Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
After getting a take on our Champions League group from the view of a Benfica fan Ricardo Soares and an Otelul Galati fan Daniel Marian, I thought it would be good to finally chat to a Basel fan to find out what their thoughts are ahead of the Champions League which has started this week.
Here’s what Basel fan Martin had to say about the Basel’s reaction to the draw in a quick chat with us yesterday:
Firstly what were your thoughts on the group draw and do you feel confident that Basel will show that they deserve to be in the competition this season?
My first thoughts are that I’m happy with the draw. There will be some attractive games with Manchester United and Benfica. We played United in the 2002/03 competition so know a lot about you guys already. Being brutally honest I didn’t know anything about Otelul Galati before, so had to Google to find out more about them!
FC Basle have started ok this season. We only won 1 of our first 6 games, but have won our last two matches and the spirit of last season which saw us win the league is beginning to come back. We are a few points behind the leaders now. I am confident that in the group we can play well and I’m hopeful of us getting third place ahead of Galati.
What does it mean for Basel to be drawn against Manchester United, who are the top-ranked side in Europe according to UEFA’s club coefficient over the last 5 seasons?
For the last few years, FC Basel have been doing a good domestically. We are now playing for the fourth time in the Champions League this season, this season being the first time that we have directly qualified for the competition, without having to play in the qualifying rounds.
We are used to playing against the big teams in our ‘Joggeli’ (the nickname for our Stadium, St Jakob-Park) and have played Barcelona, AS Roma, Spartak Moscow, Liverpool and United of course over the years – which means a lot for our fans.
Last year we came close to beating Bayern Munich in the group-stages losing 2-1 after being 1-0 up. I am sure come December 7th at home, we will make life tough for United and will not try and let them take away the 3 points back to Manchester which you did last time.
What can United fans going to the game in Basel expect the atmosphere to be like at St Jakob-Park if they have not been before? What sets it apart from other stadiums across Europe?
Well firstly Basel has a great fan community and we average about 30,000 supporters for every game at home. We’ve got about 23,000 season-ticket holders, which is more than any other club in Switzerland.
During the Swiss championship, you get a great atmosphere at the ground and our fans are always chanting and signing, making great noise inside the ground. We hope that we will be loud when United come, but it depends on just how many tickets will have been sold for our regular supporters from the ‘Muttenzer-Kurvve’ (Sektor D) section of fans behind the goal. If there are lots of supporters from that section, well you’re get a idea of how creative they can be of creating an atmosphere.
In answering your question, well it’s not an easy one to answer? St Jakob-Park is the first ‘new’ stadium in Switzerland with the building-work for the ground completed in 2001. The ground really does offer great view from all the seats, it’s good acoustically and has good connections with our own Railway station so it easy to get to/back.
Who are your star players that United fans will need (as well as the team obviously) to keep an eye on over the two games?
Are your serious? I won’t tell you! If you haven’t heard or seen of him already our rising star Is 19 year old Xherdan Shaqiri who wears our no.17 shirt. We call him ‘XS’ or ‘Shaq-Attack’ as he’s a maniac with the ball, who can score a goal from every position, in every situation. You just cannot separate him from the ball.
He has come of the back of making all 3 goals for Switzerland against Bulgaria in the recent Euro 2012 qualifiers and all the big clubs across Europe already are getting their claws open for him. I think he will be unable to resist the money during the winter break and will probably leave us.
It’s worth though keeping an eye out for our three older players like Benjamin Huggel our no.8. He’s got good experience playing for us and has played in the Bundesliga for Eintract Frankfurt. Alexander Frei our no.13’s a good player and was our leading goal-scorer last year. You should know about him from his time playing for Borussia Dortmund and from the Swiss national team. There’s also Marco Streller our captain and no.9 who has also played in Germany for VFB Stuttgart.
Another good young player that we have is our goalie Yann Sommer who is in his first season as the no.1 keeper for us. I realize that there are a lot more great players, young ones and also experienced ones like the Xhaka Brothers (Taulet who wears no.16 and Granit our no.34), Scotty Chipperfield our no.11 who scored against you in 2002 and Fabian Frei who wear’s our no.20.
