FC Basel head into the winter break with a draw against Servette and an eight-point deficit at the top of the table. Sporting director Daniel Stucki announces reinforcements for the new year.
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- FC Basel drew 1-1 against Servette at the end of the season. The gap to the top of the table thus grows to 8 points.
- However, nothing is lost for Ludovic Magnin. "We're not perfect on the road, but we're in the mix," said the FCB coach in an interview with blue Sport.
- Nevertheless, sporting director Daniel Stucki sees a need for action in the winter break and has announced reinforcements in the attack.
After three home games in a row without scoring, FC Basel breaks the goal curse in the last game of the year. But it was not enough to win against Servette. Ludovic Magnin's team had to settle for a 1-1 draw - and are now eight points behind winter champions Thun.
"The performance today wasn't that good. We controlled and dominated the game, but without being compelling. Like many teams at St. Jakob-Park, Servette got stuck in at the back. We lacked the freshness to make the right decisions against deep-lying opponents," Magnin analyzed FCB's performance in an interview with blue Sport.
Ten days to clear the head
The uninspired performance was also partly due to the packed fixture list in recent weeks. "We've played every third day for the last nine games. When you know that it's the last game of this series and then it's the vacations, that played a small part in your subconscious. Because today I missed the rhythm in our game," said the FCB coach.
The short winter break is not inconvenient for the coach and team. But the triple burden should not be an excuse. "We love it, work for it and want to have it again next year," says Magnin. "Don't moan, just take the ten days, clear your head and then it's back to business."
It is still incredibly fun to work with this team. "We're not perfect on the road, but we're in the mix everywhere," says Magnin and reminds us: "We even have a few more points than last season at the same time. We are in the race."
Stucki: "We're missing a few goals"
Nevertheless, FCB sporting director Daniel Stucki sees a need for action during the winter break. "We want to strengthen our offense. We're missing a few goals," he announced ahead of the game against Servette. "Albian (Ajeti) and Moritz (Broschinski) haven't adapted so well and haven't scored many goals, some of them somewhat unluckily. We need a striker who can play from the start."
That way, the pressure to perform can be spread over several shoulders and Xherdan Shaqiri, for example, can be relieved of some of the pressure. "Xherdan has also scored a lot this season, he already has four in the Europa League. He's doing well, he's a leader. He's used to the pressure, it doesn't bother him," says Stucki, defending the captain: "It's normal that you can't perform at your best for 50 to 60 matches in a row and score an infinite number of points. But I assume that will come again."
