Although he wasn’t the man who stole the show yesterday, Olivier Giroud’s wonderful goal meant the Frenchman made the headlines, Granit Xhaka put in another excellent performance.
The Swiss international has now started the last seven Arsenal games in the Premier League, and is firmly establishing himself as a key player in the midfield.
Following up on the 135 passes he made against West Brom, he made another 97 yesterday (more on those numbers here from @7amkickoff), as well as 8 ball recoveries, and three tackles.
Speaking afterwards, Arsene Wenger said, “I must say as well, Granit Xhaka had an exceptional distribution on long balls, short balls and he is looking more confident as well and has more weight in our game.”
It’s clear he’s a growing presence in our midfield, the last time he didn’t start a league game was against Manchester United back in November.
He may find himself rested tomorrow night for the trip to Bournemouth, as the manager tries to rotate his squad and keep everyone fresh, but it’s beginning to look as if our best midfield combination will be Xhaka + 1.
Who the 1 is, remains a topic for debate. Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey are the only candidates right now, as Mohamed Elneny is out for at least four games as he takes part in the African Cup of Nations with Egypt.
What’s our best midfield for the games ahead?
Ramsey can also pick a pass. That’s why both the Xak and Ramsey could be an entertaining watch in the middle against Bournemouth.
Also hope Wilshere avoids the head ducking nonsense this time around.
Bournemouth break pretty fast, and don’t defend deep. We need an enforcer for such a team. XhaCoq is the preferred solution. For teams that sit deep, XhaRam is more penetrative?
Xhaka is quality, his rise changes everything.
Has it altered plans for the midfield for the next 6, 7 years?
What does the future hold for Wilshere, Ramsey,Elneny? Young Mr Niles?
At present, most suitable partners are Coq and Ramsey.
Wilshere seems on borrowed time, Iwobi really challenging for that 10 role and Jack ain’t young no more.
Ramsey plays with his head in the clouds too much for my liking. Considering Xhaka isn’t big on tackling / isn’t settled defensively, I’d prefer Coq over Ramsey till Ramsey starts playing like he understands there’s more to being a midfielder than just trying to score with every move, attempt Cruyff turns and backheels in your own bloody half. Plus he needs a wee bit time to get match fitness… I’d have him replace Xhaka at 60-65 min mark. And if zippy Iwobi plays in the middle again the way he did in the last match (his best game in… Read more »
Ramsey lacks the discipline or technicality to play in one of the defensive duo in our midfield. The only one position that covers the flaws in his game will be the No. 10 spot which is not likely duo to better candidate in Ozil and Iwobi. His case is a conundrum for Wenger.
I’d prefer The Coq cause he’s more solid defensively and that helps the more attacking players in our team
I don’t think he’s solid at anything without cazorla
Silently superb. Xhaka can play that role for a long long time. And best part is, he’ll only get better. His long range duration has made us miss Santi a little less this time
I agree our season hinges on the continued development of Xhaka as he is our best passing midfielder (sans Santiago) and can defend better than any other mid player except for Le Coq. He had a great game against Palace and really bossed it in the midfield. The next evolution for Xhaka is dealing better with the high press and figuring out his positioning when teams like Liverstool smother the middle of the pitch or try to dominate possession like Man Shitty. I personally don’t think this is a question of pace although Granit is no speed merchant because he… Read more »
Mostly agree with the analysis but also think we need to be careful with our wingers tracking back too much. Even though he scored, there were times when Walcott was so deep he was behind Bellerin and thus unavailable for the counter. With a higher back-line our wingers wouldn’t need to go so deep. Also don’t think Ozil coming deeper is necessarily a bad thing if it means not being outnumbered in midfield like against Pool and City.
Put Xhaka and Ramsey together if you want to see lady Gooners swooning.
*all gentleman and lady Gooners swooning
Good looking team now, init?
Yes Granit Xhaka is very good. I think both combinations would work. Xhaka and Coquelin when the opposition is likely to press and attack. Xhaka and Rambo if they want to park the bus.
The nice thing is if the combination does not work in any match, there are options. As a trial, I would like to see Iwobi with a DM as his close dribbling skills may be a good substitute for Santi!
We’ve never really played Xhaka and Ramsey, yet more than half of us (including myself) vote for the Xhaka-Ramsey midfield. I guess we all want to see the beautiful attacking potential behind this choice.
