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Holidays instead of the quarterfinals, disappointment instead of euphoria: The Swiss national team said goodbye to Sweden in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Russia. The 50 year old Adrian Knup, 49 times international and now Chief Sports Officer of the Swiss Football League, has trouble with an unfair evaluation of the opponent. And is fighting for a different treatment of the tournament.
Adrian Knup, why did Switzerland retire in the knockout stages of the World Cup?
The main reason I see is that the team did not show what she could do against Sweden. With few exceptions, no player has reached his usual level.
There was one exception: goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Yes. You really can not blame him. I simply say: The Swiss have not played to the limit of performance. And, of course, it's disappointing.
But before that, the opinion was widespread that there could hardly be a more ideal adversary than Sweden to finally reach a quarterfinal.
It was a misjudgment. The Swedes have a good time behind them. They won in a difficult qualification against Holland among others, they eliminated at the Barrage Italy, they were first in the qualifying group for the World Cup – before Mexico, especially the 39; Germany. Because it is daring to say that this team is defeated by Switzerland in passing.
This thought bothered you.
Yes, extremely. Many do not bother to analyze their opponents closely. And I find it very disrespectful to the Swedes, when I hear phrases after the match such as: "Now I have to explain to one, how not to win against such a team." The opponent has highlighted the optimum of its resources Consider as a model for Switzerland. Two years ago, when Switzerland failed in the round of 16, I was more annoyed by the defeat.
Why?
Because I felt that Poland was less strong. The Swedes were very good, physically, organizationally, with a clear plan. They did everything with 100% conviction. And these players are not under contract somewhere, but in good leagues.
But is it not at least the permissible criticism that the Swiss have not shown the necessary passion in this match, the will to take a turn?
Anyone who has seen the game can come to this impression, yes. But I would not say that he was not motivated. I tried to find an explanation for defeat. And it's mainly related to style. The Swiss cultivate the playful, demand the coach.He wants the football combination, he wants to create opportunities mainly with flat foods. Against Sweden, the team was so taken in his style. She could not change and suddenly use other virtues that would have been useful.
She ran.
Yes. It was the same thing in qualifying in Portugal where she could have qualified directly for the World Cup. She could barely make a chance, and she did not find the means to change. Nevertheless, I react very gently, if we talk about it, the team had failed. You have to put performance in the right relationship: Who are we, what do we represent? It is legitimate and good when ambitious goals are formulated. But if a small nation like Switzerland qualifies for a finals, it's already a great achievement.
And the incursion into the round of 16?
Is an exploit. Although I know that many people do not want to hear and recognize that anymore. It is not natural to assert in a group with Brazil and strong Serbs. And then, to move on to the next step, everything must be right, everything. This was not the case in Russia. Yes, Switzerland was below expectations in terms of performance, but that is why everything is reduced to rubble and writing with speeches and writings, so I do not belong to it.
One could also say: the punch was missing. Does Switzerland have an attacker problem?
If we have one, many other nations have it too. Who scored the goals for Germany? Or Robert Lewandowski – never met for Poland. The position of the attacker with that of the goalkeeper is the most difficult of football. We have people with great abilities, but they were not in rhythm.
Who do you think of first?
I think a lot about Josip Drmic. But he has a long history of suffering behind him and only towards the end of the season can make some matches in Mönchengladbach. He could not be the strongest in Russia. And Haris Seferovic, whom I consider a very interesting striker, had a very difficult season in Benfica in Lisbon.
After the preliminary round of the World Cup in 2010, the delegate of the national team of the time, Peter Stadelmann, questions about the training of offensive players and asks : "We must be more unpredictable".
A lot of things are done at the Swiss Football Association. As an attacking coach at FC Basel, I got involved as international alumni and I can say: He works hard. I do not worry for the future, but I realize that we can not be a little careless.
Why is it so difficult to train good attackers?
Because the good striker usually qualifies qualities that are only partially learned. He must have a nose for situations, the sense of when he must do something to come to a conclusion. He must have the absolute will to score goals. A midfielder or defender can train a lot more. I think Josip Drmic is the one with that nose.
The spirits divorced Seferovic. They obviously appreciate it.
Yes, because he is very attached to the team because he has technical skills. With him, you come to realize that he lacks playing practice and self-confidence. He is almost a shadow of himself.
Is his problem also that he has nowhere properly durchgebissen and forced? He already has some stations behind him.
An optimal career plan seems different, that's the case. But he has repeatedly suggested what he would be able to do. I do not think he's lacking class.
Did you understand how Vladimir Petkovic held the striker positions in the World Cup team?
Yes. The way I know him and I look at him at work, he has a logic.
However, we can conclude that for him the Super League counts little. Otherwise, he could have given Albian Ajeti a chance to score the top scorer of last season.
I believe rather that Petkovic did not want to change anything in the structure of the team for the World Cup. He already sees the qualities of an Ajeti. Ajeti is one of the interesting candidates for the future, he is 21 years old and has scored 17 goals in the past season. It's a brand. We must also keep an eye on Dimitri Oberlin, who is unpredictable but needs to be more consistent.
Some coaches hear in their game system without a classic attacker. Are the numbers 9, like you or Alex Frei, still relevant?
I think so, yes. The Guardians Nine, Knipser or whatever you want to call them, should always find a place in the team. France has Olivier Giroud at the top, England with Harry Kane, Spain with Diego Costa, Poland with Robert Lewandowski, Belgium with Romelu Lukaku and Uruguay with Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez [19659002] Blerim Dzemaili is 32 years old, Valon Behrami 33, Stephan Lichtsteiner 34. How would you rebuild the Swiss national team?
It takes opening for promising new players. And it takes the performance of those players who feel that they need to be in the national team.
Would you put Xherdan Shaqiri in the center behind the top?
He can play this role. But I've already seen a lot of his best games on the side. And in hindsight, it's always easy to say that if Shaqiri had played against Sweden in the middle, that might be the case. , , Who knows?
Shaqiri was criticized for his performance against Sweden, Granit Xhaka too. Can you understand that?
Of the two always something special is needed, they could not recover in the second round. If we want to make the move, these key players need something extraordinary. They did not show it against the Swedes and that is why they are criticized
.
It's too easy for me to project the reason for the fall of both. But the fact is, even if Shaqiri and Xhaka, who could lead the game in a different direction, are not good, it will be difficult.
Granite Xhaka, in particular, formulates his claims fairly quickly.
Yes, it's like that. But I like the players who get up and say that they want to succeed, that they want to achieve more than the knockout stages. At the same time, it makes sense that it comes back to them if the goals are missed as now in Russia. But again: That's why everything was not bad right away.
(DerBund.ch/Newsnet)
Creation date: 07.07.2018, 23:44
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