The reasons for the Nati crisis: misrecognition of reality, cultural change, tactical shortcomings

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Only one win in 14 games, bottom of the Nations League table with zero points and 1:14 goals in four games. The national team is in a sporting crisis 19 months before the home European Championships, coach Inka Grings (45) comes under fire. However, it would be too short-sighted to attribute the poor results solely to the Germans. “We have to take care of ourselves,” says captain Lia Wälti (30). Eight reasons why things are not going well for the national team at the moment:

The three games against world champion Spain confirm what Tatjana Haenni (56) has been warning about for some time: “We are getting further and further away from the top of the world.” The Nations League, which was held for the first time, mercilessly shows what the former SFV director meant. The national team does not belong in League A. Moreover, Spain is currently the ultimate. “We should not compete with such countries,” says Inka Grings. “Anyone who does that – with all due respect – has no understanding of football.”

There was already a lot of clapping under Gring’s predecessor Nils Nielsen (51). A 0:4 in Belgium in December 2020 in European Championship qualifying, a 0:7 against Germany or a 0:4 against England in the run-up to the European Championship in 2022. There has never been a win against a big player in a competitive game – not even under Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (55). At the 2017 European Championship, France defied France by drawing 1-1 – partly thanks to an early red card from the opponent – but were still eliminated after the preliminary round. The highest feelings are victories against Italy, Belgium or Portugal, who are not among the best in the world in women’s football.

The switch from Nielsen to Grings began a cultural change within the national team. There is the Dane, who relied on the right to participate and personal responsibility and under whom the national team developed into an oasis of well-being. Here is the brash German who made a clear speech and tightened the screws. Not everyone can handle that. The most obvious is Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic (33), who publicly criticized Grings after her non-nomination in September. Their body language during the October meeting showed that the conflict had not yet been resolved. Nevertheless, the team spirit must be intact. “We go through bad times together,” says Coumba Sow (29).

The national team will also start on Tuesday with an attacking 4-3-3 system in the open air against Spain – as in the World Cup round of 16, when Switzerland was already 1:4 behind at halftime. That raises questions, which became clear on Tuesday when heated arguments broke out between the players and the coach on the sidelines. Lia Wälti says: “We must all take responsibility. But ultimately we are responsible for what happens on the field.” In the home match against Italy (0-1), an equal team, the national team only acted courageously and offensively in the final phase, when their backs were already against the wall.

The performance against Spain is a defensive horror show. Six of the seven goals conceded were preceded by blatant individual errors, emblematic of this are the first two goals, where several players were off their feet. Against Sweden (0-1), the national team conceded the only goal after a standard situation when Wälti let her opponent run. In September’s 5-0 defeat in Spain, goalkeeper Elvira Herzog conceded three goals.

The innocent offensive was the big problem at the World Cup. Despite stronger opponents, there was a slight improvement in the autumn – but only thanks to the boys. Alayah Pilgrim (20) is by far the most dangerous striker. It is no coincidence that she ended the goal drought against Spain after more than 400 minutes. That speaks for her, but also for the other strikers such as Alisha Lehmann (24) or Seraina Piubel (23), who unfortunately missed two top chances against Spain. Ultimately, Switzerland has always lacked a world-class photographer like Grings once was.

Only Lia Wälti, Noelle Maritz (both Arsenal), Géraldine Reuteler (Frankfurt), Luana Bühler (Tottenham) and Eseosa Aigbogun (AS Roma) are regular players at top clubs abroad, Ramona Bachmann and Viola Calligaris (both PSG) and Ana- Maria Crnogorcevic (Atletico Madrid) is used regularly, but only a few play a key role in their teams. Riola Xhemaili and Nadine Riesen, who eat hard bread in Wolfsburg and Frankfurt, feel that a completely different wind is blowing at this level. But going abroad is the only way to make progress in the medium term. How weak the Super League is internationally is evident from FCZ’s Champions League performance, which was quietly eliminated against Ajax Amsterdam.

Before the start of the Nations League, Ramona Bachmann (32) talks about the dream of participating in the 2024 Olympic Games. The problem is: only the two finalists from the Final Four (and France) are allowed to participate in Paris. The Swiss reality is different. With two rounds to go, relegation from League A of the Nations League is hardly avoidable. Crnogorcevic says after her return to Nati: “We have stagnated.” That’s correct. But the question is: has the national team ever been better?

Source : Blick