Arsenal: Charlie Nicholas ignore Granit Xhaka’s greatest asset

Charlie Nicholas has stated that Arsenal should drop Granit Xhaka for Monday night’s fixture against West Bromwich Albion. While the Swiss has his flaws, this is the perfect game for him and dropping him would make little sense whatsoever.

After a run of excellent performances and results for the teams at the top of the Premier League – five of the traditional top six won on Saturday –, Arsenal’s Monday night hosting of West Bromwich Albion takes a new significance. They now sit nine points behind the two Manchester clubs, who are leading the way, and absolutely must win.

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But West Brom, managed by the ever-antagonising Tony Pulis, have been the great bogey team for the Gunners in recent seasons. Last year, a trip to the Hawthorns saw them lose, emphatically, 3-1, and the reverse fixture in North London was a hard-fought 1-0 win on Boxing Day thanks to a late Olivier Giroud goal.

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The pressure means that Arsene Wenger cannot afford to get his team selection wrong. And former Gunner and Sky Sports’ pundit Charlie Nicholas, when discussing the upcoming team selection, has argued that Wenger should drop Granit Xhaka, claiming that, at home to West Brom, a team who will sit extremely deep and defend, there is no need for a holding midfielder:

"“Do Arsenal seriously need a holding midfield player when you’re playing at home? They might say ‘well they’ll be too attack minded’. But they’re attack-minded when they have a holding midfield player so I would leave Xhaka out. I would consider leaving him out and say ‘I’m going to go with Ozil, Ramsey’. ‘You’d take the risk at home, Arsenal need to start getting a bit of momentum, getting the fans right behind them again.”"

However, while Xhaka certainly has his faults – his immobility is a major issue in defensive areas as he attempts to cover ground and close down opposing midfielders; his dependence on his left-foot means that he can be hurried and harassed when in possession, limiting his ability to distribute from deep; his overly-aggressive approach can lead to disciplinary issues and positional exploitation –, there is one key aspect of the game that he excels at: orchestrating from deep with time on the ball.

That is exactly the type of scenario that Arsenal will face against West Brom. Pulis will demand his team sit on the edge of their penalty area, compacting the space just in front of them, closing down only in their defensive third, relinquishing possession in other areas of the pitch.

Playing the incisive, penetrating passes from deep, against a disciplined and tightly-packed defence is an extremely difficult skill. Having the vision to pick out the right players at the right time who have managed to find those pockets of space in advanced areas, then having the technique to play those accurate and difficult passes is difficult. There are not many players who have that ability. But Xhaka does.

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And the pattern of the game will be such that Xhaka will have to time to dictate and create from deep. The Swiss is far from the perfect midfielder. He has many shortcomings that need to be addressed. But this is the perfect game for him. Dropping him is utterly nonsensical.