You really think Xhaka over Kroos is controversial enough to say "oh my life", Savz?

El Genio de Oviedo wrote:

He would completely "kill" Ramsey though, in Wenger parlance. Does the gaffer have it in him to be this ruthless? He hasn't been in the past

I think its far too early (even if Xhaka signs) to say it would kill Ramsey. For starters, they would completely different roles in a team and we may one day see Xhaka - Ramsey as the perfect midfield rather than Xhaka - El Neny or Xhaka - Coq.

I think Xhaka would be a lot lore likely to 'kill' Coquelin than Ramsey.

Jan Aage Fjortoft ‏@JanAageFjortoft 6h6 hours ago
Bild Zeitung:

Gladbach- player Xhaka's father met Arsene Wenger in London last weekend.
Xhaka got a contract till 2019 with BuyOutClause

i think bild were the first to get wind of the schweini to united story as well

MistaT wrote:

El Genio de Oviedo wrote:

He would completely "kill" Ramsey though, in Wenger parlance. Does the gaffer have it in him to be this ruthless? He hasn't been in the past

I think its far too early (even if Xhaka signs) to say it would kill Ramsey. For starters, they would completely different roles in a team and we may one day see Xhaka - Ramsey as the perfect midfield rather than Xhaka - El Neny or Xhaka - Coq.

Spot on. We can theorise all we want but it's very difficult to know which combination works best without seeing it first. In the end we'll probably see loads of different combinations.

Is this even a reliable rumour. I'm lead to believe that Bild is very reliable however I can vaguely remember a few transfer stories they got horribly wrong last summer.

Arsenal working on transfers in March already?!

Bild have certain sources at Bayern Munich at least. They got Götze to Bayern right, and Schweini to United.

I like this rumor.

i'm torn. if we asked them to keep things on the hush and they leaked stuff it might turn us off. however if wenger's meeting his dad things must be fairly advanced so we might not give a shit if bild have it splashed all over their paper

or it could all be bollox

Klaus wrote:

I think Xhaka would be a lot lore likely to 'kill' Coquelin than Ramsey.

From what I've seen/heard, he primarily partnered Cristoph Kramer, a defensive midfielder, last season and this season he's primarily partnered either Havard Nordviet or Mahmoud Dahoud. Nordviet is a a defensive midfielder, but I don't know much about Dahoud. Maybe Gladbach has been playing with an inverted triangle with Xhaka behind Dahoud and Stindl? Do correct me if I'm wrong

Xhaka plays for the Swiss NT as the furthest forward in a midfield three with Inler and Behrami/Dzemaili, he also wears number 10 for them.

I'm not really sure the current edition of Ramsey is fit to be playing CM, period, unless he's paired with someone like the 14/15 Southampton vintage of Morgan Schniederlin. I'm not even sure you could partner the current Ramsey with the 13/14 Arteta, as I'm convinced that Ramsey does less work defensively in terms of tackles/interceptions than he used to. Both Kroos and Xhaka are number 8's to my mind. Ramsey is also an 8, he needs to be partnered by a 4

Our reserve team's ex-captain is called Nordtveit. Xhaka could probably work with any midfielder we have, that's what's part of why I like the rumour.

yep fills a few gaps in midfield, but more on the defensive side. he doesn't make frequent runs into the box from what i've seen, he mainly stays behind the play. 6 goals since 2012 also supports that.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Our reserve team's ex-captain is called Nordtveit.  

I'm pretty sure it's the same guy.

Also, I've never seen Xhaka play for Switzerland but whenever I see him for BMG he looks like pivote/DLP/whatever you like to call it.

Big Willie wrote:

Is this even a reliable rumour. I'm lead to believe that Bild is very reliable

Bild is basically the German version of the Daily Mail (or the other way around), when it comes to transfers they are pretty reliable though

Mello wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Our reserve team's ex-captain is called Nordtveit.  

I'm pretty sure it's the same guy.

It is, and I'm aware.

El Genio de Oviedo wrote:

Klaus wrote:

I think Xhaka would be a lot lore likely to 'kill' Coquelin than Ramsey.

From what I've seen/heard, he primarily partnered Cristoph Kramer, a defensive midfielder, last season and this season he's primarily partnered either Havard Nordviet or Mahmoud Dahoud. Nordviet is a a defensive midfielder, but I don't know much about Dahoud. Maybe Gladbach has been playing with an inverted triangle with Xhaka behind Dahoud and Stindl? Do correct me if I'm wrong

Xhaka plays for the Swiss NT as the furthest forward in a midfield three with Inler and Behrami/Dzemaili, he also wears number 10 for them.

I'm not really sure the current edition of Ramsey is fit to be playing CM, period, unless he's paired with someone like the 14/15 Southampton vintage of Morgan Schniederlin. I'm not even sure you could partner the current Ramsey with the 13/14 Arteta, as I'm convinced that Ramsey does less work defensively in terms of tackles/interceptions than he used to. Both Kroos and Xhaka are number 8's to my mind. Ramsey is also an 8, he needs to be partnered by a 4

That's right. I think it's pretty damning on Ramsey if Wenger puts his priority on splashing out for a CM. He has said more than once that our balance is better when Cazorla plays as a CM, and then he said it again when Elneny plays. That 2 months of torrid form when Ramsey was our CM could have convinced him that it will never work for more than a select few games.

Coquelin, Elneny, Xhaka, Ramsey, Wilshere for 2 positions sounds pretty decent. If we are worried Wilshere is going to be out another season then throw in Toral/Hayden for some useless cup games rotation.

Obviously Wenger isn't sold on Ramsey as a "CM" as he's played him at RW as much as centrally (if not more) over the last few years. But my larger concern is that if Wenger doesn't like Ramsey's approach to playing CM why not work with him to find better balance?

Ramsey has a well defined game in that its obvious what his strengths are and how he will look to exert himself onto a game. If Wenger doesn't like that approach then that's on him as much as Ramsey to adapt it to the team's needs.

After seeing a few "vs" compilations I'd say he's a more jagged and uneven version of Arteta in his passing and technique. Probably quicker, maybe a little stronger but I don't see the point of this guy next to Coquelin. So I'd have to agree with Klaus that rather this is a partner for Ramsey.

From a brief view of his play I'd guess his passing would get found out if he were to move here and partner up with either of the two obvious choices.