That's encouraging Switzerland beat England 5:2 in the head-to-head comparison

England against Switzerland is also Yakin against Southgate, Xhaka against Rice and Sommer against Pickford. A comparison of the key positions and the overall structure confirms the conclusion: Switzerland have nothing to hide.

Keystone-SDA

05.07.2024, 17:17

05.07.2024, 18:37

SDA

There were parallels between Murat Yakin and Gareth Southgate before the start of the European Championship. Both were criticized and under particular scrutiny due to their performances in recent months. Then things went in the opposite direction.

Yakin and his staff around assistant Giorgio Contini surprised with clever tactical moves, and practically every trick worked. Michel Aebischer is suddenly one of the top performers, Dan Ndoye, Ruben Vargas and Breel Embolo have dispelled any doubts about the offense along with the other goalscorers Xherdan Shaqiri, Remo Freuler and Aebischer. The weakness with the late goals conceded during the mixed qualifying campaign was rectified.

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In England, skepticism about the coach continued to grow. In his eighth year as national team coach, Southgate continues to shy away from taking any risks and has so far stuck rigidly to his core personnel and direction. There is still no clear concept to be seen, and the contrast between potential, performance and style of play still raises questions.

But the bare results still don't speak against Southgate: advancing to the 2021 European Championship final, the 2018 World Cup semi-final and the 2022 World Cup quarter-final, averaging 2.08 points per game and the prospect of winning the 2024 European Championship title after four of seven possible matches are not a bad track record.

Draw: Switzerland - England 1:1

Granit Xhaka is, as ever, the linchpin of the Swiss team. The Bayer Leverkusen director is the metronome who pulls the strings, controls the game and gives the commands. He plugs holes, puts offense and defense together, gives the team stability with his ball security and eye for positional play - and now strengthens cohesion off the pitch as a social link.

Declan Rice is Xhaka's successor at Arsenal. The 25-year-old defensive midfielder played a top season at club level, but his influence in the national team is less pronounced. His first European Championship match against Serbia (1:0) was good, but later on he was surprisingly inconspicuous and less involved.

Switzerland win: Switzerland - England 2:1

Yann Sommer in a long-distance duel with Jordan Pickford - the point in the goalkeeper comparison goes to Switzerland. Although Sommer could soon be replaced by Gregor Kobel in the national team, this is not due to the qualities of the long-serving Swiss number 1. Sommer is also the usual back-up and calming influence at the European Championships. Pickford has only conceded two goals, but has looked unsettled and shown signs of insecurity under pressure.

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After an unfortunate temporary spell at Bayern Munich, Sommer moved to Inter Milan in Italy, where he played his part in the team's superior championship title and hard-to-crack defense. Inter only conceded 22 goals in 38 league games. Pickford also played with Everton against relegation due to a severe points deduction and finished the season in 15th place. In terms of grades, England's international keeper was the third-best goalkeeper of the Premier League season, but there was still no interest from the big clubs.

The only thing in Pickford's favor is that England have only conceded two goals in the current tournament. A credit that is owed more to the defensive style of play than to an outstanding goalkeeper.

Switzerland win: Switzerland - England 3:1

The two defensive leaders Manuel Akanji and John Stones both play for Manchester City and are undisputed in their national team. Akanji has regularly embodied world class in the national team since moving from Borussia Dortmund to coach Pep Guardiola's side, while Stones has benefited from the risk minimization under coach Gareth Southgate at the Three Lions, but has not always been able to conceal certain coordination problems with his teammates.

Stones and Co. must stop the hot-running Swiss collective around Breel Embolo. Akanji and Co. Kane and his top-class supporting players Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden on the wings, who have so far looked like foreign bodies with their handbrakes locked. Kane has only scored one goal so far in the tournament. But the winning goal to make it 2:1 in extra time against Slovakia showed that when the opportunity arises, Kane is on hand even when he was practically invisible beforehand.

Switzerland win: Switzerland - England 4:1

Jude Bellingham and Xherdan Shaqiri are the players for the special moments. Bellingham has scored twice in the tournament so far, the second time in the round of 16 with a wonderful overhead kick in the 95th minute for the all-important 1-1 draw against Slovakia.

In the wake of his strong debut at Real Madrid, Bellingham moved up to the ten-man position behind the designated striker in the national team. However, this did not (yet?) really work in the European Championship games in Germany. Instead, the incredibly self-confident 21-year-old came in for criticism due to his appearance. "Of course he's an outstanding player, he just has to be careful overall that he doesn't start getting airs and graces at such a young age. I don't think I'm the only one who says: 'Wow, sometimes he's annoying'," said ZDF pundit Christoph Kramer, for example.

A few weeks ago, Xherdan Shaqiri was considered indispensable to Switzerland's offense. That turned out to be a fallacy: Only once, in the 1:1 draw against Scotland, did the 32-year-old, untrained magic foot come into action - and scored a dream goal as befits his status.

England win: Switzerland - England 4:2

In the end, it all comes down to the collective, as everyone says. After four appearances in each of the European Championships, it is clear that this is the case: England is a collection of individuals, Switzerland is a team. England have the most valuable individual players, but Switzerland have the better collective. So there is no reason to hide from the English star ensemble in Düsseldorf on Saturday.

Switzerland win: Switzerland - England 5:2