In the 33rd and final round before the division, FC Zurich missed out on the Championship Group with a 2-1 defeat against YB. Ancillo Canepa and Yanick Brecher look for reasons after the game.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- FCZ missed the season's target of a European place, for president Ancillo Canepa a new direction was missing after bad phases.
- The many side issues such as the departure of identification figures or the signing of Benjamin Mendy were "never a big issue" within the team.
- The Ricardo Moniz personnel issue is discussed with a view to next season, but Canepa did not reveal any more after the defeat against YB.
"For me, the big goal for the season is not to win the championship, but to get into a European group stage. A place between first and fourth in the Super League is not enough for me. I want to reach one of the three European competitions," Ancillo Canepa told blue Sport at the beginning of January. Three and a half months later, the Zurich club have clearly missed this major goal for the season by failing to reach the Championship Group.
The Zurich team let qualification for the championship round slip from their grasp with the defeat in Wankdorf, but for the president it was not this game that was decisive, but the last few weeks. So what was FCZ missing?
"That's difficult to analyze. If we had known exactly what the problem was, we could have put it right," Canepa told blue Sport after the game. There were good phases, then bad games, "like against Lausanne, which was like a sticking point".
For the president, a new direction was missing. FCZ captain Yanick Brecher has a similar view: "We started well and played with a lot of solidarity. We defended well and were consistent in our finishing. We lost that in the middle of the season - at the front and at the back. In that phase, we had a lot of games in which we dropped points unnecessarily."
The disappointment within the team shortly after the game was huge, but they still want to show a reaction in the last five games of the championship and win them. "We want to get 15 points, that's clear," says Canepa, who also emphasizes that they don't want to distort the championship.
Sideshows not an issue
These five games will also allow FCZ to prepare for next season. Canepa will probably want the mood around his team to calm down again and only the results on the pitch to be a topic of conversation. After all, the current championship has seen many sideshows with the departures of identification figures such as Antonio Marchesano, the signings of Steven Zuber and Benjamin Mendy, who were not well received by the fans for various reasons, the arrest of Daniel Denoon and, most recently, the suspension of Junior Ligue.
However, Canepa does not want to see these discussions as the reason for the failure: "These were media issues in many places. Of course we had certain issues. We dealt with them, resolved them and ticked them off. It was never a big issue within the team. We remained calm and composed. In the end, it wasn't enough on the pitch."
According to Brecher, they tried to keep such issues away from the team. They were always able to work calmly and hard, but in the end "the necessary points were not scored".
Canepa will also have to tackle the coaching issue - or is the Ricardo Moniz personnel issue already being analyzed? "I'm certainly not going to make any announcements now. At every club where something is not achieved, this question automatically comes up."
They will sit down together calmly, look to the future and see how things should continue. They have time for this in the last five games, even if Canepa "would have wished it differently".
