Arsenal: Granit Xhaka is on to the next stage in his career

Granit Xhaka has taken a lot of flak from Arsenal fans, but if you had any doubts regarding what he is capable of doing, look no further than Liverpool.

I often play up the abilities of Granit Xhaka, in case you are unfamiliar with my antics here at Pain in the Arsenal. Although, to call them antics paints them in a bit of a negative light. All I do is point out what many choose to ignore.

One things that I have pointed out before is that when it comes to what Granit Xhaka is capable of doing, there really isn’t a limit. Maybe he has had moments of not defending well, but he has proven to be a very responsive defender at times too.

Maybe he has been loose in the past, but that’s long been overcome. Maybe he used to shoot too much from distance, but not anymore. He barely even fouls anymore.

Against Liverpool, Granit Xhaka went ahead and proved, all in one sitting, that he can do anything, and is capable of everything.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

For those of you that say he’s not a good defender, go watch this one. Watch his clearances from the box, both with his head and his foot. Watch that superb, last-ditch sliding tackle on Salah in our own goal box.

Watch him win the ball back six times in the first half alone. Watch all of that and tell me you don’t think he’s a good defender. Or, at the very least, tell me that he can’t be a good defender.

In the midfield, he and Torreira were the undisputed champs, but it was Xhaka that handled the ball more than anyone else by a lot. He was so secure on the ball that every single pass seemed to be played to absolute perfection – exactly where it should have been.

But it’s never been his passing that’s in question. Maybe it’s his ability to stand up to top tier opposition, but we just saw him at his absolute best against a top tier opponent. Is it his intensity? His ability to put pressure on? He did that too.

This was the quintessential Xhaka match. He did everything, spare nothing.

Xhaka is on to the next stage in his Arsenal development. He is on to the stardom phase, because this is a special footballer who did some special things out there, never once looking like he didn’t belong.