Switzerland Football Fans

Stoke City manager Paul Lambert feels the club cannot be solely reliant on Xherdan Shaqiri to change the club’s fortunes. The Switzerland international is the Potters’ leading contributor this term with seven goals and a further six assists, but this has not been sufficient to propel the club above the drop zone.

Speaking in a press conference, Lambert stressed that the Potters cannot be ‘too reliant’ on one player unlike he is of the calibre of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, he said: “I don’t think you can be too reliant on one player. I think it is a difficult thing for that to happen unless you are Lionel Messi or that type of player. Xherdan Shaqiri has done well for us but he needs a little bit of help as well. We need it from other areas on the pitch, if we get that we are certainly in the game. I think that’s where if everybody chips in with some goals we stand a better chance.”

Stoke are currently lying three points adrift of safety with just seven games to play, and their fixtures do not get easier, considering they have to face-off against the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley. Two of those games against Arsenal and Liverpool are on the road, and it would not come as a surprise, if Lambert adopts an ultra-defensive approach in order to scrape a point from one of those games.

The Staffordshire outfit take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this weekend, and their chances of a victory are slim considering the form of the opposition in their home patch. Stoke have enjoyed a strong run against the Gunners at the Bet365 Stadium, but their record has not been the same in North London where they have lost nine straight games since their top-flight promotion in 2008.

New Zealand Football have named a Swiss coach Fritz Schmid as the new national team boss on Friday. The new coach is tasked with managing the side and helping them make their top target: a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. New Zealand national team had been without a substantive manager since the departure of Anthony Hudson in November. The Briton failed to help New Zealand go past the World Cup intercontinental playoff against Peru. Without a World Cup in mind, there was no extending the deal.

The new manager has worked as assistant coach in several places, including the Austrian national team from 2011 to 2013. He was also part of the coaching crew at FC Basel from 2002 until 2009, helping them win the Swiss Championship on a number of occasions. Before then he worked as an assistant to fellow Swiss coach Christian Gross at Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur from 1997 to 1998.

“Fritz has a proven track record at the highest level of coaching in Europe and we believe he will take our national team to a new level. He has the experience and the vision to help the All Whites achieve the goal of winning on the world stage at pinnacle events,” an excited technical director Andreas Heraf said.

Schmid recently resigned from his post as technical director with the Malaysian Football Association last year after being tapped for the plum job. The 58-year old coach says the team is “exciting” with a “huge potential” and that the ultimate goal over the course of four years is to make the FIFA World Cup in 2022. He insist that he is confident of the nation which ranks 121st in the world. Even if top the qualification race in Oceania, they would have to win an intercontinental playoff to make the final cut.

Former Arsenal star Martin Keown believes the likes of Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi need to provide much more on the playing field in order to secure their long-term futures with the club. The pair have received mixed reactions from the Gunners’ faithful this term, though they managed to recently impress in the double-legged Europa League tie versus AC Milan.

In a report covered by Sport Review, Keown has suggested that the north London side should build the team around Jack Wilshere, who has been touted as many as a future Gunners captain. Meanwhile, the ex-Gunners centre-back happened to question the involvement of Xhaka and Mustafi, and feels every player must prove their worth to stay for the long-run, he said: “They should be building the team around Jack Wilshere.Is Xhaka good enough in that midfield? Mustafi… there are so many question marks.Every compartment in the team have to demonstrate they have a future at the football club.”

Despite the criticism at different stages of the season, Arsene Wenger has stuck with Xhaka and the Switzerland international has yet to miss a match in the Premier League. While Xhaka is confident with his passing and tackling abilities, he has of late been criticised for his immobility when the club are defending in their own half.

A strong performance from the Swiss in midfield helped the Gunners progress to the quarter-final stage of the Europa League, and they will now face CSKA Moscow in another double-legged tie. There have been plenty of political tensions between the United Kingdom and Russia of late, and this is likely to spice things up prior to the European outing next month. Before all this, the teams are expected to travel for international commitments, and Xhaka could be in action against Greece and Panama in the next few weeks.

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has panned the performance of his former club after they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to the Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby last weekend. The Gunners started the game with a defensive-minded approach which helped them keep the scores level at the break.

However, Spurs exhibited their dominance from the start of the second-half, and the only goal of the game came via Harry Kane in the 49th minute after he scored off a brilliantly-timed header past Petr Cech, who was the Gunners’ best performer on the day.
Continue reading Ian Wright: Arsenal midfield trio failed to cope with Tottenham Hotspur

Switzerland national team coach Vladimir Petkovic has confirmed that he is extremely delighted that his team has been able to seal qualification to the World Cup 2018 after managing a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland on aggregate. After having done well so far in the qualification campaign, Switzerland suffered a hiccup with a 2-0 loss against Portugal. This group match defeat meant that the national team had to settle for a second place of the table and had to go through a qualification in order to reach the World Cup 2018.

This is because of the two teams finishing the same number of points in the table. Over the course of the qualification campaign, Portugal had also done extremely well and picked up 27 points. However, the extra goal difference for Fernando Santos’ team was responsible for the victory. Switzerland had a lot of worry as they went into the play-off match against Northern Ireland, who are one of the stronger teams in the knockout stages of the competition. After a 1-0 win in the first leg, Switzerland were able to get a goalless draw in the return leg at home. Ultimately, the penalty from Ricardo Rodriguez in the first leg proved to be the decisive goal in the game. As a result, Switzerland will be making their way to Russia 2018 in order to play at the World Cup.

Vladimir Petkovic will be keen on taking the best squad possible to the World Cup. One of the players who has caught the eye in recent weeks is West Ham’s Edimilson Fernandes. He has been part of the revived squad under David Moyes, and he will be able to sneak are key players in the squad if he continues on the rich vein of form. However, he has just suffered a knee injury that can keep him out of action for the next few weeks.

