This signing does huge amounts for Juve's world reputation and the reputation of Serie A, once upon a time every top player aspired to play there, that appearl has been eroded away over time, but signing one of the worlds best will make other players think it might be worth going back to Serie A, there is money there as has been demonstrated by some of the signings, you might find players are more reluctant to move to another league if more top players come in.Originally Posted by Globalgunner
His best attribute is his passing range which we seem to see the full extent of so infrequently anyway. He can't take the ball on the half turn, nearly always has his back to goal and opts for the safe pass way too often as a result. What he actually offers to the team is so unclear, the manager responsible for him even being here told us he couldn't tackle and that he was a 'box to box' midfielder...which clearly isn't true as he can't run, is bypassed way too easily and again, can't take the ball on the half turn or beat his man.
He occasionally he shoots well, but for what he actually offers he is an alarming accepted part of the first team. Cannot fathom why so many see him as an automatic starter.
When fans are continuously talking about having not 1 but 2 of the right players around a given player....you know he is deeply flawed.
Agree on Xhaka as a player. But just curious to see if he can improve. Make or break season. If he fails to perform this year, sell him.
Iwobi started the opening game for Nigeria during the World Cup and was then dropped for the remaining must win games. Not a good sign. He has to shake that Wenger mentality off and take more risks in the final third. Be more aggressive with his approach and take on his man if he’s playing down the wing. I can’t see him getting games down the middle with Emery unless he works on his pressing game but his style is more suited to playing through the middle. He’s not a winger.
On the money with that assessment. He has no awareness at all. It takes him an age to control and turn with the ball on the half turn. It’s easy to pinch the ball off his feet on those situations. I really miss Rosicky. After seeing how well we played with Rosicky as CM and then seeing Cazorla in that position, I have no idea why Wenger thought Xhaka was a good purchase.
We’ve given Xhaka a new contract so I doubt we’re selling him any time soon. I hope we’ve renewed purely for valuation purposes but if Emery sees him as a starter, I’m curious to see what he does with Xhaka. I still have no idea why anyone rates him so curious to find out why.
It's funny you mention Rosicky. I think we've discussed it before, but Rosicky is the player that frequently comes to my mind when watching Xhaka play, it terms of what we are missing. Rosicky is probably one of the best players on the half turn I can remember watching play the game in my lifetime.
I haven't done any FA coaching badges but I know that how you are positioned when you receive the ball is one of the highlighted topics and for good reason. Very frustrating if you want to see quick fluid attacking football to have players who are really lacking on this.
Last edited by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice; 19-07-2018 at 12:12 PM.
Yeah, we've spoken about Rosicky before. As soon as you mentioned playing on the half turn, he's the player that springs to mind straight away. It’s a perfect example of how it should be done. The fluidity of our play changed as soon as he started playing as CM.
It's really frustrating to watch how other CM’s struggle to play the ball out from a deep position because they can’t turn on the ball to open up play. It’s worse with players like Xhaka because he’s not energetic enough to play the ball back in the direction he’s facing and then move off to find space to receive the ball back in a better position.
We’ll see what Emery does this year. If the midfield is too robust with not enough movement, we’re going to have the same problems as before.
We do need to rid of a keeper and a centre back. think Welbeck worth keeping as 3rd choice striker plus an option on the wing.
does the window end 1st August this season?
Wheelchair could sort of do it but his trick of letting the ball run across him on the turn was so obvious it just led to him running into brick walls.
Wheelchair had the technique but you're right. He'd often get clattered or overplay. That's a lack of positional awareness. It also used to piss me off whenever he played with Ramsey and how often he'd go running further up field along with Ramsey emptying the middle. He'd often leave Arteta alone with passing outlet. He should have just sat deep because Arteta also had same problem of not being able to play on the half turn.Wheelchair could sort of do it but his trick of letting the ball run across him on the turn was so obvious it just led to him running into brick walls.
I mentioned Iwobi earlier but he's the only other player along with Ozil that have the technique and awareness to play the role. But they don't have the defensive quality and work rate. We've seen how that CM role has changed with the emergence of players like Modric, Rakitic, and Cazorla. There could easily be a lane there for Ozil and Iwobi if they were prepared to work for it. I don't see it happening and unless we're playing really shit under Emery, I wouldn't indulge the idea. That young French kid we just bought looks promising.
Yep, 100% with you on this.
I have actually tried to like Xhaka...just don't rate him at all. He doesn't appear to offer us anything.
I think he would be well suited in La Liga or Seria A tbh where he would have more time on the ball.
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