Iñakiq Arriola’s Chur: Squad Building as Tactics, Tactics as Culture

After a moment of pause – and a long look back.

When thinking about Iñaki Arriola’s FC Chur side of 2034 – one likely to be entering the top flight before the calendars change, it becomes clear that this is not simply a team enjoying a purple patch, nor even the logical peak of a successful cycle. It is something more layered: the most refined expression yet of an idea that has been evolving quietly since at least 2026, reshaped again around 2030, and now crystallised into a squad whose construction is itself a tactical statement.

Chur in 2026 were earnest and structured, defined by defensive reliability and transitional clarity. By 2030, Arriola had begun to experiment – blurring lines between positions, leaning harder into possession phases, and testing the limits of role flexibility. The 2034 version, however, feels assured. Not experimental, but resolved. Every recruitment decision appears to serve not just a role, but a behaviour. This is squad building as a form of positional play – rooted deeply in Basque football culture, yet unmistakably modern.

Basque DNA as a Recruitment Filter

Arriola’s work remains inseparable from his Basque foundations. The familiar five attributes – anticipation, decision-making, determination, teamwork, and work rate – are not buzzwords here; they are non-negotiables. This echoes the long-standing Athletic Club philosophy under Javier Clemente, where physicality and compactness were secondary to collective intelligence and emotional resilience, and later Marcelo Bielsa’s insistence on mental speed over raw athleticism. What differentiates Arriola’s Chur is how these traits are embedded across the squad rather than concentrated in specific lines. Players are recruited less for position-specific excellence and more for their ability to interpret space, timing, and responsibility. The result is a side that appears positionally fluid without ever feeling chaotic – a hallmark also seen in Unai Emery’s best Villarreal sides and, more recently, in Andoni Iraola’s high-functioning pressing units.

The Reimagined Number Ten

Perhaps the most defining feature of Arriola’s 2034 squad is his continued faith in the number ten, albeit reinterpreted. Where the 2026 side used tens sparingly – often as luxuries deployed late in games with a focus on one-dimension, pacey wingers – the current iteration is built around them and the intricacy that they bring. Arriola favours tens across the advanced three, not necessarily for pace, but for ball-carrying under pressure and spatial awareness. These players resemble the modern profiles seen in David Silva’s later years at Manchester City or Mikel Oyarzabal’s hybrid roles for club and country: creators who can operate in traffic, absorb contact, and retain structural discipline.

Notably, tens with defensive nous are often asked to start deeper, contributing to the midfield block before advancing into attacking pockets. This mirrors how Emery used Dani Parejo higher or deeper depending on game state. Conversely, the ten with the greatest offensive output is frequently used as a linking striker, operating between lines rather than as a fixed nine – a role reminiscent of Antoine Griezmann at Atlético Madrid.

Midfield Elasticity and Positional Disguise

Arriola’s midfield construction in 2034 represents a clear evolution from 2030. The defensive midfielder is no longer a static screen. Instead, those with playmaking capacity are often pushed higher, trusted to dictate tempo closer to the opposition block. This recalls the way Sergio Busquets was gradually allowed greater vertical freedom under Luis Enrique, or how Rodri steps into slightly more advanced zones for Manchester City. More radical, however, is Arriola’s use of defensive and wide players. Oversized, physically dominant full-backs are repurposed as ball-playing and ball-winning midfielders, stepping inside during build-up and defending central channels out of possession. This approach echoes Pep Guardiola’s use of John Stones as a hybrid midfielder, but applied with a more combative, Basque edge. At the same time, technically gifted deep midfielders have been asked to fill in as playmaking full-backs, especially on the left. This inversion is not about novelty, but control – ensuring progression against aggressive presses. It is a solution seen at elite level in players like Oleksandr Zinchenko, but rare at this level with such consistency.

Flanks Built on Labour, Not Luxury

If there is one area where Arriola has remained stubbornly consistent across all iterations of Chur, it is his insistence on hardworking flanks. Wide men must run, defend, and recover. Those who can score are increasingly used as channel-running strikers, attacking half-spaces rather than hugging the touchline – a pattern familiar from Emery’s Sevilla or Bielsa’s Leeds United. Meanwhile, wingers with defensive discipline are retrained as marauding full-backs, offering verticality without sacrificing the block. This recycling of profiles is not cost-saving ingenuity; it is philosophical. Arriola prioritises players who understand both sides of the ball, much like the wide players in Iraola’s Rayo Vallecano, where defensive contribution was a prerequisite, not a bonus.

Left Bias and Structural Intention

One of the subtler evolutions in the 2034 side is Arriola’s preference for primarily left-footed players, particularly in the first phase of build-up. This intentional bias channels play towards the left, creating predictable superiority zones while keeping the right side structurally conservative. This asymmetry is reminiscent of how Barcelona under Guardiola used Eric Abidal as a stabilising reference, or how Napoli under Spalletti tilted build-up to maximise Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s influence. At Chur, it serves as both a safety mechanism and an attacking trigger – opponents know where the ball will go, but struggle to stop it.

Versatility as the Final Principle

Above all, versatility has become the defining currency of Arriola’s squad building. The 2026 side asked players to perform roles. The 2030 side asked them to perform functions. The 2034 side asks them to solve problems. This is perhaps Arriola’s most elite trait. Like the best Basque coaches before him, he trusts intelligence over instruction. His Chur side does not rely on automatisms alone, but on shared understanding – a collective capacity to adapt shapes without abandoning principles.

In that sense, Arriola’s Chur of 2034 is less a team than a living framework. It reflects years of refinement, cultural coherence, and tactical patience. And while the setting may still be the Swiss Challenge League, the ideas – unmistakably – belong to Europe’s highest coaching conversations.