Granit Xhaka: 2019/20 Performances

[Football Manager]

Simple, it’s an opinion. Opinions are neither wrong or correct as they don't have any proof behind them

So what is your opinion that does not agree with the below opinion?

Who else in our team can dictate the tempo and make a Scholes/Alonso-ish pass?

I'm not against selling him, but at least we should have a replacement before doing so, a replacement like Tonali, who can serve the same tactical purpose.

Do you understand why managers (pre-arsenal, arsenal and international) all like to use Xhaka? He has a quality that serves a tactical purpose that only few players can replicate.

Tactical details is the most important aspect of the game in a manger’s or in a sophisticated fan’s eyes.

It’s like having a team with 11 Mertesacker, and you want to play counter attack football. One day Walcott joins your team. Yes, Walcott always makes mistakes, he is a **** footballer and he always loses possession. But he serves the tactical purpose, and you would be happy to have him in your team.

What is in a manager’s mind?
Opponent set a high defensive line, I need Auba’s pace to exploit the space behind during counter attack. If Auba makes a run to exploit the space, who can make that 40 yards long pass to initiate the attack? Xhaka. Who else can? No one. If you don’t play Xhaka, your tactics is dead. As simple as this. Unless “if” guendouzi is capable of doing the same type of pass, and guendouzi make less mistakes than Xhaka, then I would always prefer to play guendouzi.

No one says Xhaka is the best, but with the midfielders we are having now, he should be the first midfielder named on the starting lineup. If you think tactically, it’s hard not to see that this is the most logical choice. And it’s not just me, every managers he previously played with was thinking the same way, that’s why they picked him to play.

If we buy prime iniesta, Xhaka would still be here. If we buy prime gattuso, Xhaka would still be here. Because they can’t replace his tactical purpose. I don’t understand why most of you are so simple minded and just won’t think tactically. Unless if we get someone like Tonali or Cuisance to replace him, he will be played in almost every game. It’s fine to say he is not good enough or needed to be replaced. But at the moment, you can’t deny that he is a very important player to the team.

 

[Ash10]

So the tune has changed to nobody knows?
Does my popularity have any bearing on my position on a particular issue?

Pre-covid and post covid I've been an advocate for him to be sold at the right price

When people can't defend their stance with factual information they tend to change the topic to feel like they have the upper hand, usually by trying to harass opponents about personal, monetary or popularity based issues.
So yeah don't be so surprised

 

[RacingPhoton]

Love this is a post by you liked by @RacingPhoton & @Oxeki - all 3 of you seem to mistake comparative praise with absolute praise even when the comparative praise is repeatedly clarified, qualified and explained.

No one here thinks Xhaka is amazing or is the long term solution. The biggest complements I've seen are that he's our best option at the mo and in the right set up he could still be effective for a genuine top 4 side.

Its hardly blind worship.

I know that people occasionally venture into hyperbole when it comes to praising his individual performances, but I see that with almost every player, but you three tend to comment rather less when someone else's 6/10 performances get bigged up.

There are plenty of comments here after every 5/10 Xhaka performance saying that he had a fantastic game. You don't see it for every player. Maybe Özil when he was playing. You don't see comments on other players' threads saying that we should buy players to hide their weaknesses.

 

[Football Manager]

There are plenty of comments here after every 5/10 Xhaka performance saying that he had a fantastic game. You don't see it for every player. Maybe Özil when he was playing. You don't see comments on other players' threads saying that we should buy players to hide their weaknesses.

Then you should question yourself why didn’t you spot the positive side of his game when everyone did.

Xavi needs a busquets, pirlo needs a gattuso, fabregas needs a flamini. I don't see a problem here that Xhaka needs someone defensively focused next to him for him to shine. I'm not saying xhaka is as good as anyone above but it's the player type that matters.

 

[krengon]

I know that people occasionally venture into hyperbole when it comes to praising his individual performances, but I see that with almost every player, but you three tend to comment rather less when someone else's 6/10 performances get bigged up.

You see the opposite a lot here too.. People watch the games with a preconceived notion and then hyperfocus on any mistakes to validate their opinion..

 

[BigPoppaPump]

From around 2010-2016, Kos was pretty consistent, so he had built up some leeway with Arsenal fans before he declined post 2016...while Xhaka has had more poor performances than Laurent for us, that's just facts, at least versus the good ones he has had.

Kos still had mistakes in him, but the only really big loss directly cause of him was the 2011 League Cup final (pre 2016), you could argue he made up for that somewhat by scoring the equalizer in our 2014 FA cup win though.

Laurent was meek, but he had heart...that's why he cried (and I am pretty sure he cried to his teammates, telling them about his son being heartbroken over Arsenal losing so much, he didn't get bullied by his son) Kos knew he wasn't the player he once was and couldn't really help us to that level anymore and that hurt him...he clearly cared about Arsenal.

