Emmanuel Frimpong had encouraged Arsenal to get rid of Granit Xhaka and sign himself to play for his former club for free, but he was left impressed by the Swiss’ display against Manchester United.
Xhaka has had an inconsistent time at the Emirates since he has been at the club, and he came under more criticism when he couldn’t help them on their poor run of form at the end of last year.
Frimpong tweeted at the time: “Sell xhaka and get me on a free”
The midfielder has since turned around his poor start to the season with some fine performances.
He was one of the club’s best players in their goalless draw against United, and Frimpong was impressed.
The former Arsenal midfielder took to his Twitter account to admit: “Xhaka man of the match exceptional”
Xhaka was stripped on the Arsenal captaincy in 2019 after falling out with the club’s fans.
On current form, he may be considered for that role once again.
Arsenal’s draw with the Red Devils has temporarily moved them to 8th on the league table.
They will face Wolves next on Tuesday. A win in that game could help them move further up the table. They should also have vengeance on their minds after losing the reverse fixture at the Emirates.
Frimpong, once a Gunner always a Gunner. Love ur sincere & candid expressions.
Xhaka is doing ok but please, this going to get like the Ozil saga (and we haven’t dont and wont miss him) fans championing a player not upto the standard we now need to progress. We have xhaka until the end of the season because only the inconsistent Elnenny and Ceballos could play with Partey, so we have what we have. But Xhaka is so so limited and is not technically good enough to take us forward. He cant dribble cant tackle and when he comes up against a fluid strong midfield is found out. He must be commended for his reaction after the debacle where he lost it big style but he is not of the standard we need how ever well he plays because of his limitations. If he has space he is fine
Partey is taking most of the donkey work off him and helping Xhaka out but we do need better or we will always be what he is average.
Exactly right Reggie.
Glad you can see his obvious limitataions – so many cannot. Some fans care bothing about slow players and do not see the harm they do to a team aiming to improve . ALL across the pitch we need much more pace in moving the ball forwards, slick passing – not Xhaka style in taking half an hour to telegraph a long raking pass, by which time the opponents are ready in place.
Xhaka has improved, I am not silly and can see that as well as anyone, BUT I know we need better than HIM .
Some will continue to fool themselves that we do not. I know we do!
Inconsistency has failed Xhaka a great deal. Can’t continue the wenger anymore, move him on.
Well said Reggie.No one could accuse Xhaka of hiding or not working hard in matches.He has a great left foot and is very able in recycling the ball.The trouble is, his speed, or, rather, the complete lack of it in a League where pace is an essential ingredient for success.
Grandad, Jon, i admit im not a xhaka fan, never have been, only because i see a very limited player but i give him credit when it is due, he is doing a lot better. The problem is the level of his ability, not his ability, he is playing better but he is technically challenged to put it mildly and because of this he will always be an accident waitng to happen and hold us back with his limitations in games. He is still not able to stop the opposition 70% of the time by getting back or tackling because he cant and that will be his and our downfall if we have to rely on him for to many more seasons.
How about Yves Bissouma?
If we have any intention of making “real” changes at this club we can’t settle for players of Xhaka’s ilk…this is a perfect example of our poor recruitment policies under Wenger, especially when it came to deep-lying midfielders, and failure to not upgrade at this position will be our undoing once again; not to mention, the sense of entitlement he displayed following several rough patches, both on and off the pitch…the only reason we’ve seen a little uptick in his play is because he’s been allowed to wander farther up the pitch, which provides him with the opportunity to show a few glimpses of those left-footed qualities he was known for in years past…this is the kind of decision which will show the fanbase if the “new” regime is serious about changing the culture…one of the most frustrating narratives that existed at this club, for well over a decade, was their ineptitude when it came to ever properly replacing Vieira, unless you include the legend that was Diaby…to do likewise would be akin to saying nothing has truly changes
***changed not changes