Spontaneously I want him gone, awful season for such a hyped player and with the big fee and all. But that wouldn’t be fair. I’ll give him another season under a real manager, because just like özil we know there is quality there.
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I think our whole set-up is just a burning mess at the moment. Midfield can’t control the ball, defenders can’t keep the ball, it gets played back to the goalie who will only hoof it because of a lack of options. Xhaka at the same time really isn’t performing quite as expected and looks lost and to a degree limited. One can only hope that some new ideas will improve that as Cazorla being the sole reason the whole team can’t play football anymore really can’t be the excuse at the end of the season.
Again not great. It doesn’t help having a useless prick like Coquelin next to you though.
I think this is fair… and frankly, atm he is our only hope in the squad at CM… at all. Le Coq looks to have completely regressed, and was only “decent” player at best… Santi is aging star and I would hate to rely on him moving forward.
I am really pessimistic about Xhaka atm, not because I don’t think he is made to look worse (as would any player in his position) due to management, etc., but because he is doing the simple things poorly and making tragic mistakes that a great player really shouldn’t - and with regularity. His physical limitations compound things, but they really shouldn’t be a huge issue if he sorts the rest out and finds the right place in the squad and performs at the level his trajectory projected.
I think he may be doomed under AW however.
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I agree that he is rather limited and he strikes me as a player who really needs to be better coached. Not that I’m saying he’s unintelligent on the pitch, but he seems lost as you say. I doubt Wenger is the man who gives clear and specific instructions to his players, but some players need to be given a more simple role. Because right now Xhaka is playing like a mix of an anchor, dlp and box to box. Which can be said about Coq too right now and the end results is two headless chickens performing multiple tasks to hard for them to handle.
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I will judge Xhaka when he will start to play in his position (as defensive playmaker) and with a proper player near him.
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Even under a shit coach he’s still a central midfielder. There’s no excuse for him running into players and knocking them over rather than tackling them, getting cards every game and not being sensible under pressure. He’s as much all over the place as Coquelin is.
He might get a better role where he sits deeper looking to make passes but usually when a player has a rough first season they still show glimpses. Apart from a couple of long shots and long balls, he’s really not been impressive.
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he is a midfielder born to play in front of the defenders, receive the ball and build the action, not a midfielder for a duo into a 4-2-3-1.
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In that case £38m was an outrageous sum of money to spend on him.
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Neither Xhaka or Coq benefit from the way we play atm. There’s only room for one on the pitch, together they are a disaster. If we’re playing a better team then the ideal Coq cleaning lady sitting in front of the defence or if we aim at having possession and controlling the play it’s a game for Xhaka alone in front of the back four. At least in theory.
Anyone ever thought a new manager might not want him. Being poor against Liverpools one thing but being fucking invisible at Sutton is something else.
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Wouldn’t mind if we look to sell him in the summer. Bold move to sign him and hasn’t paid off one bit.
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Did someone figure out what he was booked for last night?
Can only imagine it was dissent. Looked like he had some choice words for the ref when Can should have been shown a second yellow.
Felt sorry for him yesterday - one of our best players until being moved inexplicably to centre back!
I would give him one more season.
Wenger should play Gabriel as CB after the red card yesterday, not Xhaka’s fault.
He looked a lot fucking better in a 433. That first half our team played was actually really good, and I think it had a lot to do with the formation. And interestingly enough didn’t it kind of lend momentum to the whole, “we shouldn’t build the team around Özil”, argument?
Once Sanchez and Özil are gone, that might be a glimpse of the future and we actually dont look all that bad. I actually really liked Ramsey, Ox, and Xhaka in the midfield. I stopped watching after the pen and got back to work but if we do have a Simeone type who is harder on the players and has the team a lot more organized defensively I still think we could do some damage with the team we have.
-----------------------Cech--------------------
Bellerin–Mustafi–Kosh–Monreal
Oxlade-----------Xhaka-------Ramsey
Theo------------Welbeck-----Lucas/Iwobi
@AbouCuellar is going to have a stroke reading this.
Personally I wouldn’t entirely be against seeing this for a couple of games.
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Who is going to protect the back 4?
Ox may have a few good games this season, and including Ramsey and Xhaka, they don’t really have much defensive sense.
Monreal and Kos a year older… you don’t want any protection in front of them? Ramsey to protect Monreal?
If you have Gibbs to replace Monreal, then you have him and Ramsey going forward more a lot.
From your formation, I don’t see a decisive and precision passer (like Ozil) and a creative player (like Santi).
So we rely on Xhaka’s inconsistent long passing, or Ox inconsistent dribbling, or Ramsey you-won’t-know-when bombing forward to create chances for the forwards?
To have Bellerin, Ox and Theo on one side, none of them can cross the ball decently.
I don’t like Giroud to start, but at least he could be the focal point to start an attack.
Can injury-prone Welbeck play as the striker in 4-3-3?
Theo and Lucas/Iwobi are not good crosser/passer (including Welbeck). This would be a huge downgrade if there is no Sanchez, who could carry and protect the ball well, and create scoring chances by himself.
If there is no replacement of Ozil and Sanchez, sorry to say that we are not even a top-4 team.
I don’t really agree with anything of what you just said, but there’s a lot of shit there I really am not all that interested in debating. How was that @PPB? Proud of me? 
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