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

Granit Xhaka has worked under some of the sharpest minds in modern football. Arsène Wenger, Unai Emery, Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso – the list reads like a coaching symposium rather than a CV. Across Basel, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen, the Swiss midfielder has lived inside elite dressing rooms and seen how the very best operate.

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

“The small Arsène Wenger”

Speaking before Sunderland’s looming showdown with his former club Arsenal, Xhaka could not hide his admiration for Régis Le Bris, the man who dragged Sunderland back into Europe and gave the 31-year-old the captain’s armband.

“I call him like the small Arsene Wenger,” he told TNT Sports. The line landed with a smile, but the respect behind it was serious.

“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 the Stadium of Light last summer from Leverkusen, a signing that signalled Sunderland were done with merely surviving. They wanted to compete. Their first season back in the Premier League ended with a stunning seventh-place finish and a Europa League ticket that few outside Wearside had predicted.

The transformation carried Le Bris’ fingerprints. Xhaka insists it is the Frenchman’s obsession with detail that separates him from the stellar cast of coaches he has already worked under.

A manager of details

“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.”

At Sunderland’s training ground, that meticulous streak shapes everything: video sessions, one-to-one meetings, the way drills are tailored to expose tiny flaws and nudge players forward. Xhaka has seen high-level preparation in three of Europe’s top leagues; he still sounds slightly taken aback by how far Le Bris goes.

The result is a squad that looks sharper, more structured, and far more confident than a newly promoted side usually dares to be.

Captain, conduit, standard-setter

Xhaka sits at the heart of it all. As Sunderland’s most experienced player, he is more than just the man wearing the armband. He is the bridge between Le Bris’ tactical demands and a young, hungry dressing room still learning what it means to compete every week in the Premier League.

“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 relentlessness has defined his career. At Sunderland, it now sets the tone for a squad that has had to grow up quickly under the bright lights of the Premier League and the expectations that came with last season’s surge.

Arsenal reunion, Le Bris examination

Now comes the test that feels bigger than just three points. Arsenal arrive with a perfect start to the season and a title charge in full flow under Arteta, the man who once trusted Xhaka at the base of his midfield in North London.

For Sunderland, the visit of the Gunners doubles as a measuring stick. How far have they really travelled under the “small Wenger”? How robust is this new identity when it is pressed and probed by one of Europe’s most finely tuned sides?

Xhaka’s partnership with Diarra and Sadiki in midfield will be critical. Break Arsenal’s rhythm, disrupt their patterns, and Sunderland give themselves a chance. Fail to do so, and Arteta’s side tend to be ruthless.

The Swiss captain knows exactly what is coming. He knows the rotations, the pressing triggers, the demands Arteta places on his players. Le Bris knows it too – and will have spent the week poring over every angle.

For all the tactical whiteboards and meticulous planning, Xhaka’s final message before facing his old club was simple, and very Sunderland.

“We will never give up.”