. Their central midfield looks strong enough, as does their CB position. They've got some brilliant creative threats in Fassnacht, Monteiro, Virginius, and more besides, although may lose Virginius before the season begins. They have had to take some risks at the back though, particularly at FB. Valery's loan deal ended, and Andrews isn't due back yet so they're banking on Janko staying fit, which is very bold. They're expecting to lose Hadjam at LB soon but already have Schmidt lined up as a replacement, which would be a good choice to rival impressive Bukinac. The bad news for this team is that they're likely to start their campaign without two of their best players, GK Keller and playmaker Fassnacht. Both were with Switzerland at the World Cup, and it would be reckless to field them so soon after it ended. If they play without them, then the chances of them getting off to a bad start increase, and they're notoriously bad at recovering from such nowadays. They're a hard team to predict, Young Boys Bern. On paper, they should be challenging for the title. In reality, it would not be a surprise if their lack of togetherness and work-rate resulted in them not even making the top six. A complete coin toss.