Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Switzerland Manager Vladimir Petkovic has named a provisional 28 man squad for this Summer’s European Championship and although a talented squad their hopes will no doubt be rested on the talents of Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri. He joins Valon Behrami as one of two Premier League based players although there are some very familiar names in the squad who have graced the English top flight.
Arsenal fans will be familiar with Defensive duo Johan Djourou and Philippe Senderos while they will also be keeping a keen eye on Granit Xhaka who could be making a move to The Emirates after the tournament is finished. Manchester City fans will remember Gelson Fernandes who spent from 2007 to 2009 at The Etihad.
Juventus Stephan Lichsteiner will be a defensive lynchpin and will look to get forward at any opportunity to supply the firepower to Shaqiri and also Basle’s highly rated young forward Breel Embolo. 5 players will be left behind for the short journey to France, the decision now for Manager Petkovic is who will be left behind, there will certainly be one goalkeeper not making the trip while I would imagine the cuts will come from a competitive defensive selection and possibly in attack also
Below is the provisional squad in full
Goalkeepers: Roman Burki (Borussia Dortmund), Marwin Hitz (Augsburg), Yvon Mvogo (Young Boys), Yann Sommer (Borussia Monchengladbach).
Defenders: Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Nico Elvedi (Borussia Monchengladbach), Michael Lang (Basle), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Francois Moubandje (Toulouse), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg), Fabian Schar (Hoffenheim), Philippe Senderos (Grasshoppers), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Silvan Widmer (Udinese).
Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Watford), Blerim Dzemaili (Genoa), Gelson Fernandes (Rennes), Fabian Frei (Mainz), Renato Steffen (Basle), Granit Xhaka (Borussia Monchengladbach), Denis Zakaria (Young Boys), Luca Zuffi (Basle).
Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Kasımpasa), Breel Embolo (Basle), Admir Mehmedi (Bayer Leverkusen), Haris Seferovic (Eintracht Frankfurt), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke), Shani Tarashaj (Grasshoppers).
