Xhaka - worst buy in recent history?: Page 9 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Xhaka - worst buy in recent history?

Bold Tone

I and many others criticise Xhaka more than any other player.
Objectively thinking, has he been worse than Bellerin whose back i hardly get on.
Has he become the new Ozil (scapegoat)?

banduan

Yes, objectively he has been worse than Bellers. When he's good he's solid, when he's bad he's a liability. Two really bad sideways passes late on vs Newcastle underlined this.

I think he has it in him to be someone really outstanding. But he's going to take too long to figure it out, and it depends too much on his coaching which is hit and miss with us.

lorddulaarsenal

It’s like he’s over confident in his passing. It doesn’t appear to register to himself that he’s done something wrong.

Anyways Maitland-Niles looks like there’s gonna be no stopping him so it should just be a matter of time

lorddulaarsenal

Can we just bin this shitster?

You would have thought at the very least Wenger would have tried something without him as he’s a common factor in every team we have put out in the league

Hate this guy

Klaus

Hopefully Maitland-Niles will do it for us. All the bloke needs is 2-3 games in his natural position, and that should do it.

Gurgen

Just a nothing player really. It's incredible we scouted him for years and still signed him. Goes to show how clueless and incompetent our recruitement is these days.

Captain

This guy.

Just wow.

Bold Tone

It's incredible, really.
How Wenger cannot see it is beyond me.

Clrnc

Weird to criticize him now, he was decent yesterday.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert

Yeah, he was actually alright. Kept his cool under pressure and didn't lose the ball that way.

evoh1

Every dog has its day, Xhaka is wrong on so many elements it's infuriating.

Lack or mobility and pace.

Can't concentrate on defensive runs he needs to make.

Can't deal with a tight press.

Tendency to miss simple passes although his passing is generally of good quality.

Bold Tone

Being alright in a midfield that was pressed to oblivion is being shit.
Dembele, Wanyama and whatshisface dominated him all game and the reason he didn't lose the ball was he opted for the safest (most sterile) pass instead of feeding the strikers.

Clrnc

Bold Tone wrote:
Being alright in a midfield that was pressed to oblivion is being shit.
Dembele, Wanyama and whatshisface dominated him all game and the reason he didn't lose the ball was he opted for the safest (most sterile) pass instead of feeding the strikers.

Wanyama hardly even touched the ball in the 5 minutes he played.

Bold Tone

Well that's a technicality and the point still stands with change of name!

lorddulaarsenal

Plenty more Xhaka disasterclasses to endure this season.

Gazza M

I think he was decent against spurs but his defensive lapses have cost us too many goals, which isn't entirely his fault because you can tell that he isn't instinctively aware of danger situations.
Like goalscoring, you either have that instinct or you don't

And his forward passing is far far below what was needed in that position

evoh1

Defensive awareness can be learnt by practice and repeating training. Whether you care about it probably affects how well you will out that into play, Xhaka and many others here just don't care for that but of the game.

kamikaze

Why should he care, he keeps getting starts and a fat cheque every two weeks.

I hope Sven has sacked whoever we had scouting Germany before he arrived.

Coombs

It's about there being clear roles and responsibilities on the pitch that are based on situation and position, not just organic relationships with your teammates. Xhaka would look better in a differently coached (some might say actually coached) team.

Bold Tone

Xhaka is coached alright. Maybe not well, but definitely.
"... the way he tackles that is not really convincing. He doesn’t master well the technique. I would encourage him not to tackle, to stay on his feet. ..."
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/26/arsene-wenger-to-accept-fa-misconduct-charge-over-clash-with-fourth-official
Good advice if the result is winning the individual duel by blocking the passing lane or nudging the other player off the ball like Clarence Seedorf used to do especially when he was at Ajax. Instead Xhaka has become more toothless, defensively, as he doesn't make a challenge at all.

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