The best players don't get caught in posession very often (just watch how they always manage to get the ball away(, when a player gets caught in possesion a lot it suggests they lack a footballing brain IMO.
Xhaka has done nothing to prove he is or has the potential to be top class IMO, I was sceptical about this signing, I'm even more sceptical now.
Xhaka isn't an upgrade on Santi, they are different players and besides Xhaka doesn't even get around the pitch to control central midfield like Santi has done over the past few years. Xhaka is a specialist player...his specific role is deep lying playmaker, we don't need him.Originally Posted by mastermind84
I agree that we won't win the league with Santi and Coq as our midfield pairing but they are our best ones, they need to be upgraded upon. An upgrade on Coq IMO was Kante, he was available in the Summer and we weren't interested. Coq's role within the team is to break up play, cover ground and distribute the ball, that's all we really need him for, his only real limitation is his passing.
I don't care about Pirlo, Xabi and Xavi, it's not what we need and never have done...we need mobile CM's that cover ground, break up play and can pass a ball. Xhaka is a Wenger vanity signing, he's a luxury player, yes Xhaka is highly technically...but he is not mobile and can't tackle, without Coq we have nobody in Central Midfield that can tackle...it's ludicrous.
I do want Wenger out and have done so for about 4 seasons now!
Last edited by selassie; 11-01-2017 at 06:30 PM.
News article link? Or can someone post what he said. I am curious now.
Arsene Wenger, the only football manager that got paid 8 million quid to do nothing but sit on his arse..
Yep so am I as it happensNews article link? Or can someone post what he said. I am curious now.
Can find literally nothing about it with Google, even though I've tried about a dozen search variations
in their systems they never have to defend in as much space as Xhaka does. Their managers protect them. Our manage does not. They stay deep and play the #6 position, Wenger wants Xhaka to be a #6 and a #8 (box to box).
Its the system.
in our system, he has no outlets. He ha shown he can by pass the press through his passing but you cant do too much when there are no options.
All these other players you all are naming would struggle here too because of no help.
I know they are different players. Xhaka is a DLP, a regista, while Santi plays further up the pitch.
We need that type of player because we have problems with the build up. That is true when Santi is healthy. Against the best midfields, we create eff all in possession. To have someone to play the ball vertical and spot runners from deep is vital. Santi isnt like that and will never be. Thats Xhaka
Like i said before, I feel most of you want Wenger out but at the same time speak as if his tactics make sense and we need to buy players to fit his tactics. It doesnt make sense.
It doesn't work like that. Just because I want Wenger out doesn't mean accountability goes out the window. I've been saying the same thing to NQ on another thread. We have systematic problems; that's well known on here, but that doesn't mean every fault gets swept under Wenger's door. I don't care if the the decided to play Sanchez as wingback, regardless of how alien that position is to him, I don't expect to see his work rate drop, his first touch disappear, his dribbling skills going out the window and so on. He may be horrible at defending because he's playing in a terrible system, but the core of his abilities will still shine through regardless of where he plays. I'm not seeing that with Xhaka.You stay underrating the systemic problems of this team. Its weird too because you want Wenger out.
At the very least, we should be bossing the midfield, especially against a team like Preston. No excuses. Even if we can't make great use of his playmaking ability because he's not getting the ball where he likes it, his chance creation stat should suffer at best, not his first touch and passing accuracy of all things. I'd expect plenty of midfield dominance and possession without much bite like we're used to seeing. That's not the case these days. We can't even control a midfield and it's been this way since losing Cesc and Nasri. That Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta axis was the start of a disaster where we had serious problems just stringing together an attack.
In fact, didn't you say Xhaka would be an upgrade on Arteta? It's not as if he's being told to do something drastically different from Arteta. We weren't playing with Coquelin in the midfield so you can't put the blame on his limitations either. I'm just not seeing the point in this signing and it's down to Xhaka to sort his game out. I'm not for switching to a system that plays to his ability as playmaker when we bought Ozil for that role. You already know my thoughts on him and I find it crazy that after all the protests about him being the best number 10 in the world, the chances he creates..etc..I'm seeing blogs suggesting we turn him into a forward. Such tinkering ideas is why I created that Ozil thread in the first place. How many playmakers do we need in this team? Heck, I honestly think Alexis's goal and creative output trumps them all and we should be building off that if anything.
We need that type of player because we have problems with the build up. That is true when Santi is healthy. Against the best midfields, we create eff all in possession. To have someone to play the ball vertical and spot runners from deep is vital. Santi isnt like that and will never be. Thats Xhaka
Nope, look at Xhaka's positioning from the kick off and how he almost loses the ball from a heavy touch. There is nothing in our game that stops him from dropping deep to play the ball. Santi does it all the time.
yes there is, Wenger asks our midfields to play higher up because he wants to press hgher up to win the ball back.
Look at where Xhaka is standing after he almost lost the ball. He never retreats from there. Thats the double pivot.
Like I said before, you all want Wenger out yet don't want our tactics to change. Its strange.
The article I posted above shows that. Thats what the double pivot is.
Now you're being purposely evasive. Is the double pivot the reason why he takes a heavy touch? Would playing him deeper give him way more time and space for heavy touches? Was that the case in Germany? If so, we're talking about adapting our tactics to cover the flaws of limited player. I don't think Xhaka has shown or earned the right for the team to be built around him if he can't do the basics.
I'm not against Wenger changing tactics. As said, we should build around Alexis being a false 9, but not around someone that isn't that good offensively and has to be protected on defense. When Cesc was playing in the wrong 4-4-2 system, his defensive weaknesses were shown up but it was clear that he could make a pass and have the midfield ticking.
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