Switzerland are up next for England in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 and former Arsenal star Granit Xhaka has mastered football’s cheat code

That Murat Yakin’s team emerged as one of the surprises in this tournament is a move that was executed with typical Swiss understatement.

They are clear and precise, beautifully balanced with all the parts working together. They have terrified hosts Germany and sent reigning champions Italy packing.

Next up is England in Düsseldorf and Switzerland continues with confidence, although there is little fuss.

Switzerland is beautifully balanced, with all parts of the team working together

Champion’s backbone

The Swiss have winners. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer won the Italian title this year with Inter Milan. Central defender Manuel Akanji won the Premier League with Manchester City. Granit Xhaka achieved the German double with Bayer Leverkusen. These are adult football players.

They have experience in pressing moments and are prepared to take responsibility and make decisions on the pitch. All accustomed to the demands of modern coaching. When to press high, increase the tempo, when to drop down, absorb the pressure, protect a lead and play on the counter-attack. Perfectly illustrated by the two elements of the victory against Italy: dominating the first hour and allowing possession in the last half hour.

Switzerland have winners in their ranks, including Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji

Good basic

Both sides of Akanji are experienced defenders Fabian Schar and Ricardo Rodriguez. They have more than 200 caps together. They can be prone to mistakes in defense, but are mobile, quick to cover and able to step into midfield with the ball.

Rodriguez is a former full-back who occasionally jumps out on the overlap. Teams will try to target him in the air. Niclas Fullkrug has been more successful in that regard for Germany than Gianluca Scamacca has been for Italy. Schar, as Newcastle fans know, is a threat from set pieces.

Experienced defenders Fabian Schar and Ricardo Rodriguez are hugely important

Swiss Bolognese

Spread across the team are three players from Bologna, the tactical revelation of Serie A this season. Thiago Motta coaches them in a possession-led manner and Giovanni Sartori, architect of the Atalanta revolution, sets them up.

The point here is that Michel Aebischer, Remo Freuler and Dan Ndoye are perfectly comfortable with the ball. They will accept it and move it confidently into tight spaces. They are fluid in formation and always adapt to a changing game. That was evident in the first half against Italy. Against Germany they were happy to concede the ball, trust their defence and hit on the break.

Liquid formations

With regular right-back Silvan Widmer ruled out for the Italy match, Yakin brought in Ndoye in that role, despite excelling as one of two attacking players deployed in support of striker Breel Embolo in the previous match against Germany.

Ndoye’s natural pace and running ability were offset by Fabian Rieder, nominally the right winger attacker but more often found in the centre. Without possession, Rieder’s job was to disrupt Italy’s deep playmaker Nicolo Fagioli. This opened the right flank for Ndoye to attack Matteo Darmian on the turnover. On the left, the quick and agile Ruben Vargas would keep his position wide with Aebischer, a right-footed left-back with an eye for a pass drifting inside, producing an overload in midfield and weaving passes through the lines.

Dan Ndoye’s versatility is an example of how Switzerland can be flexible in their approach

Xhaka Kan

Xhaka leads most of this from central midfield and plays with the utmost confidence. Who can blame him? In the year since leaving Arsenal, he has lost just two games for club and country. At Euro 2024, he played every minute of Switzerland’s four games and lost the ball just once. It’s as if he’s discovered football’s cheat code. In fact, as at Leverkusen, he is the leader of a side that knows what it’s trying to do and trusts the system.

Former Arsenal player Granit Xhaka plays with extreme confidence in midfield

United Front

Switzerland’s backroom staff produced a film before the match against Italy in which the players were thanked for the emotions they had been able to share together. After the victory, Yakin told his players to return the tribute and produce a film in which they thanked the staff for everything they did. “There is a great union,” said the 49-year-old head coach.

Target Threat

Embolo willingly leads the way. He is strong, physical and hard-working, but cannot claim to be clinical in front of goal. The Swiss problem through the better years under Vladimir Petkovic had always managed to turn the organization and the industry into targets.

This campaign, however, Yakin’s team have been better. They have scored 22 in 10 qualifying games, six of which were by Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni, and seven in four games in this tournament, by seven different players. That said, Scotland frustrated them in a 1-1 draw, the Swiss goal a dream strike from Xherdan Shaqiri.

Breel Embolo leads the line willingly, but he can’t claim to be clinical in front of goal

Luck on their side?

“We achieved these results with blood, sweat and tears and not by luck,” Yakin said after the win over Italy. However, he might admit that Fullkrug’s heartbreaking equalizer they conceded in stoppage time has left Switzerland on the easy side of the table. That fuels the hope that they can progress beyond the last eight.