Fabio Celestini Tactics At FC Basel 2023/2024: Determining The Issues Will Need To Address At Basel – Tactical Analysis

There seems to be a trend developing on the continent whereby once highly successful teams are now struggling at the wrong end of the table.

One such club is 20-time Swiss Champions Basel, who are currently rooted to the bottom of the Swiss Super League, three points from safety.

Following an unsatisfactory start to the season, which included elimination from the Europa Conference League during the qualifying stages to Kazakhstan outfit Tobol, Timo Schultz was dismissed from his duties.

Heiko Vogel took over but only lasted four league games in charge following a miserable run of form in which the Swiss side failed to register a single point.

Not yet a third of the way through this campaign, Basel recently announced their third managerial appointment of the season in Fabio Celestini.

A risky choice considering in his last head coach position, Celestini partly oversaw Sions relegation to the Swiss Challenge League last season.

Considering their current plight, the Swiss national will no doubt have a challenging task in steering FC Basel to safety.

In this tactical analysis, we will provide an analysis of Basels season so far and highlight the tactics that have contributed to their struggles favoured by Schultz and Vogel.

We will further highlight the issues that Celestini must address if Basel is to have any chance of survival.

From bad to worse

Basel contested the Europa Conference League semi-finals last season, eventually losing out to Serie A side Fiorentina; the Swiss side has reached the last 16 of the Champions League on four occasions.

Such European adventures must feel like a distant memory to their fans now, as last month, the club announced there was no goal of the month award due to the team being unable to find the back of the net in October.

During Heiko Vogels second stint as manager, Basel failed to score in his entire reign and conceded 10 in four games.

The table shows how Basels form deteriorated under Vogel as their goals against per match rate increased by 16.8% compared to Schultzs tenure.

Moreover, Basels attacking threat was non-existent under Vogel as they failed to score.

During Schultzs time in charge, although Basels goals against-per-match rate was smaller than during Vogels tenure, the Swiss side was still shipping goals at an alarming rate.

Their goals-against-per-match rate was the worst i