Arsenal: Granit Xhaka goal production certainly no fluke

Arsenal should not rely on steady goals from Granit Xhaka, but his assist numbers are a different story. The best is yet to come from the Swiss.

Granit Xhaka‘s passing is what makes him special. Anything that comes along with that passing should be smiled at and ignored, because it isn’t here to stay. Or at least, that used to be the belief at Arsenal. But that wouldn’t be very Arsene Wenger-like, would it? To sign a player for one skill set without ever intending to develop him otherwise?

I’ve talked Xhaka’s improving defensive skill set ad nauseum, but today, I’d like to talk about his meaningful passing, as in his assist numbers.

Again, I have to brag. I said, when Xhaka arrived, that the assist numbers would start to blossom when he settled into the club. Wenger was clearly high on Xhaka and wanted to build around him, so he brought in strikers and attackers that could benefit his skill set.

It still hasn’t hit it’s full potential, but Xhaka’s assist numbers are noticeably changing. In a good way.

This season, across all competitions, he has a whole six assists, which is good for third on the team behind who else but Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey. But keep in mind that this is the best assist production that Xhaka has ever seen in his career, and the season isn’t over yet.

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You’d have to go back to 2010/11 to find his next best season, and that was for FC Basel. He produced four assists that year.

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Which is why many may be keen to dismiss this year’s assist tally as a fluke, seeing as how he didn’t produce near this last year either.

But that’s the whole point. Wenger has been building towards Xhaka’s strengths and that, in turn, has helped Xhaka find more meaningful passes and more positions to create those chances. Granted, he doesn’t create a lot of those chances, but we always talk about how he can drop a ball on a dime, so it only makes sense that they were going to start turning into something when you surround him with top class talent.

Not just that, but his creation numbers have never been higher than they are this year. Again, it’s nothing to lose your mind about, but he is making the most of his passing, he isn’t just hitting square and backwards balls as people often say and he is proving that there is more to this complex midfielder than the frustrations often griped about.

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His assists will continue to grow within this developing system, if they are allowed to. Hell, everything is improving with Xhaka. So sit tight and enjoy the ride.

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