Arsenal legend-turned-pundit Thierry Henry has slammed Granit Xhaka for failing to react quicker prior to Wayne Rooney’s opening goal last weekend. The Switzerland international was fouled by Idrissa Gueye just outside the box, and he was busy protesting on the ground when Rooney capitalised to score the first goal of the game.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Henry insisted that Xhaka should be aware of what is around him as a player of Wayne Rooney’s caliber cannot be given much space in and around the box, he said: “You have to be aware of what’s happening Xhaka, yeah maybe it might be a foul. The danger is Wayne Rooney. When Xhaka loses the ball he needs to go now, but it’s too late. If you let Wayne Rooney take the ball, one touch, two touch, look up then you go one nil down.”

However, co-pundit Jamie Redknapp had more sympathy towards the Swiss footballer but did admit that he was in another world when the challenge from Gueye came in from behind, he added, “I think it’s a foul, just there. You can see he definitely hits him. He was daydreaming.”

Everton managed to take an early lead via Wayne Rooney’s belter in the first-half but the Gunners managed to get level at half-time. A long-range effort from Granit Xhaka was parried by Jordan Pickford into the path of Nacho Monreal, who found the net for the second time in this season’s Premier League.

The second period was controlled by the Gunners with Mesut Ozil giving the advantage whilst Alexandre Lacazette, Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez also converted after Gueye was sent off for the Toffees. Oumar Niasse did score a consolation prior to Sanchez’s effort, but the 5-2 thumping versus the Gunners eventually cost Ronald Koeman his job. Everton are likely to be managed by Under-23 coach David Unsworth when they take on Chelsea in the League Cup fourth round on Wednesday night.

Stoke City attacker Xherdan Shaqiri has provided valuable advice to his former club Basel ahead of their Champions League outing at Manchester United on Tuesday night.

The Swiss international played the full 90 minutes of the Potters’ 2-2 draw against Manchester United last weekend.

In an interview covered by Blick, Shaqiri admitted that Basel face a tough task on their hands at Old Trafford, where United are mostly dominant with their football. He added that the Swiss champions must focus beyond the defensive aspects if they are to take a positive result away from the Mancunian giants.

Stoke City attacker Xherdan Shaqiri has provided valuable advice to his former club Basel ahead of their Champions League outing at Manchester United on Tuesday night.

The Swiss international played the full 90 minutes of the Potters’ 2-2 draw against Manchester United last weekend.

In an interview covered by Blick, Shaqiri admitted that Basel face a tough task on their hands at Old Trafford, where United are mostly dominant with their football. He added that the Swiss champions must focus beyond the defensive aspects if they are to take a positive result away from the Mancunian giants.

He said: “You have to play bravely. It does not matter if you lose. Man United have so much class in their attack.It will be extremely difficult for Basel. Especially at Old Trafford, where Manchester is much more dominant than abroad. Old Trafford is one of the best stadiums in the world. They have to be brave, risk something. Just defending will not be enough.”

Meanwhile, Shaqiri was asked about United’s potential weakness, to which he replied: “If they do it’s with their defence. That’s what our goals have shown. If you play quickly and bravely, their defenders will have problems. At the back, Manchester United are vulnerable.”

Basel previously grabbed a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford back in the 2011/12 Champions League season, and it eventually proved valuable as they secured a shock 2-1 win in the reverse fixture to oust United from the Champions League.

Both teams have had a lot of personnel changes since the period, and Jose Mourinho’s will be determined to begin their Champions League campaign with a comfortable win. United have kept three clean sheets in their opening four league outings but they will be without the services of both Phil Jones and Eric Bailly, who are still serving the final game of their European suspension. Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof are expected to take their positions in central defence.

Granit Xhaka may have been voted as Switzerland’s Player of the Year but he admits that he cannot go out in London in a flamboyant mood following Arsenal’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool.

Xhaka was handed the accolade at a Swiss Football Association ceremony on Monday night, less than 24 hours after he was criticised for his listless display at Anfield.

Speaking about the award, he said: “I am very proud [of the award]. I had to work hard for it, but I would have never achieved it without the lads and the [national team] staff. I am still young, I am still fresh and I want more. I want to work even harder than before and then we’ll see what the future holds in store for me.”

Granit Xhaka may have been voted as Switzerland’s Player of the Year but he admits that he cannot go out in London in a flamboyant mood following Arsenal’s 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool.

Xhaka was handed the accolade at a Swiss Football Association ceremony on Monday night, less than 24 hours after he was criticised for his listless display at Anfield.

Speaking about the award, he said: “I am very proud [of the award]. I had to work hard for it, but I would have never achieved it without the lads and the [national team] staff. I am still young, I am still fresh and I want more. I want to work even harder than before and then we’ll see what the future holds in store for me.”

Xhaka was one of the standout performers at the European championships last summer, but he has not been able to take this form to the Emirates where he has put in a series of inconsistent displays. The Swiss international has been at fault for the Gunners’ flaws in midfield in recent games and when asked if he can move freely in the English capital, he replied: “I’m not going out after a 4-0 loss against Liverpool.”

The midfielder also gave a glimpse on his first season in English stating his disappointment at missing out on Champions League football. Nevertheless, the Swiss is content to have lifted the FA Cup title which the Gunners have won in three of the last four seasons.
Switzerland are currently topping their World Cup qualifier group ahead of heavyweights Portugal and wins over Andorra and Latvia could see them on the cusp of World Cup qualification, although they still have a reverse fixture against the Euro 2016 champions. Regardless of his club form, Xhaka has always been up for it at the national level, and he will seize to avoid any upset in the current set of fixtures.