Swiss precision and press provide England with tactical challenge
REUTERS – England’s happiness at being on what is perceived to be the easier side of the knockout draw at Euro 2024 has been tested by Slovakia but what awaits them in the quarter-final today will be an even sterner examination.
Opponents Switzerland have been beaten only once in their 18 matches since the World Cup, a dead rubber European Championship qualifier in Romania, and have lost outright in one of their last 14 games at the Euros dating back to 2008.
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos was full of praise for the Swiss after the hosts needed a 92nd-minute equaliser in their final pool match to draw 1-1 while Italy’s Bryan Cristante was candid after their 2-0 last-16 defeat.
“They beat us physically and in terms of organisation,” he said.
For an England side that has found opening up opponents difficult in Germany, that presents another tactical challenge for manager Gareth Southgate.
The Swiss have a settled back-four but coach Murat Yakin is not afraid to make changes in the forward positions, and with several options across the front three, it makes it hard to plan for them.
Switzerland’s seven goals at Euro 2024 have come from different players, they are not reliant on an individual who can be contained, but spread the workload across the team, whether in attack or defence.
They also work incredibly hard. Midfielder Rubin Vargas praised his side for how they suffocated Italy when out of possession. “We didn’t give them time to breathe,” he said.
The Swiss are second bottom for number of tackles made (36) at the finals, but have conceded only three goals, which shows how they use their organisation and press to subdue opponents.
In fact, goalkeeper Yann Sommer has been forced to make only six saves in more than six hours of football, so well has he been protected by his defence. No gloveman has been less busy at Euro 2024.
The Swiss are one of four teams at the tournament to have scored two goals from outside the box, along with Germany, Turkey and Romania.
They have had more shots on target (18) than off target (15) at these finals, a claim only a handful of sides can make, and don’t mind not having the ball with 48% possession spread across their games.
They do not use width much and are last of the 24 teams for crosses completed with five in four games, keeping their play compact in central positions.
“When we put on our pressing, we won’t let them (England) play. That’s our job,” Yakin told reporters. “We played well against Germany, we played well against Italy, so why shouldn’t we beat England?”