Swiss Super League

Discussion in 'Europe' started by M Two One, Aug 17, 2008.

  1. M Two One

    M Two One Halló Veröld!

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    [​IMG]

    The clubs

    AC Bellinzona
    BSC Young Boys
    FC Aarau
    FC Basel
    FC Luzern
    FC Sion
    FC Vaduz
    FC Zürich
    Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    Neuchâtel Xamax​

    Obviously, not many of you or any of you (I don't really know to be honest) are familiar with the ever-growing Swiss Super League. I'd like to give you a little insight into one of the best European leagues. Though it is small, it has intense competition and plenty of surprises every season.


    Past champions of the last two decades

    2007-08: FC Basel
    2006-07: FC Zürich
    2005-06: FC Zürich
    2004-05: FC Basel
    2003-04: FC Basel
    2002-03: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    2001-02: FC Basel
    2000-01: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    1999-00: FC Saint Gallen
    1998-99: Servette FC
    1997-98: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    1996-97: FC Sion
    1995-96: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    1994-95: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    1993-94: Servette FC
    1992-93: FC Aarau
    1991-92: FC Sion
    1990-91: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    1989-90: Grasshopper-Club Zürich
    1988-89: FC Luzern
    1987-88: Neuchâtel Xamax


    Top five clubs by number of championships

    1st Grasshopper-Club Zürich (27)
    2nd Servette FC (17)
    3rd FC Basel (12)
    4th BSC Young Boys (11)
    --- FC Zürich (11)​


    Through the years there have been plenty of great players in the league and there still are. Below is a list of some modern day players and the clubs they play for now. Most of these players started with a Swiss club before moving on. For instance Lorik Cana started with FC Lausanne-Sport's youth program before moving on the PSG and now Marseille.

    Valon Behrami (West Ham United)
    Papa Bouba Diop (Portsmouth)
    Lorik Cana (Olympique de Marseille)
    Philipp Degen (Liverpool)
    Dida (AC Milan)
    Julián Estéban (Stade Rennais)
    Alexander Frei (Borussia Dortmund)
    Gökhan İnler (Udinese)
    Mohamed Kallon (AEK)
    Alhassane Keita (Mallorca)
    Ludovic Magnin (VfB Stuttgart)
    Daniel Majstorović (AEK)
    Xavier Margairaz (Osasuna)
    Benjani Mwaruwari (Manchester City)
    Kōji Nakata (Kashima Antlers)
    Oliver Neuville (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
    Shabani Nonda (Galatasaray)
    Mladen Petrić (HSV)
    Martin Petrov (Manchester City)
    Ivan Rakitić (Schalke 04)
    Philippe Senderos (Arsenal)
    Johann Vogel (Blackburn Rovers)
    Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria)​


    That list above is obviously excluding some past giants that are now retired as well as some great players still in the league today. Many of which have returned for a second or third spell or are preparing to move on to bigger clubs in a bigger league like the Premiership, Bundesliga, Serie A or la Liga. Below is a list of current players and their clubs. Those with an asterisk by their names are a part of my "youth to track" list. Players in bold are my top players to likely become huge stars in bigger leagues.

    Almen Abdi (FC Zürich) *
    David Ángel Abraham (FC Basel) *
    António (Grasshopper-Club Zürich)
    Felix Bastians (BSC Young Boys) *
    Ideye Aide Brown (Neuchâtel Xamax) *
    Yassine Chikhaoui (FC Zürich)
    Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel)
    Davide Chiumiento (FC Lucerne)
    Eren Derdiyok (FC Basel) *
    Thierry Doubai (BSC Young Boys) *
    Damir Džombić (FC Vaduz) *
    Jonas Elmer (FC Aarau) *
    Ivan Ergić (FC Basel)
    Mickaël Facchinetti (Neuchâtel Xamax) *
    Sehar Fejzulahi (FC Vaduz) *
    Fabian Frei (FC Basel) *
    Joetex Asamoah Frimpong (BSC Young Boys)
    Gaspar (FC Vaduz)
    Damien Germanier (FC Sion) *
    Saïf Ghezal (BSC Young Boys)
    Jürgen Gjasula (FC Basel) *
    Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel)
    Cristian Ianu (FC Aarau)
    Eldin Jakupović (Grasshopper-Club Zürich)
    Philippe Koch (FC Zürich) *
    Veli Lampi (FC Zürich)
    Machado (Grasshopper-Club Zürich) *
    Miguel Ángel Mea Vitali (FC Vaduz)
    Neri (AC Bellinzona)
    Kristian Nushi (FC Aarau)
    Paito (FC Sion)
    Marko Perović (FC Basel)
    Marco Ritzberger (FC Vaduz) *
    Rivera (AC Bellinzona)
    Vero Salatić (Grasshopper-Club Zürich) *
    Pasquale Sbarra (Grasshopper-Club Zürich) *
    Marco Schönbächler (FC Zürich) *
    Silvio (FC Zürich)
    Florian Stahel (FC Zürich)
    Valentin Stocker (FC Basel) *
    Marco Streller (FC Basel)
    Hussein Abdulghani Sulaimani (Neuchâtel Xamax)
    Hannu Tihinen (FC Zürich)
    Andrés Vasquez (FC Zürich) *
    Kay Voser (Grasshopper-Club Zürich) *
    Gilles Yapi Yapo (BSC Young Boys)
    Kamil Zayatte (BSC Young Boys)​

