Granit Xhaka was recently given a new contract by Arsenal despite most fans calling him a liability for most of this season, and he has now been joined by his Switzerland team-mate and captain Stephan Lichtsteiner, so what did Gooners think of their overall performance yesterday against Brazil in their opening game at the World Cup?
Nobody can doubt that the whole team showed battling qualities to come back against one of the best teams in the world, and I thought that Lichtsteiner especially was up and down the wing like a rabbit marshalling the defence and the attack. Lichtsteiner played 87 minutes for the Swiss before going down with cramp, which was hardly surprising considering the amount of energy he used chasing down the extremely fast Brazilians, with Xhaka taking the captain’s armband when he was taken off.
Our newest signing may be 34 but he looked and ran like a 24 year-old from what I saw, and was not in the slightest intimidated by his World Class opponents. Xhaka I didn’t see so much of, but I do remember one brilliant floating pass into the box that was just a few inches too high for his target.
But if you go by the team performance you would have to say that Switzerland could give any Premier League side a run for their money, and Xhaka and Lichtsteiner are obviously team-players and leaders.
What was your opinion?
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