Arsenal: Granit Xhaka appreciation day is here again

Arsenal’s moving parts are starting to find some steadiness, but Granit Xhaka remains, untarnished by minutes, and that deserves appreciation.

Arsenal are always going to have a lot of moving pieces, especially given the injury problems that always spring up and bite them in the arse. This seems to happen in the midfield more than anywhere else.

Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere are now confined to one-a-week matches, as they should be, and Mohamed Elneny‘s suspension has come out of the blue. Couple that with the farther forward problem of Henrikh Mkhitaryan taking a tumble and it’s yet again a murky situation.

And it’s in the most important position as well. Arsenal’s depth in attack is established and reputable. Their defense is sketchy, but it’s reliable in terms of appearances and minutes.

But the midfield? That’s a completely different story. There are so many different moving pieces and risks and all kinds of factors to consider that a solid, reliable “rock” of a midfielder would just be a dream come true, wouldn’t it?

Thank God for Granit Xhaka, right?

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No outfield player has played more minutes than Granit Xhaka in the Premier League. It used to be that the Premier League was his primary gig as the Gunners used the rotational options to get through the early stages of the Europa League.

But now, with the competition of the Europa League heating up, Xhaka has been called upon for double duty. No other midfielder can be called upon to reliably do what Xhaka does. Both Wilshere and Ramsey are simply too much of a risk and Elneny is nowhere near dynamic enough.

And he’s done it all while improving himself. The wear and tear of having to play twice a week doesn’t seem to bother him like it does the other players that Arsene Wenger highlighted as having “heavy legs.”

Which, in my always-appreciative book, qualifies him for another round of appreciation. In the midst of the problematic midfield situation, Xhaka has only proven that he can have a baseline of consistency to bank on, which is truly the greatest gift we could ever want to have from any player – consistency.

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It remains to be seen how the midfield is going to be deployed going forward, but Granit Xhaka is going to be playing a huge, reliable part in it, no matter what. The bigger the role you hand to him, the more he is able to repay the trust. He is proving that time and again.

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