Football Season Guide

"Disappointing" doesn't even begin to cut it with Luzern. They've had a really good squad for two years now and yet done nothing with it. Liechtenstein legend Frick has proven he's a good manager but something isn't clicking between him and the club anymore, and it would not be a surprise if they parted ways this season because Luzern should be a top five team but they're not; they perform like surviving relegation is their main aim. They've had an underwhelming transfer window too. They've brought in Karweina as a new attacker, who had a wonderful season with Austria Klagenfurt last season but the general consensus is that is was a bit of a 'flash in the pan' season. Time will tell, but at least they've tried to improve the weakest area of their squad. Other than that, they've just made steady CB Lofgren's loan move into a permanent transfer before panicking and bringing CB Knezevic 'home' from his adventure in Belgium with Sporting Charleroi. On top of the above, consider that they lost star midfielder Jashari to Club Brugge - and they knew about it months before it happened, too. Despite that, there's no sign of a replacement coming in either unless young Internazionale loanee Aleksandar Stanković (son of Serbia legend Dejan) seriously steps up. They've had one hell of a clear-out (some deadwood, and some surprising departures like Max Meyer and Frydek) so they've really made some big calls pre-season in a bid to try and focus on developing younger players. The likes of Jaquez look ready but not all of them are, hence LB Andrejs Ciganiks arriving so Leny Meyer is not overwhelmed. Attack is still their main problem unless Karweina turns out to be the solution. Klidje is contributing more but it's unclear if he'll ever make the grade, and the same can be said of Villiger. Winkler will presumably take Jashari's role - again, a big risk - and Kadak will take Max Meyer's role (another risk, although he did remarkably well for the first few months of the 23-24 season), although that won't be a possible solution at the start of the season due to an injury that will keep him out for a few weeks. Defence is one area that doesn't need any improving. With Beka back from injury either now or in the immediate future and now Knezevic on their books, they're going to have three CBs they can rely upon. They'll be loaded in midfield with engines too, so conceding goals won't happen too often. Frick's tactics often leave them short of chance creation though, and with many reliable names having exited, they could well be in for a rough season.