Granit Xhaka: Page 17 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Granit Xhaka

QuincyAbeyie

That's a ridiculous claim.

Edit: Kola, Mustafi, Bielik, Jenkinson, Lichsteiner, Elneny, Cech, Gabriel Paulista, Gibbs, Sanogo, Debuchy, Miquel, Eisfeld, Bendtner, Gervinho, Mannone, Frimpong, Djourou, Denilson, Squillaci and Eastmond have all played for Arsenal in the last ten years. Imagine how much garbage we've had in the club throughout its history.

Sicario

How many of those players played week in week out for 4 years and constantly made errors?

Xhaka is the worst ‘consistent starter’ to have EVER player for this club.

Only fans that accept 10th place and mediocrity will make excuses for Xhaka.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee.

QuincyAbeyie

My answer was based on what you said, not what you specified later.

goon

Even then it's still hyperbole.

That he's been a consistent starter is more a reflection of just how bad our midfield options have been in recent years

Claudius

goon wrote:
Even then it's still hyperbole.

That he's been a consistent starter is more a reflection of just how bad our midfield options have been in recent years

That’s exactly the situation we are in. We destroyed all of CM and AM through several years of negligence. Just look at the boosts that ESR, Odegaard and Partey have to the team. Brand new players who have hardly played. Probably 30ish games amongst them.

Xhaka has long lunched off being the one eyed man in the land of the blind. But add one more Partey and his utility plummets.

Clrnc

Sicario wrote:
How many of those players played week in week out for 4 years and constantly made errors?

Xhaka is the worst ‘consistent starter’ to have EVER player for this club.

Only fans that accept 10th place and mediocrity will make excuses for Xhaka.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee.

Still not true. Because Mustafi and Denilson takes the cake.

Almunia too.

goon

Yeah, midfield (including AM) is probably the most important area of the pitch. I've been saying this since Wenger's last season. Partey was a huge step in the right direction if not for the injuries, but get him the right partner and it'll be huge.

speedy

Sicario wrote:
How many of those players played week in week out for 4 years and constantly made errors?

Xhaka is the worst ‘consistent starter’ to have EVER player for this club.

Only fans that accept 10th place and mediocrity will make excuses for Xhaka.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee.

The point is he's been the best of a bad bunch yet takes all the flack.

Rohit

I thought he was good today. He has his limitations but when he doesn't make errors he has a very consistent quality about him. I think defensively he is really solid, the stats may not show it but he takes up the right positions all the time. This was his 16th or 17th straight full 90. That's a lot of football in a condensed time and yet you can't fault him for effort or being tired ever.

The worst consistent starter assertion is not just an exaggeration, it is just plain rubbish.

goon

His positioning is second to none. I don't really want to go into next season without him, he's an infuriating player at times, but I'd much rather have him in the squad as a 3rd choice centre mid than not. Once our two first choice centre mids have established themselves, we can sell him with a year left on his deal.

Jed

Sicario wrote:
Xhaka is the worst ‘consistent starter’ to have EVER player for this club.

No chance. We’ve had many who were far worse consistent starters than a guy who started in 2 FA Cup final victories.

Bosscielny

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
That's a ridiculous claim.

Edit: Kola, Mustafi, Bielik, Jenkinson, Lichsteiner, Elneny, Cech, Gabriel Paulista, Gibbs, Sanogo, Debuchy, Miquel, Eisfeld, Bendtner, Gervinho, Mannone, Frimpong, Djourou, Denilson, Squillaci and Eastmond have all played for Arsenal in the last ten years. Imagine how much garbage we've had in the club throughout its history.

Calling it ridiculous is generous.

Anzac

goon wrote:
That he's been a consistent starter is more a reflection of just how bad our midfield options have been in recent years

This.

He's reliable and doesn't get injured = he gives you half a job but you then need to mitigate his weaknesses.

Claudius

When we isolate Xhaka’s passing game...

[Twitter]

banduan

a real stat-monster. Until you put in the # of errors leading to chances and # of errors leading to goals.

Don Pacifico

Sceptical of how they're defining progressive passes/passes into the final third - I don't think any of us would consider Xhaka to be a consistently incisive passer and that's often there frustration with him (mistakes aside).

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert

A nothing player who can only make a nicely-struck pass to the left wing.

QuincyAbeyie

Don Pacifico wrote:
Don PacificoSceptical of how they're defining progressive passes/passes into the final third - I don't think any of us would consider Xhaka to be a consistently incisive passer and that's often there frustration with him (mistakes aside).

Per WyScout is this, not sure if the definition is universal:

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is:[/font]

at least 30 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are within a team’s own half

at least 15 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are in different halves

at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are in the opponent’s half

Claudius

The chart is accurate. Every chart you look at shows that Xhaka delivers a lot of accurate progressive passes.

What are the caveats?
Xhaka is immobile, so he tends to sit deep in the field away from the attention of opposing DMs where he can operate with a little more time. It also means that his passes are less vertical and more diagonal.
He ends up being a complementary passer to Partey. When you look at their joint pass maps, Partey is hitting a lot of quick passes down the center, and Xhaka is spraying it wide and long. So between them you get variety in coverage. The problem is when you don’t have Partey and Odegaard penetrating the middle. Then the pass map becomes entirely Xhaka’s horseshoe

goon

His passing range generally favours the longer pass so he'll always top these sorts of stats.

It's not a true reflection of how it impacts the game though. Partey plays a lot of passes that wouldn't be deemed 'progressive' that do far more to advance our play on a min by min basis.

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