Despite calling the penalty he conceded ‘disappointing’, Unai Emery says he was proud of Granit Xhaka’s performance in the 2-2 draw with Sp*rs.
The Swiss international made a stupid challenge in our box on Son, resulting in yet another spot kick which Harry Kane converted to make it 2-0 in the first half.
However, the Arsenal boss was more inclined to look at his captain’s overall performance than just that one incident.
“In 90 minutes, I’m very proud of his work,” said the Spaniard.
“Some mistakes we can have, I want to use them to progress, to learn and improve.
“There are a lot more positive things individually and collectively, and also with Xhaka for me.
“The penalty incident is a disappointing action but he played very well and worked very well.
“If we win that match, maybe we are speaking about that mistake less, but really there were two mistakes in the first half and they scored from both of them.
“In the second half, I think we spoke in the dressing room about that, and we learned and we did well in the second half.
“We continued to get the ball, we continued to take a lot of corners, taking a lot of shots, but we didn’t get the positions to score the goal. I think we deserved a third goal.”
Of course if we’d won the game we’d speak less about Xhaka’s stupidity, but we didn’t win and a big part of that was the fact he conceded the penalty in the first place.
It’s not long since the midfielder gave away a careless penalty at home against Brighton, and the two points we dropped that day helped condemn us to another season in the Europa League.
At this point, refusal to see that he’s a player who costs us points is holding us back, and while Xhaka does have positive aspects to his game, the fact the mistakes continue into his fourth season with the club suggests he’s always going to be this way.
Doesn’t negate the fact that once again he gifted the opposition a goal
Xhaka is ready-made for Serie A, Raul we’ve got til 19.00 today.
If he must enforce, let him do it outside the D. That way the defensive responsibilities are shared by the whole team as opposed to the failed enforcement In the box, where only the goalkeeper is called to defend! The granite nan must think of the others ( including me)!
Chucking yourself to the ground in the box well after the ball has gone? Jesus give me a break, I thought captains were supposed to lead by example. He does the exact opposite and it costs us time and time again.
Maybe He is leading by example. Maybe he’s teaching them what not to do.??
The £95m Xhaka Mustafi Perez summer of ’17 has to go down as one of the worst transfer windows in league history.
£97m, if you please. £35m + £35m + £17m.
Ouch.
the summer of 18/19 with $68m transfers with guendouzi, lucas, leno and sokratis, probably the best in recent times.
Slightly negated by miki…..
Xhaka’s biggest weakness is not his many mistakes but that he is so one-footed, half the passes he receives have to be collected back to the opposition’s goal. This makes him ponderous and slows the game down. Much prefer Guendouzi. Happy to sacrifice Xhaka now. No central midfielder can play the way we do and be so one-footed. And Jeez, it is only muscle memory so practice with two feet. How much are you paid?
Kolasinac too. He just WON’T use his right foot to touch the ball.
Sokratis made an error on first goal, Leno should have dobe better etc.
What I like about Xhaka is he accepts responsibility. Comes out and says he made an error and will wrk hard to put it right.
I can think of some players who never appear to take reponsibility
Maybe he could just apologise in the prematch build up. Would save him having to hang around after the game.
While that is admirable, he never seems to learn from those mistakes so the gesture is ultimately meaningless. And if he hasn’t learned by now, he basically never will.
Did an error, Accept the responsibilities, apologize, chin up, and keep doing it in the next games..
Xhaka’s an all-talk bullshitter who makes stupid mistakescand is not mobile.PR himself into the team. Zzz.. his passing range is not bad, but he dwells on the ball for too long. Luiz can replace that skillset.
Most penalties conceded since his introduction to the premier league (5).
Well as long as he accepts that he is awful, let them keep occurring!
Not thw
(Sorry phone had a shit fit)
Not the worst player I’ve seen in Arsenal shirt but I hope this is his last season with us. We can, and should improve upon him. I was livid at that penalty.
“….but I hope this is his last GAME for us”. There, fixed it for you.
I have no problem with a 4-2-1-3 with Torreira and Guendouzi the 2 and Ceballos/Willock the 1.
That would be called: Featherweight
I dunno. Ceballos has shown a willingness to do some dirty work, and an ability to come deeper. Guendouzi and Torreira can shuttle to the wings while Ceballos could move more vertically linking defence and attack.
