Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[Iceman10]

He was quite good yesterday but that was an issue and quite a clear contrast from Partey.

Xhaka is not a bad midfielder IMO but he's not part of the solution. I can acknowledge both that and the fact that he has played pretty well since his red card. I'd still like to see him replaced.

He's been getting pelters though - Yankee Gunner from the Arsenal Vision Podcast absolutely killed him on the instant reaction pod and I was like "

He wasn't even bad man "

He’s one of those players like one or two at other clubs like Chelsea and Spuds during the 2000’s that I laughed at because I knew they were just about good enough to avoid the chop but when push came to shove they would end up liabilities enough times for those clubs to stay below us for a while. “Liability” is a bit harsh although he can feed that from time to time with silly stuff, but it is more that he just comes up a bit short.

Yesterday even though his passing stats looked good on paper, that is a bit like Elneny passing stats, it was less than 10 misplaced passes, but those were the higher level technically demanding passes where he kept making me cringe.

 

[Macho]

Xhaka is not a bad midfielder IMO but he's not part of the solution. I can acknowledge both that and the fact that he has played pretty well since his red card. I'd still like to see him replaced.

I personally don’t get why this is hard to understand.

 

[Trilly]

When he goes into that ultra-conservative style where he's content to pick the safest pass possible all game and almost refuses to progress the ball, as demonstrated in the video above, he negates his strengths and turns himself into a net negative.

I think Arteta told him to do this tbf.

 

[CaseUteinberger]

He just takes so ****ing long to do anything, it's infuriating. Specially because he has a passing range that allows him to release the ball sooner, with acuracy and impetus.

I think part of why he is so reluctant to move forward under any pressure or that he often turns to the easier backwards or sideways pass is his lack of athleticism. It always takes him quite a bit of time to sort out his legs and body to get the ball into the right position. He is easily our least athletic player. This is also what makes him such a poor defender when it comes to defending 1-on-1 and why he tends to want to grab. So when you say he can release the ball sooner I am not sure that always is the case, at least if he is to deliver an accurate pass. For that he needs space and time.

 

[Tom349]

There is literally nothing wrong with what Xhaka did here. Look at the run or lack of by Aubamayeng or how ESR is the highest player up the pitch at the time of the free kick yet crosses half way at the time Xhaka passes back. The only option was Lacazette who would have been in a long distance foot race which would be a certain turnover.

 

[novar]

You know Xhaka had a decent match where the examples of his mistakes are ****

Compare to the Palace match and that brutal comp of him giving the ball away multiple times to laugh at those claiming he was one of our better players that day.

 

[Multipass]

Xhaka’s part rejuvenation since his red, coupled with parteys ability to get the best out of an office swivel chair if it partnered him in midfield may well save Xhaka’s arsenal career.

 

[Jack_the_boy]

Xhaka’s part rejuvenation since his red, coupled with parteys ability to get the best out of an office swivel chair if it partnered him in midfield may well save Xhaka’s arsenal career.

You’re talking as if he was crap before his red. He was playing well. The whole team was poor in that winless run, not Xhaka’s fault.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Xhaka’s part rejuvenation since his red, coupled with parteys ability to get the best out of an office swivel chair if it partnered him in midfield may well save Xhaka’s arsenal career.

I'm fairly confident if we bring in another midfielder that Xhaka would leave. There's no way the club could stick with Elneny and Cellabos for the future. As for Xhaka, he does not strike me as the type that's happy to sit on the bench. He rates himself and I think his supposed leadership qualities would make him attractive to some other club. We've been through this cycle many times before. Xhaka looks decent and he flatters to deceive and then teams figure him out and then the bad performances come. He gets lambasted by the media, plays well to counter his critics and then things slowly but surely go back to him being bad. It's literally happened all throughout his Arsenal career.

 

[Pyres7]

There is literally nothing wrong with what Xhaka did here. Look at the run or lack of by Aubamayeng or how ESR is the highest player up the pitch at the time of the free kick yet crosses half way at the time Xhaka passes back. The only option was Lacazette who would have been in a long distance foot race which would be a certain turnover.

He could have passed to Laca's feet, cross field to Saka on the right or sideways pass to ESR, all of those choices are low risk and get our attack going.

