Nicknamed ‘the Doctor’, Vladimir Petkovic will hope to have the right diagnosis to lead Switzerland into the knockout stages of a European Championship for the first time.
Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1963, Petkovic took control of the reigns after Ottmar Hitzfeld resigned following their heartbreaking extra-time round of 16 loss to finalists Argentina.
Previous Employment
Well traveled, Petkovic speaks seven languages including Italian, French, English and his native Bosnian. He also holds two passports; Swiss and Bosnian. However, his obvious knowledge and experience has not translated into success as a manager. In his near two decade career, he has had nine coaching gigs (two temporary) and has resigned or been sacked three times.
The last was at his job prior to taking the Rossocrociati reigns, sacked from Lazio in Serie A allegedly because owner Claudio Lotito was unaware of his negotiations with the Swiss Football Association. In his time in Rome he won the Coppa Italia in 2013, just his second career title.
Yet since taking over La Nati he has accomplished his first task, qualifying for Euro 2016 in a group that featured England and Slovenia.
They finished second in their group to secure access to just their fourth Championship campaign.
READ MORE: Euro 2016 – Switzerland star player – Granit Xhaka
Tactical setup
While always strong defensively, with the likes of former Arsenal defender Phillipe Senderos, Bundesliga based duo Yann Sommer and Ricardo Rodriguez, and Juventus veteran Stephan Lichtsteiner, it was further up the field where Switzerland struggled.
Despite scoring 24 goals in 10 qualifying matches they were held scoreless three times (twice to England) and 11 of those came against San Marino. Goals are likely to be produced by Xherdan Shaqiri, as the three forwards they named for their recent friendlies in March had only scored a combined 11 times in 78 international appearances.
He may have to abolish his go-to 4-4-2 formation for his side to be competitive in the group which includes hosts France, 19th ranked Romania and the modest Albania. A formation which has been seen as bland and predictable in recent years (although Claudio Ranieri may disagree). While they may be soft in attack and strong in defence, transitioning between the two causes problems for his side.
Petkovic has had a positive influence on the team since taking over, winning nine out of 16 matches under his guidance. He also has plenty of youth in his ranks, with only two players aged over 30 named in their March friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ireland, which could work in their favour in France if a similar squad is named for the tournament.
That positivity was on display at a couple of junctures during the qualifying campaign. They came from 1-0 behind away to Lithuania to record a 2-1 win and scored three goals in the final ten minutes to pick up a valuable 3-2 victory over Slovenia in September.
Conclusion
The 52-year-old is set with the daunting task of having to break two ducks if he is to lead his team to glory. In three past European championships Switzerland have not once got out of the Group Stage, and they have never won a major trophy despite their history spanning over a century.
This is arguably Petkovic’s biggest challenge in his 19 year career. Thankfully because of the expansion to 24 teams, Switzerland will get two bites at the knockout stage cherry, but could meet qualification foes England in the round of 16.
Switzerland have gone to their local doctor to bring them success in Euro 2016, but will his diagnosis yield the results they need to be successful?
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