Arsenal: Granit Xhaka grounding is literally a dream come true

Arsenal fans have been on Granit Xhaka’s back since he arrived, but he may have finally ascended to a position of power on the pitch, at long last.

No player at Arsenal is more frequently in the firing lines than Granit Xhaka. Some fans just don’t seem to understand why he is here or, worst of all, they are still evaluating him based on his performances last year without stopping to realize that he has improved massively in recent months.

It was always a losing scenario for him. People expected him to be Patrick Vieira. That’s stupid. He was never going to be. And the longer he isn’t Vieira, the more people will be upset. But gradually, people are starting to come around and recognize just how good he can be in his own right.

And against CSKA Moscow, I think we overcame a major hurdle. By we, I of course mean myself in my eternal crusade to vindicate Xhaka and Xhaka himself, in his eternal crusade to prove himself.

We talk a lot about Mohamed Elneny and Nacho Monreal and how they have a firm baseline of a 6 or 7. They are never going to do much worse than that. They can do better, but never worse. Sead Kolasinac was in the same boat earlier in the season, but has since struggled.

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Xhaka has never really been in that boat. It seemed like when it rained, it poured. When it was sunny, there was no cloud in sight. But the in between was no man’s land. He rarely went there and he certainly didn’t “bottom out” there.

Against CSKA Moscow. Xhaka did not continue the torrid streak he had been on, mainly against AC Milan. Instead, he nestled into a 6 or a 7 and did his part, adding a few creative flourishes whenever the opportunity arose.

Even with his lash-out yellow card, I wasn’t greatly bothered by anything he did. He grounded himself in a good performance and steadily built towards a great one. He never got there, but he set a baseline for himself and it paid off in a steady, positive performance well out of the spotlight.

That’s a huge step that goes by the name of consistency. Xhaka has struggled to adjust to life in the Premier League, but these past few months, he has been on fire. The question has been how far will he fall when he isn’t on fire anymore. It was always bound to end at some point.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against CSKA Moscow

If this one match is anything to base it off of, he won’t fall far at all. He has his baseline performance ready to go and if he can build from that, great. If not, it’s still a solid, good performance.

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