But we did see periods yesterday where midfield were over run. TBH I have no major problem with 4-3-1-2 and regularly rotating strikers. Even in a game having Auba, Pepe or Laca to come on against tiring legs might be smart so long as they all stay happy.
Iniesta, xavi and busquets was also featherweight. Look how that turned out.
I would rather see torreira and Guendouzi make up the base, for the third take your pick of mesut, ceballos, willock. More mobile and dynamic than any midfield cintain
In other words, he won’t be dropped for the Watford game…. urgh
Emery can only do so much surgery at once, he inherited a mess.
Mustafi- £100k p/w and the attention span of a goldfish
Ozil- £300k p/w lightweight and past it
Mkhitaryan £200k p/w lightweight
Xhaka- Is the least of the 4 major problems.
But as the season progresses, Xhaka will be fazed out just like the other 3, the problem he’s got is getting these players out the club on a permanent basis.
There’s a reported £700,000 p/w right there, £36,400,000 p/year
We can definitely extract more value for our money than this
What really gets to me is the fact that Emery would almost definitely start Xhaka in EVERY game. Then he seems like Emery’s choice of captain so even more worried!
Fergie would have ditched him by now. Ruthlessness needed.
We’ve had a lot of flux and our other midfield options are really young and/or inexperienced so it makes sense he’s played. Xhaka was captain yesterday but he isn’t club captain remember, and I think there’s a very pointed reason as to why that isn’t the case.
Are the downvotes Ozil fanboys upset you included him as a problem area?
Just read that he committed 7 fouls today, more than any other player in a Premier League game this season. The penalty killed us once – then the 4 or 5 silly fouls he gave them while we were chasing the games just killed us some more.
We need a technical director and/or coach at this club who refuse to accept players as flawed as Xhaka in the Arsenal starting line-up. I defended Emery all of last season, but I am done with that if he doesn’t bench this fool.
He had his chances. Time for him to be sidelined until he learns to control his emotion..
Sadly,the word,flawed, does perfectly describe Xhaka. He will not change.
“Since his Premier League debut in August 2016, no player has conceded more penalties in the competition than the five by Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka.” = BBC sport.
This man cost more than Kante. Let that sink in…
I’d like to see less of him, too, but can you see that happening? That would leave us with a young and inexperienced midfield. I think we’re stuck with Xhaka for this season. Something to address this Jan or next summer.
I think this is why Emery was keen to sign Nzonzi and Banega last summer. He knows there’s an issue with Xhaka, but the priorities this past summer lay elsewhere. In the meantime, he needs that experience and leadership (yes, Xhaka brings that to the field, even if his errors mean he should be moved on).
In the 4-5 years Xhaka’s been at Arsenal, he’s gained considerable experience in stupidity. He would also make a great leader if we are planning to fail. Willock showed more leadership vs Liverpool despite his lack of experience. Xhaka’s fouls today were disgraceful and truly ruined our momentum. How many needless fouls did he make in the second half with his back turned on the attacker? We can be disappointed not to win, but at the same time I’m relieved Xhaka’s stupidity didn’t cost us the draw too.
Just a question (or two):
how is experience reflected by throwing oneself into a no-win tackle, after the ball is long gone, and in your own penalty area?
how is leadership reflected – when you should be steeling your team to stand fast in the final 15 minutes, by conceding a free kick on the edge of said penalty area – and then doing the SAME THING just minutes later – and this to a team with one of the best deadball strikers in the PL?
More worrying is Emery’s glowing review of his 2nd 45? In which he spread the ball well, true – but remained painfully slow, lost 3 50/50 headers and gave away numerous free kicks – 2 of those on the edge of our D, within 5 mins of each other!
Emery obviously has a lot of faith in Xhaka, but then again a lot of managers have had a lot of faith in players and not been their manager at the end of the year. Ultimately, this season’s results will be on Emery’s head, not so much the players.
Last two paragraphs summarize Xhaka’s career with us pretty well. A guy that seems like he doesn’t know his footballing limitations, and gets in trouble as a result.
Wenger loved him, too. Xhaka makes high profile errors, but is otherwise good and sometimes great, and is mostly a strong presence in the midfield physically and mentally (i.e., not in the 18-yard box). Thing is, you want those qualities minus the errors, and you’re not getting that with Xhaka. I can accept that we may have to play him this season, but let’s look to replace him asap; in the meantime, we can start to integrate Willock and Ceballos with more regularity.
