Granit Xhaka on Coaching Quality Under Régis Le Bris

Granit Xhaka has worked for some of the biggest thinkers in modern football. Arsène Wenger at Arsenal. Unai Emery. Mikel Arteta. Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen. Before that, Basel and Borussia Mönchengladbach. A career built under elite minds, across three major European leagues.

So when Xhaka talks about coaching quality, people tend to listen.

‘The small Arsène Wenger’

On the eve of Sunderland’s huge meeting with his former club Arsenal, the Swiss midfielder lit up when asked about his current boss at the Stadium of Light, Régis Le Bris.

“I call him like the small Arsene Wenger,” Xhaka told TNT Sports.

The comparison is not thrown around lightly. Xhaka has played under Wenger and knows exactly what that name carries. Yet he leaned into it.

“As a human being, he's top. He's very calm, he's not a guy who screams, he has all the solutions and tactically, he's amazing. And even for him, to get a new team, now again with new players, I believe is not easy.

“But he showed himself that he is a great manager, he showed himself that he can improve this team, the players. And myself, I'm very thankful that I can have a coach like him.”

Le Bris brought Xhaka to Sunderland last summer from Leverkusen, a signing that felt like a statement of intent. The club were back in the Premier League and wanted to stay there with purpose, not just survive.

They did far more than that.

In their first season back in the top flight, Xhaka captained Sunderland to a stunning seventh-place finish and a Europa League spot, shredding pre-season predictions in the process.

The obsession with detail

What separates Le Bris from the other world-class coaches in Xhaka’s past? The midfielder doesn’t hesitate: detail.

“He's very detailed. So if he analyses something - not just the opponent, but even us and more the individual meetings - he's very detailed,” Xhaka explained.

“He goes into details that I haven't seen often in a coach. So every player here has improved over the last 16 months and I think there is still space to improve for everyone.”

This is where Le Bris’ work shows itself: in the training ground habits, in the individual sessions, in the way players talk about him. Xhaka paints a picture of a manager who leaves nothing to chance, who drills into the smallest aspects of a player’s game until they shift from good to better, from better to reliable.

Captain, conduit, standard-setter

Xhaka’s role in all of this stretches far beyond his passing range and leadership on matchdays. At Sunderland, he is the spine and the standard.

As the most experienced player in the squad, he acts as the bridge between Le Bris’ tactical demands and a young, ambitious dressing room.

“If I'm not the guy who's taking the first step, who is following me?” he said.

“I'm a guy who demands a lot from himself. This is the first thing I demand from myself. I never show the finger first to others before I show it to myself.

“Sometimes people forget about the difference between demanding and complaining because, for me, these are two pairs of shoes. I want to win. And I want to win if I'm at home, I want to win when I'm on the pitch in training, and I want to win in the weekend games as well. This is me.”

That mentality has underpinned Sunderland’s surge. Le Bris sets the plan; Xhaka enforces it, day after day, session after session.

A reunion with Arsenal – and a measure of progress

Now comes a different kind of test. Arsenal, away. Arteta’s side, perfect so far this season, chasing the title again. For Xhaka, it is more than just a familiar walk down the tunnel.

The game offers a sharp measuring stick for how far Sunderland have travelled under the “small Wenger”.

To live with Arsenal, Sunderland will need every layer of Le Bris’ meticulous preparation. Xhaka’s midfield partnership with Diarra and Sadiki will be central to that task, tasked with disrupting the rhythm of a team he knows intimately from his North London days.

The stakes are clear. The challenge is huge. The belief, though, runs deep.

Ahead of the reunion with Arteta and the Gunners, Xhaka left Sunderland’s supporters with a final message.

“We will never give up.”