Arsenal World Cup update: Stephan Lichtsteiner provides perfect foreshadow

Stephan Lichtsteiner started for Switzerland in the 2018 World Cup on Sunday against Brazil. The Arsenal defenders provided the perfect foreshadow for what he will offer when he arrives in north London.

The World Cup and European Championships offer a unique peek into the qualities of potential or already completed signings. Andrey Arshavin of Russia in Euro 2008 is an excellent example — he would sign for Arsenal six months later in the January window. Tomas Rosicky for the Czech Republic two years prior. Granit Xhaka for Switzerland in 2016.

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And this year is no different. Lucas Torreira is in the Uruguay squad. Gelson Martins is in Russia with Portugal. And Stephan Lichtsteiner, the only official signing of the summer window thus far, is the captain of the Switzerland national team.

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The right-back made his first appearance in this summer’s World Cup on Sunday evening, starting against one of the favourites for the whole competition, Brazil. The entertaining affair ended in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland fighting back from Philippe Coutinho’s remarkable first-half strike to earn an invaluable point. It was a very good performance by the Swiss, resting on a solid and secure defensive structure to repel the waves of Brazilian attacks, before looking to counter with pace and precision.

It was in this resilient defending that Lichtsteiner provided a foreshadowing of what he will bring to Arsenal next season. At 34, he is not set to be the sure-fire starter. That role belongs to Hector Bellerin. Lichtsteiner is merely in north London to provide depth and competition at a position in which there was only one natural option for the whole of last season. But even in that reserve position, he can still have a great influence on this team.

What was immediately evident from his performance was the experience, the leadership and the communication that he brings, three aspects of the game that Arsenal have traditionally struggled with.

Up against Neymar and an overlapping Marcelo, without much help from Xherdan Shaqiri, a notoriously lazy winger who frequently utterly abandons his defensive responsibilities, Lichtsteiner displayed his experience time and time again, demanding help from inside to cover for Shaqiri’s absence, ushering both down the line as frequently as possible, and improving as the game progressed, diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of his opponent and changing his game accordingly.

Moreover, he was in constant communication with his centre-halves and defensive-midfield pair Valon Behrami and Granit Xhaka, the latter of which has just signed a long-term extension to keep him at the Emirates for the foreseeable future, and led the Swiss team to an unlikely, but deserved, second-half comeback.

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Because Lichtsteiner is 34 was signed on a free, it is easy to overlook the qualities that he does bring. He’s not an exciting addition. But he is a good one, and he foreshadowed precisely what he will bring against Brazil.