Football Season Guide

Summer after summer, Thun lose some of their experienced and established players and try to replace them with youngsters, with this being an approach that works for them most of the time. This summer has been no different as the Oberlanders have lost a host of players, including three regulars in Marco Burki, Christian Fassnacht and Nicolas Schindelholz. At the same time, they have signed a number of unknown players such as Nicolas Hunziker, who had a fruitless loan at Grasshopper last season, and Roy Gelmi. What is particularly worrying following the summer they have had is the situation in defence as they are pretty much crying out for experience at the back after losing their three senior central defenders. New boy, Gelmi, who is 22 is now being the most experienced. However, Marc Schneider, who is a former central defender, is unlikely to be poor at judging players that play in his former position and it remains to be seen what the new Thun boss has in store for this season. Schneider was a part of a managerial duo for Thun together with Mauro Lustrinelli in the final third of the previous season but will now be in charge on his own, which has been the plan all along. It needs to be noted that Schneider had a key say in tactics even during Jeff Saibene's time at the club. Therefore, not much in Thun's playing style is expected to change now, with him becoming the official manager. On paper, the Oberlanders definitely look weaker than they were last season but they are an impeccably organized club and, given their track record, one can expect at least one or two of their summer signings to turn into Super League stars over the coming months.