Koscielny was only good for us with Mertesacker next to him otherwise he was a liability.

You forgot the time when he kicked the ball right at Griezmann in the Europa semis or when he left that huge space for Alexis to score in the FA Cup vs United. That’s 2 there.

And don’t act like we weren’t 2-0 in that final when he scored the equaliser, and why were we 2-0 down? Cos Koscielny is a bum.

 

[Leo_ense_]

Koscielny was only good for us with Mertesacker next to him otherwise he was a liability.

You forgot the time when he kicked the ball right at Griezmann in the Europa semis or when he left that huge space for Alexis to score in the FA Cup vs United. That’s 2 there.

And don’t act like we weren’t 2-0 in that final when he scored the equaliser, and why were we 2-0 down? Cos Koscielny is a bum.

He is Cuckcielny bro. Talented but so prone to horrendous mistakes.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

He is Cuckcielny bro. Talented but so prone to horrendous mistakes.

He was so rash, always running at players leaving big gaps behind. Without Mertesacker cleaning up after him it was a shambles.

 

[Riou]

Xavi needs a busquets, pirlo needs a gattuso, fabregas needs a flamini. I don't see a problem here that Xhaka needs someone defensively focused next to him for him to shine. I'm not saying xhaka is as good as anyone above but it's the player type that matters.

People just don't think Xhaka is good enough to be given that playmaking spot though, he isn't really that creative with his passing...Santi playing CM for us, would be more applicable to what you are describing.

Sometimes players just don't suit certain leagues though, Veron was twice the player Xhaka was, but struggled quite badly at United and Chelsea considering his ability level.

 

[Riou]

He was so rash, always running at players leaving big gaps behind. Without Mertesacker cleaning up after him it was a shambles.

Of course he was a shambles post Per, post Per his legs were gone, all his partners were terrible after Mertesacker anyway...he managed to make Djourou look relatively useable when he was at his best, that took some doing.

Sol was pretty poor in 2005/2006 when his legs had gone, doesn't mean he wasn't a top defender up to 2005 though...the difference is we sold Sol after one poor season, while past it Kos remained at Arsenal for 3 seasons...and because the rest of our defenders were so poor, he had to play way too much, which seemingly made people forget how good he once was for us.

 

[Football Manager]

People just don't think Xhaka is good enough to be given that playmaking spot though, he isn't really that creative with his passing...Santi playing CM for us, would be more applicable to what you are describing.

Sometimes players just don't suit certain leagues though Veron was twice the player Xhaka was, but struggled as quite badly at United and Chelsea considering his ability level.

Cazorla’s case is a bit special because he was an attacking midfielder like iniesta rather than a traditional CM like Alonso, Scholes, Carrick, Xavi, Pirlo......, he was forced to transform into a CM. So his playing style has a lot of attacking midfielder vibe in him, which is good. I love cazorla so much as a player. But xhaka offers different quality that they can't be replacing each other. I would prefer to have someone like xhaka in CM and a cazorla in AM. But really it depends on the tactical approach.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Of course he was a shambles post Per, post Per his legs were gone, all his partners were terrible after Mertesacker anyway...he managed to make Djourou look relatively useable when he was at his best, that took some doing.

Sol was pretty poor in 2005/2006 when his legs had gone, doesn't mean he wasn't a top defender up to 2005 though...the difference is we sold Sol after one poor season, while past it Kos remained at Arsenal for 3 seasons...and because the rest of our defenders were so poor, he had to play way too much, which seemingly made people forget how good he once was for us.

He was poor pre-Mertesacker too, also let France down for the Eder goal.

I swear we have this Koscielny debate once a month if feels like.

 

[Riou]

I swear we have this Koscielny debate once a month if feels like.

Yeah, see ya in July then mate, love to the family until then

 

[RacingPhoton]

Then you should question yourself why didn’t you spot the positive side of his game when everyone did.

Xavi needs a busquets, pirlo needs a gattuso, fabregas needs a flamini. I don't see a problem here that Xhaka needs someone defensively focused next to him for him to shine. I'm not saying xhaka is as good as anyone above but it's the player type that matters.

I tried spotting the positive side. But couldn't find any. I have already pointed out that his only strength are long balls. But he needs plenty of time and space for it which makes it basically useless.
Xavi, Pirlo and Fabregas all need defensively focused players next to them for the team to perform well. But with/without them, you can see their attributes. They are quick, they are great at passing, they are creative. So it makes sense to buy a player to complement them. If you have a great player, you can buy another player to complement him. What's the point of trying to buy a player that complements Xhaka when he is as bad as other midfielders that we have? What makes him so special?

