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Arsenal will be without Granit Xhaka for another couple matches, but it’s clear that he is already missed in this unstable midfield.
Everyone is hating on Granit Xhaka and it makes me sad. Arsenal found a gem in Xhaka and he will continue to justify that claim the more he learns how to handle his own emotions on the pitch.
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If for nothing else then because he is a force. He is a physical specimen who isn’t pushed around and sometimes that is exactly what this team needs. And by sometimes, I mean when we are matched up against a Watford team that I think had twice the body mass of Arsenal.
Francis Coquelin is a nifty player, I will always respect him, but I have seen him get pushed around at times this year and while there were no instances of him being wholly exposed against Watford, there were times where his size was clearly a drawback, mainly when it came to holding onto the ball.
Granit Xhaka is a player who rarely ever loses the ball. Okay, granted, most of his impetuous tackles come from a bad pass. I’m talking about being pushed off the ball.
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That physical presence over the ball is one of the main reasons why Xhaka is so useful. There isn’t another midfielder that we have that can do that.
Coquelin’s size has always been a question and, despite his tenacity, it can come back to bite him.
With Aaron Ramsey suffering an injury, that leaves Coquelin and the Ox (let’s hope his own injury isn’t that bad) to man the midfield and that is a tremendously small midfield. The Ox is strong, yes, and that will come in handy for sure. But he is used to contending with full backs and wingers, not the big boulders in the midfield.
Thankfully, Chelsea isn’t the biggest team in the world. Still though, that means that Xhaka would be even more useful. Having that pillar that can retain the ball and feed team mates is such a nice resource to have.
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Again, would he have changed much against Watford? It’s hard to say, but probably not. Still though, the stability that he provides is what we have been fiending for for so long. He still has a huge part to play in this Gunner season and beyond. It would be foolish to count him out now.