Thankfully we have Guendouzi looking like he’s ready to take his spot, I think Emery views him as an orchestrator long term and that’s Xhaka’s current role
Not sure why we never gave Bielik even the chance to show what he could do just in front of the back 3/4… talent, good with both feet, big and strong and a sound football brain. Let him go largely untested on any sort of bigger stage.
There ia no point playing Xhaka if we have Guendouzi and Torreira in midfield. Should have been Ceballos/Ozil/Mkhi in the position. Apart from his overall contribution, he consistently lose composure in a panic situation inside or outside the penalty box and eventually cost the team a win.. We need to eliminate this unnecessary recklessness and stop giving away games when we are supposed to be winning.
People used to say Walcott didn’t have a football brain, which I’ve always thought was very harsh. But Xhaka really doesn’t have a football brain. He doesn’t understand his role, his responsibilities, he can’t read the game or sense danger. When you’re playing against a team that puts you under pressure or is good at counter attacks, he’s the worst player to have in your midfield. He’s just a total liability in those situations and that “tackle” was criminal, an absolute outrage. Ref was very generous with him today, could easily have been sent off the way he was playing.
God help us then if we play him against Citeh!
Nightmare scenario!
Two clowns.
you are shit Emery.. Get the fuck out of my club!
Fuck you for giving me an unidentifiable team and this is coming from the bottom of my heart
You are shit Emery…get the fuck out of my club… Thank you for giving me an unidentifiable team…rubbish!
Piss off
Awww poor you
Peter Drury’s comment – Granit Xhaka so late, it was almost tomorrow.
So I guess he retains his starting spot unfortunately.
I was a huge fan of Xhaka’s & ive been telling my brother for 3 years now, don’t worry he is a baller he will come good.
Unfortunately I was wrong & my brother was right.
He would shine in the Italian league.
I’ve been telling wife the same thing. He’d be great in a slower league. Some of the cross field passes he makes are astounding but the stupid errors in the box are maddening. He had another foul where just butt checked a player rather than move his feet. I think it’s a pride issue. He’d rather commit a stupid foul than get dribbled around. But that is usually not for the best and almost never the right reaction it it’s going to lead to a penalty. I get the impression that Emery knows it’s a problem but that he sees… Read more »
I don’t see this.
He cut the ball out 8 or 9 times aerially half way line preventing breaks by Kane or Son. Also we are fundamentally weaker without Mustafi against set pieces and Granit is critical at the moment defending them.
You don’t understand the function he brings.
You’re right Santa…
You don’t see it.
since he came and as long as he is here, we will be an europa league team
He’s worse than denielson at this stage, at least mr sideways and backwards didn’t make rash challenges in the box when there was barely any danger.
You actually watch the game or repeat things you want to see?
He provided several good opportunities including a very clever disguise ball swept across to Pepe.
Plus he put in 8 to 9 intercepts many of which were aerial intercepts cutting out service to Kane and Son on the break and allowing us to apply pressure on Spurs.
Well people no longer seem divided on Xhaka anyway. I guess it’s very hard to come back from a high profile error in an NLD. I remain of the belief that Xhaka is a decent player (bring on the downvotes) and will flourish elsewhere. But like with Iwobi, best for everyone to move on. Sad to see this level of abuse though so I genuinely hope he redeems himself to some extent this season before going.
Abuse?
See the next comment
Mate he’s dogshit there’s no two ways about it.
Iwobi doesn’t deserve this.
Stupid comments (all due respects) Iwobi I would prefer we kept over Mhkiatryan (he’s off now) He just scored for Everton and is just coming into maturity. Xhaka performs a critical role for us. Against Liverpool (unlike say Sokratis or Luiz) he was solid. he came up with two of our best opportunities on the break working the ball out of defense plus the intercept that led to the Torreira consolation. This was not a fluke. Against Spurs he intercepted the ball 8 or 9 times from the half way line mostly aerial balls pumped out to Kane or Son… Read more »
I’m not against giving a coach time and patience but not to a wrong mediocre coach…. Don’t worry…when you guys remember that we once had aubameyang, lacazette, Pepe, ozil,torriera,tierney,bellerin,guendouzi and we couldn’t challenge for trophies or win trophies by then you would understand the pain of trusting a mediocre coach.. Be patient and watch it unfold… You want Emery to be giving more years to build a team right??… No problem Anyone who thinks Emery is a huge upgrade on Wenger is deluded.. It’s like saying Roberto di Matteo is on par with ancelloti just because he won the champions… Read more »
Who’s your ideal coach, then, genius?
