Granit Xhaka is hoping to improve on his disciplinary record this season.

The Swiss midfielder picked up a “bad boy” reputation last season after receiving two red cards and 12 yellow cards, many of which were avoidable.

The reds came as a result of wild lunges on players, a symptom of his aggressive approach to defending.

While his poor discipline was blown out of proportion, Xhaka hopes that he can pick up fewer cards this season.

“I know it has been criticised but my style of play is to be aggressive,” Xhaka said, as reported by The Evening Standard.

“My two red cards can be discussed, were they necessary or not, but I am hoping to have less cards this season and build on the end of last season where I already had less.”

The extra centre back in Arsenal’s system has provided Xhaka extra cover. Since the change of formation, he’s not dived into tackles as often and has picked up fewer cards as a result.

The formation has also clarified Xhaka’s role in the team after some initial confusion. Wenger infamously described him as a box-to-box midfielder last season, but has since recognised that Xhaka is a deep-lying playmaker.

When asked to describe his own role, he said: “It is a good question. I am not a player who likes to talk about himself but I think I have shown since I have been here that I am someone who likes having the ball, dictating the play, looking for my team-mates.

“I’m what we call a ‘six’ in Germany, a quite aggressive, deep-lying playmaker.”

Part of his job is to find Arsenal’s forwards with early passes, something he struggled to do against Leicester last Friday. Thierry Henry highlighted the issue on Sky Sports, and Xhaka has welcomed the feedback.

“I watched the analysis and saw the comments, of course for me it is my aim to get Laca in the game as well as all the players in front of me, in the next few weeks hopefully it’ll get better and I can do that.”