Arsenal: Granit Xhaka Becoming A Functioning Paradox

Arsenal nation had high hopes for Granit Xhaka and while he has mostly delivered, he has also mostly disappointed. The man is a paradox.

I may have been more excited to see Arsenal sign Granit Xhaka than I was by them signing Alexis Sanchez. Xhaka was the midfielder that we had been waiting for for over a decade, while Alexis was just another tool in the arsenal of attackers.

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Naturally I feel a bit different about the two now, but my optimism surrounding Granit Xhaka is the same, if not greater, having seen the way he handles himself in a brand new league.

That being said, the criticism is totally justified. His red cards aren’t the kind of red cards that fans said they would ‘put up with’ for the sake of having another Patrick Vieira type, who wasn’t afraid of disciplinary measures.

His red cards are impetuous and completely out of control. As are some of his yellow cards.

But there is also a double standard developing where far worse fouls have been given far lesser punishments by other players. Still though, that doesn’t excuse the disciplinary problems the Swiss does have.

After the Sutton match, Arsenal.com was braggadocios about the ‘control’ that Xhaka showed against their FA Cup opponents and they were absolutely right. Xhaka was purchased for his controlling abilities and that was again on display against Sutton, just as it has been on display against many other teams.

Yet it was against Sutton that we saw, yet again, the functioning paradox that Xhaka is becoming.

While he exhibits such masterful control for probably 88 of the 90 minutes, he counts that control with such utter lack of control.

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Against Sutton, Xhaka poorly defended one time and that one time he decided to bear hug the attacker so as not to let him pass. He received a yellow card for the wholly unnecessary tackle and social media was up in arms – “he never learns” “completely unnecessary” etc.

It’s a bit of an odd combination, but surely one that Wenger is seeking to iron out into a finer product. To have someone that controls the speed of the game so well also have complete and utter lack of control when it comes to making up for his mistakes – it’s a tough situation to be in. Especially when Xhaka has admitted that he isn’t going to change the way he plays.

So if you want to take it at face value, Xhaka was pretty much saying that he is accepting his paradoxical midfield personality and will find a way to thrive with it. That is, unless Arsene Wenger wins out, which he often tends to do (unless you’re talking about Champions League).

Some of these tackles have indeed been a bit boneheaded, but I can’t help but feel that the overall product outweighs the small slip-ups. Especially because the more he acclimates to the Premier League, the less those slip-ups will happen.

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Or at least that’s the idea here.