Lets put the Swiss team into perspective

[eirebhoy]

I posted this on another forum so might aswell post it here:

The Swiss aren't that great. If we play like we did against Israel or France we'll destroy them.

Team vs Faroes:
Pascal Zuberbuhler (Basel)
Philipp Degen (Basel)
Patrick Muller (Basel)
Alain Rochat (Bern Young Boys)
Ludovic Magnin (Werder Bremen - joined Stuttgart this summer)
Tranquillo Barnetta (Hanover)
Johann Vogel (PSV)
Raphael Wicky (Hamburg)
Alexander Frei (Rennes)
Daniel Gygax (FC Zurich)
Johan Vonlanthen (PSV - loan to Brescia)

Basel are poor. Hearts beat them 2-1 in Basle. Young Boys and Zurich are worse. So thats 5 players from the above lineup playing for crap teams in a crap league.

Magnin only started 16 games for Werder in the league, mostly in midfield (I think he plays left back for Swiss?).

Vonlanthen couldn't even make the PSV bench for a lot, if not most games, so was loaned out to Brescia in January. He made just 3 sub appearances for the club with a total of 25 minutes football.

Frei is top class, Vogel very good too. Hakan Yakin can't get a club. His brother Murat is playing crap. Henchoz got let go today by Celtic. Bernt Haas isn't good enough for West Brom.

We're much better than these. The only real tough match left is France. Anything other than a win against the other 2 would be a disaster.

[Stuttgart88]

They have Senderos who missed the game against Faeroes through injury. He's been impressive for Arsenal.

But point taken & mainly agreed. However, a bit like us in 2000/2001 I think they're a better unit that the individual parts would suggest. They also threatened England in Euro 2004 from crosses & set-pieces, where we've been vulnerable in last 2 games.

But remember, they only beat Cyprus in 90th minute at home. I think they may struggle to beat a confident Israel & even a win in Cyprus isn't guaranteed for them.

No question, if we have our best players available & we're up for it (how could we not be?) we've got to be able to beat them.

[shedite]

If we're thinkin like that, then Zidane, Henry and Thuram of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Juventus should destroy Cunningham, Reid and Elliott of Birmingham, Notts Forest and Sunderland

[concanta]

Agree with all the points - but somehow they manage to fight and gel for big games and have a team spirit which is strong - personally I think this group could be decided on dropping points to the bottom 2 and I think if we have ALL players available we will win the last 3 games - but i am optimistic

but its true to say we have the best team outta this group and i think in the end it will tell

[fergalr]

The Swiss aren't that great.
Great post and all points well made.

Also, we can field an eleven from one of the top 5 Euro leagues - same can't be said of the Swiss.

Also we're ranked 15, they are 45th.

Just hope our management display and instill the correct level of self-belief and confidence before each of our final three games in this group.

[tetsujin1979]

If we're thinkin like that, then Zidane, Henry and Thuram of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Juventus should destroy Cunningham, Reid and Elliott of Birmingham, Notts Forest and Sunderland

Zidane and Thuram are retired.
Reid plays for Spurs now.
Sunderland are in the Premiership.

[Stuttgart88]

If we're thinkin like that, then Zidane, Henry and Thuram of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Juventus should destroy Cunningham, Reid and Elliott of Birmingham, Notts Forest and Sunderland

It might have escaped your attention but Zidane has retired from playing for France. I think Thuram has too.

I think Andy Reid might have moved from Forest to a Premiership team:) [Edit: point taken - he was still at Forest in October]

Our own Richie Dunne was MOTM at Highbury against Henry in Feb or March.

[Tired&Emotional]

If we're thinkin like that, then Zidane, Henry and Thuram of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Juventus should destroy Cunningham, Reid and Elliott of Birmingham, Notts Forest and Sunderland


That post must have got lost over the Atlantic :)

[eirebhoy]

If we're thinkin like that, then Zidane, Henry and Thuram of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Juventus should destroy Cunningham, Reid and Elliott of Birmingham, Notts Forest and Sunderland
I don't know how you see it like that. The only players I judged by their clubs where those in the Swiss league. C'mon, the Swiss league is like the SPL without the Old Firm.

