Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

[field442]

Watch our goal. It was a beautiful pass from Xhaka. Also, why do you think Liverpool were marking him so tightly? They were denying him space, they’re wary of Xhaka’s quality.

They wasn’t giving him any special treatment, that’s just the way they play. Everyone presses high up the pitch and it just so happens Xhaka crumbles when that happens.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Watch our goal. It was a beautiful pass from Xhaka. Also, why do you think Liverpool were marking him so tightly? They were denying him space, they’re wary of Xhaka’s quality.

And they did mark Ceballos too tightly. But guess what? He actually broke out of the press. How dare he?

 

[tap-in]

I'm looking forward to Xhaka's face when Partey joins and Arteta plays him next to Elneny!

 

[Manberg]

It was a simple pass any decent midfielder could have made. And in the end, we made a goal out of it because of a Liverpool mistake. Xhaka's pass had nothing to do with it.

ok this post tells me all I need to know. Deny any good play from Xhaka, typical agenda merchants.

 

[Manberg]

They wasn’t giving him any special treatment, that’s just the way they play. Everyone presses high up the pitch and it just so happens Xhaka crumbles when that happens.

How did he crumble? Show me a Xhaka mistake which resulted in a Liverpool chance, let alone a goal.

 

[darkgunner]

Once Xhaka's rehabilitation therapy is finished, Arteta will get rid of him as he is doing to Mustafi.

Just like with Mustafi, Arteta doesn't actually rate him, and is just making do with him until he gets the opportunity to fraud some team into buying for a good fee.

 

[Ash10]

There’s nothing wrong with passing it backwards when pressed. The midfield can pass backwards, expecting defenders to make good long balls and attackers to hold the ball up. It’s a solid tactic. Xhaka did not make many mistakes he’s hardly to blame. Did ok.

Imagine having the defenders do your job for you & still have a cult following
& btw did anyone else notice how his performance went from 'great' to 'decent' to just 'ok'?:rofl:

 

[Sniper Mik]

Literally did one good thing in the entire game and that was the pass in the buildup for our goal. But I guess one great pass in 80 minutes or so is the standard for an undroppable CM at Arsenal

 

[RacingPhoton]

ok this post tells me all I need to know. Deny any good play from Xhaka, typical agenda merchants.

Typical agenda merchants watching Ceballos play and still thinking Xhaka is a good midfielder

 

[Jury]

I’m actually quite hopeful that Mikel might be seeing the light. Don’t die on plod hill, Mikel. Please no.

 

[Macho]

Yeah, when you’re getting hooked and Elneny stays on lol - that’s not good.

 

[Ash10]

How did he crumble? Show me a Xhaka mistake which resulted in a Liverpool chance, let alone a goal.

People should start spamming report on anything you post tbh

 

[Manberg]

Imagine having the defenders do your job for you & still have a cult following
& btw did anyone else notice how his performance went from 'great' to 'decent' to just 'ok'?:rofl:

Get some football knowledge in you if you think dribbling is the only way to beat a press.

 

[Manberg]

Typical agenda merchants watching Ceballos play and still thinking Xhaka is a good midfielder

I’m not even hating on Ceballos. They’re different players. Xhaka’s a number 6 and Ceballos is a number 8. I was expecting the Xhaka thread to get bumped when we lose and it happened again. Not even a valid criticism on Xhaka in sight.

 

[DanDare]

Had trouble watching the match but he looked shaley near the beginning. He was subbed of so I presume he was not good

 

[blaze_of_glory]

We were noticeably more open to attack centrally after he went off. Xhaka-Ceballos has to be the pairing at this point.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Also made our goal happen.

 

[DanDare]

We were noticeably more open to attack centrally after he went off. Xhaka-Ceballos has to be the pairing at this point.

Doesn't that mean Xhaka El Neny should be the pairing?

 

[AbouCuéllar]

Tbf, that was a very nice pass by Xhaka to eliminate defenders in that goal.

But it was one pass.

Xhaka is not a bad player. He's just nothing special, and one of the most obvious areas of upgrade in our team, something we could do in a number of ways (playing a midfield 3 with a more athletic box-to-box type alongside Ceballos, getting a similar but more complete player to Xhaka--like Kamara, Rice, arguably Renato Sanches, Guendouzi if he could be taught to defend a bit, etc.).

So yeah, saying stuff like Ceballos is an 8 and Xhaka a 6 is missing the point. Yes, they're not exactly the same personality of footballer, but Ceballos is undoubtedly a pivot player and undoubtedly a deep lying midfielder, it's just a matter of combining him with the right type of players in a pivot or a trivote (should we buy Aouar), and undoubtedly a superior player to Xhaka.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Doesn't that mean Xhaka El Neny should be the pairing?

They looked good together first game, but we suffer to create anything unless Ceballos is on the field right now. Xhaka and Ceballos have shown they can be a good pairing and I think it's our best bet unless we get Partey (unlikely imo).