Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[Big Poppa]

Look at the run from Laca after he won the ball. All Xhaka had to do was dink it over the top and he’d have been 1 on 1 with the keeper.

It takes most sides at least 10 seconds to recover their shape when they lose the ball so the speed of our transition is critical. Quick thinking, vision and courage for a first receiver are vital to linking attack and exploiting errors.

This is where I feel a number 8 of Gundogan-like description would be a more important signing than a number 10.

 

[Keplaz]

Xhaka was our best player against Palace. It’s pitiful that some are coming here to dispute it due to the typical anti Xhaka agenda. If he wasn’t there then Palace boss our midfield. It would have shaped up like the Villa game where we lost 3-0 with the Partey El Neny midfield. Xhaka is the only one who stood to the challenge physically, and frustrated the likes of Zaha. If he wasn’t our best player against Palace then who was?

I’ve heard the absolutely ridiculous argument that “Xhaka shouldn’t get praise for tackling because it’s his job”. If Xhaka doesn’t get praise for tackling then strikers shouldn’t get praised for scoring, which they’re failing at

You’re even nitpicking over his passing, which was very good most of the time. He passed better than most of the team, yet you only scour over twitter clips for every misplaced Xhaka pass. If you ever want proof of the anti Xhaka agenda there it is. Going to such great length to place what was our best player under the microscope for his mistakes. If you’re in management then I agree, everyone’s mistakes has to get analysed and corrected. But you’re spending hours debating the mistakes of our best player of the match whilst spending little to no time on everyone else’s mistakes.

The worst part is you don’t even see what you’re doing.

If the team had won and Xhaka had been the best player, there would be very little criticism here. We drew a game we could have won because we were slow in transition.

Xhaka isn't the only guilty one. Ceballos did that a lot. And a lot of our passing is sloppy. Winning tackles isn't his only role in that midfield. He also needs to be progressive. And this is a continual failing.

I was watching Verratti for PSG different type of player, I agree. But they are both midfielders, there are basics all of them should do. Verratti was always forward looking. Even when passing back, it was in order to move forward.

Xhaka and friends actively stop attacks. Everyone gets on Pepe's back and even on Auba, but these guys make runs and the ball goes backwards. And it's frustrating for our forwards. This predates Arteta.

Xhaka was good at the defensive part of this role but offered very little offensively, I would go as far as to say him and Ceballos killed our attacks at key times.

Being the best player in bad game, which we should be winning whilst neglecting an important part of your role doesn't cut it for me. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

 

[Jack_the_boy]

If the team had won and Xhaka had been the best player, there would be very little criticism here. We drew a game we could have won because we were slow in transition.

Xhaka isn't the only guilty one. Ceballos did that a lot. And a lot of our passing is sloppy. Winning tackles isn't his only role in that midfield. He also needs to be progressive. And this is a continual failing.

I was watching Verratti for PSG different type of player, I agree. But they are both midfielders, there are basics all of them should do. Verratti was always forward looking. Even when passing back, it was in order to move forward.

Xhaka and friends actively stop attacks. Everyone gets on Pepe's back and even on Auba, but these guys make runs and the ball goes backwards. And it's frustrating for our forwards. This predates Arteta.

Xhaka was good at the defensive part of this role but offered very little offensively, I would go as far as to say him and Ceballos killed our attacks at key times.

Being the best player in bad game, which we should be winning whilst neglecting an important part of your role doesn't cut it for me. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

Xhaka is not responsible for assisting. Transitions is part of his role, sure, but despite obvious mistakes he was decent.
Blaming Xhaka for our poor attack is not valid in any way. You will find that most attacks are breaking down at the feet of our forwards.
When a defensive minded player makes the difference between a draw and a loss he should only be met with a positive reception.

 

[Keplaz]

Xhaka is not responsible for assisting. Transitions is part of his role, sure, but despite obvious mistakes he was decent.
Blaming Xhaka for our poor attack is not valid in any way. You will find that most attacks are breaking down at the feet of our forwards.
When a defensive minded player makes the difference between a draw and a loss he should only be met with a positive reception.

If the midfield keeps passing backwards how will the attackers score goals? Is the goal of football, especially when playing Crystal Palace, not to concede or to score goals?