    Some notes on players listed above - Davide Chiumiento was once a Juventus prodigy, but kept moving from club to club on loan, never really earning an opportunity to prove himself (except for a single match as a sub) and has since then been considered a waste of talent. This is the issue with big clubs like Juventus and Manchester United who waste talent and shove them off somewhere when they just don't care to help them build their skills. Davide Chiumiento could still be a good talent, but the possibility of being superb is now gone due to a lack of youth care at Juve.

    Yapi Yapo is a regular on the Ivory Coast national squad and plays a key role for the team supplying great passes for Didier Drogba. Hannu Tihinen is the alternative captain for the Finnish national team and a solid player once considered to be a better talent then Sami Hyypiä. Hussein Sulaimani was an interesting signing for Xamax considering that he's likely the greatest Saudi international of all-time. That may not be saying much looking at the success of the Saudi national team, but this guy has amazing skill. He shown that at World Cup 2006 for those that cared to watch his country play.

    [​IMG]
    Marco Ritzberger makes a sliding challenge

    Marco Ritzberger is hands down the best up-and-coming football talent from Liechtenstein. Again, not saying much looking at his country's football history, but he massively helped his club move up to the Super League for the first time in their long history. This is truly astonishing considering that his club, FC Vaduz, comes from a town of not even 6,000 people that still manages to sell out their near 7,000 seat stadium every night. He's a skilled defender, but as solid as he is I don't think he'll ever make it to the Premiership just because of his nationality. Only Swiss, Italian and German clubs have taken notice of great Liechtensteiner players over the past decade and that is honestly a loss for all the others.

    The best player in the league is Eren Derdiyok. The young striker at 20 years old has the ability to be the best in any of the big three leagues even before his prime. He's superb with dribbling and heading, the latter of which he should have no issues with considering that he's 190 cm tall. He shown great skill as a usual sub for the Swiss team at EURO 2008, but should've received more playing time. In any case, be on the look out because he's going to be one of the best in the World in a few years time. His top quality is his jumping ability. The guy soars through the air and cuts through corner defensive strategies with ease.

    [​IMG]
    Eren Derdiyok celebrating a goal

    Jonas Elmer spent many years in the Chelsea youth program before moving on to build his professional game back in Switzerland. Chelsea consider him to be a great prospect and have rights to his contract in the future whenever they feel he can contribute to the club effectively and not sit on the bench. This is actually a superb maneuver by Chelsea and hats off to them. Unlike Juve, Man U and dozens of others who have let talent go to waste. Felix Bastians is a German international that should be appearing with the first team in 2009 for the WC qualifiers. He's a superb talent at midfield and I expect him to move to Germany next season. Those of you that follow lower league English football should know him really well. He went from club to club to gain experience. He started with Notts Forest and continued on to play for Gillingham and Notts County before finishing his single season term at League 1 promoted club MK Dons. I expect him to play for a German top flight club by next season.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Jonas Elmer (L) representing Chelsea and Felix Bastians (R) for Germany

    Something to note for CK is that the Super League has the most future Kosovo internationals available. One of which, Kristian Nushi, actually currently plays for the non-FIFA affiliated union and is really good. I don't expect him to be a great player, but as he continues to improve he could be top player for a mid-level German club.
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2008
  2. CelticKing

    CelticKing The Green Monster

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    Love it M21, great thread. Hats off to your hard work.

    Swiss league has the most Albanian players outside Albania and Kosovo. I mean the young ones that were born there and automatically get to play for the Swiss national team. Switzerland is a great country when it comes to integrating foreigners and refugees. (or whatever you want to call them)
     
  3. M Two One

    M Two One Halló Veröld!

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    Thanks man, we've got to strongly support FC Vaduz through this campaign.
     
  4. CelticKing

    CelticKing The Green Monster

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    Look at the stadium of Vaduz. Great view of the mountain.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. hongfa

    hongfa New Member

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    Thanks man, too !we've got to strongly support FC V aduz through this campaign.
     

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