Arsenal: Kamikaze Granit Xhaka Keeping Team Hostage

Granit Xhaka was sent off in the win over Burnley on Sunday. The Swiss international, with his kamikaze play, is holding Arsenal hostage.

That was a rather fortunate win for Arsenal. With the game in control, Burnley lacking any sort of attacking threat and a one goal lead, Granit Xhaka decided to enter the realm of utter stupidity and it very nearly cost his team precious Premier League points.

With a little over an hour gone and Arsene Wenger instructing his side to simply continue in their ascendency, looking to see out the game without stupid, unnecessary difficulty, Xhaka makes two crucially poor decisions.

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Firstly, he tries to play a simple pass past nearby defender Steven Defour. The pass was never on and he played it straight into the feet of the Belgian. Then, after giving the ball away cheaply, Xhaka dives in, leaving the ground with two feet aimed at Defour, with an aggressive scissor action. He gets nowhere near the ball, catches Defour and is subsequently sent off. This is what Wenger had to say regarding the sending off in his post-match press conference:

"“Xhaka’s red card, honestly I have to look at it again, but the noises I heard suggest it was a red card. He has to control his game, and not punish the team with his lack of control and his tackling. We don’t encourage our midfielders to go down in tackles, we want them to stand up and not make these kind of fouls. So if it is a bad tackle then it is a red card.”"

Xhaka has now been sent off nine times in just three years, twice since his summer switch to North London, and has also conceded three penalties for the Gunners. That is wholly unacceptable. I have written in the past that his aggressive streak is something that is a positive, something that Arsenal should look to harness given their weaknesses with the defensive side of the game in recent seasons.

However, with recent events, it is now clear that Xhaka must curtail his style. What was especially frustrating about this most recent gaffe was his performance up to that point. Playing in a deep-lying position, he sprayed the ball around the pitch beautifully, showcasing a lovely range of passing and an intelligence and awareness to release the ball quickly and accurately, instigating many waves of attacks.

Next: Arsenal Vs Burnley: 5 Things We Learned

Xhaka is clearly a talented player with the scope to improve as he continues to adapt to English football. Nonetheless, recklessness and mental mistakes are costing both him and his team dear, holding their title chances hostage as a result.

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