 

[Football Manager]

I tried spotting the positive side. But couldn't find any. I have already pointed out that his only strength are long balls. But he needs plenty of time and space for it which makes it basically useless.
Xavi, Pirlo and Fabregas all need defensively focused players next to them for the team to perform well. But with/without them, you can see their attributes. They are quick, they are great at passing, they are creative. So it makes sense to buy a player to complement them. If you have a great player, you can buy another player to complement him. What's the point of trying to buy a player that complements Xhaka when he is as bad as other midfielders that we have? What makes him so special?

That's why I said I'm not against replacing him. I have suggested Tonali and Cuisance (who is not available now). Who in the market can you think of? Who can make those long passes without the weaknesses you mentioned?

Unless we have found a replacement, he is the best and the only long passer in the team. If our tactics needs a long passer, he would be the first one on the team sheet. Because he is useful at a tactical level.

It’s like asking Guardiola if he prefers a traditional keeper, that makes amazing saves, with almost no mistakes. Or a sweeper keeper, that is good on the ball, but make a few mistakes during the whole season?

Fans will always pick the keeper with less mistakes. But Guardiola knows that if he doesn’t pick the sweeper keeper, his tiki taka tactics will be dead.

 

[MikelHadADream]

I'm not his biggest fan but lets be honest, he is our best central midfielder, the stats and eye test prove it. I think people have this misconception that he is a deep lying playmaker, along the lines of Pirlo/Alonso. For me he reminds me of Gareth Barry, kind of just a solid all rounder that knits the team together. I do think he's turned into quite a solid player under Arteta tbh.

 

[RacingPhoton]

That's why I said I'm not against replacing him. I have suggested Tonali and Cuisance (who is not available now). Who in the market can you think of? Who can make those long passes without the weaknesses you mentioned?

Unless we have found a replacement, he is the best and the only long passer in the team. If our tactics needs a long passer, he would be the first one on the team sheet. Because he is useful at a tactical level.

It’s like asking Guardiola if he prefers a traditional keeper, that makes amazing saves, with almost no mistakes. Or a sweeper keeper, that is good on the ball, but make a few mistakes during the whole season?

Fans will always pick the keeper with less mistakes. But Guardiola knows that if he doesn’t pick the sweeper keeper, his tiki taka tactics will be dead.

If we do buy Partey, who should he be playing with. All our midfielders are at the same level. The only reason Xhaka has to play in the current team is that he is probably only one who sits behind. What he does by sitting behind is not much worthy. But all the other options we have keep running to the front and they don't do anything worthy either. If we get Partey, he can do the job of sitting behind. We could play anyone who can bomb forward. There is no point in playing Xhaka and Partey together.

 

[Football Manager]

If we do buy Partey, who should he be playing with. All our midfielders are at the same level. The only reason Xhaka has to play in the current team is that he is probably only one who sits behind. What he does by sitting behind is not much worthy. But all the other options we have keep running to the front and they don't do anything worthy either. If we get Partey, he can do the job of sitting behind. We could play anyone who can bomb forward. There is no point in playing Xhaka and Partey together.

Xhaka (or someone who replaced xhaka) can be the pirlo type. Partey can be the gattuso type. A new attacking midfielder (aouar) can be the Kaka type. No one bombs forward like a fool. Just play with brain.

And FFS I’m talking about player’s type in a tactical perspective. When I say walcott is the Wright phillips type and Bentley is the Beckham type. It does not mean that I mean walcott is as good as Wright phillips or Bentley is as good as Beckham. No!

If you really want to think Xhaka is ****...then alright. Xhaka is the **** version of pirlo. YES, LIKE IT OR NOT THEY ARE THE SAME TYPE OF PLAYERS FFS!!! Xhaka is NOT the **** version of gattuso, he is NOT the **** version of lampard, he is NOT the **** version of iniesta. BUT HE IS THE **** VERSION OF PIRLO.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Xhaka (or someone who replaced xhaka) can be the pirlo type. Partey can be the gattuso type. A new attacking midfielder (aouar) can be the Kaka type. No one bombs forward. Just play with brain.

But Xhaka is not Pirlo type. He is not even 1/4th of Pirlo type. We need someone who can move the ball forward "quickly". Either pass or dribble quickly. But quick is a word you can never associate with Xhaka

 

[squallman]

Koscielny was only good for us with Mertesacker next to him otherwise he was a liability.

You forgot the time when he kicked the ball right at Griezmann in the Europa semis or when he left that huge space for Alexis to score in the FA Cup vs United. That’s 2 there.

And don’t act like we weren’t 2-0 in that final when he scored the equaliser, and why were we 2-0 down? Cos Koscielny is a bum.

You say this as if Mertesacker also wasn't a liability at times. I can remember a few times where his lack of pace cost us.

Have we really fallen this low? I find we're beginning to romanticise the players from the 2012-2017 era. Their failures are a direct cause of the rot that we're seeing now.