Leading goalscorers 16 - Raphael Nuzzolo Xamax 11 - Tunahan Cicek - Schaffhausen 10 - Mychell Chagas - Servette 8 - Patrick Rossini - Aarau Leading Assists 13 - Charles-Andrew Doudin - Xamax 8 - Alexandre Alphonse - Servette Attendance 3,098 Xamax (10) -91 2,910 Winterthur (10) 2,873 Servette (10) 2,652 Aarau (10) 1,736 Vaduz (10) 1,568 Rapperswil-Jona (9) -99 1,516 Schaffhausen (10) -105 905 Wil (10) 701 Wohlen (9) -40 520 Chiasso (10) -2
16 Feb Wil - Winterthur 17 Feb Rapperswil-Jona - Schaffhausen 18 Feb Aarau - Chiasso Vaduz - Wohlen 19 Feb Xamax - Servette The promotion chase could be over on Monday evening. Servette needs to sweep the series, and not drop any more points this spring while Xamax needs to lose to someone else as well.
This will be a tall order... I do hope Servette can make it interesting. On another note I have a friend who I met through another forum who is certain that FC Wil 1900 will finish with the best record in the 2nd half and finish 3rd. Apparently their has been a huge transformation at the club over the last few months...Great! Just what I need another team passing Aarau :-(
I would love for some team to make a run. Looking at all of the movement, there are a few teams that have thrown in the towel. With Wohlen being relegated, and if Xamax wins on Monday, what is the point of really exerting effort. Play your youth players, give them a chance so the team could be better next season. That is what I fear will happen.
Well I went through the remaining schedule and you know I think this will be a lot closer then many people think. Xamax won't run away with it but will win a very close one. Here is how it looked after I played it out. 1. Xamax 76 points 2. Servette 74 3. Schaffhausen 58 4. Vaduz 51 5. Wil 51 6. Aarau 42 7. Jona 38 8. Winterthur 36 9. Chiasso 36 10. Wohlen 23 My numbers might be a little off but that's the way the table will look.
I would love to know how you came up with this? I would like for them to be a little more off with Servette a point above Xamax.
16 Feb Wil - Winterthur 2-0 17 Feb Rapperswil-Jona - Schaffhausen 3-1 18 Feb Aarau - Chiasso 4-1 Vaduz - Wohlen 5-1 19 Feb Xamax - Servette Lets have Servette win 1-6!
Once again, Servette fails to put away Xamax. The match ended 1-1. Xamax 51 Servette 40 * Schaffhausen 36 Vaduz 33 Rapperwswil-Jona 27 Aarau 24 Chiasso 21 Wil 18 Winterthur 16 Wohlen 14
Leading goalscorers 16 - Raphael Nuzzolo Xamax 11 - Tunahan Cicek - Schaffhausen 10 - Mychell Chagas - Servette 9 - Patrick Rossini - Aarau Leading Assists 14 - Charles-Andrew Doudin - Xamax 8 - Alexandre Alphonse - Servette Attendance 3,248 Xamax (11) +150 2,910 Winterthur (10) 2,873 Servette (10) 2,586 Aarau (11) -64 1,687 Vaduz (11) -59 1,516 Schaffhausen (10) 1,467 Rapperswil-Jona (10) -101 906 Wil (11) +1 701 Wohlen (9) 520 Chiasso (10)
23 Feb Wohlen - Rapperswil-Jona 24 Feb Schaffhausen - Wil Servette - Aarau 25 Feb Winterthur - Vaduz 26 Feb Chiasso - Xamax
]23 Feb Wohlen - Rapperswil-Jona 1-2 24 Feb Schaffhausen - Wil 1-2 Servette - Aarau 4-0 25 Feb Winterthur - Vaduz PPD 26 Feb Chiasso - Xamax Not sure to take the Wil win or Schaffhausen loss as more real. Schaffhasuen has seem to have given up.