[eirebhoy]

Isn't the best way of comparing the two to look at recent results rather than try and compare players in different positions in different leagues? I mean, by that reckoning, Spain should be champions of everything and no hopers like Greece shouldn't bother entering competitions...
I agree. And imo, Israel are on par with them. People were saying we should beat the Faroes 4-0 because they are part timers. I'm saying we shouldn't be giving the Swiss as much respect as the fans are as half their team plays in the Swiss league. :)

[gustavo]

presumably the answer to your sig is that they are all top of their groups eirebhoy sorry if some1 answered it already!

[eirebhoy]

presumably the answer to your sig is that they are all top of their groups eirebhoy sorry if some1 answered it already!
Aye, feels good. :)

[Junior]

Great post and all points well made.

Also, we can field an eleven from one of the top 5 Euro leagues - same can't be said of the Swiss.

Also we're ranked 15, they are 45th.


As was the case in our last 3 competitive games versus the Swiss - D1 L2.

We should be confident yes, arrogant no, none of our performances in this campaign bar France have been anything but average so far.

[drinkfeckarse]

Sure they could say the same thing about our team. Just reverse it as if this was a Swiss fan on an equivalent message board. Going on last nights team.

Given (Newcastle)-good keeper but hopeless with penalties ;)

Carr (Newcastle)- average at best, never the same player since a serious knee injury.

Cunningham (Birmingham)- solid enough, nothing special but good organisational skills, ageing now.

O' Shea (Man Utd)- not a regular for his club and sloppy at times.

Harte (Levante)- a danger at set pieces but lambasted by his own fans at times for a distinct lack of pace.

A Reid (Spurs)- plenty of potential but not at his best playing in an unfamiliar wide right role.

R Keane (Man Utd)- the team leader but ageing now.

K Kilbane (Everton)- Good on his day from the central spot but those days are few and far between.

D Duff (Chelsea)- A class act but sometimes complacent.

C Morrison (Birmingham)- Not a regular for his club, works hard.

S Elliott (Sunderland)- unproven but plenty of potential.



See what I mean. The Swiss in my eyes are very similar to us- not too many world class players but plenty of honest pro's who work hard for each other.

[eirebhoy]

As was the case in our last 3 competitive games versus the Swiss - D1 L2.
I'm not even going to think about the away game as we're crap away but things have changed since the home game. They've got worse while we've got better. They have no Cabanas, Celestini, Stiel, Chapuisat and the 2 Yakin brothers are nothing like they used to be. Our team the last time was:

--------Given
Kelly, Cunningham, Breen, Harte
Holland, Kinsella, Healy, Kilbane,
------Duff, Keane.

Our current team has 8 changes from that. New LB, RB, CB, RM, CM, CM, LM, FC.



See what I mean. The Swiss in my eyes are very similar to us- not too many world class players but plenty of honest pro's who work hard for each other.
No. :D Seriously though, I was telling the truth. I wasn't picking players faults.

[eirebhoy]

Can I just say. I rarely judge teams on their individual players. Sure it was only a couple of years ago I thought we were better than England (I wouldn't say that now though ;)). I'm hardly saying we're going to win because our players are much better. I just feel that Israel are just as good as Switzerland and people give the Swiss too much respect because of past results.

I seen Switzerland play now 4 times in this group (Israel away, France away, Faroes away, Ireland home). If Israel actually played football against us people would see the real Israel. They destroyed Switzerland and really made it look easy.

But lets be serious. So many people judge players playing in the SPL. The Swiss league is worse than the SPL.

[Slash/ED]

I've said this all along, the Swiss are not a good side. We seem to have built them into world beaters, mainly because we were so hopelessly poor we made them look good, when they clearly are nothing even close to that. If we can't beat these at home we can give up.

[colster]

I've said this all along, the Swiss are not a good side. We seem to have built them into world beaters, mainly because we were so hopelessly poor we made them look good, when they clearly are nothing even close to that. If we can't beat these at home we can give up.

The thing is the Swiss may not be a good side but are we that much better?
I don't think so. We'll have trouble beating them.

