Granit Xhaka

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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby King of Highbury XIV » Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:44 pm

Our beloved Arsenal is now a mid table club w/ players on top club rates. Can’t do anything about prices and what not when they play in London.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby NovaGB » Wed May 06, 2020 3:32 pm

Just gonna throw this one out there, not sure if i even believe it myself...

Would Xhaka be more effective for us if we didn't have Ozil or used one or the other?

They are both basically designated playmakers and not particularly good at anything else, would this guy be better in the 6 role, with 2 box to box players in front of him that can protect him defensively and attack and let him do his thing?

I mean his notable faults other than telling us to f**k off are, hes slow as shit (so playing him in a 2 man midfield where he has to put in more of a defensive shift is a problem, he makes rash challenges, so he can't be a ball winner.

Hes basically a bigger stronger (and slower) playmaker that plays deep.

I mean i'd prefer somebody else, but we have hardly played him to his strengths, him at '6' behind the back 4 launching long balls to our quick front 3 with Douzi or Torreira with Partey in front of him might be a option.

It worked with William Carvalho in that Portugese European championships team when his only real goal was to set up Ronaldo.

I'm not saying hes better than Ozil, i just mean would be better using one or the other? (whilst we are stuck with both)
Last edited by NovaGB on Wed May 06, 2020 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby theHotHead » Wed May 06, 2020 4:50 pm

His strengths require someone else to do the donkey work because he is slow. He does not have the speed of thought or cuteness to play further forward, so when he loses the ball its a headache that is amplified - because he was already deep.

He has a blockbuster left footed shot, can play a long curled forward pass and can spray the ball long straight by putting check on the ball. Problem is none of those attributes suit a playmaker further forward they do actually suit a DLP. Problem is Xhaka is simply not very good. Look at good DLPs, they have range of passing, they can play cute balls, they have speed of thought and they don't get dispossessed so easily. Flag bearers of the DLP are Fabregas, Alonso and Xavi, the best of the best however is Andrea Pirlo. Compare Xhaka to any of them ... he is so far from them ability-wise it is a joke. His short/mid-length passes are a joke.

Ozil at least has done it in the past and he still retains that speed of thought and cuteness of pass, so my answer would be get rid of Xhaka and play Ozil to his strngths.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby Marsbar100 » Wed May 06, 2020 4:55 pm

Ozil is a waste deep his best stuff was when he had Cazorla connecting things and Ramsey at times.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby NovaGB » Wed May 06, 2020 4:59 pm

Marsbar100 wrote:Ozil is a waste deep his best stuff was when he had Cazorla connecting things and Ramsey at times.


I didn't mean that mate, i meant they are both playmakers, Xhaka a deep one, Ozil a number 10, i meant that having 2 designated playmakers means either 2 players doing that role, or one of them playing out of position, ie Xhaka having to play a role that means he has to run more and tackle more, or forcing Ozil outwide.

I meant that we should probably just start one or the other and not both in the same line up.

My thinking on Xhaka was that if we could playmake from deep whilst protected by high work rate cms, it might utilise the pace of our front 3 better.

Like how Liverpool or City set up.

So like this...

----------------Lacazette
Aubameyang---------------Pepe
-------Guendouzi--Torreira----
------------------Xhaka---------------
Saka------Mari---Luiz---Bellerin

Rather than the standard way of having Xhaka as the left sided CM, or if we are to play Ozil whislt we still have him, drop Xhaka entirely and invest in a ball winner/b2b who has some pace, like Partey/Doucoure.

Maybe Ceballos could play a De Bruyne style role for us?
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby Highbury Hillbilly » Wed May 06, 2020 6:03 pm

Xhaka a playmaker? Since when? David Luiz's vision and passing ability shits all over his. But we persist in playing him as a CB, which ironically is where he performs most poorly (rash tackles, slow to track back, not good at defending against set pieces).

I'm afraid there is no real solution for Xhaka in our team. Every manager seems to trust him, but he is at best a journeyman in our team...his biggest asset is that he is rarely injured and thus always available for selection.

He'd be at HSC Berlin right now if Arteta didn't see so much of himself in Xhaka.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby NovaGB » Wed May 06, 2020 8:36 pm

aniym wrote:Xhaka a playmaker? Since when? David Luiz's vision and passing ability shits all over his. But we persist in playing him as a CB, which ironically is where he performs most poorly (rash tackles, slow to track back, not good at defending against set pieces).

I'm afraid there is no real solution for Xhaka in our team. Every manager seems to trust him, but he is at best a journeyman in our team...his biggest asset is that he is rarely injured and thus always available for selection.

He'd be at HSC Berlin right now if Arteta didn't see so much of himself in Xhaka.


I mean sarcasm aside he is blatantly a DLP, and nothing but a DLP, if you think hes anything else you have not watched him play, its the reason why hes shit at everything else also, cos thats all he knows.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby Zenith » Wed May 06, 2020 9:11 pm

aniym wrote:Xhaka a playmaker? Since when? David Luiz's vision and passing ability shits all over his. But we persist in playing him as a CB, which ironically is where he performs most poorly (rash tackles, slow to track back, not good at defending against set pieces).

I'm afraid there is no real solution for Xhaka in our team. Every manager seems to trust him, but he is at best a journeyman in our team...his biggest asset is that he is rarely injured and thus always available for selection.

