Squad against England (Club/Age/Caps/Goals) Keppers Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg/24/8/0) Fabio Coltorti (Racing de Santander/27/8/0) Pascal Zuberbühler (Neuchâtel Xamax/37/50/0) Defenders Valon Behrami (Lazio/22/12/1) Mario Eggimann (Karlsruhe/27/3/0) Stéphane Grichting (Auxerre/28/15/0) Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille/24/8/0) Philippe Senderos (Arsenal/22/24/3) Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt/29/36/0) Steve von Bergen (Hertha Berlin/24/4/0) Midfielders Tranquillo Barnetta (Leverkusen/22/30/6) Fabio Celestini (Getafe/32/35/2) David Degen (FC Basel/24/9/0) Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City/21/4/0) Daniel Gygax (FC Metz/26/30/5) Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel/30/22/0) Gökhan Inler (Udinese/23/13/1) Xavier Margairaz (Osasuna/24/15/1) Johan Vonlanthen (Salzburg/21/26/5) Hakan Yakin (Young Boys/30/61/15) Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria Genua/22/4/0) Forwards Eren Derdiyok (FC Basel/19/0/0) Blaise Nkufo (Twente Enschede/32/13/2) not selected the not fully fit or injured players like Patrick Müller, Djourou, Magnin, Wicky, Philipp Degen, Frei, Streller, Dzemaili, Smiljanic, Ricardo Cabanas, Esteban
Re: the Swiss way to Euro 2008 I really appreciate Derdiyok's call-up but at the same time. How can he and not Abdi get a call? Yeah, we got a shortage of strikers but still, Abdi has proved so much more than Derdiyok in the league...
Re: England vs. Switzerland The roster has been cut to 20 players. Von Bergen, Celestini, and D. Degen won't be part of the traveling squad. Why keep Huggel and not Degen? That leaves us with: Keppers Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg/24/8/0) Fabio Coltorti (Racing de Santander/27/8/0) Pascal Zuberbühler (Neuchâtel Xamax/37/50/0) Defenders Valon Behrami (Lazio/22/12/1) Mario Eggimann (Karlsruhe/27/3/0) Stéphane Grichting (Auxerre/28/15/0) Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille/24/8/0) Philippe Senderos (Arsenal/22/24/3) Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt/29/36/0) Midfielders Tranquillo Barnetta (Leverkusen/22/30/6) Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City/21/4/0) Daniel Gygax (FC Metz/26/30/5) Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel/30/22/0) Gökhan Inler (Udinese/23/13/1) Xavier Margairaz (Osasuna/24/15/1) Johan Vonlanthen (Salzburg/21/26/5) Hakan Yakin (Young Boys/30/61/15) Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria Genua/22/4/0) Forwards Eren Derdiyok (FC Basel/19/0/0) Blaise Nkufo (Twente Enschede/32/13/2)
Re: England vs. Switzerland Can't help thinking that our team seems lightweight somehow... It'll be a great team in four years, no doubt, but right now... Looks more like a strong U21 team than a proper A team. Let's hope for the best and that they can accumulate a lot of experience for the next events, but I think we're gonna get hammered at the Euro 2008
Re: England vs. Switzerland We might fail at the group stage, but hammered? I don't think so, have some faith. PS: When will Kuhn announce the keeper. Monday?
Re: England vs. Switzerland lately, he said something that the decision is not definite yet. Hope he is going to pick a keeper now and sticks to it and I hope it's going to be Benaglio Coltorti doesn't have a real chance as he will be on the bench again at Santander when the other keepers are back. Then, he hasn't convinced very much yet in Spain. Benaglio is having his first BL match right now and is winning 1-0 at HT. Then, Zubi might still be Köbis favourite and the easiest choice. But I hope he dares to pick Benaglio
Re: England vs. Switzerland Fantastic, and I won't regret feeling this way if he will be a flop at the EC. This is a clear message for the future.
Re: England vs. Switzerland Our likely starting eleven: ------------------Benaglio----------------- --Lichtsteiner--Senderos--Eggimann--Spycher -------------Inler------Fernandes---------- ----Vonlanthen-----Yakin------Barnetta--- ------------------------Nkufo----------- England: James; Richards, Woodgate, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole; Bentley, Jenas, Gerrard, Ashley Young; Rooney, Owen. Seeing that England has a lot of pressure to perform, I'll take a draw at Wembley.
Re: England vs. Switzerland awesome reto ziegler is in the squad!! hopefully he will get some minutes!