[dr_peepee]

To use the cliche, Stats don't win games.

I do see what your trying to say though, but the same logic failed to deliver twice against the Isreali's.

But at the end of the day it's eleven profesional footballers against eleven and as last saturday showing highlighted, anything is possible over the 90 minutes. That game took allot from me as a fan and an optimist. We have to make our own luck. I'm tired of too many underwhelming performances. The French draw aside I've been underwhelmed.

[mjpcc]

Everybody get their blinkers out. :D

Sure, we are the best team in the group. Except our results do not bear this out in any way. Our World ranking is inaccurate and the true reflection is our seeding in Euro 2008 where we will be in pool D or C at best.

We have to win 3 games on the trot to be sure of qualifying and nothing would make me happier but I've been so disappointed by our performances in just about every game in this group and Euro 2004 that I think it will be a major miracle if we top the group and a minor miracle if we come second.

:( :( :(

[eirebhoy]

I do see what your trying to say though, but the same logic failed to deliver twice against the Isreali's.
If we play like we did against Israel we'll definitely beat the Swiss. Freak match and should be forgotten about asap.

[dr_peepee]

Dude.... Believe me I've tried.

Sometimes, late at night, I can still see the goalkeeper & referee laughing maniacly, stroking two huge rotwielers.

[thejollyrodger]

The swiss are a very average workman like side to coin a phrase often used. But thats what they are. They arent world beaters. The problem with Ireland is that were were traditionally set up to dampen all the great teams play and then just get a goal.

We were brilliant at that but we never dispatched a weaker team. Hopefully Kerr is putting this wrong right. It's the main thing that is holding the team back, that and along with losing 2 nill leads. There is nothing in that swiss team that would bother me in any way. We should beat them 3 or 4 nill




Ireland, Holland, Ukraine, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Spain, Croatia. What do we have in common?

Give up?? :confused:

[colster]

The swiss are a very average workman like side to coin a phrase often used. But thats what they are. They arent world beaters. The problem with Ireland is that were were traditionally set up to dampen all the great teams play and then just get a goal.

We were brilliant at that but we never dispatched a weaker team. Hopefully Kerr is putting this wrong right. It's the main thing that is holding the team back, that and along with losing 2 nill leads. There is nothing in that swiss team that would bother me in any way. We should beat them 3 or 4 nill





Give up?? :confused:


There's no way we'll beat them 3 or 4 nill. We are not much better than the Swiss.

[thejollyrodger]

yes we can beat this swiss team by 3 goals maybe 4... were on our way up and still havent reached our top gear.. switzerland is on the way down :D :D

[Slash/ED]

The thing is the Swiss may not be a good side but are we that much better?
I don't think so. We'll have trouble beating them.

Yes, we are. We will beat them if we play to our potential.

[Gerrit]

With some people here the confidence is turning into arrogance...

Switzerland may not have world stars in the team, but we all know a good collective (and they have that) is better than a few star players that bear all the weight on their shoulders. And they also haven't got a player who is really bad.
The national team also had some good results in the last years.

Swiss league crap ?! My man, you don't know what you're talking about. The Swiss league is certainly not worse than the Belgian, Austrian, Dutch, or I'd say even Portuguese league. We often see Swiss teams doing well in Europe, some made the Champions League and I seem to remember that in a very recent past 'crap team' Basel was the sensation of Europe that caused all big clubs nightmares. They lost to Hearts. Big deal. If you judge a team based upon the one game you saw... :rolleyes: Every team, even the Real Madrid's of this world, loses a game against weaker opposition now and then.

If the Swiss are such a bad side, it's up to the Irish to prove it. A look on the table though learns me that the Swiss are in better position than the Irish, if they don't lose in Dublin they got it all in their hands. And I think Ireland will have a hard time getting through that Swiss defense, just like France and its world class strikers had (and didn't succeed in !).
And they still have to travel to Cyprus. Ireland as well. Don't underestimate them, the small ones can make it pretty hard for the in theory bigger side. Switzerland may drop points in Nicosia, there's however no guarantee Ireland and France won't as well.



