The emergence of Murat Yakin’s team as one of the surprise packages in this tournament has been a move performed with typical Swiss understatement.
They are clear and precise, beautifully balanced with all parts working together. They’ve given hosts Germany a fright and sent defending champions Italy packing.
Next up is England in Dusseldorf and Switzerland move on with confidence, if little fanfare.
Murat Yakin’s Switzerland lie in wait for England in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024
Switzerland are beautifully balanced with all parts of the team working together
Champion spine
The Swiss have winners. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer won the Italian title with Inter Milan this year. Central defender Manuel Akanji won the Premier League with Manchester City. Granit Xhaka did the German double with Bayer Leverkusen. These are mature footballers.
They have experience in pressure moments and are ready to take responsibility and make decisions on the pitch. All accustomed to the demands of modern coaching. When to press high, raise the tempo, when to drop, absorb pressure, protect a lead and play on the counter-attack. Perfectly illustrated by the two elements of the win against Italy, dominating the first hour and conceding possession for the last half-hour.
Switzerland have winners in their ranks, including Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji
Solid base
Either side of Akanji are experienced defenders Fabian Schar and Ricardo Rodriguez. They have more than 200 caps between them. They can be prone to errors in defence but are mobile, quick to cover and capable of stepping into midfield with the ball.
Rodriguez is a former full back who will occasionally spring out on the overlap. Teams will look to target him in the air. Niclas Fullkrug was more successful for Germany in that respect than Gianluca Scamacca was for Italy. Schar, as Newcastle fans will know, is a threat from set-pieces.
Experienced defenders Fabian Schar and Ricardo Rodriguez are hugely important
Swiss Bolognese
Scattered through the team are three players from Bologna, the tactical revelation of Serie A this season, coached in a possession-led style by Thiago Motta and assembled by Giovanni Sartori, architect of the Atalanta revolution.
The point here is Michel Aebischer, Remo Freuler and Dan Ndoye are perfectly comfortable with the ball. They will accept it and move it confidently in tight areas. They are fluid in terms of formation, always adapting to a shifting game. This was evident in the first half against Italy. Against Germany, they were happy to concede the ball, trust their defence and hit them on the break.
Fluid formations
With regular right wing-back Silvan Widmer banned for the game against Italy, Yakin moved Ndoye into that role despite the fact he had excelled as one of the two attacking players deployed in support of centre forward Breel Embolo in the previous game against Germany.
Ndoye’s natural pace and running ability was offset by Fabian Rieder, nominally the right-sided attacker but more often found in the centre. Out of possession, Rieder’s task was to disturb Italy’s deep playmaker Nicolo Fagioli. This opened the right flank for Ndoye to attack Matteo Darmian on the turnover. On the left, quick and nimble Ruben Vargas would hold his position wide with Aebischer, a right-footed left wing-back with an eye for a pass drifted inside, producing an overload in midfield and threading passes through the lines.
Dan Ndoye’s versatility is an example of how Switzerland can be fluid in their approach
Xhaka Can
Xhaka conducts the bulk of this from central midfield and is playing with supreme confidence. Who can blame him? In a year since leaving Arsenal, he has lost just two games for club and country. At Euro 2024, he has played every minute of Switzerland’s four games and only lost the ball once. It is as if he has found football’s cheat code. In fact, as at Leverkusen, he is the leader of a side that knows what it is trying to do and trusts the system.
Former Arsenal player Granit Xhaka is playing with extreme confidence in midfield
United front
Switzerland’s backroom staff produced a film ahead of the Italy game thanking the players for the emotions they had been able to share together. After the victory, Yakin told his players to return the tribute and produce a film thanking the staff for all they do. ‘There’s a wonderful union,’ said the 49-year-old head coach.
Goal threat
Embolo leads the line willingly. He is strong, physical and works hard but cannot claim to be clinical in front of goal. The Swiss problem through improving years under Vladimir Petkovic was always turning the organisation and industry into goals.
In this campaign, though, Yakin’s team have been better. They scored 22 in 10 qualifiers with six by Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni, and seven in four games in this tournament, through seven different players. That said, Scotland frustrated them in a 1-1 draw, the Swiss goal a dream strike by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Breel Embolo leads the line willingly but he cannot claim to be clinical in front of goal
Luck on their side?
‘We achieved these results with blood, sweat and tears and not good luck,’ said Yakin after beating Italy but he might reflect that the gut-wrenching Fullkrug equaliser they conceded in stoppage time has kept Switzerland on the gentler side of the draw, fuelling hopes they can go beyond the last eight.