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Arsenal: Granit Xhaka Should Be Hopeful, Not Happy
Granit Xhaka has stated that he is happy with his start to life in England but will take time to find his best. While he should be hopeful for his Arsenal future, he should not be happy.
It is undoubtedly difficult to acclimatise yourself to the physicality and the intensity of English football. Arsenal themselves have bought players who have taken their time in finding their feet on these shores. Laurent Koscielny, Kolo Toure and even Mesut Ozil, to some extent, all struggled when they first broke into the starting lineup.
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And while there are examples of players who have waltzed into clubs and excelled from day one – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, most notably, this season – on the whole, it does take time for foreign players with little to no experience of Premier League football to settle themselves and find their feet.
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That has been the case for Granit Xhaka. It has been a turbulent opening season, during which he has shown his quality in glimpses and shown his overly-aggressive nature in others. But there have been signs, especially in the most recent win over West Ham United on Wednesday night, that there is a still bright future ahead for the Swiss international. When asked about he has found his time in North London thus far and what he expects for the future, Xhaka stated:
"“You always need a certain amount of time to fully adjust, it was no different when I moved to the Bundesliga. It’ll take time for me to reach my full potential but I’m really happy with how I’ve started at the club so far.”"
There is a lot of truth in his comments. You do need time to adjust to a new team, a new city, a new culture and league. And it will take him time for him to reach his full potential here in England. However, it is a little naive to suggest that he should be happy with how life at the club has started.
There have been signs that there is a quality central midfielder in there somewhere. He just needs to refine his rough-around-the-edges approach; to address some of the mental shortcomings that plague his performances; to calm his aggressive, abrasive tackling style.
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But there has not been enough success for Xhaka to be happy with how his start to life at Arsenal has begun. Hopeful for the future? Absolutely. But happy about the past? Not so much.