I'm not a Switzerland fan, let that be clear. But when self-confidence turns into arrogance it's time someone is being a bit realistic here and bring you down to earth... If you think Ireland will easily hammer Switzerland, you could have a very very disappointing anti-climax. They're no top of the world, they're certainly amongst the better European teams (of course well behind Spain, Italy, Czech, Holland)

[dancinpants]

We won't hammer them but they are "hammerable". Look at their sh!tty performance's in Portugal last summer FFS. Not seeing us qualify for those Championships was bad, but to see how the two teams that beat us there performed - well, that was just sickening... :mad:

Like Israel, the Swiss are due a tankin' - they're punching WAY above their weight, and will be found out this time around before they get the chance to qualify. Havin' said that - we have ALOT to work on.

[Metrostars]

Frei is top class, Vogel very good too. Hakan Yakin can't get a club. His brother Murat is playing crap. Henchoz got let go today by Celtic. Bernt Haas isn't good enough for West Brom.

We're much better than these. The only real tough match left is France. Anything other than a win against the other 2 would be a disaster.

Yeah but somehow they raise their game against us. Also you forgot Senderos who is no slouch at Arsenal. We should beat the Swiss. But we also should have beaten Israel.

Anything other than a win against the Swiss and Cyprus means we'll all be watching the telly next June.

[Slash/ED]

Yeah but somehow they raise their game against us

More a case that we lower our game against them I think, we've been shocking every time we've played them.

[Donal81]

More a case that we lower our game against them I think, we've been shocking every time we've played them.

Absolutely. If you look at the results alone, they would clearly have the edge on us. The first time we played them, the team was sick after Saipan. The next time we played them, we were just terrible, Saipan or no Saipan. The last time we played them, we gave them a way back into the game and never really went at them. I remember them each time being terrible in defence, a mouthy bunch and pretty good upfront but with a weak midfield. We never exploited their midfield or defence.

They should get a comprehensive beating in September.

[thejollyrodger]

Gerrit thats a load of bollócks. the swiss are second rate with one or 2 good players. We can beat them and France. I dont see Switzerland beating the israeli either

[Gerrit]

I hope so. I have no affection with Switzerland and France has been seen so often yet. I have stated before and stay with my statement: I hope Ireland and Israel both reach the WC finals.

But, the only thing I say, it won't be as easy as it looks. Even Liechtenstein and Andorra get hammered very rarely (except for the 8-1 in Czech last weekend Andorra rarely gets in more than 2 or 3) let alone Switzerland. I hope Ireland and Israel will overcome CH and FR, but I just say: don't think it will be an easy job.

[eirebhoy]

IThe Swiss are beatable. Lads, they were the worst team at Euro 2004 by a long shot.
I wouldn't say that. They drew with a decent Croatia team, they absolutely slaughtered England until Haas got sent off on the hour mark and they held France until the last 15 minutes. There were a few teams who performed worse imo, not least Bulgaria.


Swiss league crap ?! My man, you don't know what you're talking about. The Swiss league is certainly not worse than the Belgian, Austrian, Dutch, or I'd say even Portuguese league. We often see Swiss teams doing well in Europe, some made the Champions League and I seem to remember that in a very recent past 'crap team' Basel was the sensation of Europe that caused all big clubs nightmares. They lost to Hearts. Big deal. If you judge a team based upon the one game you saw... Every team, even the Real Madrid's of this world, loses a game against weaker opposition now and then.
Gerrit, don't be saying things like "you don't know what you're talking about" unless you actually know I don't. I bet on European football most days of the week. The Swiss league is rubbish. I read the thoughts of people from all over Europe (a betting site with over 10,000 members) on their league and nobody rates Basel any more. They were good a few years ago but now they're nowhere near as good. Holland? Portugal? Ha. You follow European football, I know that, but don't assume you know more than everyone else in Ireland.

And btw, 3 Swiss teams could only manage 2 draws between them in 6 qualifying matches. The 2 UEFA cup qualifiers were against non-seeded weak teams.

And I'm far from arrogant. People were over optimistic against Israel and I was posting all sort of reasons why we'll have a hard time. Irish people give the Swiss more credit than they deserve imo.

