Arsenal: Granit Xhaka HAS been our most impressive player

Arsenal fans railed against one fan’s opinion that Granit Xhaka has been the most impressive player this year – but he’s not wrong.

Time to piss Arsenal fans off and I really don’t care. If there are people out there willing to take Granit Xhaka to the extreme of saying he needs to be replaced, and that the team can’t “carry him” anymore, then I’ll take it to the other and make the case for why that lambasted AFTV fan is right – Xhaka has been our most impressive player this year.

But first, let me make the case why it isn’t someone else. Because there have been a lot of impressive players this year, no doubt. And I don’t want to downplay their value to the club. The two names in particular  that stand out are Lucas Torreira and Alexandre Lacazette.

As for Lacazette, I think that the reason it isn’t him is because he has still struggled with consistency thus far into the year. His returns have been great, he’s doing more than scoring goals, but he has had matches of being wholly irrelevant.

Lucas Torreira is in a very, very close second. The only reason why I think Xhaka edges him out is because, while what Torreira does is so incredibly valuable to the team, he isn’t woven in the fabric of literally every single move. He wins the ball like a champ and fearlessly attacks opposing attackers, and that is incredibly valuable, but Xhaka has a key edge.

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Xhaka is so involved in every aspect of play that I don’t think fans appreciate what would happen if you just ripped that out of the club. You need a guy who can control things, and Torreira doesn’t have that ability. At least not yet.

This year has been a fantastic one for Xhaka, minus the one mistake he made against Wolves that is giving every hater a hernia.

What Xhaka has always provided is a safe and secure outlet, a way to move forward, a springboard for the defense and a backboard for the attack. This year he has been exceptional in all those regards and he has even added some razzmatazz with his fantastic goals.

I often get criticized for making a big deal about how much Xhaka touches the ball (I’m not sorry), but when you touch the ball over 100 times a match, are often the only player who touches it that much, and still don’t get dispossessed more than once per game, and still manage to complete 85% of your passes – your are something special, and you are doing something special.

Maybe Xhaka wouldn’t be able to do what he’s been doing, at least not to the same extent, without Torreira. That’s a fair argument. But Arsenal as a unit wouldn’t be able to do what they’ve been doing without Xhaka, and that’s a bit bigger on the spectrum, wouldn’t you say?