Sweden vs Switzerland, World Cup 2018: Why Granit Xhaka plays so much better for the Swiss than Arsenal, scouting report

Robust midfielder has made high profile errors for Arsenal and carries a poor disciplinary record but is much better when representing his country

Granit Xhaka has received nine red cards for club and country since 2014 and found himself in hot water with Fifa after being fined for making a gesture similar to the Albanian 'double-headed eagle' flag when he scored against Serbia earlier in the World Cup. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Sweden’s Mikael Lustig identified a plan to try and get him sent off to hand them an advantage over Switzerland in their round of 16 tie.

“We have heard that he has received many red cards in the Premier League, we have to keep cool and try to get him sent off the pitch,” Lustig told The Telegraph. The beautiful irony is that Lustig was in fact the first player into the referee’s notebook, not that Xhaka would have been smiling because he soon followed in the second half.

What Lustig may not have known is Xhaka has only received one of those red cards playing for Switzerland. His form for his country is far better than anything fans at the Emirates get to see. Arsenal fans have been frustrated by his performances for the Gunners since he arrived in north London in 2016, but why is he so much better for Switzerland?

In their first World Cup match, Xhaka did a fine job alongside Valon Behrami to nullify the threat of Gabriel Jesus, Neymar, Willian and Philippe Coutinho as Switzerland held out to draw 1-1. Against Serbia he was afforded a little more attacking freedom and stuck a sweet left-footed shot into the bottom corner from range to level the score before Xherdan Shaqiri won the game late on.

When playing Costa Rica he completed more passes than any other player and made the second most amount of tackles in another good display. Xhaka, 25, has had an impressive World Cup and it is all down to him being part of a system that hides his flaws.

Cast your mind back to the end of April. Graeme Souness had just called Xhaka a "fool" for producing a defensive display which kids would be embarrassed about. The Arsenal captain failed to track Paul Pogba’s run into the box as the Frenchman gave Manchester United the lead. For Switzerland, it would have been Behrami who would have tracked the runner from deep and prevented a goal.

Granit Xhaka has had a mixed time at Arsenal but plays well for his country (EPA)

Switzerland got the best out of Xhaka because their system gets him playing to his strengths, and not being forced to play in areas he is so clearly unable to defend. This was the case when Emil Forsberg scored after ghosting past him on the edge of the box and fired a shot in via Manuel Akanji’s deflection.

Despite his slight defensive mishap, Xhaka was able to influence that game in a positive way when he operated further up the pitch. He completed more passes than any other player and had a good shot sail over the bar in the first half.

New Arsenal manager Unai Emery has a problem to solve in his midfield; their soft core has been one of the main reasons their past two seasons have ended so miserably. Mohamed Elneny is certainly not the way forward and the new manager could be tempted to upgrade Xhaka in the transfer market.

His defensive work, of course, needs improving or to be relieved as soon as possible, but where do you play him? Although he’s emerged as a handy player in attacking positions for Switzerland, you feel Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Özil’s positions are safe, which means Emery will have to work hard to find a system to fit him in.

Discarding him entirely will be short-sighted. Of course he makes too many individual errors to be a reliable holding midfielder, but as seen when he plays for Switzerland, in the right system he can be a very important player.