Granit Xhaka repaired his reputation in north London before departing for £21.6m last summer, joining Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen project – quickly establishing himself as an indispensable player spreading his wings further since returning to Bundesliga play. He’s carried that form on the international stage at the Euros, where the 31-year-old faces some familiar faces Saturday.
Xhaka vs. Rice a duel worth watching
England vs. Switzerland — Euro 2024 quarter-final in Dusseldorf
Live on BBC One and radio platforms at 5pm BST on Saturday
Winner will play Netherlands or Turkey in semi-final next Wednesday
DECLAN Rice was everywhere in England’s last-gasp win over Slovakia last weekend, making crunching tackles, sweeping interceptions and even hitting the woodwork from distance. Yet it felt almost poetic the man critics questioned the loudest before kick-off, Jude Bellingham, would equalise with an overhead kick in stoppage-time.
Rice knows the feeling. Many guffawed at the £105m fee (£5m in add-ons) Arsenal parted with in securing his services last summer from West Ham, though it didn’t take more than a few months for Gunners fans to be laughing loudest given how he’s bolstered their midfield behind Martin Odegaard and fellow recruit Kai Havertz.
A versatile player who can slot into many positions, Rice has played in the No. 8 role for Mikel Arteta’s side with good effect while sitting deeper defensively when called upon given Thomas Partey’s injury woes and Jorginho’s sporadic minutes.
He scored seven goals and created nine assists in England’s top-flight last season (3,231 minutes), more goal contributions than the three previous Premier League campaigns at West Ham combined (seven goals, seven assists in 9,330 mins).
That’s no coincidence given an increasing tendency to burst forward through midfield, as he memorably did against his future side five-and-a-half years ago.
Xhaka’s mobility weaknesses have been well-documented and exploited by savvy opposition, as has the Swiss’ disciplinary issues and penchant for first-foul bookings.
Yet rather than be stuck on an island as he often was in the early going at Arsenal, he’s now surrounded by teammates for club and country who do his running for him – 3-4-2-1 formations support this – giving him licence to focus on orchestrating play with passing and expert positioning like a coach with a tactical in-game view would.
It doesn’t mean he’s faultless, those negative tendencies still show themselves from time-to-time, but he’s better protected and in turn more empowered to play freely and embrace the leadership role he envisioned as a child with older brother Taulant.
Without his influential role in the build-up, Switzerland don’t score their quarter-final clinching goals against holders Italy and just like Jude’s last-ditch intervention 24 hours later, perhaps this is a different conversation entirely.
The first is subtle but patient, retaining possession with a sea of blue around, before Manuel Akanji’s forward ball sets the wheels in motion for Remo Freuler to ghost in, while the second comes sharply – intercepting Nicolo Fagioli’s pass from kick-off, driving forward and offloading to Michel Aebischer. Ruben Vargas did the rest.
Picture source: Getty Images
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