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Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

Will Xhaka be here after the summer window?

  • Yes

    Votes: 38 55.1%
  • No

    Votes: 31 44.9%

  • Total voters
    69
  • Poll closed .
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Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
Xhaka’s bad moments are rare. His sending off was his first in three seasons.

He’s a top quality midfielder.
His bad or really bad moments are getting rarer but his main body of work is quite average. An injection of quality makes him look good but these are occasional at best. He's definitely not top quality and the main reason why our centre midfield has gone to pot. Good on his day at best.
 

Jack_the_boy

Definitely Not Manberg
His bad or really bad moments are getting rarer but his main body of work is quite average. An injection of quality makes him look good but these are occasional at best. He's definitely not top quality and the main reason why our centre midfield has gone to pot. Good on his day at best.

Not at all. Only reason you’re of the impression he’s been better than usual recently is because he got higher up the pitch and has been making some hollywood passes and hollywood shots. This is not primarily his job. His job is to recycle possession from deep, control tempo, help shield or cover for the defence and transition defence into attack by passing to attackers higher up the pitch, particularly the wide players. He slows the play down when needed and tries to win fouls. He always makes himself available for a pass. His rate of forward passes has increased only because he’s had more passing options in front of him.

Look up the function of the deep lying playmaker.
 

Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
Not at all. Only reason you’re of the impression he’s been better than usual recently is because he got higher up the pitch and has been making some hollywood passes and hollywood shots. This is not primarily his job. His job is to recycle possession from deep, control tempo, help shield or cover for the defence and transition defence into attack by passing to attackers higher up the pitch, particularly the wide players. He slows the play down when needed and tries to win fouls. He always makes himself available for a pass. His rate of forward passes has increased only because he’s had more passing options in front of him.

Look up the function of the deep lying playmaker.
I suspected this would be your reply and I know the function of a DLP and Xhaka isn't a good one. He recycles possession for sure with a few sideways passes but I've seen Ceballos take as many if not more balls off the CB's so he's not pressed. David Luiz has done a chunk of his job for him. Our tempo has been poor for ages and only improved once the youth came in. Every pundit and fan agreed on this so no credit there. As for shielding the defence, I've seen opposition players run past him time after time. Our midfield shield is pretty non existent unless he fouls the runner. He does win fouls but as ref Marriner? showed, not every ref is going to give these cheap decisions. You say he slows play down-any slower than it was before our upturn and it won't be worth leaving the dressing room. He slows it down because he struggles to play it fast consistently. Small sample size but what a contrast with ESR who played too fast! His slow play allows our opponent to get every man and his dog behind the ball. I do agree that he's looked better with more passing options but Elneny has put in equally good forward passes. As the so called DLP who is so called top quality etc, he isn't the go to guy on the pitch. He's another who looks decent to good when the real ballers get hold of the game. A couple of Hollywood moments don't cover the cracks in his game or sway me. I've been desperate to see the good in this player and I give praise where it's due but often end up posting overly nice comments that I don't really mean! The rating of this guy baffles me tbh.
You may not be @Manberg, but you're certainly a Manberger ;):). We'll have to agree to disagree.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
One of my fav Xhaka moments was during us beating Sp**s 4-2 in 2018, more to do with a tweet I saw afterwards...Granit cleverly won a freekick late in the match, Harry Winks then got in his face, Xhaka kind of looked at him like he was nothing...after the game, I saw a tweet that said...

"Privately educated, 5'5 Harry Winks...tries to intimidate 6 foot plus Granit Xhaka, who grew up in a war torn country."
 

Jack_the_boy

Definitely Not Manberg
I suspected this would be your reply and I know the function of a DLP and Xhaka isn't a good one. He recycles possession for sure with a few sideways passes but I've seen Ceballos take as many if not more balls off the CB's so he's not pressed. David Luiz has done a chunk of his job for him. Our tempo has been poor for ages and only improved once the youth came in. Every pundit and fan agreed on this so no credit there. As for shielding the defence, I've seen opposition players run past him time after time. Our midfield shield is pretty non existent unless he fouls the runner. He does win fouls but as ref Marriner? showed, not every ref is going to give these cheap decisions. You say he slows play down-any slower than it was before our upturn and it won't be worth leaving the dressing room. He slows it down because he struggles to play it fast consistently. Small sample size but what a contrast with ESR who played too fast! His slow play allows our opponent to get every man and his dog behind the ball. I do agree that he's looked better with more passing options but Elneny has put in equally good forward passes. As the so called DLP who is so called top quality etc, he isn't the go to guy on the pitch. He's another who looks decent to good when the real ballers get hold of the game. A couple of Hollywood moments don't cover the cracks in his game or sway me. I've been desperate to see the good in this player and I give praise where it's due but often end up posting overly nice comments that I don't really mean! The rating of this guy baffles me tbh.
You may not be @Manberg, but you're certainly a Manberger ;):). We'll have to agree to disagree.

