Granit Xhaka

That free kick :drooling_face:

His best performance so far in the club. His stats were worse than usual against Everton but his actual performance was levels better. Heā€™s shit at defending, like really shit. Canā€™t steal a ball from a 10 year old BUT when he grows a pair and stops obsessing over nonsense stats he can be a solid playmaker. I still donā€™t think heā€™s at the level we want or the Premier League in general but it was good seeing him passing it forward with conviction and setting up our wingers to do something. If he keeps doing that till he goes then we good.

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Didnā€™t really see thisā€¦ thought he was ā€œok,ā€ for the most part, but also gave away the ball cheaply several times, including very dangerous onesā€¦ and in the first 5 minutes, he came close to gifting them a gilt edge chance by losing the ball in front of our pen area (was lucky to poke it away at last moment).

I remember that he lost the ball because he takes ages to turn in the first half in a very dangerous area and fucked up a pass from a free kick in the second half. I wonā€™t even bother trying to cover his defensive attributes, theyā€™re simply non-existent. Forward passing tho I finally saw a glimpse of his ability, he pulled some fantastic diagonals that set up the wingers to do something. You could see it in his eyes too that he wanted to play instead of coping another game at this level. The issue with this guy is that he hides too much because he knows he is limited. Heā€™ll never be an Arsenal calibre player in my books but as long as he tries to offer something instead of feeling like we play with 10 men then we can last with him another season.

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Wanted to see him with Torreria and he was decent imo. A few of the usual misplaced passes but something solid to build apon I think.

We might see the best of him yet

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Love it when I see a reasonable post without agenda in this thread.

I canā€™t help but feel that what youā€™re really saying is that you like to see posts that mirror your opinion lol

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Bit unfair.

Iā€™ve criticised Xhaka in this thread like pretty much everyone. Do think heā€™s a lightning rod all the same and his qualities are often undervalued.

It was just how I read your post. I wasnā€™t having a go at you or trying to be any more serious than tongue in cheek :+1:

Iā€™d agree with this - he had some nice cross-field passes and got us going down the left on a few occasionsā€¦ oddly though, the second half also had Everton give him LOADS of time on the ball, giving him the opportunity to take his timeā€¦ if I were playing against Arsenal, I would be pouncing all over him.

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That list goes to show how fing useless the stat is

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what are you on about? show Andres Rudigiesta some respect !

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I bet heā€™s 4th on most passes to the opposite team too.

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Yep ā€“ a wise person once said: Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital :grin:

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Boom boom :xhaka:!

Have to admit, he hasnt been mentioned much recently, so he must be improvingā€¦people used to be pissed off with him every single match, no one has had much to moan about recently he has been reasonably solid.

Tbf, you wonā€™t see anyone complain till the winning streak ends. Having said that, no, he hasnā€™t been fucking up like he used to. He definitely looks more confident with his play, as are most players so far.

He looks far more controlled with Torreira playing in the same team.

Kinda had a feeling heā€™s be better with Torreira besides him. They look like a a good partnership for us