FT: England [2 - 1] Switzerland 40' [1 - 0] J. Jenas 58' [1 - 1] E. Derdiyok 62' [2 - 1] S.W. Phillips The Good: Benaglio, Derdiyok, Spycher The Bad: Defense, Passing in 2nd Half Bottom Line: Not Good Enough PS: I am sick and tired of Capello and Rooney close-ups.
Solid match from our Nati, with a weaker first half but a strong 2nd half, and a draw would have been well deserved. BENAGLIO: Enormous match, with some world-class saves and he clearly justified and cemented his No1 position. LICHTSTEINER: Not at his best, at fault on the 1st goal and struggled a bit defensively, especially with Cole. BEHRAMI: looked better than Lichtsteiner in my opinion, sharper and showed a huge potential going forward. EGGIMAN: Very solid, should without a doubt be a number 1 choice at his position SENDEROS: The weak link in the defense, slow and very clumsy, making too many missed passes. Frankly he has become a liability, and I felt much more at ease when he got replaced by GRICHTING: seemed very secure, quicker and more secure and decisive than Senderos. Should be a number 1 choice alongside Eggiman. SPYCHER: very good match in my opinion, both defensively and with his offensive contribution, great fighting spirit. MAGNIN should be worried. GYGAX: The weakest Nati player tonight, no contribution whatsoever. VONLANTHEN: Was much better than Gygax, very lively, clearly is still on a messianic mission to become a football star, although he's probably the last one to believe he can become the best. But with such a willpower he should be a 1st, except maybe if Behrami is moved up in the middle. INLER: Very solid match, world class player in typical italian-style defensive midfielder. Should contribute more offensively though. GELSON: Good match but still has huge room for improvement. Poor offensive contribution, but ran a lot. BARNETTA: Our most dangerous player, caused England some trouble and seemed involved in pretty much every dangerous swiss move. YAKIN: A few moments of magic as usual, including a superb free-kick pass which almost led to the 1st goal (header from senderos + eggiman). Also decisive on the Derdiyok goal. MARGAIRAZ: Similar to Yakin in a way, showed a couple of touches of magic and probably able to contribute more physically than Yakin. Tough choice between the two. NKUFO: Fought well and played for the team, but suffered the total absence of any good ball. DERDIYOK: the perfect start for our future superstar. Great goal, and was a constant threat for the english defense Frankly encouraging match tonight, with Frei back in the team I'm starting to think that we might be able to make it out of our group at the Euro... Tonight we played as well as England at Wembley with a team of kids, so one thing is sure: we will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years... South Africa here we come!!
I'd say good: Gelson, Benaglio, Derdyiok, Margairaz, Barnetta ok: Spycher, Lichtsteiner, Inler, Vonlanthen bad: not good enough; why defending a corner with all men after 89min. if you're 1-2 back?; Yakin definitely is not a striker, no influence on the game at all, no physical presence, then not enough forechecking. generally, I'd say Benaglio is the right choice. Then, prefer Lichtsteiner to Behrami, but maybe Degen is yet the better solution in right defense. Senderos still not in great shape, but he will be one of the most important guys at the Euro. The second spot in central defense is maybe open yet, but should be Djourou. In left defense no worries with Spycher, but we need Magnins rushes. Defense midfield was our strongest part with Gelson and Inler and there are other players like Dzemaili in the back yet, but I think we should stick to Gelson and Inler. But then again while being lead 1-2, we need a change in the system and replace one of them by a forward. In left midfield Barnetta was good as usual, but he can't win a game of his own. On the right side, Vonlanthen won a few points against Gygax, but Gygax just needs to play two months in a row to be in shape. Then, playing Yakin in attack is of no use. Better play Margairaz behind the attack, then bring on Yakin if changing to a more offensive style. Or play with two strikers. We need Frei yet. Then, I'd like to see Streller and Esteban fit again. Derdyiok showed he can be an alternative. Nkufo has worked quite hard for the team and fighted a lot, but still no scoring since he is back. But anyway, there is a long way to go yet with 4 months lacking
Disagree with most of your comments but most of all with your assessment of Senderos as being one of key men for the Euro. Yes he has a great attitude and yes he's a great guy, but that's just not enough. He has some really worrying limitations, particularly speed and technical ability. His passes are poor and he is really prone to making blunders (he made one awful one again tonight, which almost cost us a goal, thank you eggiman for saving it). His leadership skills would be an asset, but its simply not enough anymore.
If Köbi intends to stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation there's no harm in trying Abdi. Neither Yakin or Margairaz has impressed in the central position up front. When we get Frei and Streller back, switch to 4-4-2 in my opinion.