Arsenal: Granit Xhaka deserves as much credit as Lucas Torreira

Arsenal have a killer midfield duo, and while Lucas Torreira deserves a ton of credit, Granit Xhaka deserves just as much, and don’t you forget it.

Arsenal are growing into a pretty remarkable force, and one that is finding balance across the board. Still, no matter how strong their attack is, I still think that the strongest point of this team is in the midfield.

Mainly because it’s been so weak for so many years. We’ve had an incredibly soft core that was easy to pull apart like soft bread, leaving the defense and the attack isolated on opposite ends of the pitch, with no hope of connecting.

Having that connector, with two midfielders that aren’t easily done away with, who actually maintain the ball with order and control, this team is popping.

Martin Keown, who I rarely find myself agreeing with these days, said some pretty accurate things about how Lucas Torreira really tied it all together. He also made the point that Torreira has given Granit Xhaka, an Arsenal “flop” a second chance at life at the Emirates.

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Naturally, I don’t agree with that part, but I now feel it imperative to point out that Xhaka is just as responsible for the success of this midfield as Torreira. Torreira has helped unlock the best Xhaka, allowing him to be his self, with the freedom to roam and create and, most importantly control.

But that doesn’t mean that Torreira is the only reason that this midfield is working. Xhaka has just as big of a part to play because he actually has to be himself and do this work, which is remarkably lacking in glory (until he curls in a free kick from distance). He still has to control the ball, which Torreira hasn’t been able to do yet. He has to break defensive lines with his passing, which Torreira can’t do yet.

I’m getting ahead of myself though, the point isn’t that one is any more important than the other. We saw Torreira and Guendouzi together and it didn’t work out very well.

The point is that we have a partnership that is working, with both players living up to the roles that they need to achieve to be a successful unit.

It’s exciting, to have a midfield spine that isn’t capable of being shattered by a gust of wind. This unit is something to build around for the future.