[dancinpants]

But, the only thing I say, it won't be as easy as it looks. Even Liechtenstein and Andorra get hammered very rarely (except for the 8-1 in Czech last weekend Andorra rarely gets in more than 2 or 3) let alone Switzerland

Liechtenstein - are in a poor group - bar Portugal (who they drew at home with), and Slovakia. Latvia put 3 past them, Slovakia put 7 past them, and i'd expect Portugal to inflict a similar defeat on them in Lisbon. Andorra, conceded 4 and 8 against the Czechs, conceded 4 at home to the Netherlands, conceded 5 at home to Romania, and conceded 3 away to the mighty Finland.

[Captain Tinrib]

why is it all of a sudden the swiss are a threat to ur qualification hopes? not so long ago (euro 2004) they were probably the worst team in the tournament! they are over-rated like the david beckhams of this world. there all big headed players, bring them to landsdowne and we will see the real swiss, there 1 of those teams that wrecks all our heads, lets be realistic we are 3 times as good as them. and i hope we beat the F*ckers. :mad:

[Gerrit]

I
Gerrit, don't be saying things like "you don't know what you're talking about" unless you actually know I don't. I bet on European football most days of the week. The Swiss league is rubbish. I read the thoughts of people from all over Europe (a betting site with over 10,000 members) on their league and nobody rates Basel any more. They were good a few years ago but now they're nowhere near as good. Holland? Portugal? Ha. You follow European football, I know that, but don't assume you know more than everyone else in Ireland.

And btw, 3 Swiss teams could only manage 2 draws between them in 6 qualifying matches. The 2 UEFA cup qualifiers were against non-seeded weak teams.

And I'm far from arrogant. People were over optimistic against Israel and I was posting all sort of reasons why we'll have a hard time. Irish people give the Swiss more credit than they deserve imo.


I don't think I ever pretended to know more than others... Though you're right, when re-reading my previous post it seems I chose the wrong words. Apologies if it sounded like I doubted your fanatism or knowledge, that was not the intention.

All I'm saying is that the Swiss league is not that bad. It's not the Serie A or the Primera, but also don't compare it to the leagues or Albania and Bosnia... Grasshoppers and Basel (and even the now bankrupt Servette Geneve) have had some very decent campaigns in Europe the last decade, and the Swiss may have played a bad Euro 2004 - they were there. Switzerland never got far in a tournament, but check the participators for every World Cup and European Cup since USA 1994: Switzerland was often there, which means they were always managing to get through qualifying stages. Even if you stuff up at the tournament itself, being there means you already left many other nations behind you.

I have often seen Swiss football on Eurosport and a friend of mine has been to some Swiss league games in the past two seasons. The games attract decent crowds similar to the leagues of Belgium and Portugal (two examples where only the top-3 teams would attract really more than the Swiss teams) and apart from a few clubs the teams are decently run. Switzerland's not really having a football culture, my friend who's been there often has never seen many signs of football fanatism outside of the stadiums, but apart from a few big countries many domestic leagues are struggeling...

Ireland should be better and probably is, but that doesn't mean Switzerland is coming to Dublin like a hopeless mouse in a cat's claws...

[FarBeag]

.
Quote Jollyrodge rWe should beat them 3 or 4 nill

Beat the Swiss 3 or 4 goals, you have got to be joking.We wont beat them by that much simple as that, maybe 1 goal with a struggle.When was the last time we scored more than 2 goals apart from the Cyprus result.whether you like to admit it or not,there is fcuk all difference quality wise between us and the Swiss apart from R Keane,D Duff ,Given and to a lesser extend Robbie and A Reid.Based on results in Euro 2004 the Swiss appeared to be quite a bad team when in actual fact they were better than their final position reflected and the England result was a freak one.Christ i would love to see us hammer them but you have to be realistic

[Gerrit]

exactly my point. Switzerland qualified for :

- World Cup 1994 (and reached the 2nd round)
- Euro 1996
- Euro 2004

and also WC 2002 or Euro 2000, I am not too sure which of both...