Simeone,nuno espirito and Erik ten hag
I think we should have jumped on the occasion to sign Leonardo Jardim. He was fantastic with Monaco two seasons ago. And now his Team his bad because of all the sells. He actually managed to win Ligue 1 (beating Emery’s PSG, which is huge) and to reach champion’s league semi-final. Ok he had Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Thomas Lemar and Benjamin Mendy. But he got the best out of everyone. He made Tiemoue Bakayoko look like Casemiro. I think Emery is a really good coach but not on the same catégory as Klopp, Pochettino and Guardiola. In my opinion,… Read more »
I’m sorry to be harsh, but this is such a stupid statement & stance! Emery’s contract won’t be extended if He doesn’t achieve some measure of success this season, so i really don’t know why you’t getting worked up! Unless you’re suggesting we get rid of him 4 games into the season
Really??…..let’s watch,hope and see
What’s there to be proud of??…. How can i be proud of Xhaka??
Jose, is that you? Not enjoying Sky?
Xhaka will never learn from his mistakes. the manager subs Torreira who is miles better than Xhaka.
what about Sokratis? he was helpung spurs on wasting time. what kind of club line these players who does not know their duty.
Why is Torreira miles better?
I didn’t think so.
Torreira cannot do what Granit does covering the middle.
Do you realise Xhaka intercepted the ball around the half way line 8 or 9 times?
Most of those were aerial intercepts preventing Kane and Son from receiving the ball on the breakaway and it put Spurs back under pressure.
The issue here is you can’t use these mistakes to improve this guy because he doesn’t have the brain to do so. And he never will. Stats don’t lie he’s a liability always has been and always will end off! How many seasons does he need to learn? IMPROVE that part of the game? Why on earth is this guy a captain to begin with? I’m not so sure you can even praise him for some of the positives he gives in a game. He’s slow can’t tackle and has these brain darts…. Bench him give someone else a chance… Read more »
He’s not the only one making mistakes and he hasn’t conceded a penalty for a while now.
Sokratis near rugby tackle of kane late on easily punishable but for a generous Atkinson. Worse he would have had a red.
Sokratis also made mistakes for the first goal.
he was attracted to the ball when granit was challenging leaving a big gap behind him.
Luiz gets too easily turned by Son. Leno should have had a stronger hand but then Sokratis lost track of Erickson (ball watching)
Imagine if that was Mustafi.
I too hope to be proud of Xhaka one day. Proud that he’s signed for someone else. Enough with this clown.
more foggy thinking.
The same no doubt that heralded Luiz signing. Anything better than Mustafi…except not.
Liverpool 2 massive errors for an experienced player.
I’m sure you’re proud of that.
He’ll be selected for the next game, you can be sure of it. The one after also. And so on. I don’t know why; baffles me.
Because you don’t understand what you are watching. He recycled the ball for us 8 or 9 times from halfway line. Many of those were aerial intercepts preventing the ball lobbed into the Spurs front two. Sure he made a mistake but so did Sokratis. He was attracted to the ball unnecessarily for the first goal and then lost track of erickson (ball watching). Luiz did not cover himself in glory either getting turned by Son. And the pair were poor against Liverpool particularly Luiz with two GLARING mistakes (ala Mustafi) not mentioned or strangely avoided by same people who… Read more »
Can someone please explain to Santa that posting the same argument 17 times in reply to different people doesn’t magically make it so?
Oh wait – many have. (sighs and exits stage left)
Emery costing the team points again with his decisions. Not surprised.
