Arsenal: You can’t build a foundation without Granit Xhaka

Arsenal have a lot of high maintenance players and you need a firm foundation to afford that, which this club simply doesn’t have without Granit Xhaka.

Arsenal‘s match against Everton was a firm slap to the face with a rubber garden hose. Everything about the match was a complete and utter failure. They defended poorly, yes, but the most harrowing degree of horror came from the midfield and, by extension, the attack.

The formation should not have inspired too many with confidence. With a midfield pairing of Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny, Unai Emery was putting a lot of faith in a rambunctious 19-year-old in Guendouzi and an incredibly limited player in Elneny.

That came back to bite them in a big way, first and foremost with their inability to set a foundation for the luxury players up ahead of them.

Arsenal has two luxury players – Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They require the right amount and the right kind of service or they disappear from matches. There shouldn’t be any debate about the veracity of that claim.

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But in order to build a foundation, you need someone (at least one) who can set a foundation of control and distribution, otherwise it’s a complete free for all, like it was against Everton, where everyone is running around without a destination and relying on players that rely on other players and all in all, you get a chain of reliance without anyone who doesn’t rely on anyone else.

That man is, and has always been, Granit Xhaka. And without him, you can’t expect to play a match like Unai Emery just expected to play the match.

Without him, you’re asking Guendouzi, who roams the pitch erratically like a lone wolf, and Elneny, who has been limited since the day we got him, to do a job that they’ve never been able to do. And you’re asking them to do it in an away match with so little support around them.

It’s just not a good idea, and it’s starting to bring to light how important Xhaka is in these away matches especially, because where else can you lay that foundation? Literally nowhere.

Without Xhaka, Ozil has no reliable source of possession and if Ozil doesn’t, that extend on up the line to Aubameyang. Both were anonymous against Everton and there should be no questioning why that is, and has been the case for other matches just like this one.