Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[Taneruit]

Got found out tonight. Technically it was only one moment, but it was enough.

TBF, Cedric has too, but I don't think its worth missing attacking threat down the left against stronger opposition in exchange for a bit more stability. Put him back in the middle, put Cedric on the left. This formation only works if everyone's at the top of their game. And not having Lacazette only weakens it.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

He was out of position so don't want to be too harsh but he made a bad decision lunging in instead of trying to hold Richarlison up. I'm told he understands the game

 

[Ash10]

Got predictably eaten alive by Richarlison for the goal. But I don't blame him a bit tbh. The guy isn't a LB & it was always gonna end up like this Plus Leno cost the goal anyway

He is a mediocre midfielder sure but not gonna blame him for tonight

 

[mirrorstare]

We all knew it wasn't going to last, he did well while it did.

 

[Melquiades]

That moment on the goal wouldn't even have been noticed by anyone here if Leno doesn't let in one of the worst goals in all of Europe this year.

I'm no big Xhaka fan but he was perfectly solid tonight and our backline was very tight defensively. DCL was invisible for them and they really only had one decent chance on target all game.

 

[Riou]

I'm sorry...but why did this gimp hug Carlo Ancelotti, like he just helped him pull of a big win...after getting destroyed for the goal

 

[rich 1990]

Not sure what people are on about tbh. Out of position or not, when you're isolated, you don't ****ing lunge into a tackle. You hold the **** up as long as possible til people can shuffle over. It's as basic as it gets.

 

[Taneruit]

I'm sorry...but why did this gimp hug Carlo Ancelotti, like he just helped him pull of a big win...after getting destroyed for the goal

He does that every time when he knows someone, regardless of result.

Know that isn't everyone's cup of tea, but yeah.
Don't personally have a problem with it as I do the same.

 

[juice man]

Thought it was pretty obvious that once he faced a stronger side at LB, he was going to get exposed. Feel like this exact thing happened several years ago.

 

[Riou]

He does that every time when he knows someone, regardless of result.

Know that isn't everyone's cup of tea, but yeah.
Don't personally have a problem with it as I do the same.

If he just didn't make so many mistakes, I probably wouldn't care either...hell, Vieira could have hugged every opposing player after we lost a game, and I wouldn't have cared

But it's always something with Granit, he's always doing something wrong!

 

[CaseUteinberger]

Got found out tonight. Technically it was only one moment, but it was enough.

TBF, Cedric has too, but I don't think its worth missing attacking threat down the left against stronger opposition in exchange for a bit more stability. Put him back in the middle, put Cedric on the left. This formation only works if everyone's at the top of their game. And not having Lacazette only weakens it.

Not a fan of Xhaka and think the goal was partly on him, but I think he has been playing really well at LB! He has honestly risen in my opinion over the last 2-3 weeks with the work he has put in. And the goal was mainly on Leno. We did not lose this game because of Xhaka but because of the refs and Leno's blunder!

 

[Pop Tart]

I'm sorry...but why did this gimp hug Carlo Ancelotti, like he just helped him pull of a big win...after getting destroyed for the goal

What did you want him to do? Kung fu kick him?

 

[The_Playmaker]

Any team that can hold their own defensively and who has one player who can run and dribble will have a massive chance of getting a result against us. All they have to do is get thr ball to a winger who is 1v1 vs Xhaka.

 

[dashsnow17]

tbh i'm surprised it took so long for an opposition attacker to try to go past him, it's an obvious weak point. I mean sure he's at fault there, but the club decided to go half a season with only one LB who was injury prone and subsequently picked up an injury. It's the club's fault.

 

[Penn_]

The goal is on Leno not him.

 

[Oxeki]

Arteta should have known better. This same stuff happened in the Crystal palace 2:2 draw in 2018 where he got destroyed by Zaha

 

[Pyres7]

The goal is on Leno not him.

That doesn't matter, Xhaka got exposed at LB just as everyone predicted. Only a matter of time before it happens again. Do we really want to risk it against Villareal?

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Xhaka was always getting exposed when he face quality winger to be fair to him he kept Richarlison out of game for most time but you just can't over depending on him he should have done better in Everton goal but that was coming when you leave xhaka alone

 

[Penn_]

That doesn't matter, Xhaka got exposed at LB just as everyone predicted. Only a matter of time before it happens again. Do we really want to risk it against Villareal?

Because that hasn’t and won’t happen to Cedric will it?

 

[Taneruit]

That doesn't matter, Xhaka got exposed at LB just as everyone predicted. Only a matter of time before it happens again. Do we really want to risk it against Villareal?

Here's the problem. We don't really have an alternative. Remember Cedric is also uncomfortable in defense on the left. In that sense Xhaka has actually provided more defensive stability than Cedric did in his appearances on the left.

That said Cedric also provides more of an attacking threat in the final third, so I do agree with you. Because the trade-off isn't worth it. Despite leaking goals strongly in the last few months, our biggest problem is scoring goals, not defending. It worked in the Slavia game, because we actually finished our chances in that one.

Most mistakes, most referee decisions this year shouldn't have mattered if we actually finished our chances and in some games created more.

All or nothing.