Does anyone know anything about this this so-called “African Cup of Nations”?
Where is it? Who takes part? What kind of trophy do the winners get?
Is AFRICAN cup of nation….
Where else are they will be playing at bruh
Haha haha
You are kidding right….
They play the tournament every other year.
In case you werent. 1) africa 2) african nations & 3) one of those big shiney ones.
That’s just ignorant!!! From someone who should like football? Or is this something else?
There’s that wonderful thing called “google search” Or are you that ignorant that you don’t know about google either!!! ?
Are you kidding? BTW do you know what Brexit is?
It’s the African equivalent of the UEFA Champions League. Basically, all the African players contracted to Premier League clubs are also allowed to play for a club in their country of birth. So, our very own Mo Elneny can be seen in action, playing for the Cairo Supersphinx.
It happens every other year though, which helps in keeping the tournament fresh, unlike the UEFA Champions League. Fully expecting Yaya Toure’s hometown club Yamoussoukro FC to win it this time.
This is just dense, the African cup of nations is the equivalent o f the euros or the cops America only it happens every other year unlike the euro which after take place every for years
Pretty amazing that people took this seriously.
I think Xhaka + Ramsey will be good ..let’s pray Ramsey to be on his best form ..he will help us especially on his box to box praying style ..he will offer us in both offensive and defensive while Xhaka continue to distribute those long and short balls
When is our ambidextrous Santi going to be back. O! How I miss thee Cazorla
Is it a coincidence that whenever Ramsey is playing Arsenal are susceptible to conceding on counter attacks? How come Wenger did not even mention him the last time when talking about his central midfield options. I know blogs like Ramsey but you guys cant make him what he is not.He doesn’t have the discipline to play central midfield. Whenever Arsenal are in position, the first thing he is doing is running up-field and he always needs a touch or two for him to be in full control of the situation. Ramsey is a good footballer but not a good central… Read more »
Ramsey had his undoubtedly best spell when he dovetailed with Arteta. Considdering Xhaka is in some ways our closest replica of Arteta, RamXhaka should be a very good pairing. IF Ramsey can curb his attacking instincts again.
Xhaka is a bit suspect with his positioning. Still learning as opposed to Arteta who was already a veteran when he arrived. And Ramsey needs to adapt and time his runs… all the comparison with Lampard hasn’t led to any Lampard-like simplicity of play. I hope Boss knows more about the position he intends Ramsey to hold in this squad.
Well the first thing to say would be that Ramsey didn’t feature in our back-to-back defeats so to suggest that we are especially weaker with him in the team is somewhat disingenuous! Secondly, while Ramsey isn’t as defensively minded as Coqulein, Ramsey’s offensive ability would make us a more dangerous side going forward; it’s a trade-off. The Henderson comparison is interesting, I’ve always said I think Henderson could make a good DM but would be average in a box-to-box role and it looks like Klopp agrees. It’s similar to what Wenger did with Coqulein but the difference is that Liverpool… Read more »
Totally agree with this!
Ramsey does not have the passing range of Santi or Xhaka, the defensive nous of Le Coq or the running stamina of an Elneny. The Welshman compliments no one in that central midfield and is beginning to stick out like a sore thumb.
I dare say I will accept a sizable offer for Ramsey if Santi can give one more quality year and Wilshere continues on his upward curve.
It seems like any of those should work but i have bad memories of Ramsey and Coq from last season.
With Elneny gone we are starting to look a bit light in midfield.
Blogs, you forgot Santi. 3rd option Xhaka & carzola. I’d vote for that
He’s out for a while!
Xhaka and Carzola = no pace
He’s got a good engine though, that Carzola fella – once he gets into gear. Maybe plays with a little bit the handbrake on sometimes.
If you play Xhaka and Ramsey, what exactly will Ramsey’s role be? There is no balance there, you need someone combative, a tackler and a ball winner and Coquelin is the right candidate for that, the other option is Elneny.
Ramsey tackling stats are generally quite good and it was the best thing about his best 6 month spell. It seems everyone has forgotten that side of it because of his goals.
what a great goal from giroud well done boy love it and good team performance, can we carry it on well we will find out on tuesday thanks to sky sports happy new year thanks for the one day of
His lack of pace will be a problem in games against the top 4 and the better teams in the champions league…
He is a sideways step post Arteta.