That's not a bad record, they were at most of the recent big tournaments. Maybe they did not glitter there, but being there means they had already overcome some serious opposition before the actual tournament.

Basel reached the second round of the Champions League three years ago, eliminating Bayern Munich.
Grasshoppers booked a sensational win at Ajax a few seasons before that.

Some Swiss players play in the Bundesliga, one in England, and some with the best domestic sides.

We're not talking about a crap team here. Given the home advantage and the few star players Ireland has they are better, but that's theory. Once on the field they'll have to dismantle a very good collective, and it's definitely Ireland as favourite for the win but it won't be simple.

I think for Israel a draw in Switzerland would be a very good result, though if they really want to set themselves (and maybe even Ireland) in a pole position for the top two spots, they have to win in CH.

[Qwerty]

To be honest I think France, Ireland and Switzerland are all pretty ordinary at the moment - we really have not played to our potential since the last World Cup. Only Israel are currently playing to their potential. The real question is can Brian Kerr allow this current team to realize it's potential - he is the key factor. We have solid players ( current players better than those available in last World Cup ) . Eirebhoy poited out on paper we are better than the Swiss but on the field of play we have yet to prove that. If you watched the last game in Basel - the Swiss looked like they would walk the ball through our defense at will.

I think our problems are in midfield and not the back 4 per se but I would like to see the Honey Monster in there as a big physical center half is something we lack, O'Brien, Cunningham and O'Shea are all a bit lightweight - and such very nice chaps. I often think we have a team of 1 man and 10 boys ( no prizes who guessing who the man is ).

I think France and Switzerland know that the best game plan for Lansdowne road is to put 10 men behind the ball and hit Ireland on the counter attack. I think 3 wins is a tall order for this team - but the bright news is we pretty much score in every game so if we can tighten up in midfield & full-back in particular and reduce our slopiness we can do it.

[geysir]

I agree with FarBeag, I don't know where all this optimism about beating the Swiss 3-0 or 4-0 is coming from. It can't be based on ours or the Swiss record in this qualifying group nor can it be based on our head to head record against the Swiss.
Maybee there is a black hole in my brain, but when have we ever looked like trouncing the Swiss in our last 3 games with them or trounced any team 3 or 4 nil in the last 3 years? (do I hear Canada).
Why all of a sudden should we start now? What evidence is there that this is a realistic outcome?
One factor is that the Swiss league players will be sharp enough with their summer games.
What looks in our favour is the way the games are scheduled, the Swiss will come here a few days after their home game to the French. For any team that is quite a haul. The bookies last time I looked favour the Swiss over the Irish. They are a reasonable team, so are we, if we play to 60% or 70% then we will win. if we play like we did for most of the game against Israel we will win.

[Stuttgart88]

I think there's cause for optimism in that the Swiss seem stronger at home than away. The nearly fluffed it in the Faroes, drew 2-2 in Israel & based on comment on this board were much the inferior team. A 0-0 in Paris isn't to be scoffed at obviously, (but ours was better :) )

But in the Euro 2004 group they lost 4 or 5-1 in Russia when it mattered and struggled in Albania & Georgia if I remember. They did absolutely NOTHING to beat us in Dublin. Gary Breen went AWOL just before HT and they barely saw the ball in the second half from what I can remember.

We'll still need to play well to beat them but I also think they may draw against Israel & France at home & I have a hunch Cyprus may sneal something in September.

Did anyone see France against Hungary recently? Impressive or otherwise? 2-1 hardly sends the fear of God into you. Good result for us as it takes the heat off Domenech. Do France play a friendly in August? The last thing we need is the French getting a shot in the arm with a new manager in Dublin.

[eirebhoy]

The bookies last time I looked favour the Swiss over the Irish.
Nah, we're still 2nd favourites after France:
http://www.oddschecker.com/betting/mode/o/card/worldcup-worldcupgroups/odds/96904x/sid/192684


Do France play a friendly in August?
Yeah, Argentina at home. Same day as us, 17th.

