Arsenal: Granit Xhaka’s Thin Ice Thicker Than It Seems

Arsenal won against Stoke City pretty handily, but Granit Xhaka is still facing some stern criticism, particularly for his red card. It’s not that bad.

Arsenal’s win against Stoke City was tarnished only by a questionable penalty on Granit Xhaka. Questionable in that he really didn’t do anything wrong. He just forgot to put an arm down. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

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Yet there are still people out there saying he does stupid things every match and there are still those out there that think he has to redeem himself for the surrendered penalty. They make it sound like Xhaka is on incredibly thin ice.

But the fact of the matter is that he isn’t. Xhaka’s perceived thin ice is so much thicker than people think. I get that Wenger was a bit harsh on Xhaka earlier in the November and while I find that his criticism was wholly undeserved, the only thing that matters is that we are through that now and we are looking at a present and future where Xhaka is heavily relied upon.

Wenger has made the most telling sign of all in agreeing with this principle – he is starting him consistently. With Ramsey wilting away and Elneny always a favorite, Wenger has finally committed to starting Xhaka consistently and that is a major sign that he isn’t doing anything stupid. He is doing exactly what Wenger wants him to do.

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I would even argue that Xhaka has the upper hand on Francis Coquelin. The Frenchman seemed to hold the role next to Santi Cazorla, but recent matches have shown that Xhaka can do all of the defensive work that Coquelin does – with less effort used – and he can also win aerial duels, pick out key passes and be a contributing member of this offense.

So not only is the ice that Xhaka is skating on not as thin as we originally thought, it is most likely not even ice, because all of those mistakes he was supposedly making have either been ironed out or have proven to not be mistakes at all (like his aggressive mantra).

It’s clicking for Xhaka in the middle of that Arsenal formation. His role is clearly defined and he is playing it masterfully. If Santi Cazorla came back tomorrow, it would be Coquelin that lost his spot and not the Swiss bruiser.

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And I fully believe that Wenger agrees with this.