Match preview: Luxembourg (away)

September 3rd, 2010 | by: Harun | Comments(3)

Well, it’s time. Many months after the original draw, we’re finally set to begin Euro 2010 qualifiers with a blank slate and fresh hope of finally qualifying for a major international tournament. Our first two matches in Group D pit us against Luxembourg away and France at home. In this post I’ll preview the first of the two matches, offering some brief analysis of our opponents, our concerns facing them and what to expect. More below the fold.

Our first two ties are interesting because we play the minnows and the favorites of our group one after another. In all their interviews during the past few days, the players have consistently emphasized that they are completely focused on Luxembourg and want to take care of the job there before even thinking about France. Still, there’s no escaping the fact that we’re heavy favorites here, as would be almost any semi-respectable team in Europe. The goal is to secure a victory with a solid performance and without leaving any room for doubt. Anything less would range from worrying to a downright disaster.

Luxembourg is generally recognized as a team that strives to compensate for its lack of individual brilliance with dedicated collective play. If they’re anything like comparably rated European nations such as the Faroes, I expect this collective play to be very defensive. Two years ago they did defeat Switzerland away to earn their first victory in something like a decade. Not surprisingly, however, both goals came from set pieces, and that’s something we should certainly watch out for. In open play, however, we shouldn’t have too much trouble defensively – if we do then something is terribly wrong. This is probably even more true considering that their current manager is apparently relying on younger players to build a team for the future – a good long-term strategy, but probably not one that’s going to do them any favors tomorrow.

On our side of the equation, there are a couple of concerns regarding tactics and player selection. Pape has revealed that he will start the game with two forwards (Džeko and Ibišević) and four defenders, but he has not really specified how the four midfielders will be laid out. Will we play a 4-4-2? 4-4-2 diamond? A Slaven-Bilić-style 4-1-3-2? It’s not exactly clear, and when you consider that Sušić has played a different formation in every single game he’s managed so far the picture becomes even blurrier.

One of the four midfielders will have a holding role, but will that be the aging, first-choice Elvir Rahimić or will Sanel Jahić step in to give the “iron-man” some rest? The other three seem set to be Ibričić, Misimović and Pjanić, but who will have what role exactly and whether anyone will remember to actually defend is anybody’s guess. Finally, Sušić will have to wait until literally the last minute for UEFA’s green light on Mensur Mujdža. If he doesn’t get one, he says he’ll have to try Mravac or Pandža out as right-backs again. This scenario – three creative midfielders and a make-shift right-back – is exactly what we tried out against Sweden. Now hopefully this wont cause as many problems now that our players are actually fit and playing weaker competition, but hopefully Sušić isn’t thinking about carrying this over into our next game either.