He'd be at HSC Berlin right now if Arteta didn't see so much of himself in Xhaka.

Whilst I agree Luiz passing range largely renders Xhaka redundant, ask yourself these questions:

Why do many 32+ year-old CDMs change position to CB?

Why do very few 32+ year-old CBs change position to CDM?
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby theHotHead » Thu May 07, 2020 8:48 am

NovaGB wrote:
aniym wrote:Xhaka a playmaker? Since when? David Luiz's vision and passing ability shits all over his. But we persist in playing him as a CB, which ironically is where he performs most poorly (rash tackles, slow to track back, not good at defending against set pieces).

I'm afraid there is no real solution for Xhaka in our team. Every manager seems to trust him, but he is at best a journeyman in our team...his biggest asset is that he is rarely injured and thus always available for selection.

He'd be at HSC Berlin right now if Arteta didn't see so much of himself in Xhaka.


I mean sarcasm aside he is blatantly a DLP, and nothing but a DLP, if you think hes anything else you have not watched him play, its the reason why hes shit at everything else also, cos thats all he knows.

I disagree, I don't think he is actually a DLP, I think he is a CM, noting more, nothing less. He does not excel at defending or attacking and does not have the range of passing to be a top DLP for the reasons I listed.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby Salibatelli » Thu May 07, 2020 9:38 am

The guy is awful, but there's no talk of getting rid of him, he'd be one of the first I'd get rid of, we won't have any funds and need to sell to bring anyone in, surely this average joe should be a prime candidate?
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby Arsenal Tone » Thu May 07, 2020 10:17 am

theHotHead wrote:
NovaGB wrote:
aniym wrote:Xhaka a playmaker? Since when? David Luiz's vision and passing ability shits all over his. But we persist in playing him as a CB, which ironically is where he performs most poorly (rash tackles, slow to track back, not good at defending against set pieces).

I'm afraid there is no real solution for Xhaka in our team. Every manager seems to trust him, but he is at best a journeyman in our team...his biggest asset is that he is rarely injured and thus always available for selection.

He'd be at HSC Berlin right now if Arteta didn't see so much of himself in Xhaka.


I mean sarcasm aside he is blatantly a DLP, and nothing but a DLP, if you think hes anything else you have not watched him play, its the reason why hes shit at everything else also, cos thats all he knows.

I disagree, I don't think he is actually a DLP, I think he is a CM, noting more, nothing less. He does not excel at defending or attacking and does not have the range of passing to be a top DLP for the reasons I listed.


Agreed, he's best in the Vieira role, box to box next to a Petit/Gilberto DM type. I think him being played as the last man before the defence is part of the problem, one mistake and our defence are left to pick up the pieces.

His best games have been next to Torreira with Torreira being the deeper of the two. I'd like to see him have a season next to Partey if we sign him.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby NovaGB » Thu May 07, 2020 10:29 am

theHotHead wrote:
NovaGB wrote:
aniym wrote:Xhaka a playmaker? Since when? David Luiz's vision and passing ability shits all over his. But we persist in playing him as a CB, which ironically is where he performs most poorly (rash tackles, slow to track back, not good at defending against set pieces).

I'm afraid there is no real solution for Xhaka in our team. Every manager seems to trust him, but he is at best a journeyman in our team...his biggest asset is that he is rarely injured and thus always available for selection.

He'd be at HSC Berlin right now if Arteta didn't see so much of himself in Xhaka.


I mean sarcasm aside he is blatantly a DLP, and nothing but a DLP, if you think hes anything else you have not watched him play, its the reason why hes shit at everything else also, cos thats all he knows.

I disagree, I don't think he is actually a DLP, I think he is a CM, noting more, nothing less. He does not excel at defending or attacking and does not have the range of passing to be a top DLP for the reasons I listed.


The way i see him is big, slow so only suited to DM and a good passer, so i assumed DLP.
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby theHotHead » Thu May 07, 2020 12:47 pm

Any way you look at him, he doesn't fit any position. He is not a box to box midfielder he doesn't have the legs. He is shit defensively so not a DM. He doesn't have the range of passing or speed of thought to be a DLP. So what the hell is he ??
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby Salibatelli » Thu May 07, 2020 2:36 pm

Tony Adams wrote:
Agreed, he's best in the Vieira role, box to box next to a Petit/Gilberto DM type. I think him being played as the last man before the defence is part of the problem, one mistake and our defence are left to pick up the pieces.

His best games have been next to Torreira with Torreira being the deeper of the two. I'd like to see him have a season next to Partey if we sign him.


Box to box? He's slow and hasn't got the legs, how could he ever be a box to box midfielder?
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Re: Granit Xhaka (34)

Postby NovaGB » Thu May 07, 2020 4:46 pm

Özim wrote:
Tony Adams wrote:
Agreed, he's best in the Vieira role, box to box next to a Petit/Gilberto DM type. I think him being played as the last man before the defence is part of the problem, one mistake and our defence are left to pick up the pieces.

His best games have been next to Torreira with Torreira being the deeper of the two. I'd like to see him have a season next to Partey if we sign him.


Box to box? He's slow and hasn't got the legs, how could he ever be a box to box midfielder?


This is 100% true, but for some reason we play him as b2b instead of a dm playmaker because of the teams shape.

The fact he is so bad is why people find it hard to classify him as either :rofll:
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