Arsenal: Granit Xhaka finally showing his true class

Granit Xhaka has found his way to becoming Arsenal’s best player these past few weeks. Has the patience finally paid off as he reaches his true class?

When Granit Xhaka first started off at Arsenal, fans got a taste of what he was all about- pinging long range diagonals and chipped through balls, topped with a very fierce shot. He announced his arrival in the Premier league with a cracker of a goal against Hull City.

Fans started praising him, branding him names such ‘The Swiss Xabi Alonso’.

However, he did not kick on from that good start the way fans expected him to. He started losing confidence in his own abilities. He was negative with his passing and took too long to release the ball.

He tackled without any conviction and many a time, was too reckless. He seemed like a shadow of the player he was. Once Arsene Wenger switched to a back three, his performances improved drastically. He put in top notch performances against Manchester City and Chelsea in the 2017 FA Cup semi final and final respectively.

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This season has been a mixed bag for Granit Xhaka. He was very poor in the opening fixtures, lacking any sort of direction in his play. He seemed like someone who was confused on the pitch. Many fans, including myself, did not know what position he was playing.

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On paper, he was the defensive midfielder, but in reality he used to pop up all over the pitch and that left huge gaps in the middle of the park. The frustration was growing from the Arsenal faithful. Many felt that Arsenal had wasted £35 million which could have been better utilised elsewhere.

Then, we went to The San Siro. Granit Xhaka put in one of the best away European performances by an Arsenal midfielder in recent times. Defensively, he did not put a foot wrong. His usage of the ball was top class.

Playing a midfield three with Xhaka as the deep player will get the best out of him. When the Gunners played a midfield two, Granit Xhaka was inconsistent and struggled a lot of the time. There are clear problems for the Gunners playing the ball out from the back and that affects Granit Xhaka a lot. He ends up getting out pressed and overrun.

However, now, playing with Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere in the middle, along with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil who love drifting inside- the number of options for him has increased too. It has become easier for him to find a pass, which has improved the speed and conviction of his passing. Defensively he has improved as a result of increased confidence levels.

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We are finally seeing the real Granit Xhaka, an absolute treat to watch.

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