Granit Xhaka: 2019/20 Performances

[Wounded Healer]

Xhaka was born for everton-level football.

we cheaped out back then on him. we payed the price in FULL.

he is way to slow in for our desired level of play.

the best definition i can find for him is that he is pretty skilled
for a lumberjack.

 

[Smail]

What I hate the most in his play is not the fact that he is slow, but that he can't win a ball without fouling the opposition, like Willock, torreira and guendouzi can. it has cost us a lot of times. When he miss kicked the ball and gave away the corner that let to the goal I knew at that moment that they would score. Emery rates him but I hope he won't be his downfall if he keeps picking him in the starting eleven.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Think Xhaka is better than Henderson and if Liverpool could build a world class midfield consisting of Henderson, so should we.

Henderson
Champions League winner
Captained his country to a semi-final in the World Cup
Led his club to become Premier League runner ups.
Gerrard’s successor.

Xhaka
Mummy and Daddy let him hold the keys once.

 

[RunTheTrap]

You meant that both Wenger and Emery played Xhaka despite having plenty of options, which is not the case. The next option Wenger had was ****ing Elneny. And the season has just started. New players will take time to settle down.

I don't understand this. People hate Mustafi but love Xhaka while numbers show that Xhaka has committed more mistakes than Mustafi. Again, people just using the word "qualities" randomly to support him. He is physical? How? He cannot even take on a player one on one which is the reason why he is committing those errors?

When was the last time since we bought Xhaka that we scored a good counter attacking goal? Counter attacks have to be fast. With Xhaka, the entire team slows down. His only strength is playing those long balls and it is of no use to us.

And that’s what annoys me the most about Xhaka. He is the most protected player at this club and no one seems to call him out on his crapiness. It’s like Stockholm syndrome. Fans have truly convinced themselves that Xhaka is needed in this club. He could get red card next week and you know he’ll be back in the team in no time.

 

[Geofranco]

And that’s what annoys me the most about Xhaka. He is the most protected player at this club and no one seems to call him out on his crapiness. It’s like Stockholm syndrome. Fans have truly convinced themselves that Xhaka is needed in this club. He could get red card next week and you know he’ll be back in the team in no time.

There were actual fans praying that he start against Liverpool. Cause they believe we can't advance play without him. Playing against Liverpool at Anfield is literally the worst kind of game for Xhaka to start.

 

[Red London]

Wasn't that bad vs Liverpool. I can name a few players with more poor performances (was probably our best performing midfielder).

Xhaka won't look as bad as he usually does if we play a midfield 3. He looks like an utter donkey in a 2.

He gets a ****load of stick and rightly so at times but a trio of him Willock/Torreira/Guendouzi and Ceballos is so balanced. Ceballos can carry the ball and play cute short passes (thus carrying us up the field), but Xhaka can make use of Auba and Pepe with over the top through balls.

In a way it makes us difficult to deal with vs both low block and high press tactics. Burnley pressed us really high at the Emirates. I reckon if Xhaka was there they wouldnt have been able to do it so successfully due to the threat of an over the top long pass from Xhaka, which is his specialty in my opinion. We saw this in glimpses vs Liverpool albeit being an unfair game to properly judge the system due to their superiority in almost every aspect

If you're going to expect Xhaka to play in a 2 and shield the ball, carry the ball and play quick passes with both feet then he's seriously a relegation standard player. But he has his strengths if you use him correctly in a set up that is suited to direct football (as i said Ceballos in there too means we are dynamic and can play on the ground + over the top)

 

[Maybe]

If you're going to expect Xhaka to play in a 2 and shield the ball, carry the ball and play quick passes with both feet then he's seriously a relegation standard player. But he has his strengths if you use him correctly in a set up that is suited to direct football (as i said Ceballos in there too means we are dynamic and can play on the ground + over the top)

There are some games where he can have a positive impact and some where he will struggle. It's just stupid to play him every game, and apart from Ceballos, I don't think we have a midfielder who should be a default starter.

 

[samshere]

Henderson
Champions League winner
Captained his country to a semi-final in the World Cup
Led his club to become Premier League runner ups.
Gerrard’s successor.

Xhaka
Mummy and Daddy let him hold the keys once.

Henderson wasn't the prime cause in any of those wins, he was just a cog. You're kinda making my point for me. And lol at the 'gerrards successor' bit, Henderson isn't half the player gerrard was.

 

[Jae]

Henderson wasn't the prime cause in any of those wins, he was just a cog. You're kinda making my point for me. And lol at the 'gerrards successor' bit, Henderson isn't half the player gerrard was.

Bit of a strawman argument this in all honesty mate. I'll be the first to admit I sniggered when they signed him from Sunderland, but Henderson is massively underrated and he's actually become a really important player for Liverpool. Guessing you probably haven't watched much of him otherwise you'd know that.