I don’t think so. He got his selection spot on against Spurs. Liverpool was an off day. I thought the balance in midfield was correct. Back 4 was the right decision if somewhat risky with the current Cback pairing. Kolasinac was immense on the day. Created a number of our best opportunities plus retained the ball well for us, got back enough to cover. Plus Granit intercepted the ball 8 or 9 times most of which were aerially around half way line. Clear reason behind his positioning to cut out service to Kane and Son from over the top and… Read more »
Oh look – Granit intercepted the ball 8 or 9 times Like his greatest fan here, who’s posted the same flimsy defence of his errant play, 17 times!
Interesting, because I’ve pretty much had it with him. Shown no improvement since he came here.
Anyone else had enough?
You don’t understand what you are watching and are only looking for faults is the problem.
Other players have made mistakes and get away.
Sokratis two matches back to back now where Xhaka was generally solid against Liverpool.
Hello, Kettle.
I think there was some logic in the decision to start with Xhaka yesterday. With Kolasinac playing in a flat back 4, Xhaka’s ability to slot into the defence made sense. And he should have been the experienced calm head. As it was, as Emery said himself yesterday, too many decisions were from the heart rather than the head. Xhaka’s problem is a really poor temperament, an inability to control his emotions at key moments. I’m quite sure that Emery is keen to edge him out this season, but I suspect that it will only happen when Tierney is fully… Read more »
Emotional. You need to watch the game again with an open mind. He made 8 or 9 intercepts half way line to recycle the ball quickly back into play in the Spurs half. Some of those led to very good opportunities including the disguise pass to Pepe late on. BUT this is not new, he did it at Liverpool as well where he had a great game. He worked the ball out of defense against the reds and created two of our best opportunities on the break (one for Auba one for Pepe) AND he intercepted the ball for Torreira’s… Read more »
It’s an article about Xhaka, hence I didn’t comment on Sokratis. If it were an article about Sokratis and I had a view I wanted to share on his performance then I would. Rather than trying to sweep people into simplistic categories, perhaps recognise that my comment (and indeed most that I see on here) didn’t say that everything is bad about Xhaka. Indeed, I said that I absolutely could see the logic in starting him. Yes, he did some good things – i’m not saying that every pass he attempted was woeful and i’m absolutely not on any bandwagon… Read more »
Well put Gus. But go easy on Santa, since Alex left he’s had to find a new crusade to bang on about.
What’s ‘not new’, Santa – is your mindless rehashing of the same argument.
And just on a point of order, I think you’ll find it’s about jumping ON the bandwagon, rather than following it.
Tbh bringing mhki on was the most disappointing for me.
I don´t agree with this. Every time I saw Xhaka yesterday he was fauling somebody. What is in that to be proud about ? I know that he probably doesn´t want to publicly critisize one of his players but still. We will see his team selection for the next game.
Part of the role.
Never seen Viera?
If he was some other player, they would say he took one for the team.
Penalty aside, Granit had a good game intercepting the ball in the half way line 8 or 9 times all game which put Spurs directly back under pressure.
Watch the game again. Don’t be lazy and follow the herd.
Mate can you just post once, or at least if you post more than that at least change what you’re saying.
You’ve made the same point 8 or 9 times.
Cut and pasted to boot…. and he’s accusing others of being lazy – lol.
What game was Emery watching? Xhaka was hopeless all game. He made several ridiculous fouls in the second half which completely ruined the flow of our game. He’s not good enough to play for Arsenal, he is so slow in every respect and his decision making is some of the worst I have seen in the premier league.
There is no place for Xhaka in the team if Emery wants to play out from the back and move the ball quickly to the front free. He doesn’t fit.
You need to watch the game again.
He made 8 or 9 intercepts on the half way line putting Spurs back under pressure.
Many of those were headed intercepts. he plays a critical role ensuring we don’t get hurt over the top and into their front two.
He is a critical part of the team and also reinforces our aerial abilities against set pieces considering we lost a lot of that without Mustafi.
You want mistake you should talk about Sokratis first goal as well.
And the bleat goes on…
Good looks and some leadership skills only get you so far, bench him and please don’t make him club captain…
You only get so far if you blindly follow others.
You need to watch for what he does well.
Watch the game again.
Don’t be lazy in thinking.
and on…
It’s not just Brighton, I remember Crystal Palace too.
Xhaka’s decision making was bad. However, Sokratis is a bigger liability and Ceballos had a stupid moment with Alli that could have resulted in a penalty.
Not bigger but well recognised.
Fair comment for once.
His tackle on kane late on (more a rugby tackle) could have easily been punished.
