Arsenal: Raging Granit Xhaka Debate Won’t Last Long

Arsenal nation is divided over the repeated offenses of Granit Xhaka, but this debate is going to be short-lived. He is too good not to work out.

Arsenal made a significant investment in Granit Xhaka and they therefore expect a significant return. This season has been a mixed bag, but mixed only in that his improvements have been slow and steady and his setbacks have been short and glaring.

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For every couple steps forward he takes, he makes one bonehead mistake. Like surrendering a penalty or gathering red cards. He has two of each. They are massive setbacks when you really get down to it, but again, there are only four combined. Meanwhile he has made 27 appearances.

All things considered, that is a fairly low percentage of appearances to bone headed plays. If you want to get do to averages, he is averaging one boneheaded play every 6.75 appearances. And not all four of them have been wholly boneheaded. The penalty against Joe Allen was just half. Allen is a short dude.

Still, fans have a right to be upset when both red cards have clearly been mental mistakes. He gets upset that a mistake has been made and goes to ground, something Wenger continually emphasizes that he doesn’t want to see happen.

That being said, this raging debate of if Granit Xhaka was a bad choice won’t last long. Disciplinary issues like going to ground after losing a ball are easy to weed out and that is literally the only thing that has to be weeded out.

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Aside from those mishaps, he has been improving and solidifying what makes him so special. His scope of passing, his control on the ball and his physicality make him well worth the investment. All Wenger has to do is phase out the impetuous part.

Which, given Le Prof’s track record, shouldn’t be too difficult. Francis Coquelin came back from Charlton Athletic all those years ago and was picking up yellow cards like it was going out of style.

That accumulation slowly dwindled and now he rarely gets carded. Yet he still plays with that same high intensity.

If it works for Coquelin, it can work for Xhaka. And again, the room between massive gaffs is worth restating. When it happens, it is glaring and horrendous, but it’s not as common as you may think.

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This four game ban came at a pretty poor time, given Arsenal’s midfield injuries, but it could work wonders in solidifying the lesson to be learned.