Fire or keep?: The association is in the Yakin trap

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It is the classic model for Swiss national coaches: their contract runs until the end of a qualifying phase. If the European Championship or World Cup is reached, the contract will be automatically extended for the tournament. This has meant that no national coach has been dismissed this millennium, despite an ongoing contract. Either the contract expired or the coaches left voluntarily: most recently Vladimir Petkovic (after the 2021 European Championship), Ottmar Hitzfeld (after the 2014 World Cup) and Köbi Kuhn (after the 2008 European Championship). Rolf Fringer was the last coach to leave his position against his will in October 1997.

26 years later, the current association management could well be the next to dismiss a coach prematurely. Murat Yakin’s contract currently runs until the end of the year. If the national team secures the ticket for the 2024 European Championship in November, Yakin will automatically be tied to the Swiss Football Association (SFV) until the tournament in Germany.

Does it make sense to go to the European Championships with Yakin like this?

But the downward trend in sports in recent months, the atmospheric unrest in and around the national team and the clear lack of support for Yakin from parts of the team and from the top of the association give the question of the future a sense of urgency. : True to the past, with Yakin to the European Championships if the qualification is successful? Or say goodbye to the national coach at the end of the year, no matter what happens in November?

Explosive: According to information from Blick, it is currently not an option to keep Yakin after the summer of 2024. Because there is no belief within the association that the Nati under Yakin has a successful long-term future. Against this background, the question automatically arises: does it even make sense to go to the European Championships with a coach about whom there are doubts?

At club level, history has shown that sticking with the coach in such a situation was always a wrong decision and quickly led to dismissal. Raphael Wicky in 2018 at FCB, Uli Forte in 2015 at YB or Urs Meier in 2015 at FCZ – they all entered the new season and still had to pack their bags that summer.

Tami: “I’m not here to disturb”

The national team’s results crisis and the statements of players like Granit Ball have been concluded. The tactic that Nati director Pierluigi Tami has used before to tackle controversial issues, namely sugar-coating things and letting things grow over them, probably won’t work this time. Not when it comes to the big question about the short- and medium-term future of key Nati personnel.

But can Tami even make unpopular decisions? When he was introduced as Nati director in the fall of 2019, he said: “I am not here to disrupt.” But: asking unpleasant questions and interrupting them is now the job of the Ticino. Together with SFV Secretary General Robert Breiter and President Dominique Blanc, leadership is now required. The trio must quickly show its colors publicly: we believe in Yakin in the long term – or not. Anything else just further poisons the already toxic situation.

Assuming that Yakin and the national team qualify for the European Championships in November, the association will be in the Yakin trap. And getting out of the trap is only possible with a clear plan. According to the SFV, neither Yakin nor Tami want to comment publicly on the current situation. The focus is on the matches in November, when it is all or nothing for the national team in the battle for the European Championship ticket.

Source : Blick