Young Boys are in confident mood, says Marc Hottiger

Marc Hottiger has warned Everton FC that they travel to Switzerland this week facing a “confident” Young Boys side.


The Blues head to Berne for Thursday night’s last 32 Europa League tie with the Swiss side.

Young Boys have returned to action with a draw and a win following the Swiss Super League’s winter break and they sit second in the table.

Hottiger, a former Switzerland international who played for Everton between 1996-97, believes Young Boys will relish the chance to test themselves against another English club.

“It was a great draw because it’s difficult,” Hottiger said.

“We know all the English teams are always difficult but Swiss teams do well against English teams. We tend to have more difficulties against Spanish, German or Italian teams.

“In the past three or four years Swiss teams have played well against English teams so the game will be good.

“Young Boys were in a training camp recently because the Swiss championship took a break at the beginning of December to February, so they had a period where they didn’t train and may not be in the same shape that they were in December.

“So maybe that is good for Everton. But the confidence will still be there for them because they finished really well before the break.”

Hottiger joined the Blues in January 1996 but work permit issues meant he did not make his debut until March of this year.




The full-back ended up making only 18 appearances for Everton but reflects on his time at Goodison fondly.

“It was great!” he said.

“It was a good four months for me between February and the end of the season but after that I didn’t play a lot in my second year.

“But I enjoyed it. The club, the team, the coaches and everyone were fantastic. It was a great experience even though I didn’t play too much.

“I still keep an eye on Everton every weekend.”

Hottiger added: “I remember that, for the work permit, I had to play a number of games to move. In the first year at Newcastle I played all year but in the second I didn’t play a lot. That was a problem to change clubs because I had to play 75% of the games to move. But in the end it went through and I was happy to make the move to Everton.”



By Phil Kirkbride, Liverpool Echo