Atkinson was unduly generous bc not only would it had been a pen, we would have to suffer kane scoring again and a red card.
and on…
He said the same about Mustafi…..but he’s gone Granit……be afraid, be very afraid
No Luiz is the same as Mustafi except older.
And Sokratis is the same as Granit but never gets criticised. Late challenge on Kane plus the first goal was partially his fault as he was attracted to the ball leaving a gap behind (when Xhaka was already challenging), then later he lost track of Erickson.
Again ask yourself if that was Mustafi or Granit how you would have reacted.
There’s your bias there.
Man alive, any reason to bash on Emery right? For all we know he absolutely lambasted Xhaka at half time or after the game, he may well drop him after the international break. Ozil didn’t perform so he dropped him, Guendouzi did so he plays, willock did so he plays, Kolasinac has been replaced by Tierney and Mustafi has been sent to Siberia as far as I can tell. We do seem to be a meritocracy and I don’t see why Xhaka is going to be treated any differently. If Ceballos, Guendouzi and willock continue to perform as they have… Read more »
Luis has not been an upgrade on Mustafi.
Xhaka makes the odd mistake (he hasn’t for a while) leading to a penalty but his reputation precedes him more than anything else.
Sokratis could have easily been sent off as well with that late (and frankly stupid) tackle on Kane.
with you on this. I believe as the season progresses we would have a found a solution. either Lucas or even Chambers/Niles may be the solution. So calm until Lucas gets match fitness and defence personal to return to team for freeing up potential replacements.
“I am proud of Xhaka”
Emery in a party of 1 here. I’ve defended Xhaka in the past, but he really is making it hard. There’s a baller in there somewhere, but the guy hasnt improved since he joined and doesn’t seem to gel stylistically with the rest of the team. He should know better than conceding that utterly idiotic penalty last night. I’d like to see Emery drop him and Xhaka be made to fight for his place. For me, Willock has done enough to be ahead of Xhaka in the pecking order at present.
Sorry Mr Emery, you are wrong. Xhaka is proving to be a massive liability. Willock for me all day long. Why did Mhkytarayan enter the fold when he’s surplus to requirements and off to Roma? Utter stupidity on the part of our manager.
Just saying he made 8 or 9 (aerial) intercepts and recycled the ball back into the Spurs half. Also a number of sweeping intercepts first half to recover the ball. You can’t just look at the negative which is the over committed penalty alone. He also provided some excellent balls one to Pepe from a disguise pass. PLUS he was not the only liability on the night. Sokratis late and clumsy challenge on that diver kane could have easily been punished as well not to mention he would have been sent off. You need to keep lucid in your criticism… Read more »
and on….
Again too many people are like sheep following herd mentality criticism without considering full picture for clarity of thought. They like to pick on certain players and ignore the faults of others (say Luiz in the Liverpool game or Sokratis for the Spur’s goal…little mention go figure) Instead they will seek out their favorite scapegoats (now Granit since Mustafi isn’t around) Sure Granit has his flaw but his merits outweigh the occasional mistake. Against Liverpool he was solid and contributed to two of our most promising breakaways with pepe and Auba working the ball out of defense in tight confines.… Read more »
I hear what youre saying but the fact is that he lets us down at crucial moments with his rashness. He’s the captain, this is the guy that the youngsters are expected to take their cues from. I agree there are others that make ridiculous mistakes as well but he’s been at the club longer than them and still he makes them. I dont mind players having bad games but when they make the same mistakes time and time again its exasperating. We’re a top six team with a captain that probably wouldn’t get into any of the teams were… Read more »
Oh look – a fresh post that isn’t a cut ‘n pasted reply….
er… except it is.
And the bleat goes on.
There are only two problems with Xhaka: 1. Lack of pace – this is the main culprit where players just pass him by and to compensate, he makes a last ditch effort which is usually a shirt pull or a rash tackle. ie. why most of his offences doesn’t seem to be malicious. 2. Lack of anticipation – if he had this quality, he could compensate for the former. Unfortunately, he needs some time/touch before he could organise himself (shape & angle of his body while receiving a pass) for an forward pass (he is not a ball carrier) or… Read more »
Imagine this manager was as willfully blind to Ozil’s shortcomings as he is to Xhaka’s.