I'm not asking him to assist. But to move the ball forward so the more attack minded players can do their part. I thought passing was meant to be one of Xhaka's strengths?

I don't want to be especially critical of Xhaka as he isn't the only guilty one, but some of your points above are shocking.

 

[Jack_the_boy]

If the midfield keeps passing backwards how will the attackers score goals? Is the goal of football, especially when playing Crystal Palace, not to concede or to score goals?

I'm not asking him to assist. But to move the ball forward so the more attack minded players can do their part. I thought passing was meant to be one of Xhaka's strengths?

I don't want to be especially critical of Xhaka as he isn't the only guilty one, but some of your points above are shocking.

Most of his passes are forward passes. But he can only pass to what is in front of him. If there are players moving into space in front of him, he will find them. Particularly in the wide areas since that’s where he’s instructed to look for.
You can blame AMN for not getting into good positions and making himself available.

 

[Sweet'n'Soulful]

Xhaka was our best player against Palace. It’s pitiful that some are coming here to dispute it due to the typical anti Xhaka agenda. If he wasn’t there then Palace boss our midfield. It would have shaped up like the Villa game where we lost 3-0 with the Partey El Neny midfield. Xhaka is the only one who stood to the challenge physically, and frustrated the likes of Zaha. If he wasn’t our best player against Palace then who was?

I’ve heard the absolutely ridiculous argument that “Xhaka shouldn’t get praise for tackling because it’s his job”. If Xhaka doesn’t get praise for tackling then strikers shouldn’t get praised for scoring, which they’re failing at

You’re even nitpicking over his passing, which was very good most of the time. He passed better than most of the team, yet you only scour over twitter clips for every misplaced Xhaka pass. If you ever want proof of the anti Xhaka agenda there it is. Going to such great length to place what was our best player under the microscope for his mistakes. If you’re in management then I agree, everyone’s mistakes has to get analysed and corrected. But you’re spending hours debating the mistakes of our best player of the match whilst spending little to no time on everyone else’s mistakes.

The worst part is you don’t even see what you’re doing.

Tbf I could only listen to the commentary on the radio as I was driving for most of the game, and I noted a lot of misplaced passes but a few good redeeming recoveries and tackles. Had I not then watched the game, I’d had thought he had a mixed performance but nothing too terrible.

This supposed to be our best progressive passer when he’s actually useless at that to put it kindly, which is mainly down to his poor vision and choice, as we repeatedly see. The commentators were mainly negative about his performance because of the silly free kicks and turnovers. You could argue that he did most of the very little good stuff that was witnessed on the day, but if you thought this was a good performance from a supposed quality midfielder then your bar is extremely low.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

Yeah everyone getting hyped about a few very important defensive plays he made yesterday. Some of which were results of his own mistakes. And even yesterday, he is just not good enough on the ball for what we need (as shown above). I worry about playing him with Partey as he always wants the ball and to be the top dog in the midfield, which won't be appropriate, once Partey is back in the swing of things.

I have to disagree here. He only wants the ball if in acres of space with nobody near him. Positioning himself in the middle of the opposition midfield and pointing away from himself isn't a player who wants the ball. I don't see a desire to be top dog anywhere either. He's quite the team player by all accounts.

 

[The_Playmaker]

Fun fact about Xhaka posted by arseblog. Xhaka made 6 tackles vs Palace. Partey attempted the same amount and won 4 of them in his time on the pitch. It's just standard and expected of a central midfielder.

Looking forward to Arsenal continuously playing through him even when Partey is there. It's going to be hard to watch.

According to Arteta. Xhaka is still young and can still evolve at 28. Yet Pepe needs to be binned as he can't get better.

 

[MartiSaka]

I have to disagree here. He only wants the ball if in acres of space with nobody near him. Positioning himself in the middle of the opposition midfield and pointing away from himself isn't a player who wants the ball. I don't see a desire to be top dog anywhere either. He's quite the team player by all accounts.

The only time party and xhaka played together; Xhaka commanded all of the ball, was ineffective as usual and partey had his least effective game.

 

[Geofranco]

Fun fact about Xhaka posted by arseblog. Xhaka made 6 tackles vs Palace. Partey attempted the same amount and won 4 of them in his time on the pitch. It's just standard and expected of a central midfielder.

