Analyzing Switzerland's Young Crop of Defenders

Anel Husic, Becir Omeragic, Leonidas Stergiou and Marco Burch are some of the players that have stood out in the Swiss first division and who head the list of under-21 defenders with minutes and high expectations for future call-ups to the Swiss national team.

Whenever we talk about young players who take on great responsibilities at certain clubs, we typically use European football as a reference. It has been common to see 19- and 20-year-old players being undisputed starters and even captains. This comes from an early age, around the age of 15, when coaches and assistants identify their leadership instincts.

From there, they work on other aspects in order to develop into professional footballers capable of combining physical, mental, and technical strength. One recent example is Matthijs de Ligt, who, at the age of 17, wore the captain's armband for the first time for Ajax's first team in 2018 and would go on to become a crucial player for club and country.

In the Swiss first division, this pattern has been popping up across the league, a pattern that brings plenty of benefits to a national team in need of a new cycle. Making transitions is not easy, but with so many defensive talents who are playing regularly, there are ample players for new Swiss manager Murat Yakin, who replaced Vladimir Petković last summer, to choose from.