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Granit Xhaka: Next Captain?

Which best describes your opinion of Xhaka?


  • Total voters
    223
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Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
I really hope he can rid himself of his largely negative reputation, because only then will he truly be appreciated for the talent he is. I've heard several more causal fans of the sport refer to him as a failed signing and weakness in our team, which I get the feeling is a popular opinion both within and outside our fanbase. The reality though is that he's got plenty to offer that many other players can't. Yes, his mistakes are costly and comedic, but as a fanbase I feel we're extremely critical and don't realize that to some extent it's normal. Look at Dier yesterday. Look at Matic this season. Look at how Jorginho was roasted against Tottenham just a week ago. Midfielders who play deep bear a lot of responsibility and it is within the nature of their positions that mistakes pose a big danger to their defenses. Could Xhaka do better? Of course. But he has come a long way since his first season and deserves some slack for the occasional wayward pass. It's worth the many passes and defensive contributions he makes that aid us in and out of possession.
 

krackpot

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
Can't believe Torreira's signing has extended this plodders career. :p

Must learn to sort his feet out quickly under pressure. Many times he receives the ball and just stares at it for a good second trying to figure out his next move.
 

Erlis

Only Came To See Granit Xhaka

Country: Kosova
Definitely, this season has confirmed (thus far) that Xhaka's role and partnerships under Wenger weren't doing enough to cover for his deficiencies. Which isn't a slight on Xhaka, all players have deficiencies.

What deficiencies? As far as I remember he fecked Belgium 5-2 not long time ago. You need to be more moderated as a moderator or those who decided to make you a moderator probably were trolling the members of this forum.
 

Jasard

Forum Issue Troubleshooter
Moderator

Country: England
What deficiencies? As far as I remember he fecked Belgium 5-2 not long time ago. You need to be more moderated as a moderator or those who decided to make you a moderator probably were trolling the members of this forum.

Oooook
 

Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
What deficiencies? As far as I remember he fecked Belgium 5-2 not long time ago. You need to be more moderated as a moderator or those who decided to make you a moderator probably were trolling the members of this forum.
My post was pretty pro-Xhaka and you've just picked out the one remotely critical remark in there. It wasn't even all that negative, because I clarified afterwards that all players have weaknesses.

What is wrong with you :lol:
 

pigge

#Pigge #Equality

Player:Martinelli
What deficiencies? As far as I remember he fecked Belgium 5-2 not long time ago. You need to be more moderated as a moderator or those who decided to make you a moderator probably were trolling the members of this forum.
Brilliant post. Cant believe some of THE People here.
 

razörist

Soft With The Ladies, Hard With The Mes

Country: Morocco
What deficiencies? As far as I remember he fecked Belgium 5-2 not long time ago. You need to be more moderated as a moderator or those who decided to make you a moderator probably were trolling the members of this forum.
Oooooooooh.
 

Mark Tobias

Mr. Agreeable
My post was pretty pro-Xhaka and you've just picked out the one remotely critical remark in there. It wasn't even all that negative, because I clarified afterwards that all players have weaknesses.

What is wrong with you :lol:
Suggest you ignore. Your posting has been absolutely tops!
 

Batman

Head of the Wayne foundation for benching Nketiah

Country: USA

Player:Saliba
I really hope he can rid himself of his largely negative reputation, because only then will he truly be appreciated for the talent he is. I've heard several more causal fans of the sport refer to him as a failed signing and weakness in our team, which I get the feeling is a popular opinion both within and outside our fanbase. The reality though is that he's got plenty to offer that many other players can't. Yes, his mistakes are costly and comedic, but as a fanbase I feel we're extremely critical and don't realize that to some extent it's normal. Look at Dier yesterday. Look at Matic this season. Look at how Jorginho was roasted against Tottenham just a week ago. Midfielders who play deep bear a lot of responsibility and it is within the nature of their positions that mistakes pose a big danger to their defenses. Could Xhaka do better? Of course. But he has come a long way since his first season and deserves some slack for the occasional wayward pass. It's worth the many passes and defensive contributions he makes that aid us in and out of possession.
While certainly I won't hide from the fact that I have been and probably will again be critical of him, I think you make a good point here. I would just say however that as a fanbase when you've had Fabregas, Arteta and Cazorla occupying that role and so smoothly and calmly coping with pressure over a period of years, Granit is a bit of a culture shock especially in an unsettled midfield that puts his deficiencies front and center. There is no doubt however that he has improved his play and now the challenge will be making his current level consistent.
 

