Marked for Samuel Essende
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Jan 2027
29 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market25 Jan 2027
Saidy Janko hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Young Boys can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alvyn Sanches was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Samuel Essende has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Young Boys will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market25 Jan 2027
Young Boys have made Gregory Wüthrich available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Yan Valery asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Young Boys will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tanguy Zoukrou: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Young Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Dec 2026
Young Boys refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Alvyn Sanches was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Samuel Essende has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Young Boys will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Dec 2026
Young Boys do the business in Europe
1‑0. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Young Boys came through the finding-out well against Ajax.
Market14 Dec 2026
The offer from Defensa y Justicia for Samuel Essende was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
31 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad14 Dec 2026
9 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Marvin Keller has given nobody the chance.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Rayan Raveloson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Nov 2026
Young Boys are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 29 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match28 Nov 2026
A European lesson for Young Boys
0‑2 against Shakhtar. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Squad30 Nov 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Nov 2026
A European lesson for Young Boys
0‑1 against Standard Liege. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jaouen Hadjam and Young Boys agree another 5 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Nov 2026
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad9 Nov 2026
9 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Marvin Keller has given nobody the chance.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The team sheet said everything about Darian Maleš
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Darian Maleš.
Match7 Nov 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Lugano came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Young Boys do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match10 Oct 2026
The run at home goes on for Young Boys
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel Essende. 1‑0 against Zurich, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A defender's afternoon for Jaouen Hadjam
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 7.74. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Oct 2026
Young Boys do the business in Europe
1‑1. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Young Boys came through the finding-out well against Ajax.
Match5 Oct 2026
21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match3 Oct 2026
Young Boys win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Grasshopper will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Alvyn Sanches was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Young Boys do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match3 Oct 2026
Grasshopper made Young Boys work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pablo Ceppelini and Young Boys agree another 1 years.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Darian Maleš
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.61 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Young Boys had the best player on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Marvin Keller has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Young Boys will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Match26 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for Young Boys?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Thun? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
Young Boys do the business in Europe
1‑1. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Young Boys came through the finding-out well against Shakhtar.
Squad21 Sep 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Alvyn Sanches was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alan Virginius has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match19 Sep 2026
Vaduz made Young Boys work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Jaouen Hadjam
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The team sheet said everything about Isaac Schmidt
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Isaac Schmidt.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.82 on the card, and the Young Boys support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Sep 2026
A derby is never about the football alone, but the football helped: 2‑0, and the away end emptied early. Bragging rights renewed for another season.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Young Boys support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Gregory Wüthrich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Chris Bedia asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Sep 2026
11 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Young Boys training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gregory Wüthrich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Tanguy Zoukrou has come up in conversations Young Boys were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Luzern, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ryan Andrews and Young Boys agree another 4 years.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Georgi Rusev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A brace, and Samuel Essende takes the afternoon — 8.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Essende provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market10 Aug 2026
The chase for Georgi Rusev ended with $1.9M changing hands and Sion out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Market10 Aug 2026
St. Gallen come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Young Boys did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cédric Zesiger and Young Boys agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Boys this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Zurich made Young Boys work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Tanguy Zoukrou has come up in conversations Young Boys were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market10 Aug 2026
24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Marvin Keller wants out of the spotlight
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.