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Granit Xhaka: Next Captain?

Which best describes your opinion of Xhaka?


  • Total voters
    223
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ThlRama

Active Member

Country: Greece

Player:Saka
and let’s stop this nonsense of him being slow. he is not explosive, and is a tall strong dude, he can’t move like Salah or co., but he ain’t slow at all, and keeps showing that constantly, which, again, tells you all about an average observer of the game

Hope you can run faster than Xhaka after writing this, because damn right he is slow. Fact is that a well-coached team does not need eleven sprinters, we've seen it with Mertesacker under Wenger and with players like Banega under Emery. Speed is too important in the modern game, but still not the be-all and end-all.
 

celestis

Arsenal-Mania Veteran
Moderator

Country: Australia
Hope you can run faster than Xhaka after writing this, because damn right he is slow. Fact is that a well-coached team does not need eleven sprinters, we've seen it with Mertesacker under Wenger and with players like Banega under Emery. Speed is too important in the modern game, but still not the be-all and end-all.

He's actually faster than Guendouzi and Torreira .
 

celestis

Arsenal-Mania Veteran
Moderator

Country: Australia
Torreira is kinda slow too over medium distances, yeah. Guendouzi is by far the most mobile of the bunch as of now, top speed matters little.

What do you mean by mobile though ? He's got a great engine ? maybe . He's not very agile and not quick and at times his balance seems a little off .
 

ThlRama

Active Member

Country: Greece

Player:Saka
What do you mean by mobile though ? He's got a great engine ? maybe . He's not very agile and not quick and at times his balance seems a little off .

Balance is off and he seems uncertain at times, like he has second thoughts about where he is going, but once he starts he still eats up distance faster than Xhaka and Torreira no problem. Part of why he wins the ball so much. Agility we can discuss but he is faster than Xhaka and Torreira and definitely quick enough for a modern midfield. Maybe not quick enough to sprint back 60 meters to cover, Xhaka should be faster in that, but I don't see how you think he is not quick.
 

celestis

Arsenal-Mania Veteran
Moderator

Country: Australia
Balance is off and he seems uncertain at times, like he has second thoughts about where he is going, but once he starts he still eats up distance faster than Xhaka and Torreira no problem. Part of why he wins the ball so much. Agility we can discuss but he is faster than Xhaka and Torreira and definitely quick enough for a modern midfield. Maybe not quick enough to sprint back 60 meters to cover, Xhaka should be faster in that, but I don't see how you think he is not quick.

Because I have seen him track back over 20m a few times :lol: .
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
If he ****s up now sell him summer
Well yeah, if he continues to have said moments then it means there's not much more we can do for him.

Having said that we have to recognise that we should cut him some slack, he's our midfield distributor and gets more touches than anyone else, he'll get targeted more than anyone else and naturally will lose the ball at times.
 

samshere

Why so serieuse?
I too belong to the school of thought that Xhaka is the same and the system covers his deficiencies. Last year after collecting the ball from our defense, if pressed he only had the option to go back. This year he can pass it back to the defense, to Leno or to Torreira who's generally somewhere close by and voila no more defensive errors from Xhaka.
 

yybecause

Formerly known as ArsenaLover
Xhaka is not slow. believe it or-not, there’s still a good bunch of fans who think Gilberto was slow.
blows my mind in what ways people minds work
 

TheArsenalis

Well-Known Member
Hope you can run faster than Xhaka after writing this, because damn right he is slow. Fact is that a well-coached team does not need eleven sprinters, we've seen it with Mertesacker under Wenger and with players like Banega under Emery. Speed is too important in the modern game, but still not the be-all and end-all.
No footballer is too slow. Its admirable quality.
 

TheArsenalis

Well-Known Member
Well yeah, if he continues to have said moments then it means there's not much more we can do for him.

Having said that we have to recognise that we should cut him some slack, he's our midfield distributor and gets more touches than anyone else, he'll get targeted more than anyone else and naturally will lose the ball at times.
I have never been on his case, the only players currently i ever ripped into was cech and bellerin. The other players mustafi and xhaka mainly misfortunes were due to badly organise and lack of tactical plan on field.
 

TheArsenalis

Well-Known Member
I too belong to the school of thought that Xhaka is the same and the system covers his deficiencies. Last year after collecting the ball from our defense, if pressed he only had the option to go back. This year he can pass it back to the defense, to Leno or to Torreira who's generally somewhere close by and voila no more defensive errors from Xhaka.
Loool, you do know passing the ball backwards when pressed is right thing to do right? And trying to beat the press on your own is the dumb idea.
 

samshere

Why so serieuse?
Loool, you do know passing the ball backwards when pressed is right thing to do right? And trying to beat the press on your own is the dumb idea.
Don't deny that. What i'm saying that earlier he could pass the ball back only to the defense as I don't think Wenger encouraged passing the ball to the goalie, now he can pass it to the defense, to Leno or to Torreira. 3 choices instead of 1. And as a result we rarely see him dispossessed when collecting the ball out of the defense.
 

TheArsenalis

Well-Known Member
Don't deny that. What i'm saying that earlier he could pass the ball back only to the defense as I don't think Wenger encouraged passing the ball to the goalie, now he can pass it to the defense, to Leno or to Torreira. 3 choices instead of 1. And as a result we rarely see him dispossessed when collecting the ball out of the defense.
It's amazing how a little tactical shift can improve the way we play.
 

Oh-Zeal

Member
People keep saying his slow, not mobile and who's faster than who.. to be honest that does not matter in midfield. All Xhaka needs to do is understand the game and use his head more. His game does not need speed and agility.. in fact he'll never be. All he needs to do is think ahead before the ball gets to him. He needs to be 2 steps ahead of play. Even with his defending. I don't want him sliding unless he needs to (like that one awesome tackle he pulled during the Liverpool game), all he needs to do is anticipate and read the game. His ball playing skills can honestly launch a lot of decisive attacks if his speed of thought was always 100%. I sometimes look at Jorginho and his decision making is remarkable.
 

Preacher

Always Crying
What was he thinking, when he decided to let the ball through ?

Awareness 1/10. Tracking back 1/10. He managed to do two mistakes in 10 seconds span. In the worst case he even had opportunity to tackle Wolves player down and take a yellow card.

Shocking. Sometimes he looks like world beater and other times looks like complete liability. His playing instability is killing me.
 

YeahBee

Terrible hot takes
He must have heard somebody shouting something because he actively let it past him

Great burst of speed at the end thou when he did that cutback
 

Yousif Arsenal

On Vinai's payroll & misses 4th place trophy 🏆
Trusted ⭐
From MOTM against one of best European sides to rubbish against team was at championship last season ffe
 
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