FWC-Switzerland
Switzerland:-
“Schweizer Nati“ or “La Nati” or “Squadra nazionale” (:P) are in their third successive WC and hope to give legendary coach Ottmar Hitzfeld a proper retirement gift by displaying some respectable performances!
Coach Hitzfeld might have some reason to worry about his defense given the poor season Johan Djourou has endured with Hamburg. However, Djourou seems to be able to put his club performances behind him every time he puts on the Swiss shirt and lines-up alongside Steve von Bergen in defense; a fact highlighted by Switzerland’s GCPG ratio of 0.6 (0.8 including friendlies) over the last 2 years almost.
The areas requiring more attention for Switzerland are their wide defensive zones; as Ricardo Rodríguez’s inexperience coupled with Stephan Lichtsteiner’s (who’s more of an RM/RWB) surging forward runs might leave big holes either sides of their defense and allow the opposition acres of space from which to launch attacks.
Coach Hitzfeld likes to play with a pure counter-attacking strategy to best complement Switzerland’s solid defensive CB-pair, an experienced DM-pivot and their extremely fast and technical wingers.
The Swiss team is set-up in such a way that they look to spend a considerable amount of time embracing the opposition’s attacking press and launching their counter-attacks when retaining possession through the middle; which is where the most-likely trio of Xhaka, Behrami and Inler come into play.
The latter two midfielders’ experience and vision alongside Xhaka’s dynamic style and explosive form of attacking football provide a good balance for the Swiss team going forward. The only drawback to such a lay-out could be Xhaka’s lack of experience at the top-levels of football and might force him into one or two errors of judgment at vital moments during their games.
Their SBs’ role in going forward and assisting their wide men will surely not go unnoticed by opposition teams; however, Switzerland’s actual wingers will be the players causing most of the damage to opposing defenders on the flanks. Their quick pace and physical presence provides many dimensions to Switzerland’s attacking strategy and it will be a tough task for defenders to deal with them over the course of 90 minutes.
A relatively big chunk of goal-scoring responsibility will fall solely on their main striker’s shoulders. Consequently, it is vital that he should constantly be in complete sync with the ongoing play around him in order to correctly position himself according to the movement of the ball (no secret, their attackers will be delivering the ball to him over and over again!).
Another important aspect which Switzerland’s opposition MUST take into consideration is the fact that, practically, the entire Swiss team possess unbelievable shooting abilities and are more than able (and willing!) to take their chances from distance, given the proper space and time.
It is definitely sad for the football world to have to say farewell to coach Hitzfeld and here’s hoping that Switzerland go a long way in this WC to give him one more proud moment in his football career!
Main man: Gökhan Inler: Inler’s acute vision, brilliant passing, lethal shot and commanding physical presence in the middle of the park form the beating heart of Switzerland’s play. He will be looking to lead his team to glory and earn the credit which he truly deserves.
Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 111
“Schweizer Nati“ or “La Nati” or “Squadra nazionale” (:P) are in their third successive WC and hope to give legendary coach Ottmar Hitzfeld a proper retirement gift by displaying some respectable performances!
Coach Hitzfeld might have some reason to worry about his defense given the poor season Johan Djourou has endured with Hamburg. However, Djourou seems to be able to put his club performances behind him every time he puts on the Swiss shirt and lines-up alongside Steve von Bergen in defense; a fact highlighted by Switzerland’s GCPG ratio of 0.6 (0.8 including friendlies) over the last 2 years almost.
The areas requiring more attention for Switzerland are their wide defensive zones; as Ricardo Rodríguez’s inexperience coupled with Stephan Lichtsteiner’s (who’s more of an RM/RWB) surging forward runs might leave big holes either sides of their defense and allow the opposition acres of space from which to launch attacks.
Coach Hitzfeld likes to play with a pure counter-attacking strategy to best complement Switzerland’s solid defensive CB-pair, an experienced DM-pivot and their extremely fast and technical wingers.
The Swiss team is set-up in such a way that they look to spend a considerable amount of time embracing the opposition’s attacking press and launching their counter-attacks when retaining possession through the middle; which is where the most-likely trio of Xhaka, Behrami and Inler come into play.
The latter two midfielders’ experience and vision alongside Xhaka’s dynamic style and explosive form of attacking football provide a good balance for the Swiss team going forward. The only drawback to such a lay-out could be Xhaka’s lack of experience at the top-levels of football and might force him into one or two errors of judgment at vital moments during their games.
Their SBs’ role in going forward and assisting their wide men will surely not go unnoticed by opposition teams; however, Switzerland’s actual wingers will be the players causing most of the damage to opposing defenders on the flanks. Their quick pace and physical presence provides many dimensions to Switzerland’s attacking strategy and it will be a tough task for defenders to deal with them over the course of 90 minutes.
A relatively big chunk of goal-scoring responsibility will fall solely on their main striker’s shoulders. Consequently, it is vital that he should constantly be in complete sync with the ongoing play around him in order to correctly position himself according to the movement of the ball (no secret, their attackers will be delivering the ball to him over and over again!).
Another important aspect which Switzerland’s opposition MUST take into consideration is the fact that, practically, the entire Swiss team possess unbelievable shooting abilities and are more than able (and willing!) to take their chances from distance, given the proper space and time.
It is definitely sad for the football world to have to say farewell to coach Hitzfeld and here’s hoping that Switzerland go a long way in this WC to give him one more proud moment in his football career!
Main man: Gökhan Inler: Inler’s acute vision, brilliant passing, lethal shot and commanding physical presence in the middle of the park form the beating heart of Switzerland’s play. He will be looking to lead his team to glory and earn the credit which he truly deserves.
Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 111
Ahmad Al-Omar - 9. Jun, 10:47
