Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[Get These Hands]

I don't get the hate for Xhaka. He was one of our most consistent players last season. He wants to stay and won't be close to being one of our top earners. It's a no-brainer isn't it? Were the players we linked with an upgrade on Xhaka? Ruben Neves, Locatelli etc? Not for me.

There are a plethora of other players I'd get shot of before Xhaka. Elneny seems like a nice, hardworking guy, but he's not Arsenal quality.

 

[truth_hurts]

Xhaka is a good player; his slow, cumbersome style is the problem. His legs won't get any quicker but he needs to employ some dynamism in his passing. He's more than capable of progressive passing but so really does it here.

Rodri, Jorginho and Thiago aren't a lot quicker physically than Xhaka, but their speed of though is and Xhaka's deliberating on the ball hurts us.

Am disappointed He's been rewarded with a new contract, but he's a gooner and does have qualities (unlike Knob Balding).

 

[SK___]

I don't get the hate for Xhaka. He was one of our most consistent players last season. He wants to stay and won't be close to being one of our top earners. It's a no-brainer isn't it? Were the players we linked with an upgrade on Xhaka? Ruben Neves, Locatelli etc? Not for me.

There are a plethora of other players I'd get shot of before Xhaka. Elneny seems like a nice, hardworking guy, but he's not Arsenal quality.

he’s dragging us down
people have short memories

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

I think there is a chance this happens although I don’t hope so. With a slow start and poor results and play it will be interesting to see how the match day going fans will react.

The fans are the X factor. I don't hope he fails because he drags the club down with him. I just can't see how he will succeed with the current squad. If he's failing, we must act swiftly.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

Let’s say worst case scenario, Partey is injury-prone for the duration of his Arsenal career. What does that mean for Xhaka? If you can only get the best out of Xhaka when he’s paired next to Partey and Partey is available for 60% of the season, how does that affect Xhaka? To me Xhaka needs a certain type of player to truly excel. No one rates Elneny-Xhaka but Elneny-Partey can at least win big games. If one of your midfielders is dependent on another midfielder being fit, are you getting the best out of them? Would it make more sense to bring in another CM who was less dependent on who is partner is to give good performances

I want each player to be able to carry their own weight. We need to get away from the idea that each midfielder is decent at one or two things and should be paired with another who can cover their shortcomings. Partey doesn't need a specific partner to bring out the best in him and every other midfielder should be the same. Vieira/Petit and Vieira/Gilberto could each hold their own individually. Without Partey and ESR at the same time, we will be done unless the squad is improved or Lokknga is in beast mode.

 

[Lidl_Reed]

Is this talk of a new 4 year deal real? I really can't with Arteta, he's causing long term damage to the club

 

[MartiSaka]

Why not just let him run out his contract, what is the reason to upgrade it. We are not getting a big transfer for him in a few years time when he is past 30 and on a larger heftier salary.

 

[MartiSaka]

Tbh I wasn’t convinced a majority of the players (excluding locatelli and maybe bissouma) we were linked with in CM this summer we’re going to improve us much. We were going to have a large negative net spend with maybe a minimal squad improvement.

 

[DanDare]

Granit Xhaka and Arsenal's failure to qualify for the CL are inextricably linked. He's not the sole cause but he's a significant contributing factor.

To extend him again is a failure in transfer policy

 

[mirrorstare]

Think the reason people claim there aren't many big names to improve on Xhaka is because they imagine the same turtle paced transitions, lack of vision and defensive lapsus that made Granit get the record of errors leading to goal.

And they are right, because the manager imposing that style will still be around. But in terms of moving forward to build with Partey we just need anyone that can either help the ball move forward quicker or cover more ground defensively to let Partey shoot the ball to row Z at will. The requirements list isn't really that long.

 

[NZgunner]

Xhaka has a fatal combination of slow feet and a slow mind.

Give him time on the ball and time to look around and technically he can make a great pass - but the EPL above all other competitions will expose someone with those deficiencies.

 

[CaseUteinberger]

Think the reason people claim there aren't many big names to improve on Xhaka is because they imagine the same turtle paced transitions, lack of vision and defensive lapsus that made Granit get the record of errors leading to goal.

And they are right, because the manager imposing that style will still be around. But in terms of moving forward to build with Partey we just need anyone that can either help the ball move forward quicker or cover more ground defensively to let Partey shoot the ball to row Z at will. The requirements list isn't really that long.

Think we can blame Arteta for somethings (like continuing to play Xhaka), but fact is that Xhaka has played his best football under Arteta. To blame Arteta for Xhaka being slow and prone to mistakes isn’t really Arteta’s fault, but inherent in the player himself. Not a great defense but there it is.

 

[Macho]

Think the reason people claim there aren't many big names to improve on Xhaka is because they imagine the same turtle paced transitions, lack of vision and defensive lapsus that made Granit get the record of errors leading to goal.

I’m not sure how you could watch someone like Neves or a team like Wolves and want him at the club, so yeah people are right to question the improvement.

It’s also pretty clear this ponderous style or football is deliberate, as evidenced by some of our targets, personnel who got minutes (Ceballos, El neny) and the players cast aside. It’s not going away cause Xhaka goes.

Whoever plays in that role for us and plays every minute is gonna rack up the notches in their mistakes column. It’s kind of common sense for the opposition to force the issue when we are fannying around our own box.

 

[mirrorstare]

Almost makes another meme

 

[GDeep™]

Xhaka was right there when Holjberg kicked off with Arteta.

Say what you want, but Xhaka is always there backing up his team mates when there is trouble. Guendouzi was like this.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Xhaka was right there when Holjberg kicked off with Arteta.

Say what you want, but Xhaka is always there backing up his team mates when there is trouble. Guendouzi was like this.

He's so obviously the leader of the group.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Xhaka was right there when Holjberg kicked off with Arteta.

Say what you want, but Xhaka is always there backing up his team mates when there is trouble. Guendouzi was like this.

Except when Pepe got sent off and he was chilling with Alioski.

 

[Riou]

That's the best thing about Xhaka, Sead too, always defends his teammates.

The Alioski one was weird though.

 

[RunTheTrap]

That's the best thing about Xhaka, Sead too, always defends his teammates.

The Alioski one was weird though.

Yeah they're warriors and they're always on it, but being good with your fists mean jacksh#t in the grand scheme of things. I want footballers not boxers. I kinda hate how people attribute hyper-masculine behaviour as being a good captain. I blame that Scottish guy on MOTD (I forgot his name). I mean yes for some characters it works Ramos, Roy Keane, Vieira etc but I think Philip Lahm was a great captain for Bayern. He won it all and you didn't see him trying to fight everyone to lead his team to countless victories. I would much rather have my captain be the one who can diffuse a fire than escalate one.

 

[Pop Tart]

He's so obviously the leader of the group.

The blind leading the blind..