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Granit Xhaka: Swiss Army Knife or Blunt Tool?

Will Xhaka be here after the summer window?

  • Yes

    Votes: 38 55.1%
  • No

    Votes: 31 44.9%

  • Total voters
    69
  • Poll closed .
Status
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Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
Would have loved for Gallas to be tasered, hated every minute he wore our shirt after that meltdown he had.
I don’t wish anybody to get tasered unnecessarily, but yeah I was never fond of Gallas at Arsenal.

When it came to a head where it came down to Gallas or Kolo, Wenger’s choice kinda hurt me as how could you not be team Kolo.

Really didn’t help the French bias accusations Wenger got at the time either, but I suspect it was more to do with the (overrated) reputation Gallas had in football at the time. I remember a lot of people at the same saying we got the better deal when Cole went the other way, obviously complete horsesh*t in hindsight. Not that Cole would have fit in here anyways, Chelsea seemed to suit him more.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
When it came to a head where it came down to Gallas or Kolo, Wenger’s choice kinda hurt me as how could you not be team Kolo.

I assumed Arsène only picked Gallas back then, as we could get much more money for Toure, that's the only reason we sold Kolo...as pretty much everyone in the squad disliked Billy G by 2009 :lol:
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
I assumed Arsène only picked Gallas back then, as we could get much more money for Toure, that's the only reason we sold Kolo...as pretty much everyone in the squad disliked Billy G by 2009 :lol:
Makes a lot of sense.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Wenger gets his defenders wrong. He usually gets midfielders right.

Old man Wengz thought Sanogo had potential. We all know Wenger was also very good at picking forwards. Loved the great man, but he became a bit senile as time went on.
 

roz

Fake News Merchant
Sanogo was a cheap gamble, Xhaka was the mistake that costed Wenger his career.

The plane banners should have said Xhaka Out
Whilst you might be joking I actually 100% think this is correct. Our trajectory has plummeted ever since this utter melt joined us.

Not a coincidence. Not a single strength to this guy’s game. Hate seeing his smug face wear the shirt. He’s not the worst player we’ve had by a longshot but he is incapable of putting in above a 6/10 performance and thats on his best days.

Proper midtable CM, not surprised thats exactly where we are.
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Sanogo was a cheap gamble, Xhaka was the mistake that costed Wenger his career.

The plane banners should have said Xhaka Out

It was Xhaka and Mustafi. Both of the them officially signaled the end of Arsenal as a top 4 club (plus the Cazorla injury). That window when we didn't get any outfield player and only got Cech, an over the hill Chelsea GK (although he was decent his first season here), plus the next window being the one we got Xhaka, Mustafi and Lucas Perez, was the beginning of the end for Wenger's reign. We are still suffering the consequences and will prob suffer for at least 2/3 more years.
 

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
Whilst you might be joking I actually 100% think this is correct. Our trajectory has plummeted ever since this utter melt joined us.

Not a coincidence. Not a single strength to this guy’s game. Hate seeing his smug face wear the shirt. He’s not the worst player we’ve had by a longshot but he is incapable of putting in above a 6/10 performance and thats on his best days.

Proper midtable CM, not surprised thats exactly where we are.
I have no time for the guy but not a single strength is not true :lol:

He’s a midtable midfielder at least. For a sh*t team he’d be that guy taking all the set pieces and stuff.

Also, I think he’s almost a different player at international level so you have to wonder what instructions and role he’s been given at club football.

I don’t think he’s as bad as people make out.
 
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Blood on the Tracks

AG's best friend, role model and mentor.
Trusted ⭐

Country: England

Player:Rice
Xhaka isn't as bad as some make out. He's a steady player as a back up and is pretty good at a few things. If we'd have bought him for £10m you'd think he's limited but a decent enough back up for the price. Paying £35m for him was daylight robbery though. Terrible business. His total lack of pace, mobility and the fact he constantly gets caught on the ball is infuriating.

I think for most fans Xhaka perfectly symbolises the fall from grace of the club over the last 5 years or so and that's why he gets so much hate.

Is it fair? Probably not. Can I understand it? Yes
 
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RunTheTrap

Kai Havertz Offense League
Xhaka isn't as bad as some make out. He's a steady player as a back up and is pretty good at a few things. If we'd have bought him for £10m you'd think he's limited but a decent enough back up for the price. Paying £35m for him was daylight robbery though. Terrible business. His total lack of pace, mobility and the fact he constantly gets caught on the ball is infuriating.

I think for most fans Xhaka perfectly symbolises the fall from grace of the club over the last 5 years or so and that's why he gets so much hate.

Is it fair? Probably not. Can I understand it? Yes
Yeah, completely agree with this. The thing is Xhaka was meant to be the start of something new. Our ball progression was terrible when Santi was out and when you have Coquelin and Ramsey at the base of your midfield, it’s very hard to move the ball forwards. So, up comes Xhaka, the “controlla” we’ve been waiting for. He was seen as the perfect blend of leadership, technical ability and steel that Arsenal have been lacking for years, finally the Alonso type midfielder we needed but he is probably closer in talent to Charlie Adam than Alonso.

For me he is the poster boy of StatDna and the start of everything wrong with the direction this club was going. He was an overpriced squad member that failed his way to becoming an important member of the team. At least Mustafi and Kolasanic are bad and we can all accept that but Xhaka is different because of his perceived “leadership” qualities. Even Emery couldn’t go through with the Xhaka captaincy nonsense and hid behind the players.

He’s just a painfully average footballer that has somehow amassed a cult out of pity or pure delusion. What I mean is that some people only rate Xhaka because of how ugly things got with the abuse and the online torment he was receiving and thus they overrate Xhaka’s importance out of guilt. I have said before that people love a comeback story, even if the player isn’t very good. On the other hand you have guys who love Xhaka for the same reason why some men love to see their wives get ploughed to smithereens by another man. I’m not sure what the appeal is but I don’t think I want to know.
 

RunTheTrap

Kai Havertz Offense League
I was having this debate with my friend and we were trying to rank Xhaka amongst Arsenal midfielders in the Emirates era. The criteria had to be starting CM/DMs and those with over 50 appearances for Arsenal. My list went like this:

  1. Fabregas
  2. Cazorla
  3. Wilshere
  4. Ramsey
  5. Gilberto Silva (the final two seasons of his Arsenal career)
  6. Song
  7. Arteta
  8. Flamini (the first time)
  9. Diaby
  10. Denilson
  11. Coquelin
  12. Xhaka
  13. Guendouzi
  14. Elneny
  15. Torreira
  16. Flamini (the second time)
 
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roz

Fake News Merchant
I have no time for the guy but not a single strength is not true :lol:

He’s a midtable midfielder at least. For a sh*t team he’d be that guy taking all the set pieces and stuff.

Also, I think he’s almost a different player at international level so you have to wonder what instructions and role he’s been given at club football.

I don’t think he’s as bad as people make out.
Plenty of midtable CMs better or on par with him.
Shelvey, Riedewald, Bissouma, Phillips...
All as good if not better than Xhaka.

International football is weird as teams can look better than they are as so many other teams expected to be good are awful. Not a single standout team in International football at the moment, maybe France but purely down to strength in numbers in terms of quality.
 
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