I like him pushed up to the centre circle when we play out from the back. He finds space well there and can actually turn forward due to not being pressed.

Bit of a low-key "masterstroke" putting him in that new structure.

Still need to upgrade on him though!

I thought Elneny was our best midfielder again today. Don't think it's a coincidence that we - Xhaka included - look better with his engine and ability to work the ball forward. That filthy ball over the top to Nketiah in the 72nd minute would have gotten a heap of praise if Ødegaard had played it instead.

Have to disagree that Xhaka's the only one in the back six who gets the ball forward. Our issue is that we too often have Xhaka on one end of this situation and Laca in the other, which means the ball never gets played forward and the run never happens:

Bin Xhaka and get a new midfielder in the summer who consistently works the ball forward and we'll move up a tier.

If only Elneny is stronger in tackles he will be even more useful.
Credit to him, 4th choice but never complained a single bit and more often than not is good enough to come in and do a job

5 days later

Xhaka suffers from main character syndrome.

I wonder if he believes his own publicity = 3 consecutive managers have used him as starting whenever he us available, therefore he must be a key player and the issues are elsewhere.

9 days later

Thought some of you might be amused, or not, to know that Xhaka's brand new Range Rover (like, three weeks old) is currently sitting in my mate's garage as it's already broken down.

RocktheCasbah wrote:

Thought some of you might be amused, or not, to know that Xhaka's brand new Range Rover (like, three weeks old) is currently sitting in my mate's garage as it's already broken down.

So his car isn't as robust as he is.

No, either that, or he tackles driving - well, like he tackles.

Can your mate cut the brakes.

We haven't been to the CL since he signed. Coincidence surely!

His intervirw just now wound me up so much. Effectively saying other players who were scared sgould have stayed home or on the bench.

Though for once he did apologise to the fans. Probably genuinely wondering to himself why he has to play with players who are beneath him.

It's no wonder Arteta loves him. It's always everybody else's fault with them.

Big Willie wrote:

His intervirw just now wound me up so much. Effectively saying other players who were scared sgould have stayed home or on the bench.

Though for once he did apologise to the fans. Probably genuinely wondering to himself why he has to play with players who are beneath him.

I just watched the interview, I didn't interpret it that way. He was asked "was it the performance of a young team?" and his response was "doesn't matter the age, whether you are 30 or 10 or 18, if you are nervous, stay on the bench". Seems a pretty standard thing to say, that age is not an excuse at this level.

I thought it was a very fair interview, and one that was fitting for the moment.

Credit to him for that.

He may not have said anything that was 'wrong', but I still get deja-vu to his comments from last summer.

right message, wrong messenger. this guy could also have been publicly thrown under the bus by team mates for his countless acts of buffoonery over the years. completely lacking in self-awareness as usual. ofcourse he's one of artetas key men

I don't even blame him. he's always come across as thick on and off the pitch. it's the clubs fault for indluging his bullshit all these years, to the point of actually dubbing him a leader. at that point you deserve what you get