Switzerland Group Analysis and Match-Ups

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Written by: Patrick He

Switzerland was drawn into a relatively easy group, with the other teams being France, Albania, and Romania. While France is the favorite to win the group, Switzerland should be able to claim second place comfortably. In particular, this is Albania’s first major international tournament, and a lack of experience as well as world class players means that it will likely pose little threat to the Swiss. Romania is a stronger team, but given that it finished second in its qualifying group behind Northern Ireland, and with its other opposition being Hungary, Finland, Greece, and the Faroe Islands, it was not much of an accomplishment to secure a direct place in the tournament.

Match 1: Albania

Albania is likely going to be Switzerland’s easiest opponent in the Group Stage. As this is Albania’s first major international tournament, the players will have had little experience both playing on such a stage as well as playing with each other. That being said, a number of Albanian players play in Europe’s top teams. Lorik Cana, Albania’s captain, is a veteran defender whose resume includes clubs like PSG, Marseille, Sunderland, Galatasaray, Lazio, and Nantes (“Lorik Cana” 1). Other important players include Elseid Hysaj, who is a fullback at Napoli, Mergim Mavraj, a center back at FC Koln, Etrit Berisha, a goalkeeper at Lazio, and Rey Manaj, a promising striker at Inter Milan.

Managed by former Torino, Levante, and Udinese manager Gianni De Biasi, the Albanian national team tends to line-up in a 4-3-3 formation. De Biasi began managing the team in 2011, and since then, he has been instrumental in developing the team to become more competitive internationally. He managed to convince promising players to represent Albania, not unlike how Jurgen Klinsmann was able to convince German-Americans to play for the USMNT. As a result, while the Albanian team is inexperienced, it has the potential to pull off upsets in the tournament. Filled with youth, the team has a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Moreover, there are several Albanian players on the Switzerland national team, and several Swiss players on the Albanian team, meaning that there will certainly be a cultural aspect to the game as well. Nonetheless, Switzerland, with its abundance of talent and experience, should be able to comfortably defeat the European Championship newcomers. Historically, it has never lost to Albania, and there is no reason to believe that it would happen this summer.

Match 2: Romania

Romania has qualified for just one major tournament in the past decade – the 2008 European Championship. The team has a number of players in the top five European leagues, including center back Vlad Chiriches (Napolia), goalkeepers Ciprian Tatarusanu (Fiorentina) and Costel Pantilimon (Watford), and fullback Razvan Rat (Rayo Vallecano).

The Romanian national team is managed by Anghel Iordanescu, who has been in charge since 2014. During qualification, Romania played most of its games in a 4-2-3-1 formation, though it did play one game with a 4-3-2-1 and another with a 4-1-3-2. Leading the line will most likely be Claudiu Keseru, who plays for PFC Ludogorets Razgrad (“Claudiu Keseru” 1). He is particularly adept at long shots, counter-attacking, and playing key, penetrating passes. This ties into Romania’s strategies, which focuses both on counter-attacks and crossing.

Switzerland has only played one international match with Romania in the past twenty years – a 1-0 loss in a friendly in 2012. As a result, there is no conclusive historical data to analyze the match-up between the two sides. However, one advantage that Switzerland will have is down the wings. Romania’s strongest fullback, Razvan Rat, will be 35 by the time of the European Championship, and Romania has limited options otherwise. This will be key for Switzerland, who will try to initiate attacks down the flanks with dangerous players like Shaqiri and Rodriguez. Overall, Switzerland should be able to defeat Romania. While the side has some international experience, it, like Albania, is not a key player in the tournament, with a lack of any kind of world class player and an overall easy path to qualification.

Match 3: France

France is by far the most dangerous opponent in Group A. As the host of the tournament, it qualified automatically. Nonetheless, the national team has played numerous friendlies in order to prepare itself for this summer, and every single position in the team can be filled multiple times with world-class talent. Its attack is deadly, with options including Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann and Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. In the midfield, West Ham’s Dmitri Payet, PSG’s Blaise Matuidi, and Juventus’s Paul Pogba will be able to dominate any other team’s midfield on a good day. Finally, its defense includes Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane, sitting right in front of one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris. Other top players include N’golo Kante, Kingsley Coman, and Anthony Martial.

France is managed by Didier Deschamps, who generally plays a 4-3-3 formation. The team itself is very versatile and can quickly change strategies depending on who plays in what position; in-game, just a few substitutions can make a significant difference. For example, if France were to play Olivier Giroud or Andre-Pierre Gignac up front, one could expect to see a game where the center forward plays with his back towards goal, holding up the ball. The team would also be crossing the ball more often, since both are a threat in the air. However, someone like Lacazette up front would be more likely to dribble and make penetrating runs through the opposing defense. As it currently stands, with Switzerland’s center backs in poor form, France could very well choose to play a style that will exploit poor marking and could take advantage of defensive errors.

France thrashed Switzerland 5-2 back in the 2014 World Cup, and while many of the younger Swiss talents have had two years to grow and develop, so too have the French. From the Swiss perspective, the game was littered with defensive errors. France’s second goal was scored directly after a poor back pass, and in either of the two first half goals, the defense could have done better dealing with the crosses that led to goals.  If Switzerland is to beat France, it is going to have to ensure that both wingers track back to help their respective fullbacks, as France has a number of wingers that are quick and technically skilled. Their center backs will also have to be alert the entire game. Overall, however, beating France will be a small miracle for Switzerland. While the Swiss side is strong, the French team is simply filled with so much more talent, which has shown multiple times that it is a championship contender.

How to cite this page: “Switzerland Group Analysis and Match-Ups”, Written by Patrick He(2016). European Cup 2016 Guide, Soccer Politics Blog, Duke University, http://sites.duke.edu/wcwp/tournament-guides/european-cup-2016-guide/underrated-teams-of-euro-2016/switzerland/switzerland-group-analysis-and-match-ups/ (accessed on (date)). 

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