"A playmaker who gets the ball to his teammates when he needs it most, in the most comfortable way." This is the explanation of Playmaker in the textbook of the Spanish Football Federation Coach Training Course.
Switzerland beat Italy cleanly 2-0 with captain Xhaka putting in an excellent performance. Although he did not score or assist, he was the weaver of the overall orderly attack and defense of the Swiss team.
In this game, Xhaka played 90 minutes, with 101 touches, 98 passes and 94 successful shots, with a success rate of 96%. 3 long passes, 2 successes. Throughout the game, he was constantly running, responding, passing, and scheduling, creating space for his teammates and optimizing the team's attacking quality.
As a midfield commander, Xhaka has the tactical initiative in the Swiss team, and he also has a considerable strategic mindset and knows when to slow down or speed up the tempo.
Just like this season at Bayer Leverkusen.
Xhaka has become an important projection of Xavi Alonso's coaching philosophy on the pitch, and although his quality is not as good as that of the midfield maestro Alonso in his playing days, his ability to organise long passes and short plays still bears his shadow.
In the 3421 system, Xhaka is assisted by the iron waist Andrich, and can be freed from the defensive tasks that he is not good at, and defend with positional interceptions rather than hand-to-hand tackles, and focus more on controlling the ball and distributing it to his teammates, especially the attacking genius Wirtz in front of him and the two wing-backs Grimaldo and Frimpong.
Observing the space on the field at any time, making quick decisions and moving the ball to the most threatening area with appropriate passes, especially penetrating direct passes, determines the rhythm of the attack and points out the direction of the attack, which is the most critical role of him on the field.
It can be said that Xhaka's performance has been perfect since last summer, and his performance in the midfield has made a qualitative change in the team.
Even at his former club Arsenal, Xhaka's performance has been acceptable over the past seven years, and his performances have gotten better and better in the last two years.
It can only be regretted that he arrived to catch up with Arsenal's low point, and the lack of interception midfielders in midfield will expose his shortcomings. Later, the arrival of Thomas also improved Xhaka's tactical ability in disguise. Today, he is a metronome and organizer who is more in line with the trend of the times.
The older you get, the more demonic you are, which is the most perfect interpretation of Xhaka.
Of course, there is also Cross who fits the word.
In the eyes of data control, the German is just the spokesperson of the global master, especially at the moment when high-level pressing is prevalent, the midfield that cannot run and cannot be defended, has limited coverage, and is inadvertently prominent one-on-one is like a formation sinkhole, but the seemingly outdated version of Kroos has opened up another possibility, and the organizational core is rear.
Especially after Carlo Ancelotti entered the palace for the second time, Real Madrid, who returned to the line of speed and efficiency, relied on Kroos's precision unabated.
Against the backdrop of many energetic young people around the German national team, Kroos's superb ball skills, calm mentality and ability to read the game are even more rare.
In the first game against France in the national team, Kroos needed only eight seconds to provide an assist.
The big win over Scotland in the opening game of the European Championship was also Kroos's wide transfer in midfield to find the Scottish team's joint space, and Kimmich assisted Wirtz in one fell swoop.
In the three rounds of group stage, Kroos's pass success rates were: 99%, 94.7% and 92.5% respectively. What's more, the team's messy midfielders and functions are also extremely clear after he returns to the cards.
After the European Championships, Kroos will say goodbye to football, and perhaps it will be shocking and sad when the city is truly history.