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Granit Xhaka: Xhak Off?

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Ash10

Chairman of the Bum Brigade
Where and who? :lol::lol::lol:

So far it's just Ornstein unless it's in the Lokonga thread?
The matchday thread has a lot of posts about how Xhaka was gonna help us win

Don't really use twitter or other social media stuff but can guess some people already came up with meaningless stats to show how Xhaka wins us games like they always do
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
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Country: England
The matchday thread has a lot of posts about how Xhaka was gonna help us win

Don't really use twitter or other social media stuff but can guess some people already came up with meaningless stats to show how Xhaka wins us games like they always do
Fair enough I didn't see that but could imagine it happening.
 

Trilly

Hates A-M, Saka, Arteta and You
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Was more talking about the fans hyping up Xhaka in his absence. I see some already seeing the reality about Lokonga after Brighton.
Bro, it’s going to be so clear and I’m going to love the mental gymnastics being used. You don’t have to rate Xhaka to see that we’re going to struggle without him.

We tend to get accused of making excuses etc but ironically people were already laying foundations for their “we didn’t drop points because Xhaka didn’t play” arguments before a ball was even kicked, the funniest thing is I’m not sure any one is even trying to argue that in the first place.

I think it’s going to get funnier and funnier.
 

Barry

Definitely Not An Old Poster
You don’t have to rate Xhaka to see that we’re going to struggle without him.

This is the crucial point on Xhaka imo - he might not be amazing, but he's important to this squad. We'll manage without him, but just watch as the spot light gets turned onto Lokonga now. Hopefully he can adjust to the pace and the team fairly quickly. I'm not surprised that he struggled against Brighton though - it's a big ask to come in as a new young player from a lesser league and immediately be Top 6 standard.
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
This is the crucial point on Xhaka imo - he might not be amazing, but he's important to this squad. We'll manage without him, but just watch as the spot light gets turned onto Lokonga now. Hopefully he can adjust to the pace and the team fairly quickly. I'm not surprised that he struggled against Brighton though - it's a big ask to come in as a new young player from a lesser league and immediately be Top 6 standard.
It's been said a million times that for some of us Xhaka is just one of the better options of a bad bunch rather than outright rating him, he will never be ideal. It's gone past that point for some on here like Arteta as manager, which is just the way it is.

I warned about the unrealistic Lokonga expectations on the previous page before the Brighton match, but there you go.

I found the amazon doc tidbit interesting, they are really going to go out of their way to put Xhaka in a good light. I wonder if it's possible for some on AM to be converted :lol:

They will probably show him at home playing with the kids some of the fans wished cancer on.
 

RacingPhoton

Established Member
This is the crucial point on Xhaka imo - he might not be amazing, but he's important to this squad. We'll manage without him, but just watch as the spot light gets turned onto Lokonga now. Hopefully he can adjust to the pace and the team fairly quickly. I'm not surprised that he struggled against Brighton though - it's a big ask to come in as a new young player from a lesser league and immediately be Top 6 standard.
Even if we assume that Xhaka is important and start him, what are we going to gain out of it? At his best, we will get mid-table performances. Lokonga is still new to the league and AMN is still young. They have higher ceiling. Isn't this season supposed to be the one where we build up for future? Xhaka's first season here was pure horror. We persisted with him so long and people are still saying that "He is not that bad these days unlike the previous 4 years". We will give chances to Xhaka for 5 years but we won't allow Lokonga even a few matches to settle in?

And yes. This would not have been a problem if we had taken Roma's offer and replaced him with a better CM. But the ones at the top thought that Xhaka is good enough.
 

2Smokeyy

5.0 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (49)
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Lokonga is still new to the league and AMN is still young. They have higher ceiling. Isn't this season supposed to be the one where we build up for future? Xhaka's first season here was pure horror.

Good points but if we’re basing it on last season then Xhaka was our best and most reliable midfielder which doesn’t say much as Partey didn’t look great and could barely stay fit whilst the rest of the options were either not given a fair chance or Elneny.

In terms of AMN, I’ve been one of his biggest supporters on here but I think we should have sold him based on how Arteta is handling him and just handing him bleep tests. He’s 24 now, so he isn’t really young plus he’s at the stage of his career that he needs games consistently and it isn’t happening at Arsenal just like Willock.

The ideal scenario would have been going into the season with Partey, a new CM, Xhaka and Lokonga as our options but Mikel failed to do so and that error will cost him.
 

Barry

Definitely Not An Old Poster
Even if we assume that Xhaka is important and start him, what are we going to gain out of it? At his best, we will get mid-table performances. Lokonga is still new to the league and AMN is still young. They have higher ceiling. Isn't this season supposed to be the one where we build up for future? Xhaka's first season here was pure horror. We persisted with him so long and people are still saying that "He is not that bad these days unlike the previous 4 years". We will give chances to Xhaka for 5 years but we won't allow Lokonga even a few matches to settle in?

And yes. This would not have been a problem if we had taken Roma's offer and replaced him with a better CM. But the ones at the top thought that Xhaka is good enough.
Yeah I agree with this actually. But I think people like the idea, but struggle with the reality of it.

We have (I think), the second youngest squad in the PL with 5 new starting players. Although objectively you know that they will be inconsistent and take time to mature and get better, there is still a lot of frustration about a tough away draw. It's the same with Lokonga really - if you accept that this is a development year for him then you also have to accept some dodgy performances while he finds his feet.

Not going to pretend I've got the answers to this because we're all guilty of it. The ideal scenario for Arsenal is that Lokonga, ESR, Ode, Saka and our other young players all finish the season showing their quality and we get enough points on the board this year to really push on next year when our squad will be more where it should be in terms of age and experience. Lokonga has looked class in his limited minutes against lesser opposition. That makes me think that he can and will take the step up. Just feel we might be a bit exposed while he adjusts and if Xhaka was fit he would be taking some of the fan heat which would have been a bit easier for Lokonga as well.
 

Barry

Definitely Not An Old Poster
If we'd pulled the trigger on Bissouma instead of Lokonga this wouldn't even have been a factor but anyway that points been made multiple times elsewhere.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
If we'd pulled the trigger on Bissouma instead of Lokonga this wouldn't even have been a factor but anyway that points been made multiple times elsewhere.
Bissouma is 25, a finished product of high quality. Only Edu and his girlfriend Mikel could think that keeping Xhaka and buying Lokonga was the right business to do
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
Edu and his girlfriend Mikel

mikel-arteta-arteta.gif
 

Monstar-Gunn4r

Established Member
No wonder Arteta loves him, he doesnt have to coach positioning in to him. I look at Lokonga and I see he doesnt seem to know where he should be despite being at the club months. When you see Arteta's 2 first choice midfielders Xhaka and Partey already had that coached in to them by other managers its no surprise we look better with them.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel


...Granit, when he sees Thomas and Sambi in training.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
Man this is such a dead joke…this was the perfect opportunity to piss off the Xhaka haters as well.

Stick to calling all our young players ****, and keep all your opinions of my crap jokes to yourself!
 
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