Alex Frei: Overrated Football Player?

Alexander Frei (46 years old) certainly had his ears ringing late Friday evening. The top scorer in the history of the Swiss team (42 goals in 84 caps) found himself in the middle of the debates on “L’Équipe du Soir”, the flagship program of the French channel “L’Équipe”.

In “Halloween” mode, the program offered each of its columnists “the question that kills”. Present on the set, where he occasionally serves as a consultant, former footballer Étienne Didot (42 years old) was invited to reveal the name of the most highly rated player with whom he played during his career, which saw him successively wear the jerseys of Stade Rennais (2001-2008), Toulouse FC (2008-2016) and En Avant Guingamp (2016-2019).

The man with 460 Ligue 1 matches, who was forbidden to “escape”, had a lot of trouble coming up with a name. “Phew, that’s a good question,” the former midfielder first reacted. Underrated, I had a lot of them, like André-Pierre Gignac. But overpriced, I didn’t get many…”

Pushed to his limits, the Frenchman born in Brittany ended up making up his mind. “I’m going to say Alexander Frei,” he blurted. A response which somewhat surprised the rest of the columnists, who had not forgotten that the Swiss “scored goal after goal” between 2003 and 2006 in Rennes.

During his three seasons in France, the Basel center forward scored 52 successes in 117 appearances, won the title of top scorer in the French championship (2004-2005 season) and was elected Stade Rennais player of the year twice (in 2004 and 2005).

“He was an extraordinary scorer,” recognized Étienne Didot. Why, then, did I find him overrated? I think he was an exceptional scorer. But with the qualities he had, I think he was lucky to benefit from the services of Olivier Monterrubio, who put him on another planet in Ligue 1. He would not have achieved this several seasons in a row…”

Best passer in Ligue 1 for three consecutive seasons between 2003 and 2005, Olivier Monterrubio, who played for FC Sion during the 2008-2009 financial year, actually delivered numerous assists to Alexander Frei, but it was above all their complicity on the pitch which was praised at the time by those following the French championship.

It now remains to be seen whether the former captain of the Nati, king of scorers in the Super League twice when he played for FC Basel, will react after this “tackle” from his former teammate.