Arsenal: Granit Xhaka victimized by Arsene Wenger’s grand vision

Arsenal’s hotly-contested Granit Xhaka qualified for the world cup, but in the mean time, there has to be a cure for his obvious angst.

With just a few World Cup spots left to give, Switzerland took on Northern Ireland and pulled out a 0-0 draw to qualify. In the process, Arsenal’s highly-criticized Granit Xhaka was yet again not at his best. He got the job done, but, needless to say, no one was terribly impressed.

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This was a high-intensity game that did not seem like it should have finished 0-0. And by high-intensity, I mean the kryptonite of Xhaka’s game.

The Swiss midfielder has struggled to keep up with the speed of high-octane battles because his personal game is predicated on calm and composure and slowing things down. But no man has the ability in and of himself to dictate the pace of a game, especially not on a frantic team like Arsenal, that doesn’t always seem like the best combination.

It’s easy to get mad at Xhaka for his seeming carelessness, where gives the ball away too easily under a conceived panic, but is it all his fault, or has he just been subjected to a delusional vision of Arsene Wenger?

You can tell in the way that the Gunners play most times, that slow deliberate build-up, that Wenger is still intent on controlling the pace of the game and putting his side in control of the game, to dictate proceedings.

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Again, on the surface, that’s great. And no one benefits from that idea more than Granit Xhaka, who thrives in a situation like that, where he has all the time in the world to pick out his passes and not a hint of angst. Nothing could be better. It’s like putting a grizzly bear alone in a Chinese food buffet. With no one there to challenge him, he will just feast.

Poor analogy aside, in reality we’re putting that grizzly bear in Chinese food buffet along with a panther, two lions, a spider monkey and a velociraptor. Sure, he will eat well on occasion, but he has no comfort, no ability to relax. And then even when you take those opponents away, he’s still panicky that there might be more lurking in the shadows.

Xhaka has so much talent. To say that he is a poor player just shows a gross ignorance for who he is. The problem isn’t in his abilities, the problem is in the system that was supposed to be in place here that still isn’t.

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Getting over that is an ongoing process. Which of course, produces the problem that the growing pains are still going to be a part of daily life.