gooDevil
Worst scout ever
Friday, June 20th, Switzerland vs. France at Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador (8pm BST, 3pm ET)
Seems as if opinions are aligned on this match. Expect a draw (1-1 or 2-2) or a tight win (2-1 or 1-2).
Hm. Of course France won comfortably but Honduras didn't seem to be a tough opponent. Switzerland OTOH started rather poorly but turned the game around; I expect them to have gotten a boost of self-esteem from that experience.Definitely give the edge to Les Bleus atm due to form from the first match. Hitzfeld is conservative and with both sides on 3 pts you'd think the gutless approach of playing for the draw would prevail from him so we'll see
It's a big rivalry as rivalries go in this country so it will be a spirited encounter...Hopp Suisse!
Mehmedi looked very lively, yeah. I know it would probably be horrid to watch, but surely the familiarity between the 3 Napoli players might make this worth a shot against superior opposition at some point:Will be interesting to see how Hitzfeld reacts to the abysmal performance against Ecuador. I guess Djourou is likely to get another start alongside Von Bergen. Hopefully he'll start Mehmedi, preferably behind the striker, instead of Xhaka, but I think he will move him out on the wing, instead of Stocker (who was equally bad as Xhaka vs Ecuador, I just think Xhaka is influencing our overall performance more as he is playing centrally and most of our play should go through him at some point and when he has a bad day, he's breaking down all our moves).
At the top he'll most certainly give Drmic another chance, he didn't play well against Ecuador, but no striker would without any kind of support, so I think Drmic will start with Seferovic as a super-sub.
Hopefully we'll be able to grind out a point (or 3 ), but I guess in the end the french will be just a tiny bit too strong, so my realistic prediction is France 1-0 Switzerland. The little boy inside me though is saying France 1-2 Switzerland
Odd for Pogba to be benched for this one, quite possibly Deschamps sending a message to him to act more maturely. Hasn't been impressed with him lashing out against Palacios I take it.Robin Bairner @RBairner 4m
Deschamps to start with Benzema & Giroud v Switzerland, with Griezmann out. #Pogba will be rested with Sissoko set to start. (L'Equipe)
Very interesting lineup, at least on paper, I'm not sure how well it would work as it is a really defensive and slow setup. Also the three Napoli midfielders are known rather for their defensive capabilities and workrate than for their creativity, so I think we would really struggle to create chances up top for Drmic who would cast kind of a lonely figure.Mehmedi looked very lively, yeah. I know it would probably be horrid to watch, but surely the familiarity between the 3 Napoli players might make this worth a shot against superior opposition at some point:
--------------------------Drmic-------
Mehmedi or Stocker-----------------Shaqiri---
-------------Dzemail----Inler----Behrami-----
with Rodriguez and Lichsteiner playing extremely high up the pitch with that extra DM to cover them.
I didn`t think of this, but I have no issue with that at all. Pogba was really lucky not to have been sent off, and if they had drawn or lost to Honduras, they`d be facing elimination against a tough Swiss side.Odd for Pogba to be benched for this one, quite possibly Deschamps sending a message to him to act more maturely. Hasn't been impressed with him lashing out against Palacios I take it.
Oh well, at least I won't feel bad now that I won't watch this one.
Harsh on Valbuena, and Giroud`s knockdowns are fairly creative in their own right. Agreed on the midfield, though. The 6 CM`s out there scream ``take the under``Sissoko, Cabaye and Matuidi in midfield is very workmanlike and Valbeuna isn't good enough to be the sole creative force so I'd give Switzerland a fair chance here.
Honduras < Ecuador. Not really sure that is an indicator.France were all over Honduras even before the red card. Swiss on the other hand have failed to impress against equador.
3-1 to France
He's being punished for his 'attitude problems' or probably he is just being saved from getting a second yellow and missing out on the 3rd game...Pogba not playing? How come? The way he gets hyped you'd think he's indispensable for France.