Lmao. Now we're going to use Paolo Maldini, one of the greatest players to ever play the game as reason why our midfielders don't have to tackle.
Tackling is just one defensive metric. You can pull up any other defensive metric and our midfielders will lag behind on all of them.
When we had Patrick Vieira, we were great at physically dominating the midfield, winning the ball high up the pitch and transitioning from defence into attack.
When we had Cesc Fabregas, we were great at controlling possession, keeping teams pinned back in their own half and being one of the most aesthetically pleasing teams around.
Now that we have Granit Xhaka, we are shit under pressure, poor in defensive duels and simply just not good enough.
The football we see is a direct result of the players that inhabit it. Put Fabinho or Fernandinho in our midfield and suddenly our midfield won't look so porous. Xhaka exemplifies our football. He plays in arguably the most defining position on the pitch. Our football went down the shitter the moment he signed and replaced Cazorla. He's one of the biggest reasons why Wenger got the sack, and he will be responsible for Emery getting the sack. I only wish that he also leads to Raul getting the sack, because if there were two transfers that needed to be made this summer, it was replacing Xhaka and signing a CB.
