Arsenal: Granit Xhaka Changing Would Be Wholly Detrimental

Granit Xhaka has stated that he will not change his style for anyone. Trying to alter his aggressive approach would be detrimental for both he and Arsenal.

There have been many reasons as to why Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have not enjoyed the same success that their marriage produced in the first decade together. The mental fragility of the squad is a key area, their defensive shortcomings is another and the financial restrictions that the move to the Emirates Stadium enforced yet further reasoning as to why success has not been replicated.

However, perhaps more than any other, the biggest, most significant issue that has plagued the club has been the makeup of the squad. In particular, the lack of variety that Wenger has limited himself to.

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Arsenal have rarely boasted the physically powerfully, defensively aggressive players that win other teams titles. However, when Granit Xhaka was signed in the summer for £35 million, the hope was that he would bring some much-needed metal to an otherwise brittle midfield. There have, though, after some disciplinary issues as he settles into English football, some musings that he should alter his style. Xhaka, though, has rejected such a sentiment, stating that he will not change for anyone:

"“I wouldn’t change myself for anybody. I am who I am, people accept me or they don’t. I have my strengths and my weaknesses which I can try to improve upon, of course. I’m still not the finished product. I’m only 24 so I’ve got plenty of time to keep improving. I’ve picked up quite a few yellow cards in the last few years, a few reds too. That was the case as a youth player as it is now. But I don’t see it as a problem. That’s how I play. If you take that away then I wouldn’t be where I am now. So I don’t think the yellow cards or the red cards are too big of an issue.”"

If Xhaka was to scale back his physically imposing, sometimes rash, often reckless but always relentless style then it would come at both the detriment of both his game and Arsenal’s game on the whole. A little like Diego Costa for Chelsea, Xhaka is at his best when he is allowed to push the boundaries, to stretch the rules and win the battle of the dark arts.

Sometimes he will get it wrong. That is to be expected with such an approach. However, it is something that Arsenal have been missing for many years and it has cost them. A lack of bite and brawn in midfield has seen the more physically domineering sides in the Premier League dominate them. The likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and even Spurs of late have enjoyed success against Wenger’s side.

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Xhaka is far from the perfect player. He is still adapting to a new team and a new league, still has much to learn and is coming off two sub-par displays in the successive Arsenal losses. Nonetheless, what he brings to the team is unique and necessary. Control must be found but change must be avoided.

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