His first touch put him trapped between Wood and Rodriguez (was it). These things can happen when passing in your penalty area. It’s a tactical issue more than it being a Xhaka issue
Playing out the back makes this something that will happen from time to time. It also means we have very slow build up and usually lose the ball by the time we’re in their half.
Much rather see Ceballos-Partey going forward. Okay Ceballos fucked up against Benfica but Xhaka on the regular
That just about sums up The Arsenal
Know it’s been posted before but I really just cannot stand this player. His fake tough guy attitude, his pointless floating diagonals, his total lack of a right foot and ticking time bomb play. The only good thing I’d say about him is that he’s durable. Cannot wait until he’s gone. I’d rather see anyone else in midfield. Elneny, Dani, Willian, AMN, Denilson, the corpse of Pharaoh Ramesses II, an inanimate carbon rod. Anybody.
He’s the perfect Arteta player. No imagination, no forward drive, a lot of empty words and safe passing.
No wonder Arteta refuses to drop him, two peas in a pod 
I’m having trouble coming up with words to really convey how much I dislike having him at the club.
He’s already gone beyond some of the joke players like Santos and Sanogo. Even beyond Gallas and Denilson.
True that.
Not one of those players disrespected the fans.
There were some Boomers up in arms about Santos swapping shirts with that Dutch weasel who used to play for us.
Edit: It’s not even about respecting the fans! It’s the deliberate fake victim act. He can’t possibly be dumb enough to confuse people booing him for a slow walk off with Twitter eggs abusing him and his family online. The non-apology was the last straw for me. He might be popular in the dressing room but he’s just not my type of player. He reminds me too much of me when I play!
Don’t get me wrong, absolutely dreadful mistake, but he is not to blame for us not winning today…We missed several good chances and should have won by at least a couple of goals…So, bit harsh blaming Xhaka for me…
Still needs to go though…
Santos was a tidy player, just not a defender but he was only meant as a stop gap. Sanogo was a shot in the dark free transfer. I rate Gallas, and Denilson was another youth project. For the amount of money we paid for him, his glaring deficiencies, and the fact he just cannot be dropped, yeh Xhaka is a whole new level of ineptitude.
I mean, what does he add? He doesn’t score, he doesn’t assist, he’s far too error prone. He is literally a negative player. Only passes back and to opposition players
He can add ball movement and switching but ONLY if you run your system through him.
He can be clever in defense, remember how he got Kovacic sent off in the FA Cup final?
But on the whole he’s a zero in transition for me, a zero when it comes to focus and although I still have huge misgivings over the Partey deal, it looks even worse continuously pairing him with a guy who is just not good enough at this level.
This mistake just encapsulates the guy. He puts in a run of good performances and as soon as he puts a foot wrong, it’s a disastrous error.
We can definitely do something about his position this summer but I fear he’s Arteta’s man.
He wasn’t even doing anything all that spectacular. He was just not head butting opposing players or sharting himself on the pitch. We set the bar so low for him because for some reason fans want him to be a thing. We need to stop trying to make fetch happen. It’s not happening.
Agreed, he managed too minimise the errors for a while and looked a serviceable player.
It feels like he’s overstayed his welcome here at this point. Would be best if he moved on rather than inflicting whatever pressures he sees online/irl (when fans are back).
The problem is and I dislike him as much as anyone the alternatives as crap.
The solution isn’t on the books here to compensate for this crud. Please don’t mention Cabellos.
What’s the worst that could happen? Ceballos isn’t anywhere near as a calamity as Xhaka
Haven’t seen the highlights until now. JFC. What a calamity.
Did you not see Benfica game.
To be fair to Xhaka, he’s been decent this season. I know that’s not a popular opinion, but I’d still stick with him for the rest of the season.