Grasshopper Zurich

Boss Contini resigning from his post (having failed to improve the team) was not a surprise. Poaching Bruno Berner from FC Winterthur as his replacement was a surprise, however. It remains to be seen as to how he handles managing a bigger club with bigger expectations but it’s fair to say that there are concerns, given FC Winterthur’s uninspiring start and finish to last season’s campaign, although he did eventually cobble together a couple of months of impressive showings in the middle of their campaign. They’ve also seen a change of President as Sky Sun left in February; Matt Jackson, formerly of their ‘big brothers’ Wolverhampton Wanderers, takes the reins. It no longer feels like Grasshopper Zurich have a ‘role’ in the Super League now, as sad as it is to say about one of Switzerland’s biggest clubs. Their partnership with Wolverhampton Wanderers is choking them in this division, much as though it’s aiding them financially. They’re now in a position whereby the success or failure of their campaign will predominantly hinge upon how much they’re aided by Wolverhampton Wanderers. They’ve been loaned Corbeanu and Lonwijk this season; it remains to be seen how they settle, although they’re playing in a division that is frankly beneath them so good things are expected. Other than that, things look quite bleak for them. Losing Bolla and Kawabe are huge, huge blows; neither player can be properly replaced, the former for his driving runs, and the latter for his creativity. Losing Moreira between the stick was another colossal blow, and a surprising one too. The club maintained that the Portuguese shot-stopper wanted too much money for a contract renewal but based on how regularly he bailed them out last season, they should have moved mountains to keep him. Instead, they’ve re-signed Kuttin to be the backup goalkeeper, and have made youngster Hammel their new number one, which is a big gamble. They’ve also lost Loosli at centre-back, although if Berner keeps them with a back four then Ribeiro and Seko will be ok. It’s only if they start playing with wing-backs again that they’re going to feel Loosli’s departure, particularly with Margreitter and Nadjack having also departed the club - unless Tobers can prove the difference. There are too many questions and not enough answers about this club right now though. Kempter’s arrival is handy; my inference would be that he’ll play at left-back, and Schmid will move over to right-back to replace Bolla, which is another big risk - Schmid has been outstanding at left-back over the past year; he may not be as effectual on the right. Pusic and Demhasaj were cut loose despite both playing prominent roles toward the end of their campaign, and Schettine’s loan deal has ended oto. What does all this mean? A lot of headaches for new boss Berner - it’s now almost compulsive to field a back four, they’re massively over-reliant on youngster Shabani and Morandi to replace Kawabe, and they’ve got nobody other than Dadashov that knows where the net is - and even he has struggled in 2023. They’re going to need seasoned veteran Schurpf to hit the ground running (not likely with him battling another injury!) or they may well end up joining city rivals FC Zurich in a relegation battle - unless they receive any more ‘saviours’ from Wolverhampton Wanderers at the last minute. God help them if they lose Schmid - and they just might, you know.