At the age of 21, Valentin Stocker is a name unknown to most people outside of Switzerland. The Swiss Super League is not one of the more glamorous divisions so it is no surprise that the waves Valentin is making at FC Basel haven’t reach our rubbish-strewn shores as of yet.
Two goals against Wales in the recent European Championship Qualifiers may have raised an eyebrow or two. The goals themselves were not blockbusters worthy of mention on TV round-up shows, but showed Stocker continuing to do what he has done all season: playing from the left of midfield he has acquired a knack of being in the right place at the right time.
This season will mark his third year in Basel’s first team. Having played over 70 games for the club he is now an established first team regular, winning Swiss Young Player of the Year in 2008/09. His international career also looked to get a off to great start under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, and he made his debut against Cyprus. The 4-1 win, in which Stocker scored the opening goal was Hitzfeld’s first game in charge.
Switzerland’s reputation dealt a blow a month later when Stocker played 90 minutes in the embarrassing 2-1 defeat at home to Luxembourg. He was one of the four players dropped for the next qualifier against Latvia, Switzerland went on to qualify for the World Cup and Stocker’s name was not in the squad that travelled to South Africa.
Although his international career had stalled his club career was flourishing. Stocker was a major part of Basel’s wonderful double winning season and defeating Young Boys on the last day of the season 2-0 sparked wild celebrations. Of course, it was our young, spiky-haired midfielder that opened the scoring that day. Six days earlier Stocker scored twice as Basel destroyed FC Lausanne in the Swiss Cup Final.
One company aware of Stocker’s abilities and popularity was EA Sports, who decided to include Stocker as one of their cover stars for the Swiss version of FIFA 11. Released at the start of this month, it was a glowing recommendation for a player who had had an excellent season. Constantly overshadowed by the hype and undoubted talent of teammate Xherdan Shaqiri, 2010/11 could be the season the 21-year-old steps out of Shaqiri’s shadow.
Stocker has started the season well, his combination of pace, ball control and a hard-working mentality combining with a deadly left foot to create a talented player. The left midfield position has been Stocker’s to lose and he’s helped Basel to second place in the table, a point behind Luzern. Stocker has contributed to his team’s good form with two goals and six assists in the league so far. Manager Thorsten Fink will be happy with the young midfielder’s performances.
Players’ abilities are now measured by how well they perform in the Champions League and Stocker has not disappointed, making the step up in class look as easy as breaching the Feyenoord defence as Basel beat Debrecen and Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol to seal their participation in the group stage.
The draw was relatively kind to Basel, landing them in a group consisting of Bayern Munich, AS Roma and CFR Cluj - not the easiest of tasks, but second or third place should certainly not be out of the question. Basel suffered a poor start. An away match in Romania saw them 2-0 down against Cluj with only 13 minutes played. Stocker pulled one back just before the interval but it was a mere consolation.
A home game against Bayern Munich followed and, although Basel took the lead through Alexander Frei, it was Bastian Schweinsteiger who had the last laugh, scoring the winner in the 89th minute to give the German giants all three points. Stocker played the whole match but couldn’t find much success against.
Basel then travelled to the Italian capital to take on Claudio Ranieri’s struggling AS Roma side. They didn’t disappoint, shocking the Italians with a 3-1 victory in the Stadio Olimpico. Stocker put in a wonderful performance in a crucial victory for his team.
Valentin Stocker’s stock (pardon the pun) is rising. He won his place back in the national side and rewarded Hitzfeld’s selection by scoring two goals against a shell-shocked Welsh team. At the tender age of 21 there is plenty of football in front of Stocker. Will he fulfil his potential? Will he move to a bigger club in Germany, or Italy? Who knows - what’s certain is that FC Basel fans will certainly miss him when hes gone.
This is a guest post by Andrew Gibney, the man behind gibfootballshow.
[...] article was originally publish on twofootedtackle.com but also wanted to feature it on my own [...]