Arsenal: Granit Xhaka ready to solidify himself in the starting XI

Arsenal saw the best of Granit Xhaka against West Ham and the upcoming match against Cardiff City has his name all over it too.

Arsenal’s midfield has been a bubbly cauldron of experimentation, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. None of the three choices have stood out as a must-start thus far, but it looked as though Matteo Guendouzi was going to run away with it. That is, until he struggled against West Ham.

If anything, it’s felt like Granit Xhaka was going to be the one that inevitably had to take a seat, but, like Guendouzi, except in the opposite direction, that all changed against West Ham.

The Swiss international was simply phenomenal against the Hammers, settling into the role he knows best and doubling up on it when Lucas Torreira fell in behind him and allowed Xhaka to roam free. That’s when he started unleashing the hurt, in the form of line-breaking passes and ball control.

Cardiff City do not play the same swashbuckling style that West Ham tried to emulate, nor do they have the same power as Chelsea or City. They have given up the second fewest goals in the Premier League this year, and they’ve done that through quality defense, but also through their philosophy of sitting in and snuffing out attacks.

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Those are the kinds of games where Granit Xhaka is at his best. Give him time on the ball, and give him a lot of the ball, and he will work his magic. I know there are a lot of Xhaka haters out there, but even they admitted that he was great against West Ham, before cautioning that he was still not good enough.

Well, good luck with that narrative when he does more of the same against Cardiff.

Xhaka earned his stay for the full 90 against West Ham, and he figures to earn more here. I don’t think that many players are going to get “dug in” when it comes to Emery’s experimenting with the starting XI, but, that being said, if Xhaka can put up another stalwart performance, then he may be on the front foot more than anyone else in that club.

A team that can truly utilize Xhaka’s strengths has such an advantage. Which is why Emery (and Arsene Wenger) put so much faith in developing him. He’s still a work in progress, but give him a fair shot against Cardiff and you’ll see why he is worth the patience being put into him.

Now I just really hope he can do all of these things, or I’ll have to recant all of this come Monday.