Xhaka’s one of the best dlp’s in the league, the stats would back that up. I haven’t found up to date graphics but I found this comparison of the league’s best dlp’s as of June 2019. Rodri’s stats from his time at Atletico.
Defensive-Actions-1-1-1536x777.jpg

Ability-on-the-Ball-1-1-1-1-1536x777.jpg

One-on-one-duels-1-1-1536x777.jpg
 

novar

Well-Known Member
One of my fav Xhaka moments was during us beating Sp**s 4-2 in 2018, more to do with a tweet I saw afterwards...Granit cleverly won a freekick late in the match, Harry Winks then got in his face, Xhaka kind of looked at him like he was nothing...after the game, I saw a tweet that said...

"Privately educated, 5'5 Harry Winks...tries to intimidate 6 foot plus Granit Xhaka, who grew up in a war torn country."

My fav moment is him picking his nose while watching Cleverley score the winning goal in the dying moments of the game
 

Impact

Established Member
I like Xhaka and I also think we can do better (without much difficulty) but I'll be interested to see how people view him after a 3+ game stretch alongside Partey. Granit has his flaws but I've often felt they have been exacerbated over the years due to our distinctly average midfield recruitment.
 

Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
Xhaka’s one of the best dlp’s in the league, the stats would back that up. I haven’t found up to date graphics but I found this comparison of the league’s best dlp’s as of June 2019. Rodri’s stats from his time at Atletico.
Defensive-Actions-1-1-1536x777.jpg

Ability-on-the-Ball-1-1-1-1-1536x777.jpg

One-on-one-duels-1-1-1536x777.jpg
I dont dispute his stats. It's how he fits in to our set ups and the effect his presence has and to me, he struggles. Its a bit like Pepe-good stats but no chemistry with any team mates. As @Impact said, let's see how he and Partey get on.
 

RunTheTrap

Kai Havertz Offense League
I like Xhaka and I also think we can do better (without much difficulty) but I'll be interested to see how people view him after a 3+ game stretch alongside Partey. Granit has his flaws but I've often felt they have been exacerbated over the years due to our distinctly average midfield recruitment.
Despite Partey’s injuries this season, Arteta has been reluctant to use Partey and Xhaka in midfield together in a two. I think the ONLY time we saw them together was the Sp**s game. Now I can see why people are eager to see a Partey-Xhaka pivot but what if it’s not the answer we’re looking for? They’re both quite dominate in their personalities and I mean this footballistically not their actual personalities. In their respective teams they both are the ones who take responsibility out when it comes to build up play and advancing into the second phase.

You might think I’m talking rubbish but more often than not you see this sort of thing happen. Vieira and Cesc were on paper the best partnership we had and they never really developed a relationship on the pitch. Carrick was always a good midfielder but it wasn’t until Scholes retired and he was paired with Cleverly until he truly showed his world class abilities. The England midfield of Lampard, Scholes and Gerrard that achieved nothing despite their obvious quality because none of them actually suited one another. And while we may not like him, its why someone like Elneny may start games over Xhaka. Wenger benched or moved Ramsey out wide for Coquelin because he could not offer the same skillset to partner our best misfielder at the time, which was Carzola. Football isn't always putting the 11 best guys on the pitch, partnerships and balance is more important especially for defensive positions.

Look maybe I’m reaching and we actually need to see them play together but I don’t think Xhaka-Partey pivot is a certainty to succeed.
 
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Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
Despite Partey’s injuries this season, Arteta has been reluctant to use Partey and Xhaka in midfield together in a two. I think the ONLY time we saw them together was the Sp**s game. Now I can see why people are eager to see a Partey-Xhaka pivot but what if it’s not the answer we’re looking for? They’re both quite dominate in their personalities and I mean this footballistically not their actual personalities. In their respective teams they both are the ones who take responsibility out when it comes to build up play and advancing into the second phase.

