Granit Xhaka

[jayramfootball]

No replacements for him. That's why he keeps coming back. Torreira has shortcomings as well. May be Luiz should have a go there(DM).

Guendouzi and Torriera in midfield. No need for Xhaka. He can f*** off.

[Phil71]

We don't need a DM. We have Torreira.

We need a top class CM. I'm excited to see what Ceballos can do under Freddie/our new coach.

When he returns...

--- Torreira
Ozil - Ceballos

... Might turn our to be our best midfield combination.

Until then, I wouldn't be opposed to Ozil playing as a floating CM alongside Torreira and Guendouzi.

You think Torreira cuts it as a defensive midfield player in the PL?

[Jedi]

No replacements for him. That's why he keeps coming back. Torreira has shortcomings as well. May be Luiz should have a go there(DM).

Guendouzi and Torriera in midfield. No need for Xhaka. He can f*** off.

Torreira is shit as well but overrated by our fans for some reason and Guendouzi is still a test tube baby.

[gamechannel]

No replacements for him. That's why he keeps coming back. Torreira has shortcomings as well. May be Luiz should have a go there(DM).

Guendouzi and Torriera in midfield. No need for Xhaka. He can f*** off.

I love me that french girl named Guendouzi but let's be honest, Guendouzis positional sense is flat out terrible. Not to mention, his ball retention and passing needs a lot of work. Add a relatively short fuse that leads him to make mistakes and you have the French Xhaka.

[theHotHead]

I would like to see Luiz in the DM role, I was impressed the few times I saw him play there for Chelsea. Ceballos should be able to do the Cazorla role, needs to stop being so greedy though. Ozil beside him, that would be a pretty bad man midfield if you ask me.

[Salibatelli]

No replacements for him. That's why he keeps coming back. Torreira has shortcomings as well. May be Luiz should have a go there(DM).

Not true, Torreira is good he's been brilliant for Uruguay and was immense yesterday, he's 100x the player Xhaka, then we have Chambers who did very well for Fulham and of course Luiz who may be a rubbish CB but is decent in DM, the only reason we play him is because for some odd reason the managers in charge of us love him and fail to see the mistakes he makes pretty much every game, often mistakes that cost us goals.

I'd literally rather play with 10 men than have him in the team.

[Salibatelli]

I would like to see Luiz in the DM role, I was impressed the few times I saw him play there for Chelsea. Ceballos should be able to do the Cazorla role, needs to stop being so greedy though. Ozil beside him, that would be a pretty bad man midfield if you ask me.

Yes as I've said all along as DM he's decent, he should never ever play as CB though, he's a liability there. There's zero reason to play Xhaka and if w got a decent manager they might see that.

Unfortunately with all the dross we're being linked with I worry, I was shocked when we gave Xhaka a new contract, it shows how out of touch the people handing out contracts are to be honest. None of our best players got new contracts, just the worst ones.

[Holdini]

how many stray passes from this clown yesterday?

[Salibatelli]

how many stray passes from this clown yesterday?

When he's not misplacing passes, he's getting caught out of position and when he's not doing that he's moving at a snails pace, pound for pound probably one of the worst buys we've ever made!

[Phil71]

how many stray passes from this clown yesterday?

When he's not misplacing passes, he's getting caught out of position and when he's not doing that he's moving at a snails pace, pound for pound probably one of the worst buys we've ever made!

You forgot committing stupid fouls - half the time in the penalty box.

[jayramfootball]

No replacements for him. That's why he keeps coming back. Torreira has shortcomings as well. May be Luiz should have a go there(DM).

Guendouzi and Torriera in midfield. No need for Xhaka. He can f*** off.

I love me that french girl named Guendouzi but let's be honest, Guendouzis positional sense is flat out terrible. Not to mention, his ball retention and passing needs a lot of work. Add a relatively short fuse that leads him to make mistakes and you have the French Xhaka.

Nonsense - up to the last few games Guendouzi had been our player of the season.
His passing has been good (#1 in the team), he retains the ball well, he's the #1 tackler in the team and #1 at winning back possession by cutting out opponents passes.
He does need to improve his decision making on when to go forward and when to protect the back 4, but he's already vastly superior to Xhaka in that respect.

[Angelito]

We don't need a DM. We have Torreira.

We need a top class CM. I'm excited to see what Ceballos can do under Freddie/our new coach.

When he returns...

--- Torreira
Ozil - Ceballos

... Might turn our to be our best midfield combination.

Until then, I wouldn't be opposed to Ozil playing as a floating CM alongside Torreira and Guendouzi.

You think Torreira cuts it as a defensive midfield player in the PL?

He can.

If he can't, there's only about three who can (Kante, Casemiro, Fernandinho, arguably Partey). We aren't getting any of them.

Torreira doesn't quite have Kante's work-rate, nor is a world class reader of the game like Busquets, or a slimy f**k like Casemiro, but he's amongst the best in that position.

It's just that there aren't many great DMs out there today.

Liverpool won the UCL using Miler and/or Wijnaldum as their DM. And, Wijnaldum was actually an attack-minded CM before joining Liverpool.

It's not about individual players in midfield. It's about the combination and tactics. Liverpool have the most uninspiring midfield of all top clubs in the world today, but look where they are.

Torreira, under the right setup and alongside a top class CM, would be good enough for any side. He's not world class. We don't need world class in that position unless it's a generational talent like Busi.

[DiamondGooner]

I would like to see Luiz in the DM role, I was impressed the few times I saw him play there for Chelsea. Ceballos should be able to do the Cazorla role, needs to stop being so greedy though. Ozil beside him, that would be a pretty bad man midfield if you ask me.

Didn't Chambers play CDM for Fulham and apparently had a great season?

Luiz, Chambers, Torreria ........... all options, I think we're making this harder than it needs to be by not trying them.

Take Luiz for example compared to Xhaka, can spray the ball just as well but can also tackle, automatic improvement.
I'm aslo curious to see Chambers there, he can def tackle and is pretty decent on the ball.

[gamechannel]

No replacements for him. That's why he keeps coming back. Torreira has shortcomings as well. May be Luiz should have a go there(DM).

Guendouzi and Torriera in midfield. No need for Xhaka. He can f*** off.

I love me that french girl named Guendouzi but let's be honest, Guendouzis positional sense is flat out terrible. Not to mention, his ball retention and passing needs a lot of work. Add a relatively short fuse that leads him to make mistakes and you have the French Xhaka.

Nonsense - up to the last few games Guendouzi had been our player of the season.
His passing has been good (#1 in the team), he retains the ball well, he's the #1 tackler in the team and #1 at winning back possession by cutting out opponents passes.
He does need to improve his decision making on when to go forward and when to protect the back 4, but he's already vastly superior to Xhaka in that respect.

I don't care if he has #1 passing rate, he's mostly about sideway and backwards passes. And I rely on the eye test. Guendouzi gets caught in possession and gives the ball away in dangerous positions a lot. So let's not pretend that he is a marked improvement over Xhaka. If we as a club are debating choices between Xhaka and Guendouzi, we are f***ked. Truth is neither are good enough. Difference is, Xhaka is a finished article whereas douzi has room to get better.

[theHotHead]

DG, agreed, I don't know why successive managers have made such a mountain out of this mole hill !! I think Xhaka has pics of all of the managers at Christmas parties, in compromising positions !