Hitzfeld’s Team and the Young Swiss Players who are going to rock the World Cup

The European dream is behind us, now we’re no more than spectators watching everyone’s else tragedies and dreams unfold. This blog supports the Netherlands from now onwards, no doubt about that!

Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about the future and talk about what our new coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, will receive as an heirloom.

If we start from, potentially, the greatest player in our Nati, Gokhan Inler, we start with a confident smile. The Swiss-Turkish player has been consistent throughout the entire campaign and has confirmed why he’s considered one of the best foreign players of the Italian Serie A, where he plays with his club Udinese. The quality of his shot and the confidence in midfield may have brought him to be seen as the new Vogel.

Valon Behrami, who had been criticised in the past for his performances with the Swiss team, has been the other big surprise of the tournament. The (ex)Lazio player has become a certainty on the right win and combines good skills with strength (the fact that he managed to play to entire game after being brutally challenged by a portuguese defender says it all!).

Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta, despite not having impressed due to several reasons (we must not forget that Barnetta was still recovering from an injury), are two pillars upon which Hitzfeld will build his team.

Due to his enthusiasm and devotion to the team, despite having many ups and downs, Ludovic Magnin is an excellent vice-captain and has proven to be the spirit behind the team. If Hitzfeld can control his aggressiveness and build his poise, Magnin can be become an essential contribution to the team.

Diego Benaglio is Switzerland’s Number 1. I don’t think Hitzfeld thinks differently. He made one mistake against Turkey but the consistency of his game with Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga are sufficient to safely give him the responsibility of defending Switzerland’s goal. Perhaps he has to work on his charisma.

Is Philippe Senderos the same without Patrick Muller next to him in the centre of the defence? Or would a Johan Djourou become a shaky one? What choice will Hitzfeld adopt? Djourou, in a recent interview, has stated that he wasn’t pleased with Kuhn for having not played one minute at the tournament: “Despite how much one could train, it was evident that Kuhn already knew with whom he wanted to play.” How long will Djourou want to be a stopgap for the Swiss defence?
This is perhaps the hardest trial for Hitzfeld.

Stephan Lichtsteiner played in a different role in Switzerland than he did with Lille and when it came to attacking he proved to be dangerous, although he was rather shaky in the back (especially in the Portuguese game). Perhaps, had he been as aggressive against the Czechs, Switzerland might have walked off with a win.

Like Djourou, Johan Vonlanthen had not played much this season with Red Bull Salzburg. This was clear when it came to playing an official Euro 2008 game, unlucky when he struck the crossbar against the Czechs, beautiful to watch but useless in the Turkey game he was unrecognizable in the Portugal game. Yet since Switzerland’s offensive movement is depleted, perhaps Hitzfeld will want to keep Johan and try to find an alternative and make him play with Barnetta.

Gelson Fernandes has great talent but is often very aggressive and makes needless challenges. The rashness of his young age is something that has to be controlled, the Inler-Fernandes duo can become a deadly one.

Marco Streller has changed his mind and has decided to call off his decision to quit the Nati. My question is, do we really need him? It is sufficient to look at the statistics: he hardly ever scores! He’s slow and doesn’t have a great charisma. How about Lustrinelli or Haeberli? Hitzfeld appears to want to keep the striker, following a private conversation the two had not much long after the end of the European campaign.

With Derdiyok becoming the national star and Frei being irremovable, I don’t really see many chances for the Basel striker.

Patrick Muller is admirable. If a 31-yr old player who has suffered a dreadful injury and only by sheer obstination has managed to gain a coach’s confidence is aligned at your country’s most important football event, then there is something that makes him superhuman! Despite the unfortunate deflection in the Turkey game, the presence of Muller have Senderos the confidence he needed and, thanks to his experience, might help the younger ones grow.

Another 31-yr old, Hakan Yakin hasn’t announced anything yet. He is waiting to speak to Hitzfeld and find out if he is really wanted. When you score 3 goals in 3 games against the likes of Turkey and Portugal, I think it goes without saying that you’ll be handed a Swiss shirt with a handshake. Yet Yakin could find a rival in Xavier Margairaz who was Switzerland’s big absentee at the competition.

Who will follow Pascal Zuberbuehler and announce the decision to leave the Nati?
Certainly Christoph Spycher and Benjamin Huggel (the latter, good riddance!) will not extend their stay. The losses might be compensated by the new talents …

The Young Ones who are going to rock the World Cup

Hitzfeld has many options to choose from, in fact we might actually end up with a younger team than Kuhn’s. Be careful though! Inexperience is a real setback, Switzerland knows something about it.
Here’s Jan carefully chosen list for you football experts:

1. Julian Esteban: September 16th 1986, Stade Rennais FC, Striker. Had a marvellous year in 2006-2007 and scored 14 goals in 17 games for Servette Geneva. Very talented player, has a tendency to get injured too often.

2. Valentin Stocker: April 12th 1989, FC Basel, Central Midfielder. A regular under-19 Swiss International, has impressed scoring 3 goals in 11 games. A great talent, he was the match-winner in the decisive Basel - Young Boys game.

3. Fabrizio Zambrella: 1st March 1986, Brescia Calcio, Attacking Midfielder. One of the names in the Italian Calciomercato right now. 2008 has been THE year for him, playing many man-of-the-match games and contributing to Brescia’s excellent championship.

4. Sebastian Kollar: 23rd February 1987, FC Wil, Defender. A very strong defender, he also scores from time to time. A regular player in the Switzerland U-21 team.

5. Blerim Dzemaili: 22nd April 1986, Bolton Wanderers, Midfielder. He scored 9 goals in 111 games for FC Zurich and proved to be one of the pillars of the team. Unfortunately, upon moving to Bolton Wanderers (with Allardyce being very glad about the transfer) he suffered an injury that ruled him out for the entire season and Euro 2008.

6. Pirmin Schwegler: 9th March 1987, Bayer Leverkusen, Midfielder. Fellow player of Barnetta at Leverkusen, he had over 32 caps for the U-16.

7. Reto Ziegler: 16th January 1986, Sampdoria, Left Midfielder. He has played for Switzerland’s U-16, U-19, U-21 and has been capped five times for the main team. Awarded Tottenham “Young Player of the Year” in 2005. He enjoyed loan spells in Germany and Italy.

8. Yann Sommer: 17th December 1988, FC Vaduz, Goalkeeper. The young FC Basel Goalkeeper is one of the players responsible for Vaduz’ excellent season and historical promotion to the Super League. He is the first choice of the U-21 team.

There are many more, but that will be for another time.