Looking forward to Arsenal continuously playing through him even when Partey is there. It's going to be hard to watch.

According to Arteta. Xhaka is still young and can still evolve at 28. Yet Pepe needs to be binned as he can't get better.

It's amazing that Xhaka, El neny and Mustafi are still Arsenal players in 2021. The midfield options this season has been so dire. Partey injured for most of his time here. Can't believe there was a time when we could field Wilshere, Rosicky, Cazorla and Özil all in the same team. We just needed a bit more steel and power. Now we have so many players with poor first touches, take forever to control the football or to make a decision. That is why ESR comes in and does some of the basics and we look a bit more dynamic.

 

[RunTheTrap]

From one of the GOATs. Something Xhaka fanboys need to understand.

 

[drippin]

This place is just something else. Have read posts here by fast glancing, and seems like even when Xhaka makes a MotM performance in 0-0 game, having couple goal-saving moments and keeping Zaha in his pocket, with 7/8 long balls, he gets bashed even more than usual. You guys never disappoint.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Heard he'll be given the number 10 shirt as its the number he wears for his national side.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Heard he'll be given the number 10 shirt as its the number he wears for his national side.

Looks like we want to hurt and insult Mesut even after he left.

 

[L3T5 PL4Y]

The only player we've had since DB who deserved the no.10 was RVP. I wonder if we'd ever get a player to justice to that shirt again.

 

[RacingPhoton]

This place is just something else. Have read posts here by fast glancing, and seems like even when Xhaka makes a MotM performance in 0-0 game, having couple goal-saving moments and keeping Zaha in his pocket, with 7/8 long balls, he gets bashed even more than usual. You guys never disappoint.

You mean the team that just got ripped apart 4-0 yesterday? While we were playing at home? And we want to be satisfied with that performance? No wonder we are languishing at number 11.

He was defensively good but he was still **** going forward. Some of those game saving tackles happened because he gave away the balls cheaply. He just had to clean-up the mess he created.

 

[Riou]

We have pretty much ruined the number 10 shirt at this point, so it would be kinda funny to see Xhaka with it

 

[drippin]

You mean the team that just got ripped apart 4-0 yesterday? While we were playing at home? And we want to be satisfied with that performance? No wonder we are languishing at number 11.

He was defensively good but he was still **** going forward. Some of those game saving tackles happened because he gave away the balls cheaply. He just had to clean-up the mess he created.

What a great comparison as City is the most inform team in the league, and with a win from the game they have left will lead the league.

You guys are just ridiculous, can't praise a guy when he plays well. Always being sure to bash him. He is not an attacking player if you didn't know about that.

He had 88 % passing with clearly the most passes in the team, I didn't see many bad mistakes from him. He had a lot more good deeds on the field than bad.

I won't waste time arguing about his. You guys are so agenda driven at this point. And I'm not even a fan of Xhaka. It's pretty funny entertainment to observe these agendas though.

 

[L3T5 PL4Y]

@RacingPhoton Time to move on from Özil to this ****!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RacingPhoton]

What a great comparison as City is the most inform team in the league, and with a win from the game they have left will lead the league.

You guys are just ridiculous, can't praise a guy when he plays well. Always being sure to bash him. He is not an attacking player if you didn't know about that.

He had 88 % passing with clearly the most passes in the team, I didn't see many bad mistakes from him. He had a lot more good deeds on the field than bad.

I won't waste time arguing about his. You guys are so agenda driven at this point. And I'm not even a fan of Xhaka. It's pretty funny entertainment to observe these agendas though.

CP is at 13th position. If you think getting a 0-0 draw against them at home should make us happy, then we deserve to be in 11th position.

We have had enough discussion about his pass %. Passing back to GK and defenders will pad up his pass % statistics. Not saying he had a bad game. He had a decent game. But all the claims of MoTM performance are over the top. We have seen him for 4 years to know that he gives such decent games once in awhile while completely sabotaging our chances of a win in 2 games every season either due to red-card/penalties or stupid errors. Compare the two and there is no reason why he should be a regular starter other than the fact that we do not have any better midfielder, which is our current situation.