There is a temptation, particularly among those who observe football from a distance rather than from within its rhythms, to interpret a quiet transfer window as passivity, as if ambition must always announce itself through movement, expenditure, and noise; yet what I see in Iñaki Arriola’s refusal to tear up the fabric of this Chur side is not caution but conviction, because only a coach who truly understands both his structure and his players would dare to stand still while the league around him accelerates.

Twenty games into a season that was never supposed to belong to us, Chur sit third in the table, and while everyone inside Obere Au understands that Young Boys will likely reclaim that position in due course, it would be a mistake to frame this moment as accidental or fleeting, because the underlying indicators – tactical, physical, and statistical – suggest not a side riding variance, but one whose internal coherence has scaled impressively with the jump in quality. This is, by every reasonable metric, an overachievement, and Arriola himself would be the first to say that consolidation remains the priority; but overachievement only happens when foundations are strong enough to support it.

The base structure remains the now-familiar 4-2-3-1, morphing consistently into a 2-3-5 in possession, and crucially doing so without theatrical reinvention, because the automatisms are embedded rather than imposed. The left-back’s role – alternately stepping into the pivot to form a situational double six, or sliding inside as a wide centre-back – is not a novelty for novelty’s sake, but a response mechanism, allowing Chur to stabilise rest defence while freeing the opposite flank for aggression, and it is this capacity to flex within a stable framework that explains why the system has survived promotions without structural collapse.

At home, the numbers are modest rather than spectacular – two wins, six draws, one defeat – but they are also deeply instructive, because Chur have lost the third-fewest home games in the division, conceding just 0.90 goals per 90 across the season, and ranking fourth in expected goals against at 23.17 xGA. Obere Au has not been a place of spectacle so much as a place of resistance, and that is no accident: Arriola prioritises compactness, second-ball security, and delayed aggression, preferring to frustrate rather than dominate, because he understands that control does not always manifest as possession.

Away from home, however, the mask drops. Five wins, three draws, over double the goals scored, and a shot volume that ranks second in the league – albeit still seven shots per game fewer than Basel – reveal a side that weaponises its underdog status, drawing opponents forward before attacking space with verticality and timing. Chur are second for chances created, fifth for dribbles completed, and the most fouled team in the league, which tells its own story: this is a side that forces defenders into decisions they do not want to make, at speeds they cannot always handle.

At the heart of this continuity stands Alexander Vayvendaz, a player whose name has appeared on Chur team sheets since the 2027–28 season, when the club were still operating in the fourth tier, and whose development encapsulates the ethos of Arriola’s project. Vayvendaz has never been about sustained, metronomic running; instead, his game is built on violent acceleration, repeated high-intensity bursts, and an instinctive understanding of when to arrive rather than how long to stay. What has changed – and this is crucial – is his defensive maturity: once raw and reactive, he now times his presses more selectively, recovers with improved pacing, and closes the far post with a discipline that allows the rest defence to hold its line. This is not stagnation; it is refinement.

Behind him, the pairing of Guiliano Graf and Tidiane Diallo has become one of the most quietly reliable defensive duos in the league, precisely because their skill sets are complementary rather than redundant. Graf, still just 21, has improved markedly in his recovery pace and error reduction, reading danger earlier and trusting his athleticism less as an escape hatch and more as a reinforcement. Diallo, less expansive on the ball but positionally rigorous, anchors the line, absorbs pressure, and allows Graf to step forward aggressively, safe in the knowledge that cover exists. Together, they form a central unit that explains why Chur can afford to commit numbers forward without haemorrhaging transitions.

Ahead of them, Zidan Tairi remains the most misunderstood and, perhaps, most essential component of the system. Once dismissed as a cast-off when he arrived from Wil in the third tier, Tairi has produced goals or assists in at least every other match across four seasons, operating either as a free ten or as a half-space playmaker depending on game state. What has elevated him this year is not volume but choice: his final ball selection has sharpened, his decision-making under pressure has slowed – in the best possible way – and his ability to link phases has allowed Chur to sustain attacks rather than merely puncture them.

This is why the conversation should not revolve around the loan arrivals – good as Renato, Carvalho, and Jenkinson have been – because they are enhancements, not pillars. The real achievement lies in transforming players who were once semi-professionals into performers capable of surviving, and even thriving, against significantly higher-paid opposition, while still ranking top of the league for sprints, evidence of a physical identity that has not been diluted by promotion.

We have heard, only this month, that Hertha BSC made an approach for Arriola, and that he declined without hesitation. That decision, like this transfer window, speaks volumes. Chur are not here to make up the numbers, nor to chase a moment they cannot sustain. They are building something slower, sturdier, and far harder to dismantle – and those of us who wore this shirt in less forgiving times recognise exactly how rare, and how precious, that is.