England’s European Championship campaign looked dead and buried before it was salvaged by a remarkable last-gasp goal from Jude Bellingham in the round of 16, but it has barely made its presence felt in Germany.
Gareth Southgate’s men take on in-form Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Duesseldorf, and the Swiss underlined their credentials by beating defending champions Italy in the last 16.
A couple of weeks ago, England would have relished facing Switzerland -- a team it has lost to only three times in its 27 meetings and most recently in 1981.
Murat Yakin’s team, however, has played with a consistency and confidence that has eluded England.
Yakin even said he sympathised with Southgate, who has been lambasted in Germany for not getting more from his talented squad.
“I know this myself from last year a little bit, just focus on the football game, not what we read in the newspapers, that’s the only thing we can do as a coach,” Yakin said.
Southgate has been criticised for not making many changes to his team but that could be about to change as they practised a back three in training, with Kyle Walker moved to the right of centre three and Bukayo Saka potentially playing as wing-back.
Of concern to Southgate is the fact that defender Marc Guehi, who has been solid on his major tournament debut, is suspended for Saturday’s match, John Stones has been training with his leg heavily bandaged and Luke Shaw has not played since February due to injury.
While England has not played with three at the back since finishing runners-up to Italy at Euro 2020, it would allow Southgate to employ his wing-backs higher up the pitch.
Yakin, meanwhile, will rely on the experience of Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji and Newcastle United’s Fabian Schar to anchor the back line, with Granit Xhaka acting as the midfield playmaker.
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Xhaka, who played a pivotal role in Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga victory last season, was delighted by Switzerland’s win over Italy which was sweet revenge for their 3-0 thrashing by them at Euro 2020.
“I have never seen the Azzurri in such difficulty on the field as against us,” Xhaka said. “We won even before going on the pitch, just as they did with us three years ago. They were scared.”
England is bidding for its first European Championship title in 11 appearances while a Swiss victory would put Yakin’s team into the semifinals for the first time.
The winner will face Turkey or the Netherlands in the semis.
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