Granit "The Hacker" Xhaka | Likes his reds

Brwned

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Another typical Arsenal player?

Looks good on the ball but when his team really needed him today he went into hiding, and in the crucial moment he completely blew it.
 
He wasn't impressive the whole tournament though. Most passes is a stat I don't care about, he was in own half mostly anyway. He looks a good player, just not with cutting-edge abilities.
 
As funny as that was, it's unlike him. He usually was Gladbach's best player against better teams.
 
A bit, yeah. What would frustrate me the most is that he's not very quick. Seemed custard pace at running back, which is probably what causes him to scythe so many players down.
 
Looks like a typical Arsenal player, nice pretty player but absolutely no intensity of passion and a lack of bottle. Not a signing that will make any difference to them at all.
 
Let me rewrite what I commented on Xhaka a few days back,

Xhaka is a bigger, stronger version of Blind although Blind has an excellent footballing brain. Both are slow, can pass the ball well, defensively sound although Xhaka is a bit rash at times, and both have good leadership qualities.
 
VorZakone said:
He wasn't impressive the whole tournament though. Most passes is a stat I don't care about, he was in own half mostly anyway. He looks a good player, just not with cutting-edge abilities.
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It was fairly obvious in the first 3 games that he was the one capable of playing the decisive pass. He's not just recycling possession and he was on of their better players during the group stage.
 
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Did I hear a commentator say OMG? Awful cringe moment right there.
 
VorZakone said:
He wasn't impressive the whole tournament though. Most passes is a stat I don't care about, he was in own half mostly anyway. He looks a good player, just not with cutting-edge abilities.
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I thought he was very impressive against France. Considerably less so in a game of genuine importance.
 
This is the Xhaka I know. Moments of brilliance, moments of him losing his rag and moments of ineptness - all to varying degrees. He's just not put it altogether and consistently been brilliant. Granit is young so he may still make that leap to greatness but I suspect he'll never get there...being a Gunner will not help in that regard either
 
Hammerfell said:
Mark Lawrenson, he's awful.
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You could probably put most commentators names in your post to be fair, I wish they would introduce a crowd only option and have no entitled people harp on during a game I'm trying to watch.

Also Xhaka is highly rated but shouldn't Arsenal be trying to get in a striker before they strengthen an area where they're already pretty strong.
 
What a stupid thread this is, going by some of the misses today you could say those guys bottled it as well? Such a stupid phrase that has grown in popularity in recent years.

Thought Xhaka had a decent tournament overall, didn't have a great performance against Poland but they're a hard team to play against. As Germany and Portgual found out:

yumtum said:
Also Xhaka is highly rated but shouldn't Arsenal be trying to get in a striker before they strengthen an area where they're already pretty strong.
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Should we ignore our weaknesses until we get a striker? A ball playing DM was a major problem for us last season, striker of not this position had to be addressed.
 
@JazzG a striker has been your major weakness for years, Giroud really isn't a striker a club with title aspirations should be content with, you had a really good defensive record last year, I just don't see how roughly €40m on a DM can be more urgent than a striker that'll score a bucket load in which Giroud will not.
 
yumtum said:
@JazzG a striker has been your major weakness for years, Giroud really isn't a striker a club with title aspirations should be content with, you had a really good defensive record last year, I just don't see how roughly €40m on a DM can be more urgent than a striker that'll score a bucket load in which Giroud will not.
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They tried to sign Vardy, so Wenger knows he needs to improve in that area.

Although I've not seen them linked to any further strikers, but that doesn't mean they're not trying.
 
Trying to sign Vardy is pretty much my point, unless he was going to base his team around Vardy then he'd have been as useless as Giroud.

And Higuain is reportedly available and has been for a while, I'm not sure if he'd suit their style either but it says something when you're continuously going into a season with a sub standard Giroud and a winger/striker hybrid in Welbeck, all I'm saying is that the Arsenal fans must find this annoying when he's always recruiting for midfield yet constantly passes the striker position, yes he could be trying behind the scenes we'll never know, but if he is then he's been failing to pull the trigger for years and that's more worrying.
 
JazzG said:
What a stupid thread this is, going by some of the misses today you could say those guys bottled it as well? Such a stupid phrase that has grown in popularity in recent years.

