Arsenal: Giroud, Xhaka To Form Unsung Partnership

Arsenal supporters have been talking fervently about all the exciting partnerships Granit Xhaka will make, but his link with Giroud may be the best.

Arsenal nation is still ablaze over Granit Xhaka, mainly because we are finally getting a chance to see him play and, surprise, it’s just as amazing as we expected. Following an impressive Euro campaign, all we could have wished for was a transition from exactly what he was doing for Switzerland to what we hoped he could do for Arsenal.

Part of that excitement comes from thinking about all of the partnerships he is going to form. Of course, none are more exciting than the potential of having Ozil and Xhaka in the same midfield. Both are wizards on the ball and have at some point in their careers been compared to Andrea Pirlo.

Then there is his partnership with whoever suits up next to him. With Elneny, the partnership will breed control. With Coquelin, the partnership will breed fierceness. With Ramsey, the partnership will breed innovation. With Cazorla, it will breed chances.

Naturally, I also began salivating when thinking of Xhaka picking out the runs of Alexis Sanchez. Arsenal has not been a long-ball team at all lately, as they control possession better than anyone. So much so that the effectiveness of their counter attacking last year was almost overshadowed by the fact that Arsenal was, in fact, counter attacking.

Granit Xhaka is going to assist that counter attack masterfully with his long balls. For Borussia Monchengladbach, he fired over twice the accurate long balls of Arsenal’s leading man (Cazorla).

That is going to help spread defenses immensely and give Alexis room to stretch his legs.

Initially, I thought this approach was going to hinder our big Frenchman, the one and only Olivier Giroud, but then I got to thinking. One of Giroud’s biggest strengths (that doesn’t get the credit it deserves, go figure) is his knockdown ability. It was on full display at the Euros, but Arsenal don’t get it as much. Again, think of the possession stats.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Yet, when executed properly, it is such a useful tool and we saw it when Giroud assisted Welbeck last season with the ideal knockdown.

Most of those knockdowns come from set pieces or short range efforts but add Granit Xhaka to the mix and we can fully expect to see knockdowns placed in the path of on-rushing Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Joel Campbell and more. And they will all look strikingly similar to when Giroud set up Griezmann in the Euros.

You excited yet? Good, you should be. Of course, the natural byproduct of all the build up work is that Giroud will continue to not get credit and Xhaka won’t get assists.

Next: Arsenal's Predicted FIFA 17 Player Ratings

So while the Giroud/Xhaka partnership has all the makings of an exciting partnership just like all the rest, it’s results will not garner as much attention as some of the others. I think I’m okay with that though.

Home/Arsenal News