Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[AfcDaniel20]

Xhaka doesnt hide. Not from the ball and not from the opposition.

he always takes responsibility. I mean if he missed the ball on that CRUCIAL Doherty tackle he would have gotten, knowing the refs, straight red and would have been blasted all week. He knew it and still, he had to make the tackle and did. Thats the captain right there.

Also the amount of times Partey gave me heartattacks with his errors in the last 15 minutes was crazy. I am sure if Xhaka made on of those errors they would have scored lol. He never catches a break.

 

[Gooner416]

Overall partey was better and he is much better player than xhaka. Whenever xhaka don’t Fock up we praise him. That’s how he is judged

I asked how? We've already established that I think Xhaka had the better game and you don't, explain. Partey was/is a fantastic signing but he's well off pace and has had a fairly poor season, let's be honest.

Whenever Xhaka doesn't **** up, he's generally one of our best players. That's just facts and that's why he's judged accordingly.

 

[RacingPhoton]

I asked how? We've already established that I think Xhaka had the better game and you don't, explain. Partey was/is a fantastic signing but he's well off pace and has had a fairly poor season, let's be honest.

Whenever Xhaka doesn't **** up, he's generally one of our best players. That's just facts and that's why he's judged accordingly.

If Xhaka doesn't **** up, he generally gets the ball from defense/GK. If there is no pressure, he passes it to Tierney or whoever runs in the left. If there is pressure, he gives it back to defender/GK. Defensively, he has good positioning. So does some good interceptions. But doesn't have the pace to chase a player and stop the attack. If these aspects make him one of our best players, no wonder we are languishing at the tenth spot.

 

[Gooner416]

If Xhaka doesn't **** up, he generally gets the ball from defense/GK. If there is no pressure, he passes it to Tierney or whoever runs in the left. If there is pressure, he gives it back to defender/GK. Defensively, he has good positioning. So does some good interceptions. But doesn't have the pace to chase a player and stop the attack. If these aspects make him one of our best players, no wonder we are languishing at the tenth spot.

I personally think midfield is our weakest spot in the squad and Xhaka would be a rotational option for me. But there's no denying that he's been our best midfielder this season.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

I personally think midfield is our weakest spot in the squad and Xhaka would be a rotational option for me. But there's no denying that he's been our best midfielder this season.

I'm afraid there's about 200 pages of this thread doing just that

 

[Gooner416]

I'm afraid there's about 200 pages of this thread doing just that

Generally stay away from this thread for good reason.

 

[mirrorstare]

The reason it hurts is because we were supposed to have moved past him at this point. Deep down fans know Arsenal will not go back to be a top club while Granit Xhaka gets consistent gametime.

But he certainly doesn't deserve not acknowledging he has had a good season and he's our best midfielder atm, just for making up invisible excuses like Partey bringing the best out of him with the mere power of his presence despite outperforming him pretty much every single time they play together. Basically everyone wants "world class" Partey to show on the pitch Xhaka is not needed already, but that clearly isn't happening anytime soon unfortunately for us.

 

[RacingPhoton]

I personally think midfield is our weakest spot in the squad and Xhaka would be a rotational option for me. But there's no denying that he's been our best midfielder this season.

Alright. In the original post, you mentioned that he was one of our best players which I completely disagree with. But best midfielder? With the kind of competition he has and Partey not getting consistent starts, that's something that is agreeable though I still fill Partey has been better.

 

[Gooner416]

Alright. In the original post, you mentioned that he was one of our best players which I completely disagree with. But best midfielder? With the kind of competition he has and Partey not getting consistent starts, that's something that is agreeable though I still fill Partey has been better.

Since Chelsea, he's been generally one of the best players on the pitch every game. Thus for me, he's been one of our best players this season.

 

[Jury]

Good response from him on Sunday and that's all you can do from where he was. Nothing else to say that hasn't already been said a million times.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

Whether you rate him or not, he's got to be the player with the strongest mental resilience at Arsenal.

He's never going to be my type of player but I have developed a respect for him this season.

 

[Taneruit]

Since Chelsea, he's been generally one of the best players on the pitch every game. Thus for me, he's been one of our best players this season.

Still mad that our season only really began on boxing day. If the season started then we'd be 4th right now. (Joint on points with west ham and only a point behind United).

OTOH, if our change of form didn't happen we'd be in the relegation zone right now, behind Fulham.

This season is ****ed up.

 

[Macho]

Whether you rate him or not, he's got to be the player with the strongest mental resilience at Arsenal.

He's never going to be my type of player but I have developed a respect for him this season.

Same.

Since Chelsea, he's been generally one of the best players on the pitch every game. Thus for me, he's been one of our best players this season.

I agree and I think it would explain our current position in the table because Xhaka being your top 5 players in a season is not a good thing (not that you put a number on it, just saying).

Admittedly an ever present Partey and some kind of a no.10 (Zombie Özil was worth a try imo) earlier might have changed things.

