Stoke City manager Paul Lambert feels the club cannot be solely reliant on Xherdan Shaqiri to change the club’s fortunes. The Switzerland international is the Potters’ leading contributor this term with seven goals and a further six assists, but this has not been sufficient to propel the club above the drop zone.

New Zealand Football have named a Swiss coach Fritz Schmid as the new national team boss on Friday. The new coach is tasked with managing the side and helping them make their top target: a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. New Zealand national team had been without a substantive manager since the departure of Anthony Hudson in November. The Briton failed to help New Zealand go past the World Cup intercontinental playoff against Peru. Without a World Cup in mind, there was no extending the deal.

Former Arsenal star Martin Keown believes the likes of Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi need to provide much more on the playing field in order to secure their long-term futures with the club. The pair have received mixed reactions from the Gunners’ faithful this term, though they managed to recently impress in the double-legged Europa League tie versus AC Milan.

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has panned the performance of his former club after they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to the Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby last weekend. The Gunners started the game with a defensive-minded approach which helped them keep the scores level at the break.

Switzerland national team coach Vladimir Petkovic has confirmed that he is extremely delighted that his team has been able to seal qualification to the World Cup 2018 after managing a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland on aggregate. After having done well so far in the qualification campaign, Switzerland suffered a hiccup with a 2-0 loss against Portugal. This group match defeat meant that the national team had to settle for a second place of the table and had to go through a qualification in order to reach the World Cup 2018.

This is because of the two teams finishing the same number of points in the table. Over the course of the qualification campaign, Portugal had also done extremely well and picked up 27 points. However, the extra goal difference for Fernando Santos’ team was responsible for the victory. Switzerland had a lot of worry as they went into the play-off match against Northern Ireland, who are one of the stronger teams in the knockout stages of the competition. After a 1-0 win in the first leg, Switzerland were able to get a goalless draw in the return leg at home. Ultimately, the penalty from Ricardo Rodriguez in the first leg proved to be the decisive goal in the game. As a result, Switzerland will be making their way to Russia 2018 in order to play at the World Cup.

Arsenal legend-turned-pundit Thierry Henry has slammed Granit Xhaka for failing to react quicker prior to Wayne Rooney's opening goal last weekend. The Switzerland international was fouled by Idrissa Gueye just outside the box, and he was busy protesting on the ground when Rooney capitalised to score the first goal of the game.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Henry insisted that Xhaka should be aware of what is around him as a player of Wayne Rooney's caliber cannot be given much space in and around the box, he said: "You have to be aware of what’s happening Xhaka, yeah maybe it might be a foul. The danger is Wayne Rooney. When Xhaka loses the ball he needs to go now, but it’s too late. If you let Wayne Rooney take the ball, one touch, two touch, look up then you go one nil down."

Stoke City attacker Xherdan Shaqiri has provided valuable advice to his former club Basel ahead of their Champions League outing at Manchester United on Tuesday night.

In an interview covered by Blick, Shaqiri admitted that Basel face a tough task on their hands at Old Trafford, where United are mostly dominant with their football. He added that the Swiss champions must focus beyond the defensive aspects if they are to take a positive result away from the Mancunian giants.

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka believes his side are still in the title race after going on a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions.

Following the Gunners' Premier League triumph over Brighton & Hove Albion, Xhaka was happy with how things progress over the month, he said: "We are into our stride, and we have the top of the table back in our sights. I am happy with things. I am a regular for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, and I want to progress still further. Getting straight back into the Champions League next season will be very important for us."

Granit Xhaka may have been voted as Switzerland's Player of the Year but he admits that he cannot go out in London in a flamboyant mood following Arsenal's 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool.

Speaking about the award, he said: "I am very proud [of the award]. I had to work hard for it, but I would have never achieved it without the lads and the [national team] staff. I am still young, I am still fresh and I want more. I want to work even harder than before and then we'll see what the future holds in store for me."

Sheffield Wednesday are reportedly planning to boost their promotion hopes ahead of next season with a move for former Arsenal defender Johan Djourou.