Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[Jury]

Do we know the count per 90 minutes? The fact that ****ing Milivojevic is at the top should give you a clue that it is a useless stat.

It's an awful stat, as most are My guess is most passes crossed the 'last third' threshold going so diagonally that they were almost square passes.

 

[Pyres7]

They're all the same type of player, but Pirlo and Kroos are a class apart from Xhaka.

 

[Jury]

Xhaka just dominated Kroos and Gundogan less than a month ago.

Ah, I forgot that doesn't count. Like everything in favor of Xhaka.

You make it sound like he tied them up and attached wires to their nipples. What you mean is he played in the 1-1 draw with Germany?

 

[Manberg]

Please don't put xhaka in the same bracket as Kroos or Pirlo. Kroos and Pirlo are both masters at creating half a yard of space to create space for them selves when being pressed and can pass the ball under pressure. Which xhaka struggles with.

Admittedly all three aren't the best quickest without the ball and this can be problem matrix when having to defend counters. However Kroos and Pirlos is to dictate the game from deep and also be a creative force.

Xhaka is only decent when he has a bit of time and space.

Remove the DM's alongside Pirlo and Kroos and they would be heavily exposed. As good as some footballers are, nobody's magic, yet that's what people expect of Xhaka.

 

[Jury]

Remove the DM's alongside Pirlo and Kroos and they would be heavily exposed. As good as some footballers are, nobody's magic, yet that's what people expect of Xhaka.

Well he's recently dominated Kroos and Gundogan at the same time all by himself so he may well be a magician!

 

[Taneruit]

Well he's recently dominated Kroos and Gundogan at the same time all by himself so he may well be a magician!

Because that's what I said

:rofl:

Nice to see that the only way you can argue against it, is by dragging a simple statement that's made in a similar way tons of times by making it ridiculous.

Keep taking the L's for the Xhaka agenda this year.

Edit: And, btw. nobody in their right mind would say Sow was the better midfielder on the day. Even though he put in a big performance second half as well.

 

[Riou]

How @Manberg see's Xhaka...

...I agree that Granit is a good player...but you can't compare him to Pirlo and Kroos, they are some of the best ever in that position.

 

[samshere]

Big of @Erlis to not come back to rub people's faces in the mud when Xhakas looking much better under competent management.

 

[Rimaal]

Big of @Erlis to not come back to rub people's faces in the mud when Xhakas looking much better under competent management.

He still looks bang average at best. Still a bad signing.

 

[Oxeki]

Xhaka would shine, even with a back 4 behind him, .

Actually, he's one of the reasons we play a back three.

We played with a back four before but he looked poor.

Playing decent against a semi-pensioned Kroos and a tortoise-paced Gundogan is not a tall order ffs

They've been piss poor for over two years

 

[Jury]

Because that's what I said

:rofl:

Nice to see that the only way you can argue against it, is by dragging a simple statement that's made in a similar way tons of times by making it ridiculous.

Keep taking the L's for the Xhaka agenda this year.

Edit: And, btw. nobody in their right mind would say Sow was the better midfielder on the day. Even though he put in a big performance second half as well.

You said it, not me. It was silly. You made a silly post. That’s it. I don’t argue against silly posts like that, I ridicule them. All the the rest is waffle.

 

[Manberg]

Actually, he's one of the reasons we play a back three.

We played with a back four before but he looked poor.

Playing decent against a semi-pensioned Kroos and a tortoise-paced Gundogan is not a tall order ffs

They've been piss poor for over two years

If you bothered to read the whole post I said that he would need a highly athletic midfielder next to him... like Kroos always had, or Pirlo always had, or Alonso etc. Even Fabregas had Flamini and/or Song next to him. Since Xhaka got here he never had a DM next to him. Any DLP in the world would be exposed without a DM parter in a back 4.

 

[Taneruit]

Actually, he's one of the reasons we play a back three.

We played with a back four before but he looked poor.

I know people keep repeating this, but while it may be a slight consideration, there's no indication that that is the reason.

Xhaka hasn't looked bad since Arteta took over. And he hasn't even played before we recently switched to a back 3. We started the restart with a back 4 and Xhaka got injured within minutes.