[eirebhoy]

Hakan Yakin has joined Young Boys:
http://skysports.planetfootball.com/transfernews.asp?type=article&id=283666

[Robitaille]

Hi people, i am a Swiss fan and came by chance some time ago into this forum.
Being Ireland one of our opponents, I am interested in what your thoughts are.
From what i read, you look quite confident to beat us. Well, I am not here to make you change idea. I don't know who is better, probably Ireland, at least on FIFA rankings.

One of you said that Ireland are improving, while Switzerland are getting downwards. I don't know about you, but I'll tell you our team is improving.

Last year at the Euro '04 in Portugal our performances were poor, at least in matters of result. Our displays against CRO, ENG and FRA were good, only goals were not coming..
However, there were plenty of reasons for those results:
- Murat (Basel) and Hakan Yakin (Stuttgart/Galatasaray) had only played few games before. Murat injured and Hakan not finding a place in the starting eleven of Stuttgart.
- Magnin (Werder Bremen) injury-prone
- Wicky (Hamburg) and Vogel (PSV, now Milan) were injured too in spring 04, if I am not wrong
- Henchoz (?), Cabanas (now Grasshoppers) and Haas (?) were struggling to have a chance at their teams. Cabanas was not used in his usual position and didn't make it, so he decided to be back in Switz. in January 2004, but he was then only the shadow of itself. Henchoz and Haas you know probably better than me how their (bad) perfs were
- Streller (our 2nd best striker) got injured just before Euro 04

I don't know what we could have done with all the players fit and available, I have no answer, only "if", and "if" don't bring us that far. All in all, we wouldn't have probably make it even if we played better.

But after that, many things has changed. First of all we put not less than 7 young players in the national team:
- Senderos ('85 Arsenal) Ziegler ('86 Tottenham), Degen ('83 next season Borussia Dortmund), Rochat ('83 next season Rennes, 4th in the French league), Barnetta ('85 Hannover, next year Bayer Leverkusen), Vonlanthen ('86 PSV, Brescia) and Margairaz ('84 Zurich). More over, Marco Streller '81 of Stuttgart is back after his injury.
Those players have all made Switzerland a bit better, especially Senderos, Degen (playing instead of Haas), Barnetta and this year's revelation Xavier Margairaz, who did well in his first international match and I bet will quite soon get a contract abroad. And also having back Streller is very positive, because Vonlanthen is still too young (born '86).
Then I can add other players joined recently clubs in important championships abroad: Ch. Spycher ('78) will play for Eintracht Frankfurt, Gygax ('81) and Lichtsteiner ('84) will play for Lille (2nd in the French League), Ch. Schwegler ('84) for Arminia Bielefeld (German league). And Behrami ('85) will join a Serie-A club (Palermo maybe)

Our main concern is now Hakan Yakin, who signed in these days for Young Boys Berne. He hopefully get to play and be back at his old perfs. His brother Murat has recovered from injury and he will be hopefully ready in September too.

I am confident that in September and October most of our players will be available (apart from Haas injured and Henchoz if he cant manage to find a club to play for).

I don't know if we are good enough to win at Lansdowne. I don't believe you will beat us easily, but I guess a lot will depend on how many points we have before this final match. I make no prediction, just may the best win!

[Green Tribe]

Welcome Robitaille!

I really hope your team does not spoil qualification for us AGAIN :D Israel have already rocked the boat :mad: I cannot believe how close the group is even at such a late stage...I hope the pattern continues that Switzerland are weak away, but it will not be an easy game, i think we'll need full effort, but we should win. best of luck...

[jorge]

Their most effective player has joined an average swiss team so if we dont beat them then...

[thejollyrodger]

what about us ? we have young aiden mac geady to come in and that fella who plays for arsenal. they are great attacking players and with duff robbie (and possibly elliott if he turns out to be good) we really have a decent attacking 4.

Elliott might be able to come on from the bench and get a goal or help change the game.

Mc Geady might do likewise in the next WCQ'ers

[Stuttgart88]

but I'll tell you our team is improving.

Interesting post.

How come Switzerland found it so hard to beat Cyprus at home? Or was that just a blip?

[thejollyrodger]

Switzerland will collapse when then play France at home and then travel to Dublin in a matter of 4 short days !!