Granit Xhaka (official)

[GP]

First he told him not to shoot. Now not to tackle.

No he didn't.

[Globalgunner]

No he didn't.

Ok. If you say so.

[Power n Glory]

What am saying is that most players have a particualr strength, yes there are some who are all rounders but it's they're the exception rather than the rule.

Wenger is interested in players that pass, he is happy to overlook other skills that might be beneficial to us if that player has that attribute.

It's the same old problem we had back in the early days where we had the same sort of player. Passers and not enough finishers. He always looks for a player that can pass. It blinds him. What attracted him to signing Chamakh is what attracted him to signing Giroud. Without a doubt, if either player were incapable of playing short link up passes and flicks around the edge of the box, he'd never have signed them.

Xhaka has been a waste of money and it's odd that he's only just know discovered that he can't tackle. What the heck were they watching when scouting him? My hunch is this purchase has been made off the back of that stat crunching machine we've invested money in. They were probably blown away by the passing percentages produced each week and snapped him up. Idiots.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

The only thing i'd say if that if he wanted every player in his side to be a passer he wouldn't persist so much with Coquelin


Or Ramsey for that matter

[Power n Glory]

The only thing i'd say if that if he wanted every player in his side to be a passer he wouldn't persist so much with Coquelin


Or Ramsey for that matter

Most players. Not all. You can add Theo to that equation. Ox also. Coquelin had to struggle to get into the first team because he wanted to play more as a CM and not DM. Wenger didn't trust him to play there and would often play him as a wingback also. His story is similar to Alex Song's. Both were being pushed to played in defence and had to force their way past less physical players to get their first team start. Coquelin's not a great playmaker but it's not as if he's reckless and gives the ball away.

Also, what Ramsey, Theo and Ox all want to play through the middle but can't pass that well. To make up for it, Wenger will often play them in a wide position.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Most players. Not all. You can add Theo to that equation. Ox also. Coquelin had to struggle to get into the first team because he wanted to play more as a CM and not DM. Wenger didn't trust him to play there and would often play him as a wingback also. His story is similar to Alex Song's. Both were being pushed to played in defence and had to force their way past less physical players to get their first team start. Coquelin's not a great playmaker but it's not as if he's reckless and gives the ball away.

Also, what Ramsey, Theo and Ox all want to play through the middle but can't pass that well. To make up for it, Wenger will often play them in a wide position.

Oh i've no doubt he has modelled Arsenal on the Barcelona model, but i think above all of that there are just players he likes to play who he won't drop unless their form is consistently bad for such a long period that it's already too late by the time he has changed things.

[selassie]

First he told him not to shoot. Now not to tackle. Only at Arsenal!. Can tackling not be taught. The boys problem is mental as well as technical. Goes more to show the mindset at this club. Instead of getting someone in like Gilberto, who hardly ever got a yellow in his whole career talk less of red to teach the art of tackling. We coddle these players instead of improving them. Xhaka now knows its the whole worlds fault not his own. He will now be routinely targeted by other teams as a easy source of gaining possession. 23 years old and cant be taught how to tackle, only metronomic passing is left for him. Happy days!

[selassie]

I know we have many problems in the team and the root cause of a lot of these issues is Wenger, but why did we buy this guy?

We have spent 35million on him and he looks no better than anything we already have. To make things worse this guy is arguably our least mobile midfielder. Tactically he's all at sea too. He's a garbage signing.

The more money Wenger has spent on Central Midfield the worse it gets.

[Özim]

I was very sceptical about this guy, really came with no pedigree and we massively overpaid, waste of money I think.

[Power n Glory]

I know we have many problems in the team and the root cause of a lot of these issues is Wenger, but why did we buy this guy?

We have spent 35million on him and he looks no better than anything we already have. To make things worse this guy is arguably our least mobile midfielder. Tactically he's all at sea too. He's a garbage signing.

The more money Wenger has spent on Central Midfield the worse it gets.

It’s a terrible purchase, especially when you consider how much he cost and the fact he was our first signing. He doesn’t fulfil a single need in this team and I have no clue what our scouts were watching or why Wenger thought he’d be a hit. He creates a tactical problem for us. I knew Wenger would play Coquelin last night because he doesn’t trust Xhaka when it comes to defending. He’s pretty poor. He can’t press players and he’s bloody reckless so he needs a tackler next to him if we’re up against a team that can dominate us on possession.

But….he’s also very easy to mark out of the game. Get tight on him and the ball will be played backwards or sideways, he can’t beat the press and with Coquelin as a partner, it becomes way too easy to keep us pinned in our own half.

Partnering him with Ox and Elneny is risky because it leaves us light on defence, play him with Coq and we’re light on recycling the ball and that platform to build attacks. Only possible solution I see is to play a 4-3-3 with Xhaka, Coquelin and either Elneny or Ox but that means we have to abandon that number 10 role. You already know my thoughts on Ozil and after living up to his reputation again, I’m not sure what to do with him. Play him on the left like we do with Iwobi and we’ll get even less work from him on defence and the same another none aggressive winger imposter that’s just content drifting inside and playing more short passes instead of driving forward and carrying the ball.

This is why Wenger has to go. Even if he eventually stumbles upon a combination that functions, like how we stumbled upon Coq/Santi, he hasn’t got the common sense to the follow the blueprint and buy players that have the key ingredients to make it work. How the fuck do you end up buying another Arteta after you’ve seen we need mobility and aggression in the midfield and not just another precision passer? Stumbles upon Ox being the closest player solving that issue and he fucks it up again. Hard to explain it without the insults but it’s brainless. I’d have more respect for him if he’d experiment more with the selection and formation but he doesn’t. From as early as the Man City pre season game in the first half, we could see that Xhaka and Coquelin wasn’t going to work and only when Elneny was introduced did we start to bypass there pressing.