Granit Xhaka admits that Chelsea star Eden Hazard might be the best player in the world right now, but he still thinks Switzerland need to do better against the top teams.

Xhaka captained Switzerland in their match against Belgium last week, ending up on the wrong side of a 2-1 defeat. Afterwards, he spoke to Swiss outlet Blick about the game. The Arsenal man admitted Belgium were in a much better position to pick up the pace at any moment, largely as a result of individual stars like Hazard.

“This is individual class,” he said. “He (Hazard) is not for nothing the best player in the world right now. But it’s not that we can’t keep up with the pace.

“We are extremely strong mentally. But we still have to play a bit smarter and maybe bring home a 1-1 win in Belgium. We did not manage to stay focused for over 90 minutes. And that has to change.”

By most accounts, Switzerland didn’t actually play too badly in the clash. They were just caught out in one or two moments and didn’t have the same firepower to respond. Xhaka says the team have to accept that they won’t get anywhere with good performances and bad results though.

“At some point, the good performances bring us nothing. We would rather play bad and get something. At some point, we have to beat the top teams. It is sad that we didn’t make it again.”

Perhaps Xhaka is seeing parallels between his club and his country at the moment. Arsenal are certainly well aware of what it’s like to play well and get nothing from a game. Just look at the match against Manchester United at the Emirates last season, or the clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this campaign.

Fortunately, Unai Emery now seems to be putting together some results, even if the good performances took a while to follow. Understandably, Xhaka just wants the same thing for Switzerland.

For now, they face Iceland on Monday at 19:45.