Wil is on a roll. Their appears to be a whole new attitude at that club they are very much trending up!
The Schaffhausen loss was not good as they had been performing well at home. I think they're starting to level off after their strong start. Wil is definitely feeling it right now, but the best they can do is try to carry it into next season. Biggest surprise of the season is Rapperswil-Jona. What a breath of fresh air they've been this year!
Xamax 54 Servette 43* Schaffhausen 36 Vaduz 33 Rapperswil-Jona 30 * Aarau 24 * Chiasso 21 Wil 21 Winterthur 16* Wohlen 14* 28 Feb Rapperswil-Jona - Aarau Wohlen- Servette
Leading goalscorers 17 - Raphael Nuzzolo Xamax 11 - Tunahan Cicek - Schaffhausen 11 - Mychell Chagas - Servette 9 - Patrick Rossini - Aarau 9 - Geoffrey Treand Leading Assists 14 - Charles-Andrew Doudin - Xamax 8 - Alexandre Alphonse - Servette Attendance 3,248 Xamax (11) 2,910 Winterthur (10) 2,674 Servette (11) - 199 2,586 Aarau (11) 1,687 Vaduz (11) 1,467 Rapperswil-Jona (10) 1,425 Schaffhausen (11) -89 906 Wil (11) 655 Wohlen (10) - 46 500 Chiasso (11) -20 I do no have any idea how long Chiasso can sustain the club at a BCL level with an average attendance so low.
Any opinions on how Xamax will do next season in the RSL? I still think that Servette will make it close but Xamax will end up on top. They don't appear very deep squad wise and Nuzzolo and Treand are both on the wrong side of 30. They don't appear to have much of a youth system... they are yet to play the Brazilian Bruno Mota and how deep is the ownership pockets can they buy their way to safety next season? On another note 3 promising young midfielders I have been following this season appear to be destined for bigger things. Magnus Breitenmoser (FC Wil) Michel Aebischer (YB) Mats Hammerich (Aarau)
I think that Xamax will be middle to bottom of the table, but that they will survive. They actually do have a good amount of youth playing on the first team. Squad listed here. Of the 22 players listed on their first team, 10 players were born in the 1980s 8 players were born from 1990-1994 7 players were born from 1995-? Of the top 5 goalscorers: 2 players were born in the 1980s 3 players were born from 1990-1994 Of the top 5 assists people: 4 players were born in the 1980s 1 players were born from 1990-1994 Of the top 5 min played All 5 were born in the 1980s So what I see is a team that is not built in the BCL way with the emphasis on youth, but more of an RSL way with experience mixed with youth. If this is the case they could stay in the RSL. The key will be Nuzzolo. Can he sustain his goal scoring against better defenses and being a year older. I could also see them picking up players from the team that gets relegated.
It's always a crapshoot to anticipate who will stay up a year from now because there are so many variables that come into play. No one really knows what next year will bring.
Big report today in Volksblatt (Liechtenstein newspaper) that has Vaduz pushing in a completely different direction. Their project is called "2018+" and the new focus is on developing players for the national team, and promoting more local players (including from surrounding areas like Feldkirch, St. Gallen, Chur, and places within a close radius to Liechtenstein), and putting less focus on bringing in players to try to be more competitive to try to get back into the Super League. They tried that this year with the signings of Puljic, Gajic, Coulibaly, and Devic, but after their poor first half, they decided to change things up. Another problem is money. They're financially sound, and they work very hard to ensure that their books are always balanced, but they cannot spend any money that just isn't there. They are a small club with very limited resources. In many ways, it's a small miracle that they are where they are. They say that their stated goal is to finish top half of the table next year, and develop the best players to compete for Liechtenstein. They are looking to their partnerships with USV Eschen/Mauren and FC Balzers to help with player development for both Vaduz and the national team. Next year's team will look somewhat different from this year's, but as long as they stay in the Challenge League, I think that'll suit me just fine.