A young Granit Xhaka could be brilliant - but he was also petulant and volatile. For some in Germany, that remains his enduring identity
The club know what they want from him. At the end of last season, Leverkusen identified a need to alter their dressing-room chemistry and to surround their nucleus of young and precocious players with tougher material. They want personality and leadership., a 31-year-old German international was signed, so too was Xhaka, and Leverkusen look sturdier — and better — for it.
It was a burden Xhaka shouldered and, at this stage of his career, he is able to be the wise old head that Leverkusen need. Tellingly, his finest moments in Saturday’s game also came when it was still competitive. Gladbach are a team in transition — there are still no signs that they are on their way back — but in front of their home crowd for the first time this season, they produced a surge of effort that seemed to unsettle a few of the visiting players.
A team, after all, is highly sensitive. We know that through the many arbitrary factors that can damage it throughout a season. A bad press conference, an inconvenient headline, an unwelcome transfer rumour. When it comprises so many young players , it can be particularly delicate and that fragile talent is what Xhaka is there to help protect.
He speaks eloquently about the dynamics within a team and the impact that coaches and senior teammates can have. Whenspoke to him in late July, he was also clear about what his role would be within Leverkusen’s social dynamic. He had no intention of infringing upon Lukas Hradecky’s captaincy, he insisted, but his job was to challenge the younger players. At times, when necessary, he wanted to help those players find out where their limits were.
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