I dont know how or where he fits in but his performances have been shit and he was a long long time target for us .
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Sometimes I feel like you read through threads to see what the general consensus is and then you take the complete opposite view.
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Not at all, most like Xhaka. I just donāt have unrealistic expectations.
Most people are thoroughly unimpressed with out Ā£38m midfielders performances. His lack of athleticism wouldnāt be a worry if he was composed on the ball but the moment heās put under any sort of pressure the guy buckles.
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It seems like we havenāt done anything, but make obvious deals in the past 6 years. Arteta, Mertesacker, Giroud, Mustafi, Xhaka, Cech and even Cazorla to a degree. The times of finding unknown gems seems to be gone under current management. Yeah, Elneny and Gabriel were less obvious, but not particularly good.
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Heās a class passer of the ball, thatās what is required of a Arsenal midfielder.
He isnt even a David Priceā¦ Price wasnt the greatest but he could do the job asked of himā¦ This fella has no composure, no presence and is a liability. And he cant pass.
I feel for Xhaka a little because Wengerās essentially been using him as a b2b midfielder since we signed him, and for the life of me I canāt figure out why but itās one of the reasons heās looked like a fish outta water at times, Iām not excusing some of the wreckless/needless tackles heās made but more often than not theyāve all been in the opposing teams half where Xhakaās can easily be skipped past and left for dead due to his mobility & Iām not condoning the way heās hacked down men so far this season because some of the challenges his made have just be plain stupid, but at least his got the train of thought to stop other teams counters in the tracks which canāt be said for any of our other midfielders.
As for not looking composed on the ball it has been a little concerning but Xhaka can only do so much with the ball when he gets double/triple pressed by the opposition & none of our other midfielders make themselves available as ancillary options around him, canāt help but feel some of our players expect him to spin on a six pence at times like Santi and avoid the high press all on his own.
Honestly it might be a little hyperbolic but think even Toni Kroos would get exposed in the role Xhakaās currently playing for us.
Youāve only got to look at the way Bruno pulls the strings for Villarreal to see how we should be utilising Xhakaās ability.
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You must be talking about the Xhaka that played in the Euroās for Switzerland, not the one we have seen represent Arsenal for the most part.
Lol! She is clearly a wum.
How exactly? Imagine not rating Xhaka. Heās class, best midfielder we have.
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No wonder we are in such a mess then!
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Not saying heās had the best season. Heās the best on ability. Wilshere too but heās on loan atm, Cazorla is old now.
Having taken your advice, Iām afraid I have to question your conclusion.
I found it remarkably easy to imagine not rating Xhaka.
Then again, my imagination shouldnāt really be relied upon since Iāve been imagining us winning the league for ages now and it doesnāt look like its going to happen any time soon.
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Xhaka is only 24. Give him a break.
Problem is though, we have that attitude with a lot of our players, Walcott was only 21, only 23 only 24ā¦now he is fucking close to 30 and STILL looks raw! It seems a lot of our players never realy get any better they just dont improve they seem so static in abilities sometimes even getting worse.
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With the difference being that Walcott has been with us for 10 while Xhaka hasnāt even played one full year.
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He can come good, no doubtā¦ showed more in Germany than he is showing now, so there is that to hope forā¦ on the other hand, he has been mediocre at best for us. Saying he is our best midfield just shows how calamitous the situation has evolved intoā¦
We have a collection of pretty good players again - on top of that a star that is fading/old and a promising injury prone player (Wilshere). Unless Ox somehow has a brain transplant with Zidane, he wonāt make it long-term in the middle imho and so far signs arenāt all that great for Xhaka.
Actually, Iām not even sure Xhaka is the best of this sorry lot - El Neny might very well be (granted, I do believe Xhakaās ceiling is higher, but who knows if he hits it). Le Coq has also showed much higher level in the last couple of years, so one could argue he is very similarly profiled to Xhaka but with better athleticism and tackling and worse passing (although I have seen very little of Xhakaās vaunted passing in the prem).
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Walcott has 100 goals, heās done fine for an above average player. Xhaka is clearly talented and heās being written off only being here for 6 months.
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