Granit Xhaka Praises Régis Le Bris as the 'Small Arsène Wenger'

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. Add formative years at Basel and Borussia Mönchengladbach, and you have a midfielder who has seen just about every version of elite coaching Europe can offer.

So when Xhaka singles out his current boss at Sunderland, Régis Le Bris, and reaches for Wenger’s name, people listen.

“The small Arsène Wenger”

Speaking before Sunderland’s looming showdown with his former club Arsenal, Xhaka did not hesitate when asked how highly he rates Le Bris.

"I call him like the small Arsene Wenger," he told TNT Sports.

"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."

It is rare to hear Xhaka, a man not known for overstatement, lean so heavily into praise. Yet his words reflect the transformation Sunderland have undergone since Le Bris walked through the doors at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland’s statement of intent

Le Bris made Xhaka his flagship signing last summer, prising the Switzerland captain from Leverkusen. It was a move that announced Sunderland’s ambition on their Premier League return: this was not a club content just to survive.

Xhaka responded by taking the armband and driving the side to a stunning seventh-place finish in their first season back in the top flight. That run secured Europa League football and shredded the modest expectations that surrounded them last August.

The midfielder sees Le Bris’ fingerprints on every step of that journey. When asked what separates the Frenchman from the other world-class managers he has played under, Xhaka keeps coming back to one thing: 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 has built his authority. Not through touchline theatrics, but through relentless preparation, tailored sessions, and individual meetings that leave players with no doubt about what is expected of them.

The captain as conduit

Inside that framework, Xhaka is the on-pitch conductor. The 31-year-old is the most experienced player at the club, and Le Bris leans on him to set standards in the dressing room and on the grass.

His influence stretches far beyond his passing and positional discipline. Xhaka is the bridge between the manager’s tactical demands and a young, hungry squad still learning what it means to compete at the highest level.

"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 seeped into the group. It is visible in the way Sunderland press, in how they manage games, in how rarely they roll over. Le Bris provides the plan; Xhaka enforces it.

A reunion with Arsenal – and a reality check

Now comes the real examination. Sunderland host an Arsenal side under Arteta that has started the season perfectly, brimming with confidence and chasing the title Xhaka once pursued in red and white.

For Xhaka, the fixture is more than a nostalgic reunion. It is a measuring stick for how far Sunderland have come under the “small Wenger” on Wearside.

Le Bris will lean heavily on his meticulous preparation. Every passing lane, every press trigger, every transition will have been dissected at the training ground. Xhaka’s midfield partnership with Diarra and Sadiki will be central to the plan, tasked with disrupting Arsenal’s rhythm and denying Arteta’s side the control they thrive on.

This is the kind of occasion Sunderland signed Xhaka for: high-pressure, high-intensity, emotionally loaded. The kind of game where leadership is not a slogan, but a series of actions repeated for 90 minutes.

The supporters will bring the noise. Xhaka knows what they expect, and he knows what he wants to give back.

His message to them before facing his old club was simple, and it carried the steel that has defined his career.

"We will never give up."