We switched after Man City and Brighton. Two games Xhaka again barely featured in. But you know what both of those had? Defensive mistakes. The back 3 switch was much more to minimize our defenders mistakes (and give Luiz cover) than it had anything to do with Xhaka.

 

[Taneruit]

You said it, not me. It was silly. You made a silly post. That’s it. I don’t argue against silly posts like that, I ridicule them. All the the rest is waffle.

Yes, because whenever someone said a player *dominated* it automatically means that the player alone did it all. That's how football discussions work and clearly how I meant it.

If you want to talk about silly, talk about being dishonest in an discussion. You should leave that high horse of yours alone once in a while. That old gal may get tired.

 

[Jury]

Yes, because whenever someone said a player *dominated* it automatically means that the player alone did it all. That's how football discussions work and clearly how I meant it.

If you want to talk about silly, talk about being dishonest in an discussion. You should leave that high horse of yours alone once in a while. That old gal may get tired.

Tell you what, spare me the bollocks and tell me what you actually meant by ‘Xhaka dominated Kroos and Gundogan’ then. You see, it sounds good if you’re not questioned on it, but when you are and you start crying, it’s not a good look.

I can only comment on what you post, I’m not a ****ing mind reader.

 

[Taneruit]

Tell you what, spare me the bollocks and tell me what you actually meant by ‘Xhaka dominated Kroos and Gundogan’ then.

I can only comment on what you post, I’m not a ****ing mind reader.

Exactly what I said. For a larger part of that game Germany's midfield was dominated by Switzerlands. Specifically Xhaka who made all sorts of passes that bypassed them and let them make barely any plays defensively. Not more, not less.

And just to make it clear I am not saying Xhaka is better than prime-Kroos. Far from it. (I actually have a similar opinion as @Oxeki there in that Kroos declined), just that he was in fact the best midfielder on the day.

The conclusion to draw out of that is very much your own.

 

[Ash10]

It’s funny seeing these fanboys telling others to get off the high horse when these are the same arrogant fanboys that start spamming they have 'football knowledge' apparently exclusive to themselves whenever they start losing an argument
Talk about hypocrisy:rofl:

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Big of @Erlis to not come back to rub people's faces in the mud when Xhakas looking much better under competent management.

@Erlis had all the haters on the ropes when he was posting here, he needs to come back and claim his victories.

 

[Jury]

Exactly what I said. For a larger part of that game Germany's midfield was dominated by Switzerlands. Specifically Xhaka who made all sorts of passes that bypassed them and let them make barely any plays defensively. Not more, not less.

And just to make it clear I am not saying Xhaka is better than prime-Kroos. Far from it. (I actually have a similar opinion as @Oxeki there in that Kroos declined), just that he was in fact the best midfielder on the day.

The conclusion to draw out of that is very much your own.

So he allegedly had a decent game against Germany... Why has he meant to have also dominated Kroos and Gundogan as well? It’s just a sensationalist throwaway comment of the type you’d see on Twitter. That’s all I make of it.

 

[Taneruit]

So he allegedly had a decent game against Germany... Why has he meant to have also dominated Kroos and Gundogan as well? It’s just a sensationalist throwaway comment of the type you’d see on Twitter. That’s all I make of it.

:rofl:

I'm literary saying that Germany's midfield was in fact dominated including why (For a large part of the game (not the whole) they did nothing and were bypassed by our midfielders)

You literary take that and turn it into this

So he allegedly had a decent game against Germany... Why has he meant to have also dominated Kroos and Gundogan as well?

What did I say about a honest argument?

I honestly couldn't give a **** what you make of it. You are free to draw your own conclusion as I said. I'll just enjoy this season (because of Arteta and everything that he brought) and this thread.

Because its going to be hilarious.

Edit: And before the argument is made. If Arteta decided to bin Xhaka tomorrow I wouldn't enjoy this thread, but I would enjoy the season just the same. Arteta and the club >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> anything positive I have to say about Xhaka. If he needs to get binned or sold for that, so be it. Wouldn't shed a tear.