Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka has come in for criticism a number of times, be it for a below-par showing overall, or simply for his decision making at crucial times, but I feel like we will all be able to take this light-heartedly.
The Swiss international clearly gets his knickers in a twist as he flails to clear the ball just inside his half, and after he fails to do so, he then tries to win the ball off of Alireza Jahanbakhsh in comical effect.
Xhaka most likely hadn’t regained his balance after exerting himself in the opening phase, but tried to win the ball back for his side only to be showed up by the Brighton forward, who floors him.
This guy pic.twitter.com/7UfK0PFE7H
— . (@BodegaaCat) December 29, 2020
Will everyone take this gently or does this show how soft the midfielder is in general?
Patrick
Yes Patrick, let’s take the piss out of one of our own players🤔
Not here to take the piss
Xhaka is not (in my opinion) good enough for the Premier League, he is one paced and appears to struggle tackling fairly
I think Arteta empathizes with Xhaka’s plight, as he was likewise asked to do things at Arsenal that weren’t really in his wheelhouse…when Arteta came to Arsenal, who btw Wenger didn’t want and simply made a low ball offer for him in the 11th hour when Everton refused to sell him Jagielka, most people felt he was here to play a much more offensive role…instead he eventually found himself deployed in a much deeper-lying position, a role he hadn’t played since he was at Barca some 11 years earlier…of course his guile and vast experience allowed him to function in this capacity without looking foolish, but that didn’t last for long…eventually he was required to perform tasks that simply didn’t make sense considering his age and more offensively-minded skillset…in the end, like Xhaka, he was just chasing ghosts out there, which I didn’t like witnessing as I always enjoyed watching him work his magic in the final third…more round pegs in square holes I guess