Plus, Xhaka compares even less favourably to Gerrard than Henderson does.

 

[TakeChillPill]

It feels like ground hog day with Xhaka. He isn't going to get any better then he is now. He needs to go to Italy. He doesn't have the mobility, technique or agility to play under pressure. I wan't to see more of Torreria, Guen, Cebbelos and Wilock. They are the future.

Xhaka like Mustafi are the reminants of Wengers final years of mistakes when it comes to player signings ( personally I don't blame the players, they were never good enough in the first place).

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

He wasn't the problem vs Liverpool, though I felt he passed the ball backwards too much when he could've turned and get it forward. Those small things invite even more pressure against an already very high pressing Liverpool.

 

[Taneruit]

Uhm....


So yeah, he did pass forward....

 

[progman07]

As others have already mentioned, I don't see a future for him here either- he is such a limited player due to his lack of speed/strength/mobility. His passing is overrated in my opinion - yes he can pick a good pass if he isn't under pressure, but in most cases he will be closed down. And when Xhaka is closed down, he makes bad decisions. Also, it's not like he regularly picks the jaw-dropping passes Cesc used to pick from the number 4 position.

We need press-resistant players, those who can carry the ball, turn with the ball and beat their markers to create space (no wonder we don't play in the CL since Cazorla was 'kind of' replaced by Xhaka in CM position) - if Wilshere didn't suffer from injury-proneness, he could have been that midfielder, but unfortunately it turned out different.

But, if we really want to keep playing him, we need to put two midfielders close to him (e.g. Willock and Torreira), who can make up for his weaknesses.

 

[RacingPhoton]

As others have already mentioned, I don't see a future for him here either- he is such a limited player due to his lack of speed/strength/mobility. His passing is overrated in my opinion - yes he can pick a good pass if he isn't under pressure, but in most cases he will be closed down. And when Xhaka is closed down, he makes bad decisions. Also, it's not like he regularly picks the jaw-dropping passes Cesc used to pick from the number 4 position.

We need press-resistant players, those who can carry the ball, turn with the ball and beat their markers to create space (no wonder we don't play in the CL since Cazorla was 'kind of' replaced by Xhaka in CM position) - if Wilshere didn't suffer from injury-proneness, he could have been that midfielder, but unfortunately it turned out different.

But, if we really want to keep playing him, we need to put two midfielders close to him (e.g. Willock and Torreira), who can make up for his weaknesses.

Ceballos is the right player for that position. He could beat the press, take the ball forward and play a quick through ball. Ceballos was wasted forward just to accommodate Xhaka.

 

[kraphtous]

Uhm....


So yeah, he did pass forward....

Always lovely to see people coming up with facts to end debates

 

[ThlRama]

Ceballos is the right player for that position. He could beat the press, take the ball forward and play a quick through ball. Ceballos was wasted forward just to accommodate Xhaka.

Ceballos wasn't played there because of Xhaka, that is a ridiculous thought. He was played there to make up for not having Ramsey, Özil, Iwobi or Mkhitaryan compared to how we played last season.

People that think Emery has some obsession with Xhaka need to seriously calm down, this is now getting to conspiracy theory levels. Maybe Emery is wrong to pick him but he won't just adjust the entire team around him ffs

 

[Furious]

Ceballos is the right player for that position. He could beat the press, take the ball forward and play a quick through ball. Ceballos was wasted forward just to accommodate Xhaka.

Absolutely horrible take as per usual.

The captain of Arsenal with over 100 games to his name was accommodated because of a Real Madrid loanee.

 

[Ricardinho]

He wore the armband at the weekend but you do have to wonder what's going on there considering no confirmation that he is club captain. Surely if he's emerys number one choice then it's irrelevant who goes between now and the euro window closing next week.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Absolutely horrible take as per usual.

The captain of Arsenal with over 100 games to his name was accommodated because of a Real Madrid loanee.

As usual, bullshit opinions from you. A player is good because he wore the captain's armband at Arsenal?
Do you even follow Arsenal? We had 5 captains last year and three this year. One of the three is Özil who no one has heard about for quite sometime. And you still take the captain's armband seriously?

But I have to say. It is insulting to see this clown being called captain of my favourite club:

 

[RacingPhoton]

Ceballos wasn't played there because of Xhaka, that is a ridiculous thought. He was played there to make up for not having Ramsey, Özil, Iwobi or Mkhitaryan compared to how we played last season.

People that think Emery has some obsession with Xhaka need to seriously calm down, this is now getting to conspiracy theory levels. Maybe Emery is wrong to pick him but he won't just adjust the entire team around him ffs

Ceballos's main strength is to carry the ball from defensive half to attack. Playing him in the front just behind Auba and Pepe was of no use. Even Ramsey was useless in that position. Ceballos should have been played in the middle-3 and not the forward-3.