Thought Xhaka had a decent tournament overall, didn't have a great performance against Poland but they're a hard team to play against. As Germany and Portgual found out:



Should we ignore our weaknesses until we get a striker? A ball playing DM was a major problem for us last season, striker of not this position had to be addressed.
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I think it was more indicative that he was literally hiding behind players when Switzerland were trying to get back in the game, and then on top of the game, and the team were content to bypass him. Shaqiri was the one that wanted responsibility while Xhaka looked utterly lost.
 
yumtum said:
@JazzG a striker has been your major weakness for years, Giroud really isn't a striker a club with title aspirations should be content with, you had a really good defensive record last year, I just don't see how roughly €40m on a DM can be more urgent than a striker that'll score a bucket load in which Giroud will not.
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I don't think you need to tell me that, I can't wait for the day we replace Giroud. You need to address positions as and when players become available. We did when it came to DM we required. It doesn't matter when we sign a striker, even if it is 31st Aug, just need to make sure it is done. Problem is there really isn't much available and those who are available firstly aren't even that good and even they're going for stupid money. Personally wouldn't be against signing another wide forward if we can't get a CF

Our problem wasn't just scoring, our midfield play was bang average. Cazorla helps paper over the cracks but we've missed a good passer from deep since Arteta's decline/injuries. The amount of times players like Ozil were dropping down to almost in front of the CBs to collect the ball was simply not on.

Brwned said:
I think it was more indicative that he was literally hiding behind players when Switzerland were trying to get back in the game, and then on top of the game, and the team were content to bypass him. Shaqiri was the one that wanted responsibility while Xhaka looked utterly lost.
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I think that is pushing it, he had a poor game against them but you're getting a bit carried away there. I do have some concerns about Xhaka but none of what you're pointing out. Apart from that game he had a good tournament for the Swiss.
 
Looks like another Michael Carrick to me. Can be a piece in a great puzzle, but expecting him to be the biggest piece would be a little much. Wenger has to get some quality around him or he will drown.
 
RooneyLegend said:
Looks like another Michael Carrick to me. Can be a piece in a great puzzle, but expecting him to be the biggest piece would be a little much. Wenger has to get some quality around him or he will drown.
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To me, Arsenal has the best selection of CMs/OMs in the Premier League. Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Özil - you can build a top notch midfield with Xhaka and any two of these. I also liked the Ox when I saw him playing centrally. And most importantly, all these players match up stylistically.

So quality and quantity is definitely there, they got the missing piece in Xhaka now, so it's mostly a question of injuries/fitness. Which was quite a problem in the past, of course.
 
Synco said:
To me, Arsenal has the best selection of CMs/OMs in the Premier League. Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Özil - you can build a top notch midfield with Xhaka and any two of these. I also liked the Ox when I saw him playing centrally. And most importantly, all these players match up stylistically.

So quality and quantity is definitely there, they got the missing piece in Xhaka now, so it's mostly a question of injuries/fitness. Which was quite a problem in the past, of course.
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Ramsey is a positional nightmare, he seems to be out of position half the time cause he fancies himself as a second striker. Jack wheelchair, that says it all although he's genuinely brilliant when he's on it. Cazorla will probably be replaced by Xhaka cause he's defensively inept and Ozil isn't really a midfield player, he's great in attack but throw him in midfield he's not nearly as commanding as he should be.

I think Wenger should give up and Jack getting over his injuries, and buy midfielders that'll complement Xhaka. He's basically a G.Silva with better passing, so get him his own Viera.
 
Synco said:
To me, Arsenal has the best selection of CMs/OMs in the Premier League. Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Özil - you can build a top notch midfield with Xhaka and any two of these. I also liked the Ox when I saw him playing centrally. And most importantly, all these players match up stylistically.

So quality and quantity is definitely there, they got the missing piece in Xhaka now, so it's mostly a question of injuries/fitness. Which was quite a problem in the past, of course.
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Ramsey is a positional nightmare, he seems to be out of position half the time cause he fancies himself as a second striker. Jack wheelchair, that says it all although he's genuinely brilliant when he's on it. Cazorla will probably be replaced by Xhaka cause he's defensively inept and Ozil isn't really a midfield player, he's great in attack but throw him in midfield he's not nearly as commanding as he should be. The OX hasn't got anywhere near the football brain needed in midfield, certainly has the ability but just doesn't see the pitch well enough.

Don't get it twisted, these lads are a talented bunch but none of them are the sort of specialists to get arsenal into the next level. Sounds like a bunch of players you'd have to land you another 4th place next season especially with the improvements that us and city have made in the managerial stakes.

I think Wenger should give up Jack getting over his injuries, and buy midfielders that'll complement Xhaka. He's basically a G.Silva with better passing, so get him his own Viera.
 
RooneyLegend said:
That's news to me
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Given the quality of your post, I'm not surprised. As Archie said, Cazorla is not a liability there. In fact, he actually played as a defensive midfielder a few times for Malaga and was pretty good in many of our best defensive performances recently (the win away to City the season before last comes to mind in particular)
 
RooneyLegend said:
Ramsey is a positional nightmare, he seems to be out of position half the time cause he fancies himself as a second striker. Jack wheelchair, that says it all although he's genuinely brilliant when he's on it. Cazorla will probably be replaced by Xhaka cause he's defensively inept and Ozil isn't really a midfield player, he's great in attack but throw him in midfield he's not nearly as commanding as he should be. The OX hasn't got anywhere near the football brain needed in midfield, certainly has the ability but just doesn't see the pitch well enough.
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Much too negative. In my opinion, Arsenals positional problems were down to structural/tactical problems much more than to inept players.

