Originally Posted by
IBK
I do not think that you 'hate' Xhaka. I understand that you (and others) feel (a) that his skills are not suited for the EPL/our continued progress and (b) that he will revert to type - particularly in the 'big' games. Where I think you are biased in reaching your conclusions is in 3 respects. Firstly - you have (IMO) fallen into the trap of making Xhaka the lightening rod for our team's disappointments over the past few years. There is no other Arsenal player who has suffered as much from this phenomenon - despite plenty of them having far more to answer for in this regard. I have shown on other threads, for example, how his disciplinary record is not as bad as most people would think over his time with us. Yet the accepted truth is that he has cost us many games by being sent off. You also present as 'empirical evidence' the fact that the player has made mistakes - in particular giving the ball away. But this 'evidence' is totally meaningless in any determinative sense. Every player makes mistakes. Every player gives the ball away. You say you'd be astonished if he wasn't the worst, or in the top 3 in the team in this regard. I would be surprised if he was, and even if this is the case, you have to consider where he plays, and the fact that a MF is likely to have far more touches on the ball than other positions. The real reason for your conclusion is that this is pre-determined based on your own preconceptions.
The second 'trap' I think you fall into is equating what are admittedly present 'defects' in Xhaka's game (lack of pace and needing space to do what he does best - delivering passes) with general personal and tactical failings. If you think that Xhaka lacks personal qualities - leadership; committment; team player etc - then it is you, not I who is not looking at the evidence, or at the very least failing to balance the 'bad' with the good. I could list a number of examples of how Xhaka has displayed oustanding professionalism, but I think that the way in which he has turned things round since the nadir of that Crystal Palace game speaks for itself. You point to tactical failings (I get that you are speaking of Arteta here, but it is an important aspeact of Xhaka's game also). There have been no other players in our team who have been asked to play in so many different roles during his time with us - and this alone suggests an ability to understand the game tactically. Ian Wright's analysis of Xhaka last Sunday highlighted an interesting aspect of his game - and that was how he constantly looked around him when receiving the ball to assess what space he had to deliver a pass. This is not an attirbute of a player without tactical awareness - quite the opposite.
Finally, you fail (apparently) to understand that you need to look at the blend of a team rather than focussing on an individual player's stranghts and weaknesses, and fail also to acknowledge the effect that other players' performances has on how any individual plays. Xhaka is not a good DM for us principally because he lacks recovery pace. But he has been oustanding in his role for Switzerland, and this season in his advanced role. In assessing his worth to the team, it is only fair to assess Xhaka in a position/role that maximises his strengths as well as in a position that doesn't. This is the manager's role - and like with other aspects of a team that now looks to be clicking in a way it hasn't previously - Arteta seems so far this season to have got it right.
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