No win again, but at least the first point. For national coach Murat Yakin, the 2-2 draw against Denmark is enough to keep him positive about the relegation battle in November.
At the end of the press conference, Yakin made a small challenge. "I've never been relegated in my career, neither as a player nor as a coach. It would annoy me immensely if that were to change now. We're still in the race." Third place is still possible. In this case, Switzerland would play a barrage against a runner-up in League B in March and could avoid relegation from the Nations League for the first time.
The game against Denmark gave them a little more hope in this regard than they had recently. "We showed a good game, had a lot of possession," analyzed Yakin. He was particularly pleased that the "vertical play", i.e. the passes into the deep, were increasingly sought out. He was satisfied with the great effort the team put in at home to St. Gallen. "Less so with the result. It's a shame we couldn't reward ourselves with the win."
Once again, Switzerland conceded two goals that were too easy. In the first, the team allowed itself to be caught out by a quickly taken free kick, and in the second, the positioning in the penalty area was not right. "We're being extremely punished for little things like that at the moment," said Yakin. Conversely, the Swiss are often unlucky in attack. Another goal was disallowed after a corner kick because the linesman saw the ball out of bounds. "It's a shame there's no goal-line technology. That would have been the deserved reward for our efforts."
Yakin was partially satisfied with his changes in defense. Edimilson Fernandes and Ulisses Garcia had done a lot for the forward play and had made a positive impression. "But defensive stability has suffered somewhat." Nevertheless, the back four that Switzerland played with for the majority of the European Championship qualifiers remains an option for the future. "After all, we want to remain variable," said Yakin. Whether Yakin's variability will also prevent his first relegation will become clear in a month's time.
