Granit Xhaka – Who thinks he is dirty, dumb and brainless?

The Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has hit back at his critics today, in an attempt to silence those who say he’s reckless on the pitch.

Xhaka was previously criticised by the fans for his reckless behaviour on the pitch, which has seen him pick up a terrible record of bookings during his first season with the Gunners. Manager Arsene Wenger has also had his say on the matter and he believes that Xhaka just doesn’t have the natural talent of tackling, and that he should look to better his technique in training.

I find it quite difficult to understand how a player who primarily plays as a central midfielder, often with plenty of defensive duties, doesn’t know how to tackle effectively with the correct technique. Furthermore, when Wenger identified him as being a man who could add to our struggling midfield in the tackle and strengthen our poor defensive record, why on earth was £35 million spent on a player with a reckless tackling ability?

Xhaka hit out at his critics however, by stating that he isn’t quite as reckless as they suggest. In an Evening Standard report, Xhaka is quoted as saying: “I’m not that easy to knock down, nobody can destroy me. But I’m bothered by people who call me dirty, dumb, and brainless. You don’t say words like those to people you don’t know.”

“That’s my game. If you take it away from me, I’m not the same anymore. I’ve analysed my sendings off and many off the fouls took place before the half way line, 60 to 70 meters from our goal. That’s too far away. That has to stop. But I don’t go out on the pitch and pull out of a tackle.”

Personally I think Xhaka really does have to step up his game. He’s been inconsistent during the opening year of his Arsenal career and his disciplinary record is shameful. Considering he’s in the top three most expensive transfers of our club’s history, you really do expect more from the summer signing and he can’t even get into the starting eleven in a consistent basis. Of course it may be too early to judge, but Xhaka really has been hit and miss with the fans and we’ll be expecting much better from the Swiss international in the next campaign.

I think his little outburst to the media here may have a bit of a poor reaction on his part, especially if he continues to get booked on a regular basis. He’s subject to no different treatment by the referees and just needs to be able to control his challenge and improve his technique. If he continues to get booked, then everything he’s said could potentially be thrown back in his face. Therefore it’ll be an interesting few weeks to see if Xhaka does continue to be reckless on the pitch, or if we see any improvements in his defensive abilities.

By AH

10 Comments

  1. Give him a break
    It was his first season
    he had to play in the shadow of Cazorla and also Coquelin poor performance didn’t help either

    In Koscielny’s first season with us he had 2 red cards as well

    Anyway looking blame Wenger for not getting a Top defensive midfielder and relying on Coquelin and Eleny

    1. not getting a top DM…
      Xhaka was suppose to be that but he is letting both Wenger and the club down.
      EllNeny was only signed 6 months prior to Xhaka joining, you can really tell a player is bad because he had a couple bad games??? End of last season people was singing his praise… how fickle can the fans be?

  2. I always feel that two seasons is enough time to see if an experienced player will cut it, so he deserves another year. But is Xhaka being played in the correct position, and is his role suited to his attributes? Because Wenger has got a habit of not using a player’s best attributes, and playing them in the correct position. Although Xhaka hasn’t been great from an individual perspective, it’s fair to say that he joined Arsenal at the worst possible time. The club is in disarray, protesting from the fans, empty seats at the Emirates, in-fighting, and not forgetting that Wenger has completely lost the plot!

    Xhaka, just like the rest of the squad, are also being let down by Wenger, when they step on the pitch. No tactics whatsoever, and no motivation! As a consequence, everyone has been poor, not just Xhaka. Sanchez is the only player performing week in, week out. Walcott, Perez, and the Ox have been decent, but that’s about it.

  3. When Xhaka plays he is the deeper sitting CM, he plays the DCM when he is on the pitch. Not Wenger messing him around as you like to say…

    Wenger may be at fault for a lot of stuff but the players have to take some blame themselves, they are the ones on the pitch and making the mistakes…

    I remember Vieira, how he looked to improve all the time, how he didn’t tell his manager that they was wrong about him… and look at the star he developed into.
    If only Xhaka had the same drive to get better then the his price would have been a bargain.

    I also disagree with the no tactics part, no tactics might actually be better than some of Wengers tactics.

    IMO Arsenals biggest issue right now is the clubs infrastructure for non playing staff.

    Our physios don’t seem capable of keeping our players fit, Wilshere has been better in fitness since loan move and that is a warning sign.
    Our board doesn’t have the balls of say… Barca or RM when it comes to getting things resolved. New manager? RM would, our board knows they do not have the infrastructure and rumors are they are looking at getting a sporting director.. That should have happened as soon as Dein left IMO.

    The foxes owners show more ambition than our owners, that is why Ranieri was sacked, the owner has ambitions and is taking action to realise that ambition.

  4. Before Mr Wenger bought Xhaka I was hoping that this transfer doesn’t happen. I elaborate clearly to Arsenal fans as to why I believe this transfer is a complete waste of money. But unfortunately, Arsenal fans were having none of it, my comment got horribly thumb down causing it to get hidden from view. Now Arsenal has completed three quarter of their season football lots of negative statistics are now building up against Xhaka, Arsenal fans are now feeling the effects of Xhaka £35 million transfer and £120,000 weekly wages invariable modest performance on the pitch.

    Xhaka is not dirty dumb and brainless his simply not good enough, His buy has single-handedly destroy Arsenal team makeup, season and cost Arsenal a top four place. His presence in the team has also got the worse out of some players most noticeably Coquelin and Ramsey. Coquelin are now given a double role to move up the pitch and distribute the ball plus run back and tackle which is clearly beyond his competence, this in itself forces Ramsey on the bench for long spells and hence as a result loses his form.

    What that teaches us is this, one bad signing can destroy a team season, Xhaka possesses none of the credential Arsenal need his lack of stamina effects his ability to move up the pitch and distribute the ball and hence close the opposition down, his poor acceleration put him in at a massive disadvantage in taking on the one on one chase back toward his goal, his sluggish tackling causes him to get sent off and his poor positioning allow the opposition plenty of space to exploit, Xhaka overall style of play is going to cause Arsenal huge problems for the foreseeable future.

    The true price of Xhaka is 5 million in transfer fee and £40,000 in weekly wages. A poor judgement buy of that magnitude even for a manager of 20 years stay warrant a dismissal.

    1. I totally disagree. I have seen him play at Munchengladbach and he was phenomenal ! As captain, and a young one at that, he was not afraid to dish out a rollicking to his team mates. He reminded me of Viera, yes our Patrick, and when he was bought that is how i thought he was going to be integrated into the team. Ffs he even had a disciplinary issue in Germany and unfortunately that seems to have followed him here..not helped by media and referees.
      Everyone admits, even players, that it takes time to adapt to the physical nature of the premiership.
      Cut the guy some slack…he is neither dirty, dumb or brainless…we have been crying out for more agression in midfield…it is his first season..give the guy some credit.
      I will even go so far as to say that i can even see him as a future captain !!

    2. Its true that Coqulin is streched next to Xhaka, who is not so much a ball holder as Cazorla, but it just means that the team has never been proberly configured to function without Cazorla, the little big man. The way it works with Cazorla, to my mind, is that he would get the ball when Coqulin had won it with his wild tackles, and then not waste it. Without Cazorla, we have no-one to to possess the ball, and to initiate the next attack intelligently. Point is: Xhaka’s brilliant passing and other qualities are no replacement for Cazorla. The team needs to be reconfigured more than it needs yet another new midfield signing.

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