Football: Why Murat Yakin summoned Miro Muheim to the Swiss team

The appearance of his name raised a few eyebrows. Murat Yakin has several surprises in store in his list for the Swiss team’s next two games in the Nations League, against Serbia next Friday and then Spain on Monday, November 18, but Miro Muheim is the most unexpected. The 26-year-old left back surely says nothing to anyone who has not been following the Super League assiduously since at least 2018. However, his summons seemed inevitable given his performances.

Behind Nuno Tavares and his 8 offerings with Lazio Rome, Muheim appears in 2nd place – tied with other players – for the best passers in Europe among the full-backs since the start of the season. The Uranais is on fire with Hamburg, residents of the German 2nd division: in 13 matches in all competitions, he already has 7 assists.

Muheim doesn’t come out of nowhere. An indisputable starter for three years now with the winner of the 1983 European Champion Clubs’ Cup, he remains in two very good years (2 goals and 7 assists in 2022-2023 then 5 goals and 6 assists in 2023- 2024). But he reached a milestone this fall. The most used player on his team (he only missed 26 minutes), he also became the facilitator of the game. An unusual role for a defender.

Responsible for construction, Muheim was also designated to take set pieces. Where he asserts himself as the best specialist in the division: of his 7 assists, 6 were delivered from corners. The latest was last Wednesday, during the 2nd round of the Cup lost in Friborg (2-1).

Under the leadership of its coach, the German Steffen Baumgart, Hamburg is making the most of a left foot which was already working wonders in Switzerland. Trained for 11 years at FC Zurich without appearing in the first team, the native of Flüelen discovered the Super League in St. Gallen between 2018 and 2021, after an unsuccessful stint with Chelsea youth (2014-2018). It was with the Brodeurs that he began his transformation, replaced on the left side by Peter Zeidler.

“Initially, Miro played in attacking positions. When I knew him, he was nothing like a defender, recalls Gérard Castella, his coach from the U17s to the U19s. He didn’t like defending or going to duels. What he wanted was to play in 10.” Aligned sometimes as a leader, sometimes as a winger, Muheim already stood out from the crowd. “Technically, he was impeccable. He placed the ball where he wanted, says the current head of training at Young Boys. But he also had very interesting athletic qualities: he was strong on his legs, fast and durable.

Assets that he was able to transpose two notches lower in Saint-Gall. If the presence of Jordi Quintilla – another velvet left leg – did not yet allow him to shine on set plays, his talent did not go unnoticed. Revealed during the 2019-2020 season, within a team that was long a candidate for the title and ultimately 2nd behind Young Boys, he was the author of 6 assists in 66 matches before joining Hamburg. “With his pure and powerful ball strike which started from his instep, he reminded me of Marcos de Azevedo, with whom I played at Servette (editor’s note: from 2009 to 2013), compares Vincent Rüfli, partner of Miro Muheim at the Brodeurs. There was Juninho in them.

In Germany, the Uranese continued to perform. Under the orders of Tim Walter, on the bench from 2021 until last February, he was employed in a four-man defense, like in St. Gallen. Change of setting – and benchmarks – this season. The new coach, Steffen Baumgart, now relies on a 3-5-2, in which the Swiss finds himself left axial. This label, which he discovers, does not fundamentally modify his positioning on the ground. His “heatmap” (graphics representing the areas of activity of a player) shows that he always works in the lane and that he is not confined to his half of the field. In fact, he retains the prerogatives of a full-back, while being integrated into the heart of the game. Which leads him to be more involved in passing circuits than before.

As for his effectiveness on set pieces, he owes it as much to his own accuracy as to the thinking of his staff. “Merlin Polzin (editor’s note: one of Steffen Baumgart’s assistants) is doing a great job on this with us. We work on our models and variants during the week, and, as you can see, it works really well,” the Swiss recently applauded in comments reported by his club. “Aside from their individual quality and strength in depth, Hamburg’s biggest asset this season is their success from set plays. “It’s a big difference compared to recent years,” said Paderborn coach Lukas Kwasniok.

It’s not just on corners where Miro Muheim has become formidable. On August 18 in Mappen, a modest resident of the 4th division to which Hamburg was visiting for its entry into the Cup, he participated in the demonstration of his team (1-7) by scoring a masterful free kick from 20 meters. His first success in professional practice.

Given his progress, he seemed destined to experience the joys of the Swiss team. Especially since his profile fits the needs of the Nati. He is capable of blending into a four-man or three-man defense, which can only be an asset in the eyes of the Basel player, presents an offensive and creative inclination that the latter currently does not have in defensive positions and animates one side where no solution has emerged over time.

On paper, the idea has everything to appeal. It remains to make it a reality.