Switzerland have never gone past the quarter-finals of a major tournament. There isn’t a great deal of optimism they’ll do so at Euro 2024 under Murat Yakin after an underwhelming qualification campaign…
The manager
Quite a few people in Switzerland are surprised that Murat Yakin is still there.
As a playing great for the national team, his appointment in 2021 was welcomed but after being pulverised 6-1 by Portugal in the round of 16 at the World Cup, the last year or so has been a disaster. In their last seven qualifiers, they only beat Andorra and limped to the tournament by finishing second in a weak group.
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It was expected that Yakin would be quietly moved on but instead, the Swiss federation provided him with a new assistant, Giorgio Contini: usually a sign that they don’t really think you know what you’re doing but, for whatever reason, they don’t want to sack you. They only confirmed that Yakin would remain in place for Germany four days before the draw.
Their playing style became ill-defined and for their two friendlies in March, Yakin, previously a staunch back-four man, switched to the back three favoured by his predecessor, Vladimir Petkovic. Was it the influence of his new assistant or perhaps a tactical comfort blanket? Either way, it didn’t suggest a manager with strong convictions.
On the positive side, some of their key players — Granit Xhaka and Yann Sommer — have enjoyed brilliant seasons at club level, but confidence in the man guiding them seems to be at something of a low.
Murat Yakin’s position as Switzerland manager has come under scrutiny (Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images)
The household name in waiting
His name will be already well known in Italian households, but one player to keep an eye on in this Swiss team is Dan Ndoye. The winger has been a dynamic presence in the Bologna team that has been so impressive in qualifying for the Champions League this season under Thiago Motta.
He has played wide on either the left or right, although there is perhaps some fear of him being a square peg jammed into a round hole if Yakin continues to play three at the back: Ndoye played at left wing-back in those March friendlies.
Elsewhere, you probably already know the name but it will be fascinating to see how Breel Embolo fares. He is theoretically one of Switzerland’s main attacking threats but he only recently returned from a ruptured anteriorcruciate ligament (ACL) sustained in August, so one wonders how sharp he will be.
Strengths
They could hardly be better served by their core of experienced players. As well as Xhaka and Sommer joining the international camp with Bundesliga and Serie A title-winners’ medals in their pockets, Manuel Akanji has been a key member of Manchester City’s team for a couple of seasons now and Fabian Schar has been solid for Newcastle.
Granit Xhaka won two trophies with Bayer Leverkusen last season (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
The only question mark among that group is Xherdan Shaqiri; not exactly ancient at 32 but there is plenty of debate in Switzerland as to whether he is the creative force of old, and whether he even justifies his place in the team anymore. Before the tournament, Yakin said when asked about Shaqiri’s role that “any player who can decide a game can still support the team in some capacity”, which doesn’t really suggest that the former Stoke and Liverpool man, who currently plays for Chicago Fire in MLS, is going to start many games.
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Weaknesses
The flip side of those experienced heads still dominating the team is that young talent is relatively thin on the ground — or rather, what young talent Switzerland have isn’t particularly thriving. Noah Okafor has mainly been a substitute at Milan, Zeki Amdouni has been swirling in the Burnley vortex of disappointment this season — beyond Ndoye, the rest of the likely starters are broadly in their late twenties and thirties. For a single, contained tournament, that might not be the end of the world but there is a slight ‘last dance’ feel to this generation of Swiss players.
Related to that is the concern over a reliable goalscorer: who knows how Embolo will do after a year out, Amdouni and Okafor only managed 11 goals between them this season, and long-term stalwart Haris Seferovic plays his club football in the UAE these days and has been out of the international picture for a while. Goals could be a problem.
Monaco forward Breel Embolo returned from injury in April (Chris Ricco/Getty Images)
Thing you didn’t know
Remember that bespectacled Swiss fan that turned into a meme during Euro 2020? The chap who looked like a literature student who was pictured in tears of despair when Switzerland were losing to France but a short time later was snapped shirtless, roaring in primal joy after they had come back to win?
His name is Luca Loutenbach and he turned into a minor celebrity in Switzerland after that game. In the aftermath, he was offered free tickets to Switzerland’s next game, free business class flights on Swiss Air, and a free holiday by the Swiss Tourist Board.
Since then he’s given interviews, appeared on TV and even featured on an official UEFA advert for the Women’s Euros in 2022 alongside Patrice Evra, Micah Richards and Cesar Azpilicueta. He also sold merchandise for a short time, mainly T-shirts with his famous viral moment on them although, disappointingly, they no longer seem to be available. Weird old world, isn’t it?
👋 Ciao @lucalo92, hier soir tu as parfaitement représenté l’état de chacun d’entre nous, et avec fierté ! 🇨🇭
Pour te remercier, on souhaiterait t’offrir un maillot du SLO !
➡️ On t’attend en DM pour tes coordonnées 😉#HopSuisse pic.twitter.com/TzU04MR4v6
— FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy (@FC_SLO) June 29, 2021
Expectations back home
In short, expectations are pretty low. The bleak ending to Switzerland’s last World Cup campaign and the largely calamitous second half of their qualifiers for the Euros mean that anyone optimistic about glory in Germany is an outlier, to say the least.
Most of the media expected Yakin to be sacked before they reached the tournament: he faced some pretty heavy criticism following some of the results, particularly a bleak 1-0 defeat to Romania in November, and a fresh voice/face in charge might have raised enthusiasm/expectation levels for the tournament.
That said, they’re in a group with Germany, Scotland and Hungary. Their tournament experience and nous should at least get them through that to the knockout rounds, and surprising things can happen when there’s that much peril in a single game.
Switzerland’s preliminary squad
Goalkeepers: Yann Sommer (Inter Milan), Yvon Mvogo (Lorient), Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund), Marvin Keller (Winterthur), Pascal Loretz (Luzern)
Defenders: Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino), Fabian Schar (Newcastle United), Manuel Akanji (Manchester City), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Silvan Widmer (Mainz 05), Kevin Mbadu (Augsburg), Ulisses Garcia (Marseille), Cedric Zesigner (Wolfsburg), Leonidas Stergiou (Stuttgart), Aurele Amenda (Young Boys), Albuan Hajdari (Lugano), Bryan Okoh (Red Bull Salzburg).
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Midfielders: Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Remo Freuler (Bologna), Denis Zakaria (Monaco), Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Fabian Rieder (Rennes), Uran Bislimi (Lugano), Ardon Jashari (Luzern), Filip Ugrinic (Young Boys), Vincent Sierro (Toulouse).
Forwards: Breel Embolo (Monaco), Steven Zuber (AEK Athens), Ruben Vargas (Augsburg), Renato Steffen (Lugano), Noah Okafor (AC Milan), Zeki Amdouni (Burnley), Andi Zeqiri (Genk), Dan Ndoye (Bologna), Kwadwo Duah (Ludogorets), Joel Monteiro (Young Boys).
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
Nick Miller is a football writer for the Athletic and the Totally Football Show. He previously worked as a freelancer for the Guardian, ESPN and Eurosport, plus anyone else who would have him.
