Yakin is the best Swiss coach in history

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A coach many considered a casting error pulled off what may have been the Swiss team’s best match against Italy since its first official game in 1905.

François Schmid-Bechtel

Three days before the start of the Euro, we published a survey in which only 25% of respondents thought that Murat Yakin was the ideal coach for our team. A figure that testified to the country’s distrust of its coach, but which was not without a certain logic, especially after Switzerland’s sluggish qualifying campaign (they qualified late for the Euro by finishing 2nd in a group in which they were nevertheless the favourites).

Since last fall, Murat Yakin has had to endure a lot of criticism. At first it was just derogatory remarks. But subsequently, a real campaign against him spread throughout the country. Some stories have been amplified and distorted to always arrive at the same conclusion: Yakin must leave his post.It went so far that a renowned Zurich newspaper kept writing about the supposedly conflicted and irreparable relationship between Granit Xhaka and his coach, but did not quote the captain when he said: “I hope we go to the Euros with Yakin.”

The autumn was brutal for Yakin. Not only because of the criticism from the media and the public. Because he was also challenged internally. With each result that did not meet expectations, his superior Pierluigi Tami distanced himself more and more from him. Until the coach found himself all alone, in the rain and facing the wind, practically abandoned by Tami, in a family context already painful for the coach, who had to face the death of his beloved mother.

The most humane reaction would undoubtedly have been for Yakin to say at one point last November: “Fuck you all. I achieved all the goals I set for myself. You want to destroy me? Look in the mirror instead.”

He could even afford not to work for a while. But instead of giving in, the coach did what many still don’t believe he is capable of: fighting.

Murat Yakin was a talented player but lazy in training. This is a criticism he often heard during his career and it was not necessarily without truth. Training, it is true, was not what he preferred. But equating this with a lack of motivation or work is wrong. Yakin, even if his calm and impassive attitude does not necessarily let you guess, has always been a fighterA man who gives his all when it counts, who does not let himself be put off by difficulties and who feeds on criticism to redouble his efforts, to show his detractors twice as much that he is the man for the job.

The coach (here with Akanji) savors his revenge.Keystone

So there was no question of giving up for him. Instead, he analyzed what he needed to do to get back on the path to success. Because analysis has always been one of his strong points.

When the criticism died down and the Swiss Football Association offered him a contract extension last spring, he turned it down. His notorious detractors have once again lashed out against him. Those who wanted him to leave then criticized the fact that he did not want to stay. Find the mistake.

But the 49-year-old didn’t let that faze him. He had long been focused on his mission, with the credo: “I will show you all.” Yakin no longer looked to the left, no longer listened to the right, but followed his path without compromise. As he once did at FC Basel, which he sensationally led to the semi-finals of the Europa League.. And as he also did after taking office in the national team, when he finished qualifying for the 2022 World Cup ahead of Italy in difficult conditions (Xhaka was not available ).

And today? We see a national team that has perhaps not moved and delighted us so much since 2006. We are witnessing a real communion between the fans and the team. Because we see a Nati who has never been so mature, experienced, humble, success-oriented, serene, cool, self-confident, supportive and in search of harmony.

French adaptation: Julien Caloz