Klaus wrote:

Most of Xhaka's issues with his tackles in an Arsenal shirt at the moment seem to be fitness-related too. He doesn't go to ground to stop a counter; he does it because he can't keep up. A year in Premier League should improve his condition a fair bit.

I'd agree with you if that Portugal vid didn't show otherwise.

It's very isolated evidence though (and so is his limited exposure to PL, to be fair). People can have a bad game every now and then. From what I've seen of him in Germany previously he's a good tackler; a little rough around the edges occasionally but so was Vieira. It comes with the package sometimes. Can't get rid of all their demons without losing their angels too.

We play against players like Wanyama and get kicked to bits fir 90 minutes. And people love the smell of his farts. Now we have some who can both play and kick people. Lets enjoy it.

You must remember how refs treat us.
Our players get booked for the most innocuous of challenges.
My blood still boils when i remember Bergkamp being sent off for touching a ref on the shoulder when trying to draw his attention to a blatant foul against us not given.
Even Vieira who had a fantastic tackling technique was sent off almost all the time for challenges most other players didn't even get a talking to.

i fully expect xhaka to get sent off a few times this season. i can live with it as long it's not too moronic, and doesn't cost us in key moments. his eagerness to dive in does imply that he's not always confident to keep up with the speed of play, especially when his team is being countered. i'm sure he'll still prov to be a net positive to our game

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