A new era is beginning at FC St.Gallen. After six years of Peter Zeidler, Enrico Maassen will take over as coach next season. The football should remain the same, but after four test matches the results are mixed.
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- For the first time since 2018, FC St.Gallen will not start a Super League season with Peter Zeidler as coach.
- Under Enrico Maassen, FCSG president Matthias Hüppi is hoping for similarly attractive football. At the same time, the 40-year-old German should bring further momentum to youth development.
- Will this work out? The results after four test matches are mixed.
Peter Zeidler has been in charge of FC St.Gallen for 242 games. The greatest achievement under the 61-year-old Swabian was in the 2019/20 season, when FC St.Gallen finished runners-up eight points behind YB. Under Zeidler, the club from eastern Switzerland then reached the cup final twice (2021, 2022), but lost both times.
Nevertheless, FCSG supporters are likely to agree: since winning the championship in 2000, no other coach has been as strong, consistent and stable as under Zeidler.
Now, for the first time since 2018, the 40-year-old Maassen has the chance to try his hand at another. That is no easy task. And the German is well aware of his predecessor's successes. "I would like to compliment Peter. He has shaped the club for a very long time, which is rarely the case," said Maassen after his introduction as the new Espen coach in June.
Zeidler football 2.0?
What the supporters of Eastern Switzerland liked best about Zeidler's football was the high intensity and constant offensive drive. Regardless of the result, FCSG guaranteed spectacle week after week. For six years. Sometimes the goals were scored for Görtler and Co., sometimes against them - but they were scored. Could that be lost now?
Maassen denies it: "Anyone who knows me knows that my game is very intense. Of course, we want to continue playing this attacking style. We want to press high, with quick switching options, and also develop a clear idea with the ball."
FCSG president Matthias Hüppi recently revealed that Maassen's footballing idea was also the decisive factor in him being chosen as Zeidler's successor. "We expect to further develop the attractiveness of our game. Peter Zeidler has done an outstanding job and has given this team a style of play that is very well received by us and our fans. There is absolutely no reason to change anything fundamentally."
However, Hüppi clarifies that Maassen's task is also to bring in other options and variations and hopes that the German will also work successfully with young players.
Transfers under Stilz (2024/25)
Additions: Konrad Faber (Jahn Regensburg), Stephan Ambrosius (HSV), Jovan Milosevic (VfB Stuttgart/loan)
Departures: Leonidas Stergiou (VfB Stuttgart, purchase option exercised), Julian Von Moos (Servette), Fabian Schubert (1860 Munich), Patrick Sutter (Stade Lausanne-Ouchy), Mattia Zanotti (Inter Milan/loan), Justin Janitzek (Bayern Munich II/loan), Richard van der Venne (?)
The fact that FCSG will continue to rely on its own youth department is currently evident on the transfer market. As in previous years, the club in eastern Switzerland is also rejecting expensive transfers and big names this summer. This is not set to change with sporting director Stilz and coach Maassen.
"We have filled various key positions with young people. We are positioned for the long term. The football business is always about looking to the longer term. We're on the right track," says Hüppi, explaining the club's identity.
Mixed test match results
On the pitch, the results under Maassen have been mixed so far. A 9:0 win at FC Kreuzlingen (2nd division interregional) in the first test match of the summer was followed by a 0:2 defeat against Ludogorets Razgrad. The team returned to winning ways against Romanian club Universitatea Craiova with a 2:1 win, but then suffered another defeat against promotion league side Rapperswil-Jona last week (1-3).
In the last test - one week before Maassen makes his Super League coaching debut on July 20 in the away game in Winterthur - he managed a 1-0 win against FC Vaduz. Although Grün-Weiss did not have the best day at the Rheinpark Stadium and still had room for improvement, particularly in terms of converting chances, the team started the season with a positive feeling.
That could be crucial, as the first leg of the Conference League qualifier against the winner of the MFK Ružomberok - Tobyl Qostanai clash is just five days after the season opener at Schützenwiese. By then at the latest, the team will have to click under the new coach.