And the players that are going to lose their place to Xhaka are most likely Coquelin and Elneny, because Xhaka is a deep lying playmaker, not a CM.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
I think they're 2 signings away from winning the title.
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We say this every year. What is never taken into account is that the level of some of their current squad will drop and their rivals strengthen too.

Two more signings and they'd win the title in 15-16, I'll agree with that. I think 16-17 will be a completely different kettle of fish.
 
Pexbo said:
We say this every year. What is never taken into account is that the level of some of their current squad will drop and their rivals strengthen too.

Two more signings and they'd win the title in 15-16, I'll agree with that. I think 16-17 will be a completely different kettle of fish.
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I was joking but I completely agree with what you said
 
Arsenal will never win a title with Wenger. Especially with Guardiola and Mourinho in the league now

There chance was last year
 
RooneyLegend said:
Looks like another Michael Carrick to me. Can be a piece in a great puzzle, but expecting him to be the biggest piece would be a little much. Wenger has to get some quality around him or he will drown.
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If he turned out like Carrick I'd be quite happy with that, we have players like Ozil/Ramsey/Wilshere who want to be on the ball. The problem is those guys were constantly having to drop ridiculously deep, we need someone who can distribute from there effectively and do a job defensively.

Synco said:
To me, Arsenal has the best selection of CMs/OMs in the Premier League. Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Özil - you can build a top notch midfield with Xhaka and any two of these. I also liked the Ox when I saw him playing centrally. And most importantly, all these players match up stylistically.

So quality and quantity is definitely there, they got the missing piece in Xhaka now, so it's mostly a question of injuries/fitness. Which was quite a problem in the past, of course.
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The problem with the options we have is none of them excel at the base of midfield, we had a work around solution with Coq/Cazorla but in games where we had to be on the front foot they were shown up. Without those two we struggled badly for balance in midfield, some games we would be chasing but our midfielders not able to move the ball effectively. Like I've mentioned before times when Ozil was dropping deeper than our DM because we couldn't find him between the lines. He was available but players didn't have the skill set to find him.

Dirty Schwein said:
I think they're 2 signings away from winning the title.
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I've heard that one before :nervous:
 
Pexbo said:
We say this every year. What is never taken into account is that the level of some of their current squad will drop and their rivals strengthen too.

Two more signings and they'd win the title in 15-16, I'll agree with that. I think 16-17 will be a completely different kettle of fish.
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And for all their technique, passing and "style" in that midfield, the most important aspect seems to be a problem year in, year out - their mentality throughout the team. And that's hard to fix with a couple of signings. Whenever the pressures really been on Arsenal (top of the league or thereabout), they've folded like a house of cards in the wind.
 
JazzG said:
The problem with the options we have is none of them excel at the base of midfield, we had a work around solution with Coq/Cazorla but in games where we had to be on the front foot they were shown up. Without those two we struggled badly for balance in midfield, some games we would be chasing but our midfielders not able to move the ball effectively. Like I've mentioned before times when Ozil was dropping deeper than our DM because we couldn't find him between the lines. He was available but players didn't have the skill set to find him.
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In that case, Xhaka is your man. I watched a lot of Mönchengladbach's games over the last 3-4 years (Lucien Favre is my single favourite coach) and Xhaka was the main man in build up play throughout his time there as well as an important defensive factor. Feeding the higher positioned CMs/AMs/wingers was his main offensive duty there and most certainly will be at Arsenal.

There is of course no guarantee that he'll manage the transition to the PL immediately, and he still has some weaknesses (mainly aggression/concentration-wise and perhaps to a lesser extent in terms of defensive positioning). But to me he was the best available option for a true DLP on the market this summer.
 
Synco said:
In that case, Xhaka is your man. I watched a lot of Mönchengladbach's games over the last 3-4 years (Lucien Favre is my single favourite coach) and Xhaka was the main man in build up play throughout his time there as well as an important defensive factor. Feeding the higher positioned CMs/AMs/wingers was his main offensive duty there and most certainly will be at Arsenal.

There is of course no guarantee that he'll manage the transition to the PL immediately, and he still has some weaknesses (mainly aggression/concentration-wise and perhaps to a lesser extent in terms of defensive positioning). But to me he was the best available option for a true DLP on the market this summer.
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Excellent.
 
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