It feels like working at Chur is a responsibility, and a privilege. From the first day, it’s been a pleasure to work here. The chairman gives us room to think, the backroom staff challenge ideas without ego, and there’s a shared understanding that we’re building something that has to outlast any one individual. That kind of support is rare in football. You don’t notice it every day, but you feel it in the decisions you’re allowed to make.

Working alongside Iñaki Arriola sharpens that feeling. He’s a visionary – genuinely so – and not in the empty, buzzword sense. He sees structure before results, pathways before headlines. I honestly believe he’ll either take Chur to heights that once felt unrealistic, or he’ll eventually move to a club where those ideas can scale even further. Either way, this period will matter.

On a personal level, I’ve felt welcomed here. The Spanish-speaking community around the club has helped enormously, not just culturally but professionally. Communication is easier, trust builds quicker, and that matters when you’re trying to align first-team demands with long-term development. My own convictions around youth work come largely from my time managing Castellón. Two years there taught me something very simple: if youth development doesn’t directly serve the first team, it becomes theatre. Pretty football, nice ideas – and no impact. Here, we’re determined not to fall into that trap.

Our situation is unusual. We’re the only top-flight club without a side in the U19 Elite League. On paper, that looks like a disadvantage – no consistent, high-level youth competition. In reality, it’s forced clarity.

Our best U18 players train with the first team. Not symbolically – properly. They feel the tempo, the physicality, the standards. For players over 18, loans are explored carefully, but only when the attribute balance is right. A loan without a clear developmental purpose is just exile.

Everything we do has to serve both the player and the canton. Graubünden is part of our identity. We fight above our weight because we have no choice – and because that constraint sharpens us.

The numbers tell their own story. Adjust youth minutes for canton population and Graubünden becomes a clear outlier. With just 200,000 inhabitants and one Super League club, we’ve integrated six young players into meaningful first-team minutes. No other canton comes close on a per-capita basis. If youth development were purely a numbers game, we wouldn’t compete. The fact that we lead suggests something else is happening here – something structural, deliberate, and resilient.

Jonathan Caramés — Delémont (Tier 3): We chose Delémont because relegation forced them into expansive football. Jonathan plays as a link striker there – essentially the same role Daniel Haas performs for us. This is now his third loan, and he’s already played adult football since 16, with nearly 100 senior appearances. What he’s missed, we think, is intensive physical work. That may shape his long-term role, but his performance level is good. We’ve set him a clear target: ten league goals. Reach that, and he’s very much in contention for squad depth next season.

Ilan Tomic — Eschen/Mauren (Tier 3): Ideally, we’d have done more stamina work before dropping him into a part-time environment, but continuity mattered. This is a mental loan as much as a physical one. He’s a beast – defenders simply can’t live with him. He’s scoring freely across competitions but we do wonder whether he needs to be loaned to a club at a slightly higher level. He’s not far off first-team level now, but the question is stylistic: does he adapt to our model, or do we use him as a different option off the bench? Both are valid paths.

Nenad Jurić — Eschen/Mauren (Tier 3): Converted into a wide forward early – a decision that made sense at the time. Development focused heavily on positional work, perhaps at the expense of addressing his main weakness: playmaking. He’s quite one-dimensional, but effective. He’s scoring, and his relationship with Tomic is excellent. That said, he’s a little further from the first team than Ilan.

Nelio Cortesi — Lugano (Tier 2): After a season at Wohlen, he’s now at Lugano for the second half of this season – one of the few fully professional environments outside the top flight. He’s developed steadily. Nothing jumps off the page, but reliability has its own value. We’ll reassess at the end of the season.

Up to the age of 18, physical development is non-negotiable. Many clubs at lower levels train part-time and compensate with tactical work. We can’t afford physical weaknesses. If needed, we rotate focuses every three months – Joao Correira moving between speed and stamina is a good example. We are not restrictive in how they develop, giving them the widest breadth of positional understanding, working across a myriad of attributes nor do we force traits into their early development. We’re reluctant to loan anyone out before 18, even if first-team football is offered elsewhere. Control matters at that age. So does consistency. Mentoring groups have become central to our culture. Senior players bonding with younger ones isn’t a nice extra – it’s essential. Standards are absorbed faster that way than through any drill or presentation.

When I look at Chur now, I don’t see a club chasing relevance. I see one quietly redefining how relevance is built. Over time, hopefully this model continues to perform and provide this great club what it deserves. And that’s what makes it a far more interesting place to work.