When Granit Xhaka was at Arsenal, he was inspired by Mikel Arteta to start taking his coaching badges. They have come in handy this season – only the midfielder hasn’t finished his playing career yet.
“He’s like a second coach on the pitch,” said Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris of his captain. The 33-year-old has been the key driver behind the Black Cats’ stunning start to the campaign when most had them relegation certainties at pre-season.
And now, he is not only vitally influential to the Black Cats’ meteoric season – but is also being branded as one of the signings of the summer.
In a weird twist of fate, Xhaka faces his former club Arsenal this weekend as the exact player the Gunners imagined he would be – defensively reliable, cool-headed and influential at the base of the midfield. Except at Arsenal, it was not this straightforward.
Saturday 8th November 5:00pm
Kick off 5:30pm
There was more scrutiny, with the Swiss midfielder was occasionally used as a scapegoat by supporters during Arsenal’s inconsistent periods during his tenure.
Five straight red cards and a high-profile falling out with the fanbase – which led to him being stripped of the club captaincy – did not help.
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A look back at the highs and lows of Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal career
Xhaka eventually got his happy Arsenal ending but mainly due to his attacking performances in his final season, scoring nine goals and getting seven assists as the Gunners nearly won the title.
But at Sunderland, he has now matured into the calming base of the Le Bris midfield, now in a different form of red and white.
To survive in the Premier League, newly-promoted teams have to first be defensively solid. Xhaka provides that security from midfield through his reading of the game.
No midfielder has a higher interception rate than Xhaka, who is ahead of some pretty high-profile names playing for more established top-flight sides.
The influence of spending two years under world-class metronome Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen came in handy. “He gave me a lot of advice,” he told Sky Sports this week.
But Xhaka is far from just a key defensive cog – he shows his experience at the other end of the pitch too. He has a goal and three assists this term – with some of those moments being priceless.
There was the goal earlier this week to salvage a point against Everton – but he also set up the late goals against Brentford and Aston Villa and the winner at Nottingham Forest, moments which single-handedly have added five points to the Black Cats’ tally.
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Granit Xhaka scores his first goal for Sunderland to level against Everton in their Premier League clash.
Successful promoted sides also need to adapt to the pace of the division. Xhaka’s experience of the highest level at Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and the international stage with Switzerland comes handy in this regard too.
He sits as the outright leader for distance covered in the Premier League this season – a way of playing that has rubbed off on one team-mate in particular. His midfield partner Noah Sadiki, just 20, sits third in that list and benefitting from the leadership and example next to him.
Taking others with him has been part of Xhaka’s game this season. As Regis Le Bris said, Xhaka “drives the standards”.
The midfielder’s personality was seen after Monday’s draw with Everton, where those standards dipped. Xhaka is fully aware of the levels required at this level and he was aware Sunderland’s standards last week were not there.
“Yesterday, our training wasn’t our best training,” Xhaka told Sky Sports. “We started like we finished the training yesterday.
“We had a conversation with each other saying that at this level we need to show our standards day by day.
“That’s why I think the first 25 minutes wasn’t good enough and after that, we got better in the game. I believe that how you train, you play.”
Xhaka has not just proved to be perfect for Sunderland, but also for the current state of the Premier League. England’s top-flight has transitioned into a more direct, set-piece driven division and Xhaka has played his part in that.
Not only does he rank highly in the Premier League for long passes this season but he is also Sunderland’s chief set-piece taker.
And Sunderland have the highest proportion of xG from set pieces this season, with 48 per cent of their chance quality coming from that area. It is even better than Arsenal’s reliance on set pieces, with the Gunners sitting at 43 per cent.
There is even a strong case to say that Xhaka would still do a job in this Arsenal midfield if he was still part of Arteta’s set-piece squad. And even so, Arsenal spent £105m on Declan Rice to replace him in that midfield spot.
But for Sunderland, he is not just a bargain buy, he’s priceless.
Watch Sunderland vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports this Saturday Night Football from 5pm; kick-off 5.30pm
