The above is reactionary shite. Xhaka will prove to be a great signing with a manager who doesn’t leave his midfield so horrifically exposed.
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I think Xhaka needs to be managed by someone with more aggression to their tactics. He needs to be protected in the middle because when he’s isolated he’s fucked.
I said when we signed him he looks too cumbersome and not smart enough to counter lack of mobility, but got flamed for it. Not willing to write him off just yet but can’t see him becoming a world beater overnight.
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A big disapointment, loved his range of passing when he came but it’s clear why he wasn’t starting. His defending, positioning and pressing is all terrible and he’s as slow as mollasses. Maybe he can improve that side of his game, I don’t know.
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Simeone would probably get the best out of him.
All our defensive midfielders have been blasted over the years. All our defenders, bar Koscielny and Mertesacker to a degree, has been blasted over the years. Now I don’t want to claim all those players are good, because there has been some proper carbage in between them. But the most important fault is that we are not well set-up and players are exposed because of that. I think Mustafi and Xhaka should get the benefit of the doubt under a new manager.
That was obviously not serious. 
My opinion hasn’t really changed. I think he’s good in the right team, but still far from great and you’d want much more for £30m. There were better deals you could have made during the last summer.
Did Burg not actually stress his concerns about Xhaka prior to his move? I definitely remember Mario did lmao.
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Yeah that was my thought too. Im sure he highlighted his disciplinary record and how that could impact on us.
The euros were a terrible standard of football. The teams didn’t press Xhaka had all day on the ball to just trot around near the half way line and receive the ball under no pressure and pick a pass. He’s being found out now.
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Fair point, I mean if Ramsey can actually look like a player.
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Yeah I never got the hype over his Switzerland performances against Albania and co.
As bad as weve been theres been plenty of decent games were he just hasnt shown anything yet.
Players can step up on their own. Not everything down to the manager when you cross the whitewash.
And at Gladbach?
Xhaka will come good I think. He’s been having a rough season, not playing to his very best, needlessly suspended over longer periods (which is all his own doing) and in general playing in a team that doesn’t really have an idea of how to play. I would have expected more from him to this point but there’s time. He got another 3 months of playing for nothing to fit in for next season.
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Well you know how big of a Bundesliga fan I am, so no comment on that. I was replying to a comment made about how great Xhaka looked at the Euros, which I watched every game and the intensity of those matches is not anywhere near what he’s been experiencing this season, and looking so out of depth with.
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As Castiel said, I did express concerns on the old forum that he’d struggle, but I gotta admit there’s parts of his game that have disappointed me that I either didn’t see because I didn’t watch enough of him or overlooked. And that’s mainly how susceptible he is to pressure, I didn’t expect him to be so easy to force into errors, how he defends in space is no surprise to me though.
Gotta cut him some slack imo, he’s come to a team that has no real structure for a coach that had absolutely no plan for him. So far only a technical freak is able to succeed in our midfield and like Arteta, it’s probably shortened his career.
PL clubs are not getting much for £30m these days, especially when it comes to midfielders. Kante, Sissoko, Wijnaldum & Xhaka were the £30m midfield signings last summer.
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Best Bundesliga XI for two seasons shows he has the quality. Needs better protection for sure.
I can tell when someone has been told a job to do and when they have been told to go out and wxpr as themselves. Doesn’t matter the level.
Yep, I remember you expressing those concerns, my post was tongue in cheek as well (@A.F.). I did want to challenge people to make a defence of him, though, because I think there’s probably one there to be made. I would cautiously agree with @PPB here, there are games I have quite liked from him, but some parts have really been surprisingly bad, particularly some of his shockingly heavy touches and, in what is really a related problem, a lack of pressing resistance.
You’ve stumbled on some truth here, Curt. I said at the time the Euros were a shocking level of football. Hence why I kinda laughed at people who were bigging up Ramsey and Giroud cause of their performances, and also said at the time that Ramsey was probably the most obvious sell high candidate in the history of history.
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I will judge Xhaka when he will play into a trio on midfield like Guardiola used Sergi.
Thought he might have bossed this but alas no. . .again.
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I honestly don’t know why Arsene bought him. It’s pretty clear Arsene doesn’t know what his best position is or what his optimal skill set is. We should be building a midfield around him not screwing around with players like Ramsey and Coq (neither of whom I particularly like).
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