You might think I’m talking rubbish but more often than not you see this sort of thing happen. Vieira and Cesc were on paper the best partnership we had and they never really developed a relationship on the pitch. Carrick was always a good midfielder but it wasn’t until Scholes retired and he was paired with Cleverly until he truly showed his world class abilities. The England midfield of Lampard, Scholes and Gerrard that achieved nothing despite their obvious quality because none of them actually suited one another. And while we may not like him, its why someone like Elneny may start games over Xhaka. Wenger benched or moved Ramsey out wide for Coquelin because he could not offer the same skillset to partner our best misfielder at the time, which was Cazorla. Football isn't always putting the 11 best guys on the pitch, partnerships and balance is more important especially for defensive positions.

Look maybe I’m reaching and we actually need to see them play together but I don’t think Xhaka-Partey pivot is a certainty to succeed.
I want to see the Xhaka/Partey pivot so we finally know if it works or not. Like you, I think a more mobile partner for Partey will work better. The problem is that he's too scared to play forward more often despite having a good pass in him. If he does that, the position is his until Guendouzi or a new player comes in.
 

RacingPhoton

Established Member
Stats comparing the league’s best in his position in that season (and Rodri for Atletico):

Defensive-Actions-1-1.jpg


Ability-on-the-Ball-1-1-1-1.jpg


Which part is a lie?

#GetXhakaBackInTheMiddle
Some good finger picking there.
https://www.premierleague.com/players/12136/Granit-Xhaka/stats
https://www.premierleague.com/players/5682/Jorginho/stats

We already know that chances created, passing accuracy are very misleading stats.
If you move from chances created to big chances created, Xhaka has 12 from 136 matches while Jorginho has 12 from just 76 matches.
Even a pass back to the GK adds up to passing accuracy. Jorginho has already played 52 through balls in just 76 matches while Xhaka has just 35 through balls in 136 matches.
Xhaka has more accurate long balls though. But as we have discussed multiple times before, none of them have ever created goal scoring chances for us. The fact that Jorginho has created more big chances with much less long balls shows you that through balls in the middle are much more effective than the long balls Xhaka plays.
Jorginho already has 134 interceptions while Xhaka has just 135 interceptions.

This is just comparing him with Jorginho and I don't even rate Jorginho.
Xhaka’s one of the best dlp’s in the league, the stats would back that up. I haven’t found up to date graphics but I found this comparison of the league’s best dlp’s as of June 2019. Rodri’s stats from his time at Atletico.
Defensive-Actions-1-1-1536x777.jpg

Ability-on-the-Ball-1-1-1-1-1536x777.jpg

One-on-one-duels-1-1-1536x777.jpg
Surprised that you post the same stats that Manberg did. Posting my response to the hand picked stats when you posted them the first time.
 

EinmalImmerEwig

Bent on his knees by asking to get banned !
One of my fav Xhaka moments was during us beating Sp**s 4-2 in 2018, more to do with a tweet I saw afterwards...Granit cleverly won a freekick late in the match, Harry Winks then got in his face, Xhaka kind of looked at him like he was nothing...after the game, I saw a tweet that said...

"Privately educated, 5'5 Harry Winks...tries to intimidate 6 foot plus Granit Xhaka, who grew up in a war torn country."
Yeah, that war-torn Country with the chocolate and cheese

He was born in Basel, Switzerland, and I know Basel is a ****-hole compared to Zürich, but to describe it as 'war-torn'?!?

The guy is the school bully. A proper *****. Only strong with his mates behind him.
 

Dennis_Bergkamp_10

Established Member
Xhaka’s one of the best dlp’s in the league, the stats would back that up. I haven’t found up to date graphics but I found this comparison of the league’s best dlp’s as of June 2019. Rodri’s stats from his time at Atletico.
Defensive-Actions-1-1-1536x777.jpg

Ability-on-the-Ball-1-1-1-1-1536x777.jpg

One-on-one-duels-1-1-1536x777.jpg

Why can't we just agree that he's better than Elneny and Ceballos but he's not good enough? Despite whether he wins 56% of his aerial duels or not?
 
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