Mobbing in the Squad?

Is there a mobbing culture in the Swiss national team? Rumours have it that it is so.

Not only since the newspaper column by Murat Yakin is it known, that Swiss side captain Johann Vogel is using his weight to influence cap decisions. Murat (former Swiss captain and the brother of left-out midfielder Hakan Yakin ) claims that his brother was left out because Vogel didn’t want him back in the squad. Vogel became captain of the Swiss national team a few years back after a power-struggle within the national team, mostly between German and French speaking Swiss. The German speaking fraction was grouping around experienced and controversial Ciriaco Sforza and Kubilay Turkilmaz (plus the Yakin brothers). The French fraction gathered around Mueller and Vogel. The rift was big - and was only closed through the sacking of Sforza and Turkilmaz and the naming of Vogel as captain.

Now, whether or not you like the fact that Vogel is throwing around his weight in the team, we all have to admit that with him as a captain, the Swiss team qualified for the European Championships in Portugal and now for the World Championships in Germany. He brought calm back into the team and it seems to work. But, it also remains to be seen if the Swiss team can produce good results with this - or if some stirring winds of Hakan Yakin would have been a good thing.