We’re talking about Wenger here yeah?
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Irrelevant to point out opposition, you can only play whats in front of you and Xhaka seems to be better for Switzerland, Xhaka has performed v top teams, like FA Cup final
It’s not really irrelevant though is it. Because he’s been shit against most of what is in front of him in the league for Arsenal lol
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I would also point out that international teams are far less organized and drilled than club teams… they simply don’t have the time, chemistry, and consistency to really execute a solid tactical set up and that helps players like Xhaka b/c they aren’t exposed for their lack of intelligence and speed - and little mistakes either aren’t punished at all or are punished far less severely.
International football, while I love it, is nothing like top club football - levels below frankly.
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He’s not great though. He’s a one trick pony - moving the ball up the pitch quickly with one pass which executed properly and at the right time can be very impressive (and he can often do both of those). It only works when there’s no pressure and it’s one of those things that makes me think is it a skill, or just a trait of his game? If we’d spent 30m on Fabregas and instructed him to just do that, is Xhaka somehow better at that, or does he just rely on it more because his other attributes are less impressive?
btw is this the game where he’s being great for Switzerland? Because it doesn’t look that great to me.
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First leg of the playoff he wasn’t good at all during the part of the game I watched.
As I said during the game
Xhaka receives the ball, looks up and pings it. There is literally nothing else to his game. Can’t run, can’t tackle, can’t intercept. Traits you kind of need to be a decent DM.
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Apparently also third most passes in the PL which I guess would explain some of it, but still. Very un-Arsenal-like to have that come from one of our midfielders I feel.
His passing is meant to be his best attribute, no? Just wondering what he actually offers to the team.
We’ll likely stick with him for another two years to hide the embaressing mistake of a purchase.
To think Dahoud was available for less.
i find it amazing he can do a pin point 50 yard pass but yet misplace a pass when the player is almost standing on top of him. Its almost like he is extremely longsighted but his short sight vision is mr magoo style. It boggles the mind.
Xhaka seems to be the kind of player who does the hard stuff well, but struggles with the simple stuff. The Swansea match is a good example – he misplaced simple 5 feet passes, but then put in some great long passes, including the one to Kolašinac which set up Ramsey for the goal.
He hasn’t lived up to expectations and he has cost us goals, no doubt about it, but I think, much like Özil, he is sometimes made a scapegoat (I’m guilty of this). Some people seem to concentrate on what he isn’t rather than what he is. He isn’t Kante unfortunately.
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Ah good, the CM version of Walcott, just what we need.
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Xhaka is trash I’ve seen enough.
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What hard stuff does Theo do well? 
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He’s an excellent finisher!
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FIFY
I dunno you guys are a little blind. Xhaka has actually cost us a lot of goals by being shit and not a good midfielder, like Flamini type give aways that have led to goals. However Theo is doing something positive every time he is on the pitch, only two players in the league who rival Theo for goals/assists per minute this season are Aguero and KDB. So go ahead and be biased but I’m just looking at facts. Theo doesn’t make it look pretty but he gets the fucking job done.
How many of them are just simple or back passes? 
Scoring worldies against Bayern, actually showing up in the CL.