Arsenal Vs West Ham: Declan Rice exposes Granit Xhaka

Declan Rice was the best player on the pitch in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham United on Saturday. Contrast his performance to that of Granit Xhaka’s.

When Granit Xhaka signed for Arsenal in May 2016, he was the club’s joint-second most expensive acquisition in the history of the club. Of true central midfielders, excluding the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Mesut Ozil, he was the most expensive Premier League signing of all time — Paul Pogba was signed in the same summer, but not until after Xhaka.

Find the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here – The 2018 Review

Although prices have exploded since that time, in the context of when the Swiss international made the north London switch, this was a fee that demanded a world-class response. It is undeniable that Arsenal expected Xhaka to be a world-class central midfielder. Even his biggest supporters must admit that he is far from a world-class midfielder.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

He proved it in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against West Ham United, in which he was thoroughly schooled by a 19-year-old who was only playing in his 47th Premier League game of his career. Declan Rice was the best player on the pitch by some distance. Controlling the match with simple but smart play at the base of the midfield, Rice displayed all of his defensive nous that he developed growing up as a centre-half, repeatedly sniffing out the danger brilliantly. Xhaka, on the hand, could hardly spell ‘danger’.

The arguments in support of Xhaka focus on his play in possession, not out of it. He is not known for his defensive influence. He is not in the team for his ability to break up play and restart attacks, despite Arsene Wenger’s insistence to play him as the deepest-lying midfielder. He is there to provide game-progressing distribution that can break through opponents’ high pressing tactics, to create from deep with his range of passing, and to dictate play with metronomic control.

Against West Ham, however, he did none of these things. He offered no options for the back three to play into, allowing the front three of West Ham to force the Arsenal defence into endless sideways and backwards passes, and his passing was extremely ponderous and slow, meaning that even when West Ham’s press was navigated successfully, they were given the opportunity to recover their positions.

Not only was Xhaka ineffective in defence, as he almost always is, but his usual advancing play in possession was also not present. Unai Emery duly hooked him after 60 minutes, clearly aware of the horribly absent performance his midfielder was putting in. This is hardly what you expect from a ‘world-class central midfielder’.

Rice was the one who played like a ‘world-class central midfielder’ here. Dominant in every aspect of the game, he was utterly magnificent at the base of the West Ham midfield. Completing 86% of his passes and 100% of his dribbles, he was safe but also productive on the ball. And then he allied this with some superb screening of the back four: 10 ball recoveries, three interceptions, two clearances and two successful tackles.

Rice was the world-class performer. Not Xhaka. And that is a common theme for the highly divisive Arsenal anchor. For someone who cost £35 million, that is not acceptable.