Granit Xhaka

not gonna say no if someone post it here

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Perv

I have this problem for decades…
I am so sorry…

Welcome back any time as fan/coach, hopefully his presence gives the team an extra little boost against West Ham.

Hey, we’ve been discussing a total tit in this thread before Jennifer Aniston popped up.

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https://twitter.com/Gunnersc0m/status/1740294106361016732?t=O17slBEDI0SMt_tN8avRnQ&s=19

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Average player? Check.
Went a bit sour with the Arsenal fans at one point? Check.

But gotta give credit where it’s due. The way he turned his career around and became one of the most vital players in our side in his last one and a half seasons or so both on and off the pitch. Acted professionally right till the end even when he knew he had no future at the club. Think he deserves a certain bit of redemption for that alone.

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Yes, huge credit to him for doing his job… :pires2:

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Cesc couldn’t manage to do it.

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damn jinx

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We could’ve done with him out on the pitch tonight, lol. Feel Martinelli definitely misses his, and Parteys, presence out there.

Nah, he can stay exactly where he is. We’ve tolerated him enough when he was here. Tried to hide his many flaws and finally got 6 proper top months out of his 7 years here.

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Thought he was very good for the majority of time he played under Arteta. Feel we definitely miss something without him in the squad.

He was decent, but he was still the weak link of the team.

He was always the guy Pep and Klopp targeted whenever we played them. A big part why we had such an awful record against them since his arrival. Penalties, red cards, just awful in general.

He had a proper top half a season in 2022 I’ll give him that. However, he reverted back to being just about decent in the second half of the season.

Super wasteful in and around the box, a liability defensively, he played a big part in our midfield being overrun constantly in the run-in.

People like to give Partey shit but Partey at least was trying. Where was Xhaka against Liverpool? Where was Xhaka against West Ham? Where was Xhaka against City? Where was Xhaka against Brighton?
Hell, where was he against Sporting at the Emirates? Scored a goal and then hid being useless all game. He had to partner up with Vieira and Jorginho and it all went to shit. Odegaard and Partey weren’t there to carry him like they used to.

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Us missing Xhaka is massively overstated. It is Partey that our current team is missing.

Xhaka left on a high. Perfect time for him to leave and the perfect time for us to move on.

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:100:

Absolute baller man. As good as Rice is, Partey’s progressive is on a different planet. Nobody transitions us from defence to attack like he does.

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I think we’re guilty of downplaying the impact of Xhaka on that left side of the pitch. One thing that is missed is the positional rotation/flexibility between Zinchenko, Xhaka, and Martinelli. Xhaka would often find himself on the left wing which allowed for Martinelli to drift centrally. That type of situation doesn’t happen as often anymore but it was a staple of our attack last season. Zinchenko’s become much more of a liability and I think that’s somewhat linked to Xhaka’s absence.

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Reasonable shout. We seemed to have him shift back and left in possession. Allowed him to cover without being exposed in middle. And gave him more time to pick out passes. Maybe coincidence, but i feel it restored his confidence and reduced the ā€œpanicā€ and his overall play got better and better in that last period with us.

https://twitter.com/afcstuff/status/1740757570997113182?t=JU1VUE1cgRz6hJIUJ9pndA&s=19

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