Link doesn’t work.
I mentioned last week that Arteta is risk averse. The worst combination is that approach and Xhaka.
Yesterday Xhaka sat in between the central defenders most of the game from about 15 minutes onwards. I looked at Stat zone. Early on we matched their possession until around 20 minutes. And then Leeds pushed forward, and Xhaka dropped back. Problem is he left Ceballos alone in midfield and again our front 4 was disconnected. Conservative Xhaka is the worst midfield creature. He doesn’t come out into midfield to recover the ball, so we just sit back and absorb, because he lacks defensive athleticism. And then he can’t take the ball and run like Partey and Elneny so all he has is his passing, but he doesn’t have the speed of passing of a Thiago, so he’s not going to receive and launch.
His passing: 2 balls into offensive 3rd. 2 to Pépé. 1 each to Nelson and Willian. 0 to Aubameyang and Willock.
We are declaring a disinterest in dominating games every time we start this guy. Coupled with Mikel’s conservatism, we are basically settling for draws.