Granit Xhaka: Page 6 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Granit Xhaka

Gazza M

my feeling was that he'd revert to his old ways once we switched away from the back 5. it's possible that's what's happened, but there's mass malfunction everywhere at the moment so it's hard to pin it entirely on that. i do think him and luiz are 2 liabilities in terms the direction we want to go, which is a 433 or 4231.

Qwiss

Gazza M wrote:
i do think him and luiz are 2 liabilities in terms the direction we want to go, which is a 433 or 4231.

I agree. I think we need characters like them gone. Same with Mustafi, Kolasinac, etc We just need to move on a bit.

Claudius

Gazza M wrote:
my feeling was that he'd revert to his old ways once we switched away from the back 5. it's possible that's what's happened, but there's mass malfunction everywhere at the moment so it's hard to pin it entirely on that. i do think him and luiz are 2 liabilities in terms the direction we want to go, which is a 433 or 4231.

In the Arteta thread I posted a preferred lineup.
You quickly realise that these 4231/433 formations are just dreams for now. We don’t have 3 central midfielders we can take to war. We are exposing ourselves. We need to go back to 343 and keep the team very compact back to front.

Gazza M

i wasn't one of the people screaming for a formation change. obviously one gets impatient, but i wasn't against sticking 343 until january. the players seemed to understand it, even though it is uninspiring. the way things have imploded since going to a back 4 against villa has been crazy

Kel Varnsen

Can't stand him as a player. Doesn't cover space, can't tackle, doesn't make any runs, extremely cautious in his passing, and has even stopped shooting.

goon

Gazza M wrote:
i wasn't one of the people screaming for a formation change. obviously one gets impatient, but i wasn't against sticking 343 until january. the players seemed to understand it, even though it is uninspiring. the way things have imploded since going to a back 4 against villa has been crazy

We played a back 3 against Villa.

Since then I don't think we've looked any weaker defensively with a back 4. In fact the pattern in the games have been virtually the same.

Ricky1985

Along with Bellerin, I think Xhaka is our biggest problem. He sees so much of the ball and starts most games. I hate watching Mustafi and Kolasinac play, truly I do, but I'm more eager to see the former two go before anyone else.

Anzac

Claudius wrote:
Gazza M wrote:
my feeling was that he'd revert to his old ways once we switched away from the back 5. it's possible that's what's happened, but there's mass malfunction everywhere at the moment so it's hard to pin it entirely on that. i do think him and luiz are 2 liabilities in terms the direction we want to go, which is a 433 or 4231.

In the Arteta thread I posted a preferred lineup.
You quickly realise that these 4231/433 formations are just dreams for now. We don’t have 3 central midfielders we can take to war. We are exposing ourselves. We need to go back to 343 and keep the team very compact back to front.

CM - Elneny, AMN, Ceballos, Willock, Partey when fit
AM/CAM/SS - Laca, Ceballos, Martinelli

Captain

Still does the dirty work of the other 9 players, to be fair.

Claudius

What dirty work is that? Some atrocious tackles?

Clrnc

Every few weeks Capi comes here and post some outlandish comments in a few threads 😆

Sicario

There’s parts of Xhaka I like, I like how’s he’s committed, how he generally doesn’t hide on the pitch and he seems to have some good leadership skills. Some of his passing can be good from time to time as well.

However, for every good there are about 3 bad qualities he possesses and that’s why he should not feature for us.

No coincidence that since we’ve signed Xhaka we have never qualified for CL. He should be out of the door come summer once and for all.

Meatwad

i like how he's durable and always available.

goon

It wasn't long ago that he was putting in some really solid performances to be fair, especially in the FA Cup, but he was solid for Arteta generally prior to this season. He has his strong points. I think it's more outlandish to suggest he's rubbish at everything.

That being said, when he's not in top form he's awful. The fundamentals of his game, particularly on the ball, are just not good enough to stand up to poor form. I think this year he's felt his spot under pressure. Forget Partey, even Elneny has started ahead of him on a couple of occasions.

He's coming to a bit of a crossroads as well, he'll be close to 29 with just 2 years left on his deal next summer, I think it will suit both parties to part ways, he doesn't strike me as someone who wants to sit on the bench.

Anzac

goon wrote:
It wasn't long ago that he was putting in some really solid performances to be fair, especially in the FA Cup, but he was solid for Arteta generally prior to this season. He has his strong points. I think it's more outlandish to suggest he's rubbish at everything.

That being said, when he's not in top form he's awful. The fundamentals of his game, particularly on the ball, are just not good enough to stand up to poor form. I think this year he's felt his spot under pressure. Forget Partey, even Elneny has started ahead of him on a couple of occasions.

He's coming to a bit of a crossroads as well, he'll be close to 29 with just 2 years left on his deal next summer, I think it will suit both parties to part ways, he doesn't strike me as someone who wants to sit on the bench.

IMO the fundamental change to him post the re-start and this season, is that with the former whilst the team wasn't exactly built around him it very much promoted his strengths whilst it mitigated his biggest weaknesses. The issue was the team was very unbalanced and we were essentially reliant upon our left flank for anything going forward.
Now we have tried to balance the team equally on both flanks, and in doing so Xhaka is back to square 1 in that he is once again exposed as the shape and roles no longer play to his strengths or allows him to play deeper in that false LCB position in a back3 with 2 players providing cover.

Essentially IMO Xhaka is as limited in his ability to provide capable genuine defensive cover as Ozil, and his inability to resist the press then impacts his ability to contribute in a normal CM/DM role or position.

banduan

He just has to go. Improved a bit then went backwards again. Just too many flaws. I wanted to like this guy.

Anzac

banduan wrote:
He just has to go. Improved a bit then went backwards again. Just too many flaws. I wanted to like this guy.

Agreed, but the problem being who would want to sign him let alone pay his wages, just as it is for probably half the squad.

lorddulaarsenal

This guy’s name duped us in to thinking he was a defensive stalwart

If he was called Gary Collins he’d have been got rid yonks ago

jones

The Saliba part has to be a joke

« Previous Page Next Page »