Granit Xhaka: Next Captain?

[BigPoppaPump]

If Xhaka is so bad Why do we look worse when he is not playing?

This is a myth.

 

[DanDare]

If Xhaka is so bad Why do we look worse when he is not playing?

Two things. We play with him most of the time so he is part of our style this season also he's better than the rest.

But that's not justification to keep him

 

[Sniper Mik]

He looks good because he's currently the only player we have right now who can sit in the front of the back four and advance play from deep into the middle third of the opposition's half. Guendouzi can't do it, at least not yet. Torreira has the ability but his instincts are to go after the ball and not sit in a specific part of the pitch. Without Xhaka it's basically a whole lot of sideways and backwards passing that we saw against Everton and Palace with Elneny and Guendouzi. But apart from this Xhaka has major flaws. Can't handle the press well, can't impose himself in a lot of games, gives the ball away cheaply.

 

[RacingPhoton]

He improved under emery the peoblem here if we only target top 4 every season then he good enough to stay but if you want to compete you need better players

Improved in what way? A player who starts shaking when being pressed should never be a midfielder. Let alone midfielder of a team aiming for top 4. His lack of swiftness in making decisions is what affects our entire attack. Trusting him to replace Cazorla was the biggest mistake we made along with buying Mustafi.

 

[Sniper Mik]

We got an upgrade on Coquelin with Torreira but a downgrade on Santi with Xhaka.

 

[Garrincha]

Even with our joke teams the away form was good & often what carried us into the top four each year.

In Xhakas three years here we have averaged -10 points (23 away points per season) compared to the three years before Xhaka (33 away points per season).

Not for a second do I believe this is all on him but the midfield is broken. It can get by at home but exposed week on week out away. Are we really good enough as a team anymore to play a DLP or #10? These are luxury positions.

 

[Gamefaced]

If Xhaka is so bad Why do we look worse when he is not playing?

Because we have a really poor quality in midfielders in the squad and a lack of quality replacements, so even average players like Xhaka can be missed, but i'm so sorry we're dollop even with or without him in the team.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Improved in what way? A player who starts shaking when being pressed should never be a midfielder. Let alone midfielder of a team aiming for top 4. His lack of swiftness in making decisions is what affects our entire attack. Trusting him to replace Cazorla was the biggest mistake we made along with buying Mustafi.

Less error prone than last season. Without him our midfield look even worse. But of We need better players than him

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Even with our joke teams the away form was good & often what carried us into the top four each year.

In Xhakas three years here we have averaged -10 points (23 away points per season) compared to the three years before Xhaka (33 away points per season).

Not for a second do I believe this is all on him but the midfield is broken. It can get by at home but exposed week on week out away. Are we really good enough as a team anymore to play a DLP or #10? These are luxury positions.

Xhaka and Torreira are more like defensive midfielders they not gonna carry the ball forward with pace and dribble past people that's why we have to get players like santi who can carry our midfield

 

[YeahBee]

Less error prone than last season. Without him our midfield look even worse. But of We need better players than him

Better players around him yes

But most importantly better tactics/organization/formations

 

[Garrincha]

Xhaka and Torreira are more like defensive midfielders they not gonna carry the ball forward with pace and dribble past people that's why we have to get players like santi who can carry our midfield

If there as a DM or CM we can easily upgrade. In our last five games we have seen some great potential signings for the role. More aggressive, disciplined & controlling the game without the ball.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Xhaka and Torreira are more like defensive midfielders they not gonna carry the ball forward with pace and dribble past people that's why we have to get players like santi who can carry our midfield

A defensive midfielder should be good at tackles. Xhaka is only good at stupid tackles.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Less error prone than last season. Without him our midfield look even worse. But of We need better players than him

Less error prone? I see him do the mistakes as frequently as last season. Also, losing the ball in our own half close to the box is criminal. Any player playing at premier league level can do it may be twice or thrice in one entire season. This guy does it on a regular basis. Even if he does it 10 times per season, he should not be playing here at all.
Without him, our team looks worse because we don't have another option at all. Torreira is still adapting. Gendouzi is young. Elneny is useless. That doesn't make Xhaka a good player. He is suitable only for leagues like Serie A in the bottom teams. We made the wrong decision of making him our midfield mainstay.

 

[DanDare]

This guy's a con

He seem's like he can do all sorts with his left foot but his brain is too slow to use it on a football pitch effectively.

 

[Impact]

Best midfielder at the club, which tells you all you need to know about our current malaise.

More I think about it, the less I think there is anything to salvage with this squad. If we received a good offer for him (£35m+) I'd sell happily.

 

[YeahBee]

Everyone would struggle in our struggling team because we lack organization, we dont have a clear formation nor any sort of comprehensible general approach


Some of you say that he just sprays passes forward and criticized him: blame the ones not running

He takes too long: the other ones are not showing themselves properly

 

[YeahBee]

Best midfielder at the club, which tells you all you need to know about our current malaise.

More I think about it, the less I think there is anything to salvage with this squad. If we received a good offer for him (£35m+) I'd sell happily.

If we are stupid enough to sell he will shine

He could slide right into real, barca, Bayern etc etc

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

If we are stupid enough to sell he will shine

He could slide right into real, barca, Bayern etc etc

Haha yes I can really see Zidane going for Xhaka.

 

[nick gould]

Xhaka and Torreira are more like defensive midfielders they not gonna carry the ball forward with pace and dribble past people that's why we have to get players like santi who can carry our midfield

We need a complete box to box midfielder who is good under pressure and who can change the tempo of the game through quick passing or running forward with the ball. At the moment we have defensive midfielders in Xhaka, torreira and Matteo. We can't play 2 holding midfielders all the time because the quality of our attacks would deteriorate. Think viera and Gilberto. One goes and the other one stays. With our 2 no-one is making forward runs.

 

[Football Manager]

We need a complete box to box midfielder who is good under pressure and who can change the tempo of the game through quick passing or running forward with the ball. At the moment we have defensive midfielders in Xhaka, torreira and Matteo. We can't play 2 holding midfielders all the time because the quality of our attacks would deteriorate. Think viera and Gilberto. One goes and the other one stays. With our 2 no-one is making forward runs.

No we don’t need box to box and forward runs.
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