Arsenal: Granit Xhaka proving an old Wenger trope dead wrong

Arsenal fans are still not sold on Granit Xhaka, but if you follow his career progression, you can see a clear and predictable trajectory that can only mean good things.

I’m taking every chance I get to brag about how fantastic Granit Xhaka is doing, solely because I feel like I’ve earned the right to do so. I know most Arsenal fans still aren’t sold on why he is here or what his prolonged use will be, but, while I’m not expert, I can offer some insight as to why these recent developments aren’t to be shirked at.

When Xhaka first arrived, he had three huge problems. He was rash and racked up the cards, he couldn’t defend worth a lick, and he was irresponsible with the ball. Three simple, yet clear problems.

From the start I said (here I go, bragging again) that if Francis Coquelin can weed the cards out of his game, so too can Xhaka. I also said that he would learn to be more responsible with the ball.

It was the defense that I wasn’t sure he would ever learn, as that didn’t seem to be something he had ever been asked to do. It was a crapshoot, maybe there was a solid defender buried inside the Swiss, but there was no way to know without coaxing it out.

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The rashness and disciplinary issues were the first to go. Near the end of his first season, the fouls were disappearing and the cards were following suit. Today, most of his cards are applauded, or achieved from being a badass, which I’ll never complain about.

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The irresponsibility in possession wasn’t far behind. Xhaka started to understand the pace of the English game, he started to understand how his strength and stature could help him and he combined these two bits of knowledge to become a safe haven for the ball.

But he still wasn’t a defender. Six months into his second year, people were still clamoring for him to defend better, as he would frequently zone out or just plain tackle poorly. While his other problems were dissipating, this one continued.

He was used in other roles and proved incredibly useful, but he wasn’t Aaron Ramsey or Jack Wilshere and, more than likely, would have to play the deep role at some point. Now that he has been moved back there over the past couple of months, we have seen Xhaka putting all of his development together into one complete package.

He is defending well, controlling the ball and a leader on the pitch. He is everything we wanted him to be when he first arrived, and we only had to wait less than two years to get there. Now, at 25 years old, the world is at his feet and all we as fans have to do is shut up about how he is inadequate and start appreciating how far he has come in the past two seasons.

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And oh, by the way, clearly this club knows something about developing players, because here is Xhaka, about to turn into the crown jewel of player development.

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