FCB coach Raphael Wicky: “The only way to get out of this mess is together”
FC Basel is facing increased criticism after yet another lost match in St Gallen. However, the club coach has not paid much attention to the negative comments.
“I’m not too happz because we’re not winning, but I feel good when I don’t read about it,” FCB coach Raphael Wicky told a media conference yesterday. The main topic was today's (Saturday) home game against FC Zurich. However, the real talk focused on the recent poor performance of the players in red and blue. There were also intense discussions about this within the club, it was stated. But nothing has changed: “I talked a lot with Marco Streller. We went jogging together, and he gave me advice on how the circumstances could be changed,” Mr Wicky said.
The recent poor form of the team is nothing new to him. He “has gone through many similar situations” as a player. As a trainer, however, the feeling is different. “I am now trying to think as a trainer and remember how it was when I was still a player.” Just talking about them cannot solve the problems, however. Mr Wicky needs to take action. Retrospectively, mistakes made during the match in St Gallen last Wednesday are clear: Messed-up tactics, lost tackles, and not enough presence on the pitch. Or, as the coach said: “We felt (the pressure of) our opponent, but he did not feel us.” Football is primarily about tackling for the ball and running. This needs to be good, and the rest follows. “Football does not always have to be a beautiful game,” Mr Wicky said.
Raphael Wicky knows that something is missing. The retirement of key player Matias Delgado left a gap that has not yet been filled by any other player. But the coach thinks that together, the team can close this gap. He is convinced: “It only needs a little push to get us back on the winning track.” He does not believe that the increased match frequency has negative effects on the players’ energy levels. There needs to be a certain rhythm for players, he said.
He said he was happy about the second half of the match against St Gallen. If the FC Basel will perform like this in the match against Zurich today, he believes they will win. In the end, the team can only get out of this mess together. Fan support is guaranteed: By Friday evening, 27,000 tickets for this evening’s match had been bought. And the next Champions League game against Benfica Lissabon is also well on the way to being a sell-out – 32,500 seats have already been sold.
Traffic chaos in Basel: Grand Council members want to disempower Hans-Peter Wessels
Traffic jams in Nauenstrasse, in the Gundeli, problems at Feldbergstrasse, and so on: Basel’s traffic regulations are all messed up. Now, the Liberals (FDP) of Basel-Stadt want to take the reins from traffic director Hans-Peter Wessels and hand them over to the city’s presidential department.
There were recent attempts to solve the traffic problems in Basel with extended traffic signals. Somehow, this chaos needs to be organised: Particularly during rush hour, the entire rim of Basel is clogged. A neuralgic spot such as the tram construction site at Steinenberg is enough to bring all incoming traffic to a complete standstill.
Nothing really helps anymore. Be it on Nauenstrasse towards the motorway, at Wettsteinplatz, in Feldbergstrasse, on Luzerner- and Wasgenring – there are queues of cars everywhere, including in Riehen. Basel-Stadt has been growing continuously for years, business is booming, and traffic is heavy. The plans for a tunnel through Gundeli have disappeared, and roadworks for the access via Bachgraben to Allschwil can only start in a few years. This is unreasonable for a city that handles traffic from three different countries.
Liberal attempt to take away the reins from Hans-Peter Wessels
Enough is enough, the FPD Basel-Stadt has decided as its members plan a powerful step towards the presidential department. A “Task Force Verkehrplanung” needs to be created, the Liberals write in their motion to the Grand Council – without the leadership of traffic director Hans-Peter Wessels of the Social Democrats (SP). Instead, the government president Elisabeth Ackermann (Green Party) should take over. Her presidential department is also home to the cantonal and urban development office, which will soon receive its new manager, Lukas Ott from Liestal.
Daniel Seiler, vice president of the FDP Basel-Stadt, calls the motion a “deft pass for the undertaking of an important task”. Or, in other words: Because parliament members have not seen any progress in the traffic situation under the leadership of Hans-Peter Wessels for years, the president should now take over. Traffic is part of cantonal planning as much as the construction of entirely new city quarters, the FDP claims. One part directly influences the other.
Messed up and out of order – something needs to change
Basel’s traffic politics are also a mess because of the constant back and forth about cyclists and parking spaces. Last Wednesday, the Grand Council accepted an initiative that aims to counteract the statutory reduction of car traffic. Cyclists receive constant support, yet services for incoming vehicles has been largely the same and remained unchanged for decades. And the words “public parking spaces” these days makes every Basler angry – no matter if you are for or against them. The city wants to ban all cars from the streets: Parking spaces are to be abolished and moved underground.
All of these circumstances create the daily traffic jams while cyclists drive by almost illegally between cars and trams. The city has grown in density and will continue to do so – especially if trade districts such as Lysbüchel are redeveloped as planned. The Liberals’ hope now rests on the presidential department, even though it is dominated by Green politics. But maybe this parliamentary motion can already be put down in the to-do book of the new cantonal planner Lukas Ott: First, the traffic jam in planning needs to be solved – and then hopefully the traffic jams on the streets.
Wanted burglar arrested at border crossing
Swiss border guards have arrested burglar who has for years been sought in connection with buglary offences. A warrant for the arrest of the 40-year-old man from Macedonia had been made several years ago (under the man's alias) by the canton of Waadt.
The Swiss border guards caught the man as they stopped and questioned the driver of a foreign vehicle. The man had been heading out of Switzerland at the Basel-Lysbüchel border crossing with France.
During checks, the border guards saw that the authorities of the canton of Waadt have been looking for the man for several years. He had been convicted of burglary and put on a list of wanted people several times. The Basel border guards arrested the man without any resistance. He was handed over to the cantonal police of Basel-Stadt.