Criticism of Lichtsteiner's choice Knup: "The big slump at FCB came with the change of coach"

Basel will most likely not be playing in Europe next season. Former FCB players Adrian Knup and Atilla Sahin find clear words on the crisis on "Tele Basel".

With the 3-0 defeat against YB, the dream of European business is almost over. Attila Sahin lacked the will to win in Bern to keep the chances of European evenings alive. "You have to be a bit harsh on FCB this season, with everything that's happened," said the 52-year-old.

For Adrian Knup, it is striking how badly FCB can deal with setbacks. "Then there's a lack of resilience," he says, adding: "There's a lack of leaders who take the team by the hand and try to fight back."

Knup does not want to see the poor record in the Wankdorf - no win for FCB in over ten years - as a mental problem. "There have been so many player changes in recent years - not all the players know that it's been so long," he says.

Although Sahin would regret not taking part in the European Cup, avoiding the double burden would increase the chances of a better championship next year. Of course, the double burden is not easy for a club like FCB, says Knup. But: "If I look at the previous round now, we were able to manage it relatively well despite eight additional games and still managed to stay in a reasonable position."

Double burden no excuse for Knup

The former international striker continues: "FCB's big slump came with the change of coach and in the second half of the season. That's when they started to lose a lot of points. Knup mentions coach Stephan Lichtsteiner's previous record in the Super League: six wins, two draws and seven losses. That's quite extreme. And we no longer have a double burden." For Sahin, too, Ludovic Magnin's move to the former national team captain was "so unnecessary".

The timing for the change of the club's most important employee was "completely wrong", emphasizes Knup. "They didn't do the coach any favors," Knup pointed out to the club management. Lichtsteiner may have a lot of experience as a player at the very highest level, but not as a coach. "And when you get into a situation like that, with crucial games coming up and losing them, it's incredibly difficult to somehow find a way out of it. So far, he hasn't found it with his team," summarizes the former FCB vice president.

He advises him to start with the basics instead of trying wild experiments. Only then can you dedicate yourself to higher goals. But this requires a lot of time as well as work. Whether Stephan Lichtsteiner will still have that in the new season is a question mark, at least at the moment, says Knup.

The parallels with YB

With YB, the second league heavyweight is also struggling to catch up. Knup sees parallels in the many changes of coach in recent months and years. FCB have had nine coaches since the 21/22 season, compared to eight at YB. Without consistency, it is usually very difficult to achieve success. "It's possible in the short term, FCB showed that with the last championship title. But in the medium or long term, you can't be successful if there is no continuity," says Knup.

You can see that now with the teams at the top of the league. The coaches have been in office for a long time. "It would certainly be important for FCB to achieve a certain continuity in this position. Of course, you also have to make sure that there aren't too many changes of players. That is very, very important so that something can grow again at some point," emphasizes the 57-year-old.

Sahin also recalls how it felt like there were "10 or 15 changes every six months" after David Degen took over the squad. "Then last year was the first time we had a season where the team stayed together to some extent, where Shaqiri was added and where we stuck with the coach even when things weren't going so well." Sahin's conclusion: "That is simply a crucial point, that you rely on a coach who pulls the players along and develops them further."