GunnerBP

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
While certainly I won't hide from the fact that I have been and probably will again be critical of him, I think you make a good point here. I would just say however that as a fanbase when you've had Fabregas, Arteta and Cazorla occupying that role and so smoothly and calmly coping with pressure over a period of years, Granit is a bit of a culture shock especially in an unsettled midfield that puts his deficiencies front and center. There is no doubt however that he has improved his play and now the challenge will be making his current level consistent.

I think the negativity surrounding Xhaka is mostly due to the negativity surrounding the club during Wenger's last couple of seasons.

As a coach, Wenger never focused too much on the defense, and basically, all of our defenders have been maligned over the last couple of seasons.

Xhaka for two seasons under Wenger was supposed to shield a disorganized defense, and contribute offensively without any midfield support. No one could succeed with this task.

Also, I think comparing Xhaka to Cesc, Arteta, and Cazorla is really bizarre since they don't really play the same position. Cesc now plays as a DLP for Chelsea, but he was an AM for us. Cazorla likewise was an AM, but he dropped farther back as he got older, but even then he was normally partnered with Coquelin. I don't even want to imagine the horror show that would have been Cazorla without a defensive partner.

Arteta is the closest example but he was also an AM/CM and only became a DLP/DM as he got older. Also, I thought Arteta was an awful DM, and his best season for us in the position was the season when Ramsey was arguably the best player in the league. Xhaka now has a partner and he is miles better than Arteta ever was.

I don't think we're too spoiled due to having players like Cesc, Cazorla, and Arteta. I think we're too accustomed to being miserable due to Wenger's last handful of seasons to even recognize how talented our players are. And outside the club, people expect us to screw up in a typical Arsenal under Wenger type of way, so they underrate our players due to that.

Emery has radically changed this dynamic, and now we're slowly coming grips with the fact that we have a lot of talented players in our squad. Xhaka included.
 

Football Manager

Copy & Paste Merchant
While certainly I won't hide from the fact that I have been and probably will again be critical of him, I think you make a good point here. I would just say however that as a fanbase when you've had Fabregas, Arteta and Cazorla occupying that role and so smoothly and calmly coping with pressure over a period of years, Granit is a bit of a culture shock especially in an unsettled midfield that puts his deficiencies front and center. There is no doubt however that he has improved his play and now the challenge will be making his current level consistent.
Fabregas had a proper DM, flamini to do the defensive work for him, so he can focus on the build up of our attack.
Cazorla had coquelin, who was also a proper DM.
Xhaka had Ramsey. A midfielder who plays like a striker, how possible could Xhaka focus on his passing game?
I don’t understand why people would think Xhaka was a DM, he never was.
 

Batman

Head of the Wayne foundation for benching Nketiah

Country: USA

Player:Saliba
Fabregas had a proper DM, flamini to do the defensive work for him, so he can focus on the build up of our attack.
Cazorla had coquelin, who was also a proper DM.
Xhaka had Ramsey. A midfielder who plays like a striker, how possible could Xhaka focus on his passing game?
I don’t understand why people would think Xhaka was a DM, he never was.
I'm saying that when you're used to your DLPs having the technical ability to receive the ball under pressure and calmly initiate play that the likes of Cesc, Arteta and Santi did then it's natural to be a bit shocked by Xhaka who does not execute that function with ease. That has absolutely nothing to do with him being a DM which I never ever said. And furthermore I could play next to Cesc, Arteta or Santi in midfield and they'd still be magnificent DLPs. I said absolutely nothing about his defensive work. All I was focused on was how he performed under pressure when receiving the ball in the first phase of an attack from our own half where his technical qualities let him down. It's an entirely different argument. By the way, Torreira performs that role now in addition to the defensive work. When the play initiates from the back it is Torreira is back directly in front of the CBs to initiate play so in fact Xhaka is thriving in a bite sized role compared to what the aforementioned players were asked to do.
 