 

[Multipass]

You’re talking as if he was crap before his red. He was playing well. The whole team was poor in that winless run, not Xhaka’s fault.

completely disagree. Xhaka was slow, unambitious and while in the key position in dictating the pace of the game was a significant contributor to the winless run

 

[dashsnow17]

In the summer he'll have 2 years left on his deal, right? Feels like a natural parting point, get a nice 30m from a German or Italian club and invest in a replacement. I do see a scenario where he doesn't leave, only if for example they want to spend most of the budget on a player in a different position, like no. 10 or striker, they don't think they can afford an adequate replacement so they stick with him for another year and sell in 2022 with 1 year left.

In theory if you had a great attack with a great striker or like Grealish balling at 10 you'd probably do pretty well even with Xhaka in midfield, he's fine most games and he's experienced, but he's not the future of this midfield and it's really time we moved on.

It's funny cos we used to get linked to Brozovic a lot and I never really got it, I always thought Xhaka and Brozovic were in the same bracket of decent but not great. Turns out Brozovic stepped up a level, maybe Xhaka could do that in a league like Serie A.

 

[Sweet'n'Soulful]

Came here to post this, the diference between him and Partey is incredible.

He just takes so ****ing long to do anything, it's infuriating. Specially because he has a passing range that allows him to release the ball sooner, with acuracy and impetus.

You’ve got to love how the arm goes up instantly whenever he bottles a forward pass from deeper positions... ; it’s like a “Guys look, this is the plan and progressing the ball on this occasion does not involve me! I know that pass was really pointless and really negative but we are going to shift it slowly to the right because that’s where I saw the goal coming from in my dreams last night. Trust me, I’m Grant ****ing Xhaka and you’re all playing my game!”

Makes you sick. You can see the reactions of other players as well. The little head drops and checked runs. You’d hear the groans from fans if they were in the stadium too. He’s got comfortable doing this because he can’t hear reactions.

 

[Jack_the_boy]

 

[Big Poppa]

There is literally nothing wrong with what Xhaka did here. Look at the run or lack of by Aubamayeng or how ESR is the highest player up the pitch at the time of the free kick yet crosses half way at the time Xhaka passes back. The only option was Lacazette who would have been in a long distance foot race which would be a certain turnover.

Bruh. You can literally see Saka pointing for the long diagonal over the top where he’d be in on goal.

 

[Big Poppa]

You know Xhaka had a decent match where the examples of his mistakes are ****

Compare to the Palace match and that brutal comp of him giving the ball away multiple times to laugh at those claiming he was one of our better players that day.

I’m happy that he is no longer conceding penalties and silly fouls but we need to progress our evaluation of players beyond mistakes. Decent game for a guaranteed starter isn’t the aim here.

He’s improved immensely at doing the job he does. Retaining possession, blocking passing channels and covering zones during defensive transitions.

The question is whether he can do both that and not decelerate our offensive up play. I’m not so sure but happy to be proved wrong.

Our attackers are technically limited but thrive in quick transition, therefore opposition corner kicks are one of our best chances to hurt them.

 

[Jack_the_boy]

Since I’ve seen a few cry out to replace Xhaka with Bissouma, I thought I’d do a stat comparison between the two:

 

[tap-in]

He was quite good yesterday but that was an issue and quite a clear contrast from Partey.

Xhaka is not a bad midfielder IMO but he's not part of the solution. I can acknowledge both that and the fact that he has played pretty well since his red card. I'd still like to see him replaced.

He's been getting pelters though - Yankee Gunner from the Arsenal Vision Podcast absolutely killed him on the instant reaction pod and I was like "

He wasn't even bad man "

Yes he's currently playing better, he's even staying on his feet more rather than those ridiculous flops to the floor. He's just not the partner we need next to Partey, we could find a much better fit. I would sell in the summer if we can find the right player. I would also buy a younger player as well or promote from within to replace Elneny.

 

[Kobi]

I may be in the minority but I still think there is a decent player in there, if the team aren't going to have 90% of the ball (like Busquets at Barca) then he needs a mobile partner.
Xhaka paired with Zakaria is completely different to the player we see next to plodders like ElNeny and Cebellos, Partey should be similar, it could be like signing two new midfielders, not just one.
I still think he needs to be braver with his passing, too many times he goes back to someone like Holding who will invariably play an aimless long ball. His defensive work in the last couple of weeks has been excellent though, reading of danger and tackling/blocking has been really, really good.
Hopefully now Thomas is back they can have a good run as a pairing and I'm proved right.

 

[Multipass]

Since I’ve seen a few cry out to replace Xhaka with Bissouma, I thought I’d do a stat comparison between the two:

is that a career stats comparison? Care to do a season one?