From the expert chair back to the coaching bench - Wübbenhorst is looking forward to the start of the season

Last season, YB were crowned Swiss champions for the first time in 14 years. The play-off final against GC was only decided on penalties. Champions coach Imke Wübbenhorst is now tempering expectations ahead of the start of the season.

Imke Wübbenhorst, you will start the new season as champions' coach on Saturday. How excited are you to be starting again?

I'm really looking forward to starting again, whether as a champion coach or as a "normal" coach. It's simply the most fun when there's something at stake. It's the same with the players. Because the tension is different than in the test matches.

You were a TV pundit during the European Championships. Were you able to take anything away from that for your job as a coach?

It was a lot of fun to look at the game of football from a different perspective. It was also interesting to see what the people behind the microphones do. And it's interesting to see: how they solve things against a back three, how they start, how they defend standards, how the coaches react at half-time ... That's always exciting for me to see and you always take something away from it.

With Iman Beney (Man City) and Naomi Luyet (Hoffenheim), two figureheads have left the club. How much does that hurt? Or are you rather proud that two of your players have made this step?

I think it's extremely cool for the club and I'm happy for the girls. We focus a lot on young talent and developing them. If they then make the leap to such well-known clubs, that also attracts other talented players. But it's true that we lack individual quality with these two. It's more difficult for us to create scoring chances. We have to make up for that as a team and come up with more ideas. You can't replace them one-to-one.

Iman Beney and Naomi Luyet left YB in the summer.

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Is YB still a championship contender or do you see other teams as the favorites?

In terms of individual quality, I currently rate Servette and GC as very strong. But I believe in my players and I see huge potential. We've brought in a lot of young, interesting players. But they need a bit of time to settle into the league. We can talk about what realistic goals are in the winter. The fact that we're playing in the playoffs means that anything is possible if we're two or three steps ahead by then.

In the summer, we all saw the huge potential of women's football. Do you think that will have an impact on the league?

I think a lot of people have seen that women's football has developed enormously and that we are no longer ridiculed. And that they say that we want to take a look at this in the league. We and FC Basel have sold a lot more season tickets. I also think the closeness is different to men's football and you can see that it's very peaceful around the games. I think that's also very attractive for families and I hope that this will attract new spectators.

It is still unclear whether Pia Sundhage will remain national team coach or not. When it comes to possible successor candidates, your name is never missing. Would the job appeal to you?

It's nice to see that there are people who trust me with such a big task. But that's all speculation, I'm staying out of it. I'm very happy at YB.

Start of a new era

The Women's Super League is back