I mean, that was literally the final ‘t’ that needed crossing.Originally Posted by cricketsi
I mean, that was literally the final ‘t’ that needed crossing.
From what Arteta said last night, it seems Partey's injury is more serious than a couple of weeks.
Pretty disasterous.
When is it not with Partey?
Pretty standard for Partey. Can’t be relied on, nowhere near robust enough.
Pretty disastrous us having signed him in the first place. Don’t get me wrong obviously a very good player when fit, but could easily have said the same about Jack Wilshere.
Of course it’s easy to be wise in hindsight he clearly didn’t have these injury problems at Atletico but it does point out the difference in physicality and intensity between La Liga and the premier league.
On a similar vein, thats why I’m so heavily critical of Granit Xhaka, he’s clearly not a player without ability but he is a player that was not meant for this league…I honestly think he’d get into most Bundesliga teams (with the obvious exception of Bayern Munich) and this is why I was aghast when we didn’t sell him to Hertha Berlin two years ago
Xhaka is capable of playing 40+ games a season though, might explain why he’s consistently picked because he’s always available while others around are made of toast.
Thus why I said similar
His fitness levels aren’t in question, but he lacks the physical strength, acceleration or technical ability to make it either as a DM or a box to box midfielder. He’s often caught in possession because he seems to need time to control the ball or pick out a pass that you just don’t get in the premier league. He’s an excellent long passer of the ball, the only other player I remember having such success finding players with a 40-60 yard pass was Fabregas.
I’m sure his fitness levels are a reason why he gets picked but his getting picked is also a big reason why we lose games like Newcastle where they were in our faces from the kick off harried us all over the pitch. Of course Xhaka wasn’t individually responsible for us losing, but he’s a good example of a player that becomes a luxury we can’t afford when we need players who can withstand that intensity
Douglas Luiz is happy to sign by all accounts, depends on Villa and the 20m fee.
Also, Bellerin should be off to Barcelona once his deal is torn up here.
Sell him. He's shit and always injured.
Xhaka isn’t a player you can just drop into any team and any system with any old players around him - at the base of midfield, with slow, non-ball-playing CBs behind him and miles of space between defence and attack he’s going to be a liability, and unfortunately for him that’s been Arsenal for most of his time here. This current setup seems to suit him down to the ground though - the space in the middle is compressed, he has players behind him he can trust to start moves and mop up so he doesn’t have to keep sticking his nose in where he shouldn’t, and JdP in general is all about rotation, covering and positional discipline, all of which is a great fit for his game.
One unexpected bonus has been the surprise factor he’s adding this season - no one seems to rate him as any particular threat in his current role and we’ve caught opponents with their pants down several times now as he’s ghosted into shooting positions relatively unchallenged. I’m sure teams will wise up to that at some point, but right now it’s a cheap trick we can keep using.
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