Batman

Head of the Wayne foundation for benching Nketiah

Country: USA

Player:Saliba
I think the negativity surrounding Xhaka is mostly due to the negativity surrounding the club during Wenger's last couple of seasons.

As a coach, Wenger never focused too much on the defense, and basically, all of our defenders have been maligned over the last couple of seasons.

Xhaka for two seasons under Wenger was supposed to shield a disorganized defense, and contribute offensively without any midfield support. No one could succeed with this task.

Also, I think comparing Xhaka to Cesc, Arteta, and Cazorla is really bizarre since they don't really play the same position. Cesc now plays as a DLP for Chelsea, but he was an AM for us. Cazorla likewise was an AM, but he dropped farther back as he got older, but even then he was normally partnered with Coquelin. I don't even want to imagine the horror show that would have been Cazorla without a defensive partner.

Arteta is the closest example but he was also an AM/CM and only became a DLP/DM as he got older. Also, I thought Arteta was an awful DM, and his best season for us in the position was the season when Ramsey was arguably the best player in the league. Xhaka now has a partner and he is miles better than Arteta ever was.

I don't think we're too spoiled due to having players like Cesc, Cazorla, and Arteta. I think we're too accustomed to being miserable due to Wenger's last handful of seasons to even recognize how talented our players are. And outside the club, people expect us to screw up in a typical Arsenal under Wenger type of way, so they underrate our players due to that.

Emery has radically changed this dynamic, and now we're slowly coming grips with the fact that we have a lot of talented players in our squad. Xhaka included.
He certainly wasn't helped by Wenger and perhaps was asked to do too much BUT as I've just stated in my other reply, I was focusing solely on what I feel was his most glaring weakness which was the inability to calmly initiate play under pressure in our own half leading to turnovers leading to goals conceded. That's literally all I was talking about. When you see a ball played into Cesc with the press arriving and then watch him dip his shoulder and calmly keep play ticking is a bit different to watching Xhaka take an age to control the ball, turn into the press and give it away which again was a problem that both his limitations and Wenger's inability to manage them contributed to.
 

TheArsenalis

Well-Known Member
What deficiencies? As far as I remember he fecked Belgium 5-2 not long time ago. You need to be more moderated as a moderator or those who decided to make you a moderator probably were trolling the members of this forum.
Cocaine is a dangerous drug
 

GunnerBP

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
He certainly wasn't helped by Wenger and perhaps was asked to do too much BUT as I've just stated in my other reply, I was focusing solely on what I feel was his most glaring weakness which was the inability to calmly initiate play under pressure in our own half leading to turnovers leading to goals conceded. That's literally all I was talking about. When you see a ball played into Cesc with the press arriving and then watch him dip his shoulder and calmly keep play ticking is a bit different to watching Xhaka take an age to control the ball, turn into the press and give it away which again was a problem that both his limitations and Wenger's inability to manage them contributed to.

Yeah, I totally get that Cesc spoiled us for a little while, and if Xhaka had the quickness and technique of Cesc or Cazorla he'd be an absolutely incredible player.

I'm just saying that it is kind of unfair to compare them because they play totally different positions. Xhaka's turnovers and flaws drive us nuts because it is so easy for his mistakes to result in a goal scoring opportunity for the other team. And that is largely due to his positioning on the field.

Anyways, I'm just glad that Emery has helped him raise his game.
 
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