What do you remember of the games that United and Basel had in the competition back in 2002/03, as you almost beat us at St Jackob Park and you came away with a deserved point in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford?.
I was in the stadium; it was a great start for the FCB – even not a minute played when Chipperfield has scored for us. We knew it was going to be a spectacle for our fans, just like it was against Liverpool in the first group-stage when we scored three goals within 30 minutes.
During the first half at home, United struggled but in the second half Ruud van Nistelrooy came to life and he was involved in all three of your goals. I don’t really like him after what he did to us! For the Away-Game at Old Trafford, I haven’t any special memories, we’ve been in that a type of match and after going ahead through Christian Gimenez we expected three points.
Fans in England may remember your manager Thorsten Fink from his time playing for Bayern Munich, whom he make an appearance for in the Champions League final against United 12 years ago. Since taking over in 2009 at Basel he’s enjoyed a successful time in charge. What do your fans think of him and what are his best qualities as a manager?
After 10 successful years Christian Gross (who between 1997-98 coached Tottenham Hotspurs) with Titles, Cup Wins and Champions League qualification left, the fans had high expectations for Thorsten Fink.
In the beginning, we haven’t been really happy with Fink, (young, not really experienced, German), but Fink would lead the FCB to two more Swiss-championships and one more Cup-win within two seasons.
This season he has to prove, how good his knowledge really is. He’s started with a few problems (new players, injuries, leaving players) in the new season and lost the first few games. It seems now, that Fink found the right tools, to get the team together – they are back on track, beside a successful Champions League, the real goal is the next, the 15th title.
As for his qualities as a manager, well it’s hard to describe! In the beginning I realized his problems with the Swiss press and also with the Swiss-fan mentality. However since we have come to know more about him, he’s becoming more well-liked which is understandable.
Who would you say is your best young player at the club? Is there anyone at your club who you feel has the potential or quality one day to become a star name in the Premier League or even at Old Trafford?
You might want to look back to the fourth question where I answered this!
Without a shadow of a doubt Shaqiri is definitely our best youngster at the club. Another potential player who could have a big future ahead of him is Valentin Stocker our no.14. He’s a good winger but has been injured for 6 months. He’s training again, so hopefully he can get back to his old-form for us.
Granit Xharda and Fabien Frei who I’ve mentioned in that same question are good young players as well but none of them are as good as ‘XS’ who is a fantastic player!
How do you foresee the two games going between the sides and will you be going to either game?
Thinking about in all honesty it’s hard to say. There isn’t enough stability or quality overall in our team. We lost last year to Romanian side Cluj at home but almost beat Bayern as I said earlier.
If the team plays well everything is possible and if we cannot be tired after the hour-mark like we were when we played in United in 2002/03 then I’m sure we can take a chance if we get them! We have though got points against Barcelona, Liverpool and United (at Old Trafford) so we can do it.
I will be in the stadium to watch the game. I won’t be in the ‘Muttenzer-Kurve’ behind the goal anymore but will be in Sektor C2, in the second row beside the stand. You’re be able to see me on TV as I’ll be the one with the red-blue shirt and hat!
And finally can Basel prove the pundits wrong and make it through to the Last 16?
Miracles are always possible! But I wouldn’t bet on it – I hope you don’t classify me as a bad fan now – but we have to stay realistic. It won’t take that long hopefully until FCB are able to reach the last 16, it’ll happen sooner rather than later.
But do we really want that though? Our problem is the size of our league – witch Swiss club do you really know beside of the FC Basel? Have you heard about the Young Boys (that’s the real name of the team from the Capitol-City) who play in the (and I’m not joking about this!) Wankdorf-Stadium?
Have you heard of the Grasshoppers who are the second club of Zurich, who have won 25 Swiss Championships? For a potential player, it’s not a reputation to play in Switzerland; it’s more of a last step before he becomes a big player and leaves the country for a bigger league.
A good player can turn into a great player with the big Swiss clubs (FC Basel, FC Zurich or the Young Boys (Current Team of Christian Gross). But as soon as the Swiss teams go for international games and impress, the good players will be bought from the big clubs and the assembling of a new team has to start. It’s sad but it’s something we in Switzerland have come to get used to!
Thanks For That Martin!
By @ADennehey87
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