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

Granit Xhaka has worked for some of the biggest managerial minds of the modern era. Arsène Wenger, Unai Emery, Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso – four very different coaches, four very different eras in his career at Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Basel and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

So when Xhaka compares his current boss at Sunderland to Wenger, people listen.

‘The small Arsène Wenger’

Speaking before Sunderland’s huge showdown with his former club Arsenal, the Swiss midfielder could not hide his admiration for Régis Le Bris, the man who dragged Sunderland back into Europe and turned Xhaka into the heartbeat of a resurgent side.

"I call him like the small Arsene Wenger," Xhaka 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 high praise from a player who has seen elite dressing rooms in three of Europe’s major leagues. Wenger shaped him. Arteta reshaped him. Alonso refined him. Yet it is Le Bris, on Wearside, who Xhaka now talks about with the warmth usually reserved for a mentor of a lifetime.

Sunderland’s statement of intent

Le Bris brought Xhaka to the Stadium of Light last summer in a move that signalled Sunderland were done with merely surviving. They wanted to compete.

The signing of the Switzerland captain from Leverkusen was the clearest statement yet. This was a club with Premier League ambitions and a manager confident enough in his methods to hand the armband to a strong personality who demands standards every single day.

The response on the pitch was emphatic. In their first season back in the Premier League, Sunderland finished seventh. Not just safe. Not just respectable. Seventh – and with it, a place in the Europa League, blowing pre-season predictions out of the water.

Xhaka sees the fingerprints of Le Bris all over that overachievement.

When pressed on what truly separates the Frenchman from the world-class coaches he has known, Xhaka kept coming back to one word: detail.

A coach obsessed with the fine print

"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 earns the “small Wenger” tag. Not by copying the French legend’s touchline manner, but by drilling deep into the game’s smallest margins – the individual meetings, the corrections, the constant refinement of roles.

At the training ground, that obsession shows up everywhere. Sessions tailored to specific weaknesses. Tactical tweaks for each opponent. Clear, calm communication. Xhaka paints a picture of a manager who never raises his voice but never loosens his grip on standards.

And in the middle of it all, the captain.

Xhaka the standard-bearer

Xhaka is not just Sunderland’s most experienced player. He is the conduit between Le Bris’ tactical demands and a young, hungry squad still learning how to win at the top level.

"If I'm not the guy who's taking the first step, who is following me? I'm a guy who demands a lot from himself. This is the first thing I demand from myself," he said.

"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 mirrors the manager’s meticulousness. Le Bris draws the blueprint. Xhaka enforces it. From the first minute of training to the last whistle on a Saturday, the captain’s message is clear: no excuses, no shortcuts.

A reunion with Arsenal – and a reality check

All of which sets up a fascinating reunion at the weekend. Sunderland against Arsenal is no ordinary fixture for Xhaka. It is a measuring stick.

How far have Sunderland come under Le Bris? How close is this project to truly challenging the elite? There is no harsher examiner than Mikel Arteta’s side, who have opened the season with a perfect record and a title challenge already taking shape.

For Sunderland to disrupt that rhythm, Xhaka will again be central. His partnership with Diarra and Sadiki in midfield will have to smother Arsenal’s fluency, shut down passing lanes and turn the game into the kind of controlled battle Le Bris relishes preparing for.

The stakes are clear. Emotion for Xhaka, a tactical duel for Le Bris, and a fanbase desperate to see their club stand toe-to-toe with one of Europe’s most finely tuned machines.

Xhaka’s final message before facing his old colours was aimed straight at those supporters who have ridden every step of Sunderland’s climb back: "We will never give up."

Under a “small Wenger” with big ideas, that no longer sounds like a slogan. It sounds like a warning.