Roy Hodgson, much criticised manager of our national team, sparked a revolution in Swiss football.
‘We are still benefiting today from the structures he put in
place at the time,’ said new Swiss manager Vladimir Petkovic, reflecting on Hodgson’s influence on Swiss
football, nearly 20 years ago. Petkovic was playing in Switzerland at the time,
but coming to the end of his career and beginning to take an interest in
coaching.
Hodgson proved to be a modernising force. It was his work
with the Swiss FA that led the national team to their first World Cup finals in
28 years. The popular tabloid newspaper “Blick” ran a series called ‘Roy was
for me…’ which featured memories from the stars of his USA ’94 squad.
‘Roy welded us together,’ said Ciriaco Sforza, who won 79
caps for Switzerland. ‘We would train and train again. By the time we were
finished, we could do it blind. We had success that made us strong against any
opponent. ‘Before the World Cup we were average players and after the World
Cup, our success allowed us to be bought by foreign clubs. This open doors for
following generations.’
Having been appointed in January 1992, at the age of 44,
Hodgson devoted time to drilling the team into his style. Clubs agreed to
release players for four mini training camps each year. They would gather in
different parts of the country for three days of intensive tactical work.
Most Swiss clubs were playing with a sweeper at the time and
he was keen to reshape them into 4-4-2
formation. At one point in 1993, they were ranked third in the world by FIFA. After
the World Cup in 1994, they qualified for Euro 1996, although Hodgson had left for Inter Milan by then.
Twelve out of the 23 named squad are playing with German
teams, three play in Switzerland and Philippe Senderos plays for Aston Villa. Xherdan
Shaqiri, 22 years old, from Bayern Munich, has scored 12 goals in 38 appearances
from midfield. Presently 9th in FIFA ranking, Switzerland is more highly
thought of than England.
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