World Cup Fantasy Preview: Switzerland

Goalkeepers:

Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Roman Buerki (Grasshopper), Yann Sommer (Basel).

Defenders:

Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Michael Lang (Grasshopper), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Fabian Schaer (Basel), Philippe Senderos (Valencia), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Reto Ziegler (Sassuolo).

Midfielders:

Tranquillo Barnetta (Eintracht Frankfurt), Valon Behrami (Napoli), Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli), Gelson Fernandes (Freiburg), Gokhan Inler (Napoli), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Valentin Stocker (Basel).

Forwards:

Josip Drmic (Nuremberg), Mario Gavranovic (Zurich), Admir Mehmedi (Freiburg), Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach).

Fantasy players to watch

Gokhan Inler

Swiss captain, the hard tackler plays alongside midfield partner Behrami at Napoli.  Dangerous shot from long range and scorer of 6 in 71 international games.

Xherdan Shaqiri

Full of talent and the opinion of youth.  Not able to dislodge club mates Robben/Ribery at Bayern Munich but star player in Switzerland attack.  Plays anywhere across the front line and loves to shoot.  Will be on direct free kicks adding value.  Lacking consistency at this stage but full od possibility he is linked with a summer move away from Munich but a big tournament may change that.

Gramit Xhaka

The Swiss playmaker and just 21 years old.  Safe starter with 4 goals in 24 plays in the no10 role.  German pundits have talked about his his % pass rate averaging around 88% all season.  So young he is still improving and maybe be the star of the team in the euro 2016 campaign.

Josip Drmic

Center forward is a fox in the box type.   Comfortable shooting with both feet and seems to have pinched the first team spot after an excellent season playing for Nuremberg.  17 goals in a relegated side is impressive and it has earnt him a move to Bayern Leverkusen.

Conclusions

The Swiss side are one with real potential.  Many of the side won the Under 17 World Cup in 2009 and reached the final of the Under 21 European 2011 championships.  Switzerland run a very effective youth program which has seen the introduction of many sons from Balkans families during the 1990's.  This have added spite and technique to the squad.  The side ran up an 18 game unbeaten streak.  An attacking side with a soft spot at centre back they are narrow favourites to take second place in the group.  However this group may be more unpredictable than it seems on paper and those of you who like a bet could find value in them pinching top spot or even failing to progress.

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