Basel

The big bonus for the club pre-season was that key CB Pelmard will stay for at least another season. Arnau Comas has arrived from FC Barcelona with the intent of being played alongside him but the club has tended to field defensive midfielders like Frei and Burger alongside Pelmard under previous managers so only time will tell - it’s a potential weak spot though - again. Guille Abascal was appointed manager of Spartak Moscow, so club legend Alexander Frei is the new FC Basel manager, recruited from season opener opponents FC Winterthur. He’s expected to motivate the players a lot, and has been responsible for a lot of young players developing their respective careers since he was their manager so kids may play a more prominent role this season. Expect attacking football. The biggest surprise was when they axed all three of their goalkeepers. Lindner in general is erratic, but his departure to FC Sion comes on the back off arguably his strongest ever campaign, and to be replaced by a much older Hitz was a strange call. Most of the players they’ve lost should be easily replaced, predominantly because Esposito (the only one with any genuine quality) developed a poor attitude during his time at the club. Playmaker Stocker has retired but Palacios has been waiting for his chance in the team for a while now, and may finally get it. As mentioned above, CB is the main curiosity alongside Pelmard. Well-stocked at FB. Their midfield looks a little too youthful, for the most part - may get overrun at times if not good enough on the ball. Their attack looks really interesting. Sene scored lots of goals during his loan at GCZ last season - but only really in the first-half of it. Augustin was brought in to be their main striker but he’s wildly unpredictable (despite his obvious talent) so it’s very risky. There are lots of talented, exciting youngsters in attack now though so this should be their strongest area. Cohesion may be an issue early in the campaign. Attack massively outweighing defence in pre-season friendlies. Key players - Pelmard, Frei, Ndoye.