Young Boys Bern

Raphaël Wicky has been appointed as their new full-time manager, which is a controversial move to say the least as he’s largely associated with their bitter rivals, FC Basel, where he spent 5 years as a manager at various levels. It’s also yet to be determined just how good a manager he is, and these players need an experienced guiding hand if they're to return to being title contenders so it’s a risky call. It’s wildly unlikely that they’ll finish outside of the top three whether they play well or not because they have superior individuals to most Super League teams. They’ve done seriously well in the transfer market pre-season anyway, bringing in Itten (another ex-FC Basel) to play up front following Siebatcheu’s departure for Union Berlin. He was always punching above his weight so it made sense to sell him, and Itten is a more than capable deputy. It remains to be seen whether Nsame will regain his foothold in the Young Boys Bern eleven following his failed loan spell at Venezia. On his day, he’s the most ruthless finisher in the Super League so he should be in the conversation. Midfield is the focal area for this team in the campaign ahead. Varga may not have been much of a loss pre-season (not that he got much chance to impress during his loan spell) but Edmilson Fernandes and Sulejmani both going at the same time makes things quite interesting. They’ve recruited Ugrinic to do a job there, and Rrudhani too, but there’s no real guarantee there. Even returning loanee Jankewitz may get a shot but only Ugrinic has any consistency. Defensive midfield is the problem, unless Niasse truly makes the role his own, which he didn’t last season. Unknown youngster Chaiwa was recruited as a defensive midfielder but has been playing at RB in pre-season friendlies. If he does though, and if Nsame/Fassnacht stay/play, then a title challenge may be on the cards for them, purely because they’ve got enough match-winners and there simply isn’t a lot of competition right now. Don’t expect the dominance of the old Young Boys Bern though - last season proved that that era is gone. Key players - Fassnacht, Nsame, Lustenberger, Garcia.