 

[Red London]

He's been our best midfielder this season there is no doubt about that. This isn't solely directed at him but I think thats also one of the reasons we are 10th, he's just not anything special he's decent. Had Partey been fit and ready all season, we would have probably played to a much higher standard. I hope we see that next season and we bring someone in to compete with Xhaka or to give Partey a rest here and there.

 

[Taneruit]

Same.


I agree and I think it would explain our current position in the table because Xhaka being your top 5 players in a season is not a good thing (not that you put a number on it, just saying).

Admittedly an ever present Partey and some kind of a no.10 (Zombie Özil was worth a try imo) earlier might have changed things.

He's been our best midfielder this season there is no doubt about that. This isn't solely directed at him but I think thats also one of the reasons we are 10th, he's just not anything special he's decent. Had Partey been fit and ready all season, we would have probably played to a much higher standard. I hope we see that next season and we bring someone in to compete with Xhaka or to give Partey a rest here and there.

I disagree on both accounts and the reason got mentioned in the post just above yours.

Xhaka certainly wasn't one of our best players up until Boxing Day. He started well with everyone else at Fulham, then declined harshly (which led to him being dropped for multiple games, Ceballos and Elneny had plenty minutes over him at Christmas IIRC) and culminated in his red card against Burnley. Elneny was arguably better than him during that time and had more an argument to partner Partey.

He's been our best midfielder again since boxing day. (And arguably the season because we have only been decent since boxing day). And again, if we count since Boxing Day we're 4th in the table.

So, yes. He certainly has his share of the blame for us being 10th. But that's because he (along with several other players) was in really bad form at the start of the season and he didn't help matters with the red card in the same game that Auba scored that own goal. Absolute low point of the season.

But twisting that into *Him being our best midfielder is the reason we're 10th* is wrong. Xhaka isn't responsible for everything wrong or positive at this club.

 

[Red London]

I disagree on both accounts and the reason got mentioned in the post just above yours.

Xhaka certainly wasn't one of our best players up until Boxing Day. He started well with everyone else at Fulham, then declined harshly (which led to him being dropped for multiple games, Ceballos and Elneny had plenty minutes over him at Christmas IIRC) and culminated in his red card against Burnley. Elneny was arguably better than him during that time and had more an argument to partner Partey.

He's been our best midfielder again since boxing day. (And arguably the season because we have only been decent since boxing day). And again, if we count since Boxing Day we're 4th in the table.

So, yes. He certainly has his share of the blame for us being 10th. But that's because he (along with several other players) was in really bad form at the start of the season and he didn't help matters with the red card in the same game that Auba scored that own goal. Absolute low point of the season.

But twisting that into *Him being our best midfielder is the reason we're 10th* is wrong. Xhaka isn't responsible for everything wrong or positive at this club.

But I was talking about the whole season, Xhaka has played every game. He was poor until Boxing Day and has been good since (not much more than good considering he literally gave Burnley a goal and may have costed us 2 points there). So overall of the whole season it’s looking like a season of two halves. I guess if he continues like this he’s a good and useful player but I’m judging the entire season.

 

[Hunta]

Xhaka has a mare > Xhaka fans defend him > Xhaka doesn’t mess up for 5 games > Xhaka the goat, new contract! > Xhaka has a mare

Please, watch some clips of Vieira and Cesc and see what an Arsenal midfielder is.

 

[Taneruit]

Edit: Forget it. I'm Overreacting anyway.

 

[avenellroad]

The reason it hurts is because we were supposed to have moved past him at this point. Deep down fans know Arsenal will not go back to be a top club while Granit Xhaka gets consistent gametime.

But he certainly doesn't deserve not acknowledging he has had a good season and he's our best midfielder atm, just for making up invisible excuses like Partey bringing the best out of him with the mere power of his presence despite outperforming him pretty much every single time they play together. Basically everyone wants "world class" Partey to show on the pitch Xhaka is not needed already, but that clearly isn't happening anytime soon unfortunately for us.

Someone mentioned it in this thread earlier, but I think Partey needs a different type of midfielder next to him to succeed.

I feel he is caught in two minds when playing next to Xhaka. Someone like Saul at Atletico got forward quite a bit to support the attack leaving Partey to act as the sole DM. Xhaka and Partey seem to get in each others way a lot of the time.

 

[CaseUteinberger]

If Xhaka doesn't **** up, he generally gets the ball from defense/GK. If there is no pressure, he passes it to Tierney or whoever runs in the left. If there is pressure, he gives it back to defender/GK. Defensively, he has good positioning. So does some good interceptions. But doesn't have the pace to chase a player and stop the attack. If these aspects make him one of our best players, no wonder we are languishing at the tenth spot.

Amen to that post! The bar Xhaka has to clear after five years of manure performances is so low it is mind boggling. As long as he doesn't directly gift the opposition goals or gets sent off it is considered a good game. He played 90 ****ing minutes against Olympiakos and we struggled and he escapes blame. I so wish Arteta could pull his head out of his backside and bench this player and try someone else next to Partey.