The YB staff is not making any progress

Perhaps one can expect miracles from footballer Kastriot Imeri in Bern. The Young Boys exploited their position of power in 2022 and lured the now 24-year-old away from Servette FC. Imeri cost a few million and represents the ladder model in Swiss club football: the big guy offers more and gets the best from further down, from the competitors.

Imeri had a difficult first year in Wankdorf. And the second in 2023/24 was no better, partly because of a knee injury. “It was the lowest point in my life,” he told Blue. The talented player continues to feed hope. If he doesn’t make his mark now, he will tomorrow. At some point his time will come. It has to come. He thinks. YB thinks.

2024/25? YB wants to defend the title, experience a cup final in their own stadium like in 2023 and reach the Champions League. That’s what sporting director Steve von Bergen said at the pre-season media conference. He can’t say anything else, if only because the club has been champions every year since 2018, with one exception.

Imeri remains a YB enigma

Imeri could be a driving factor for this. He is fit again and has the trust of the new YB coach Patrick Rahmen. New coach, new luck? YB lost the opening game with Imeri against newly promoted FC Sion 1:2, the player’s performance remains a mystery. YB also looked bad in the early match in Geneva against Servette FC during the week, losing 1:3.

Because the Bernese team’s start to the season has been a failure, personalities such as Imeri are being discussed. “I don’t think he’s out of the running, but he needs to improve,” says Rahmen about Imeri after the surprising faux pas against the Valais newcomers in front of over 28,000 spectators. The coach defends Imeri; he has to do so in his position. But after the 1:3 defeat in Geneva, the list of questions has expanded, and Imeri is by no means the only one to be included.

Before the European Championship, Joël Monteiro, who has now been naturalized, was mentally pushed into performance spheres by national coach Murat Yakin, which the player does not live up to. Monteiro was dropped at the first European Championship squad cut, and only a few understood why he had been mentioned before. He offered nothing more than a solid Super League average for YB. When the new season began, nothing changed. Monteiro assisted YB’s first goal of the season, but was also responsible for goals conceded.

The Bernese defense gambles

In this way, YB’s problems are increasing, especially in defense, where Sandro Lauper, 23-year-old Vaudois Anel Husic and 21-year-old Frenchman Tanguy Zoukrou, who was signed from Ligue 2 (Troyes), currently represent more instability than stability. Husic was part of the starting lineup in the opening game (like Imeri), but in Geneva he was on the bench (like Imeri). Husic had barely entered the game when he was responsible for a penalty – 1:3.

This is also why there is already talk of absentees at the start of the season. Of Loris Benito, the team’s internal mood maker and new captain, who is recovering from a cruciate ligament tear. Or of Mohamed Ali Camara, who will be out for weeks due to an injury – not for the first time. The YB officials probably planned that Benito and Ali Camara could form the central defense, for example in the second half of August, when the team will be aiming for a place in the Champions League in two play-off games.

But that is a long way off at the moment. Anyone who has seen the accumulation of defensive errors in the first two games will not be thinking about the Champions League.

In 2022 and 2023, YB won the opening games, which gave the then coach Raphael Wicky peace of mind. In the first year under Wicky, the champion Bernese only lost four times by the end, and seven times in the second year under Wicky, which was canceled after 26 championship games. Patrick Rahmen begins 2024 with two defeats. A comparison with previous years shows how uncomfortable that can be. Especially since the away game in St. Gallen is scheduled for Sunday.

When Wicky slid into a results crisis in March 2024 (European Cup, Swiss Cup, championship), the patience of the YB management quickly ran out. But they know the context in which things are now. In recent years, YB has sold a number of players abroad at high prices and also parted ways with serial goalscorer Jean-Pierre Nsame.

The club, which constantly relies on French-speaking players with an African background, is having a hard time refreshing its personnel. This recently led to the conclusion in the Bernese newspapers that “more quantity than quality”.

Darian Males does not reach operating temperature

Waiting for blossoming. Waiting for Kastriot Imeri. For the 20-year-old Zambian Miguel Chaiwa, who has barely played in the Super League so far and has been nominated by Rahmen twice from the start. Waiting for Silvère Ganvoula, who is not (yet) a Nsame. Waiting for Meschack Elias to develop further, for Cedric Itten to reach the next stage of development. Eternal and probably futile waiting for Darian Males, who was a million-dollar transfer in 2023.

The only player who got significantly stronger last season (up until he broke his toe) and who rightly gives us hope is Filip Ugrinic. But he alone is not enough.

YB’s wait for the development of its games began last season and resulted in a shaky existence at the top of the table. The Young Boys won the championship again, but this was also due to the weakness of their competitors. The effect of the change of coach from Wicky to interim coach Joël Magnin was barely noticeable when viewed in the light of day.

Patrick Rahmen is off to a bad start in Bern and is already under pressure. In a club that is trying to renew its personnel. And is waiting. For example, for Kastriot Imeri.