Has found the perfect plan for every European Championship game so far: Murat Yakin
Photo: imago/Laci Perenyi
Murat Yakin himself has to smile a little while reading the newspaper. Logically, the coach of the Swiss national soccer team is aware of the praise that is raining down on him before the European Championship quarter-final against England in Düsseldorf this Saturday (6 p.m./ZDF). »Nice words are always nice to hear. But we also play well,” says the 49-year-old, who is currently receiving more affection than ever before in the job he started three years ago.
Sure, the two championships in 2013 and 2014 with his hometown club FC Basel in his hometown were also nice, but the prospect of the first European Championship semi-final for the Swiss sounds even better. Especially since everything the passionate chess player can come up with in terms of castling is working out. This honorably graying football teacher in particular has shown a golden touch with every European Championship surprise so far, both in terms of personnel and with his tactics. Now he is suddenly everything at once: tactical fox and mastermind, man-catcher and crowd favorite. In general media coverage, Yakin is definitely the right man in the right place. And he is motivated to continue the progress of Swiss football in Germany.
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After the convincing round of 16 against defending champions Italy (2-0) in Berlin, Yakin explained: “When we saw that they were coming with a back four, we knew: We’ll crush them.” Even Granit Xhaka doesn’t show such self-confidence. And he is actually the mouthpiece of the “Nati”. For a successful tournament you need strong players and a strong coach. The Swiss seemed a bit weak beforehand. The criticism in the tough qualification period accumulated when Xhaka said after a 2-2 draw against Kosovo in September last year: “The way we played today was how the whole week looked.” A captain can actually be more suspicious of training not formulate.
The coach then did the only right thing: not immediately object publicly, but instead seek discussion behind the scenes. As both sides have now confirmed, several discussions have been held this year. One in February in Düsseldorf, when, according to Xhaka, discussions took place over a fine meal and a good glass of red wine.
Coaches and pace setters knew anyway: one cannot be successful without the other. Yakin, although he had a very similar resume, was a different type of player than Xhaka: always blessed with a certain tendency towards nonchalance. The former Bundesliga player in Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern probably never exhausted his own limits to the extent that the extremely ambitious Granit Xhaka is currently doing at Bayer Leverkusen. But when different characters agree on a compromise, it can enrich the community. It is said that hardly anyone can read a game as well as Yakin, and word has spread internationally.
Although nothing is known about other offers (yet), the fact that the national coach’s contract expires after the tournament in Germany puts the Swiss Football Association under a bit of pressure. »There is no reason to discuss my future. We will tackle that after the European Championships,” Yakin assured again on Tuesday. »We had good conversations. My situation is certainly more pleasant now than it was a few months ago. The negotiating position could hardly be better.
If the contract is extended, assistant coach Giorgio Contini, whom Yakin already knew from his time in Lucerne, should definitely stay: The 50-year-old leads warm-ups, passing and game forms as well as goal attempts during training in the Waldau stadium. At the foot of the Stuttgart television tower, Yakin enjoys the role of observer, who prefers to call his assistant “partner.” »We have identical ideas. For us, Giorgio is a stroke of luck; it is also a great credit to him that things are going so well. Change was also needed in the supervisory staff,” says Yakin. Both now trust each other almost blindly. The duo is reminiscent of Jürgen Klinsmann and Joachim Löw in the German summer fairy tale 2006.
Yakin has no intention of disparaging his counterpart Gareth Southgate in any way before the duel against England. On the contrary: he has a lot of sympathy for his colleague, who has once again been criticized a lot. »We have met many times and get along well. He has a lot of good players to choose from. If the results are not correct, there will be criticism. I’ve already found myself in a similar situation,” says Yakin, who has another tip for the Englishman: “It’s best not to read too much newspaper.” Especially not if his Swiss were to throw the English out of the tournament.
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