Winning start for Trossero – in training

Trossero (right) with Pascal Zuberbühler, during training on Monday Keystone

Switzerland's new football coach, Enzo Trossero, has made a winning start to the job - at least on the training ground. In a match played behind closed doors on Tuesday, Trossero's A-team beat the reserve side 3-0.

At a press conference after the match, Trossero said it had been important to keep the media away from the game. “I wanted to watch the players without any disturbance,” he explained, adding that he was impressed with what he had seen.

“I was amazed by the commitment and quality of the game,” he continued. “That gives me a lot of hope for the tasks that face us.”

There was not even a referee on hand as Trossero’s first Swiss eleven ensured victory with goals from Patrick Bühlmann, Andres Gerber and Alexandre Rey. The coach himself took charge of the game, occasionally calling a halt to explain particular ideas.

Trossero opted for a 3-4-1-2 formation, suggesting slightly less defensive leanings than his critics have come to expect.

“I believe this system is the best one for the national side right now,” he argued. “But I’m flexible and can always change the formation to suit the opposition or depending on which players are available to me. I’m not stubborn.”

Countering the charges of over-defensiveness, Trossero insisted that Tuesday’s training match had been more focussed on attack than on defence. “We have to win our home matches if we are to reach the finals of the World Cup,” he stated. “But defence is still the basis of any success.”

Despite its success in training, the A-team chosen by Trossero for the warm-up in Yverdon is unlikely to remain the same for next month’s friendly against Greece. As well as being keen to see some of his foreign-based players in action, the coach said that he had also been impressed by some of the youngsters who he placed in the reserve side on Tuesday.

Alex Frei, Ludovic Magnin, Oumar Kondé and Ricardo Cabanas were all picked out for praise, but in these early days of his reign, the Swiss coach has been keen to exclude no-one. “I need experienced players as well,” Trossero pointed out. “I’m not interested in the age or reputation of a player. Performance and attitude are the only things that count.”

In his efforts to appraise the players available to him as quickly as possible, Trossero will be travelling throughout Europe in the coming weeks. He has already been to Munich and Eindhoven for meetings with Ciriaco Sforza and Johann Vogel and is now planning a trip to England to discuss his plans with Stéphane Henchoz and Ramon Vega. After that he will fly to Italy to see David Sesa. The coach has also been in contact with Fabio Celestini and Alexandre Comisetti, who begin domestic action in France this weekend.

Tuesday’s training sides were as follows:

Switzerland A: Pascolo, Wicky, Murat Yakin, Mazzarelli, Gerber, Müller, Esposito, Bühlmann, Hakan Yakin, Rey, Türkyilmaz.

Switzerland B: Stiel, Zanni, Keller, Grichting, Jeanneret, Cabanas, Kondé, Melunovic, Magnin, Bieli, Frei.


swissinfo with agencies