And over time you will all come to realise this.
Pace matters in the modern game and without it you can be a liability again St the better teams.
Thank goodness we have you to tell us all what we should think about him.
I honestly had never considered his pace to be a factor one way or another.
Guess I’ll have to look closer.
What is it with some people’s obsession over pace? There are plenty of great footballers that are not particularly pacy and yet very effective. Pace is also less important in certain positions like central midfield. You can easily make a case that anticipation and positioning will do a lot more to ensure a player is in the right place at the right time than loads of pace (while trying to catch up to the play after being caught out of position)… and in midfield, the only thing pace is particularly useful for is to get to the right place at… Read more »
*coughs* Santi *coughs*
I do like the Xhaka – Elneny pairing, both are so active to show for the ball and constantly aware of the their positional responsibilities (something Ramsey tends to struggle with by his desire to always get forward). Would really have liked to have seen a Carzola – Xhaka pairing. Like most players new to England Xhaka took a while to adjust to the game there, but really has settled in nicely. Great range of passing and very few turnovers (unlike Ramsey), really sees the field well like Ozil and keeps the ball moving. Puts in a really strong shift… Read more »
Nothing wrong with a granit cock in midfield.
What worries me about Xhaka is the defensive part of his game. Going forward, he is superb. There are times when he gets bypassed too easily when the opposition is attacking, though with Elneny yesterday beside him, they are more solid defensively.
Xhaka + Ramsey = Against teams that defend deep, where we need to attack and find a breakthrough.
Xhaka + Coq = Against big teams, where we need to be more cautious defensively.
Ramsey + Coq = When no other midfielders in our squad are available.
I wonder if I’m the only that’s starting to think that the pairings only work with Cazorla against the top teams atm? And even then, not all the time. Maybe asking “who should partner who” is the wrong question and instead we should be asking what formation should we be playing at all. It seems that against a team that presses high and centrally, the 4-2-3-1 can struggle unless the two in midfield are exceptional on the ball under pressure. Conversely there’s extra responsibility on our no.10 to press and track back to avoid us becoming outnumbered in midfield, something… Read more »
How about a midfield 3? With Ozil on a flank but free to roam in
That’s a possibility but what I actually have in mind is moving Ozil into CM, as one of the 3. It’s something Klopp has done with Lallana and Pep with Silva and KdB. Iniesta at Barca, Modric at Madrid and our own Cazorla have all made the switch before too. Cesc found himself out of the team after we thrashed them 3-0 and Conte changed the formation, nixing his no.10 role. He came out to say Conte wants more from him defensively and physically if he’s to compete with Matic and Kante for the 2 CM roles. Now he’s back… Read more »
In the long term the midfield duo will be Wilshire and Xhaka. Cazarola will get one year extensions if he is fit but it’s Jack coming back to claim his rightful place …he is a wonderful player and is a gunner in his blood.
Or Coquelin and Wilshere. That’s a pair of pretty tough dudes who can tackle and defend, and also pass the ball well and start attacks.
To the people who think they know better than Wenger and feel compelled to remind him that Holding is quality, who bought these players in the first place? Wenger is one of the best operators in the market yet every window, some fans feel compelled to spout rubbish that they know better. He has made (as others) mistakes in the market but crucially, all of these signings have been comparatively little in cost. This is so important for a self financing club when you consider the millions squandered by our competitors on very average to mediocre players (particularly British ones)… Read more »
It’s not just xhaka’s range of passing, it’s the type of passes he makes. He is similar to Michael Carrick in the sense that he looks to make the incisive pass as often as he can. He puts players in behind defences for us more often than we have before. I do think it helped him that ozil wasn’t available. it meant that he had 4 players willing to run beyond for him instead of 3 as ozil likes to drop deeper to the top of the attacking 3rd to receive the ball. But he is definitely a mainstay in… Read more »
What Id really love to see one day is Jack to be that +1. He also is potenitially the best replacement for aging and mostly injured Santi. Well he may not yet have Santi’s ancient crafted football magic, but he’ll make up with his pace engine and of course lots of passion.
Granit is the name, vision is the fame.
“And that’s a beautiful long pass from xhaka ”
Burn Chelsea, who thought only fabregas can do that.
We always replace them traitors with better players.