Chur’s early-season momentum has been built on quiet, deliberate evolution. Four trialists arrived over the summer, each stepping into the squad with something to prove and each, in different ways, sharpening the collective edge. Their integration has coincided with a strong opening run: a disciplined draw against Aarau to set the tone, followed by league victories over Young Boys U21, FC Vaduz and Roktreiz. Unbeaten after five, Chur find themselves improbably – yet convincingly – top of the pile. 

It has been Inaki’s tactical gymnastics that have really caught the eye and his game management that is putting him closer to the elite in Swiss football. Against Vaduz’s 5-2-1-2 shape, he got both wing backs to invert, played with two strikers who withdrew into tens and asked the wide forwards to stay high and wide, pinning the wing backs deep. Vaduz scored in the ninetieth minute with their only shot on target, their third attempt at Chur’s goal. Likewise, against Roktreiz, a 4-2 win, Inaki funnelled all of the play away from winger Edis Figini, not allowing him to build on his three goals and league-leading dribbles completed. 

Arriola has tweaked the structure rather than torn it down, introducing a more creative full-back who steps inside to overload midfield and anchor Chur’s rest defence but also get forward and fine spaces between the lines, playing balls into the forwards. Ahead of him, the attacking rotations have become more fluid: the two tens drifting and interchanging, the nine dropping and spinning, dragging markers and opening corridors. It is a system that asks for intelligence over rigidity, trust over fixed roles and so far, it has given Chur control without blunting their edge.

Finally, the way that Arriola is managing the game is clear. Subs at the hour mark, intensity reductions and increases depending on the situations, different players and different options at different times. Henrique Pereira has hit the ground running with two goals and two assists, but they’ve been from the bench – when full backs are tiring and he can run at them. He wasn’t instilled from the start to make Figini against Rokreiz, with Iriondo tracking back to even sit in a back five. He now has those options he didn’t have before and he’s using them very well.

Chur’s measured transformation has not gone unnoticed. As the results stack up and the new faces settle in, debate has erupted online – from calm tactical dissections to full-blown overreactions. The contrast between Cavegn and Huerte, Pereira and Iriondo – two of the key areas of the team and areas that have seen summer shuffling, has become a daily talking point, with timelines across Switzerland arguing whether this is form, structure, or the beginning of something more permanent.

@ChurKurve
“Four wins, one draw and people still debating the striker. Cavegn has been CLEAR. Numbers don’t lie. Let’s just not tell them about the stat-padding”

  @SFL_Tactics
“Cavegn’s dominance isn’t accidental. Arriola’s vertical spacing has shifted the striker’s role back from connector to finisher – and Cavegn thrives there.”

  @BaslerBallwissen
“Huerte works hard, but Cavegn leads shots, xG, box touches and presses in the final third. That’s not ‘form’, that’s profile. I’m not about this tiki taka stuff!”

  @GraubuendenUltra
“Drop Huerte for one game and suddenly we look devoid of attractive build up play again. Funny that.”

  @ZwischenDenLinien_CH 
“Iriondo’s influence has faded because Chur’s wide play is now more vertical. Pereira attacking the far post and half-space explains the output gap.”

  @DataCH_Fussball
“Through five games: Cavegn leads Huerte in xG, shots, sprints, and pressures. Pereira ahead of Iriondo in carries into box and progressive receptions. Those who laughed at Chur’s summer calls probably aren’t any more!”

  @ChurSeit1910
“People forget Huerte carried us last year. Rotation isn’t betrayal.”

  @TaktikAlpen
“Arriola’s rest defence has improved, allowing wingers to gamble higher. Pereira benefits more than Iriondo, whose game is deeper, more of a ball carrier and less of a final ball magician.”

  @OverreactionFC
“BUILD THE TEAM AROUND CAVEGN. STATUE BY CHRISTMAS. IRIONDO TO LEFT-BACK.”