Why people responsible stay positive despite problems

After a strong performance in the European Cup, a weak performance in the Nations League: the performance of the Swiss national team has raised a series of questions.

Michael Lyman/keystone-sda

No, that’s not what the campaign envisioned. “We want to confirm the football we showed at the European Championships,” national team director Pierluigi Tammy said in September. The main goal of “not relegating” set by head coach Murat Yakin in early autumn seemed low. After all, due to its world ranking and European Cup performance, Switzerland should be the second-ranked team in the group, behind Spain.

But even major goals have been clearly missed with just two points from six games. Tenor: That's okay, it's just the National League. Only next year will that matter when it comes to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. But after an impressive performance, the question looms larger than ever: Are Switzerland ready to advance? And: After the success of the European Cup, have your hopes changed?

drastic change

Tammy said yes. He specifically described the last game against Spain as a “revolution”. Compared with the starting 11 against England in the European Championship quarter-finals, the team changed 8 positions. Four players entered the national team's starting lineup for the first time. “We looked for answers and got answers,” said Tammy, who didn't want to make any personal criticism. That's all: “Many of the answers have been positive. We have expanded our roster and can look to the future with optimism.”

Nati director Pierluigi Tami is optimistic about the future.Image: trapezoid

Yakin listed Joel Monteiro, Miro Muheim, Aurel Armenda and Vincent Siero as players who have made a positive impression. However, it would be a surprise if one of them could be a consistent presence in the starting lineup in the near future. Monteiro will have to start from the back when Ruben Vargas and Dan Ndoye return to fitness. Mueheim must defend his position against Ricardo Rodriguez and Ulysses Garcia. Armenda, 21, could be a candidate for a place in the starting XI but will first need more match practice with the club. Siero is unlucky to have Remo Freuler and Granit Xhaka in defensive midfield, and he is already 29 years old.

So we can only talk about changes, if any. Only the goalkeeper position has been nearly seamless with the transition following Jan Sommer's resignation. While Gregor Kerber is still awaiting his first clean sheet in ten international appearances, the Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper has shown he can take on the leadership role he desires. Yvonne Mwogo has proven that he is always ready to step into the role of number two.

system

In addition to the personnel situation, the national team also has institutional problems. Yakin used a 3-4-3 formation in the European Cup, but changed back to a 4-2-3-1 formation during the Nations League. This shows a slight upward trend. After going scoreless in qualifying, Switzerland picked up at least two points in the second half of the group stage. In addition, 5 of the 6 goals have been scored in the last 3 games. However, this may also be because Switzerland is under increasing pressure to react after a poor start.

Zeki Amdouni is the national team's top scorer with three goals, but he was also denied two regular goals.Image: trapezoid

On the other hand, the team has not become more consistent; opponents are often able to overcome the Swiss defense through simple means, no matter how convincing they are at the European Cup. Additionally, especially in the last two games, the respective forwards have looked completely isolated. Whether it was against Serbia's Brel Embolo, or against Spain's Zeki Amdouni and later Andy Zeqiri: they barely participated in the game and had extremely limited contact with the ball.

Yakin must decide which formation to use in the spring for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Although coaches believe flexibility is an important factor in team success, coordination suffers as a result. This is especially true for a national team where players can only adapt to each other in a short period of time.

Position

As with some players, Yakin seems unsure of where they can make the biggest impact. This especially applies to attackers. In the past few games, Amdouni has been serving as the team's No. 10 player and forward. Fabian Riedel was deployed behind the striker against Denmark but was recalled against Serbia where his ability was less evident. Noah Okafor seems to have yet to find his niche on the team.

Fabian Rieder, 22, is a big hope for the future.Image: trapezoid

There are big question marks on defense as well. Manuel Akanji is set to be a centre-back, what else? Nico Elvedi looks back on a difficult autumn but should still be first choice at centre-back. Erre Komelt has performed well against Serbia and Spain, and it will also depend on whether he will be used more in the club's defensive midfield, as he has been recently, or in the back line.

Edimilson Fernandez also does not play for a club where he plays for his national team. With Switzerland lacking a replacement at right-back, the 28-year-old is likely to continue to be used at right-back for the time being. At least until Sylvain Widmer overcomes his dip in form and can get more match practice again in Mainz.

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A painful realization after defeat is that the Swiss national team can quickly reach its limits when its best players fail or fail to perform at their best. Yakin must also realize that his team is not equipped to keep up with the top nations. This year has shown that on good days the national team can keep up with the best, but they lack the consistency to consistently be at the top.

It's a bit of disillusionment after a strong showing at the Euros, but maybe it comes at the right time. With World Cup qualifying set to begin in March, the Swiss know that a half-hearted performance won't be enough. (National Institutes of Health/National Security Agency)

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