Arsenal: Granit Xhaka defied agendas against Manchester City

Arsenal were helpless against Manchester City and not many players seemed to care, but Granit Xhaka did, and in that, he may have stood alone.

If you were following the game based on Tweets alone, you would think that Granit Xhaka pumped home two own goals and set up David Silva for the third. But while it may not have been much better than that from a bigger picture perspective, Arsenal’s horrific loss can’t bury just how superb Xhaka was on the day.

First of all, for all the haters – yes he was caught in possession once in a bad area and he misplayed a couple passes.

Now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about how much worse this would have been if Xhaka had not been out there, as many people seem to want.

In the first half alone, Xhaka single-handedly stopped not one, not two, but three counter-attacks. He emerged from the mess of defenders to pluck away a pass and send play the other way. These three interceptions weren’t typical interceptions. They weren’t just sloppy passes, they were part of the fearsome City build-up and Xhaka was on top of it.

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In the second half, with the match crumbling around him, Xhaka made not one, not two, but three crucial clearances in the Gunner’s own 18-yard box to spare further embarrassment. The first came when a reflect header prevented Otamendi from adding a goal. The second came on a casual flick away with a ball coming into the box and the third came in the 80th minute, when Xhaka was the only midfielder bothering to defend.

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Everything that is held against Xhaka was covered in this match. He fought to the very end, taking one of the few chances that the Gunners saw on the offensive end. He completed more dribbles than anyone on the team bar Jack Wilshere. But keep trying to tell me how he has no use.

On the defensive end he was even better, shutting down threat after threat with his own skill and nothing else.

Only a superb Calum Chambers won the ball back more times than Xhaka because he was proactive, no-nonsense, and didn’t allow the ball to get into a position where Laurent Koscielny or Shkodran Mustafi had to make a play.

And yet still – still – the complaints were out in full force. “Xhaka, get out of my team,” “Xhaka is literally worthless,” “Xhaka has no practical use.”

It’s gotten to be pathetic. Moan the team performance, absolutely, it was awful. But yet again the ignorance of a frustrated fan base is showing through clearly as they can’t even see the improvements that an individual is making as it unfolds before their eyes.

Sure, it’s hard to see something like that when you’re being battered, but to keep lashing out at one guy just because your not observant enough to figure out who the real culprits are? That’s the true shame.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Manchester City

I’m not going to ask anyone to watch the match again, because no one should subject themselves to such torture. But for the love of everything, when a player answers nearly all the questions asked of him, even in the midst of a debilitating loss, show some respect.

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