Arsenal: Granit Xhaka bearing the scapegoating yet again

Despite captaining the team to back to back victories at the start of the season, Arsenal fans have already begun the criticism of the usual scapegoat, Grani Xhaka.

Last season it was Shkodran Mustafi, the year before it was Arsène Wenger. It was probably justified last year as the German had an incredibly poor season costing Arsenal points on several occasions. As a result of his performances, this season Mustafi has been left out from Unai Emery’s squad, leaving room for someone else to take the dreaded responsibility.

I thought Granit Xhaka had a horror show in the first half of the Spurs match, conceding an unnecessary penalty when already a goal down.

However, in the second half, you could argue he redeemed himself by pulling off a captain’s performance. The Swiss shifted the ball from defence to attack and remained a danger in the final third.

Since signing for the Gunners in 2016, neither Arsène Wenger nor Unai Emery has ever dropped Xhaka; and now Emery has given him the captain’s armband. Surely the Swiss must be doing something right off the pitch. And we can’t criticise his mentality or professionalism, the midfielder has since acknowledged his mistake on Saturday and is already looking ahead.

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So has the criticism been justified?

I’d agree with the majority of Arsenal fans, Granit Xhaka has had a poor start to the season. And with young and exciting midfielders such as Dani Ceballos, Lucas Torreira and Mattéo Guendouzi not starting every week, I understand why many fans are unhappy.

However, I don’t think two disappointing performances is enough to cause the social media backlash we’ve witnessed. The midfielder took the role of captaincy after Laurent Koscielny‘s abrupt departure.

Plus, Xhaka is an experienced player. Yes, he doesn’t often play like one but Xhaka is captain of the Swiss team; and with an ever-younger Arsenal squad, I believe it’s necessary to have someone with his experience in the midfield.

After the international break, our second match back is in the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt. This would be a perfect opportunity to try out the midfield trio of Dani Ceballos, Lucas Torreira and Mattéo Guendouzi.

If it works, it has the potential of becoming a very threatening midfield offensively, but with players who can switch from offence to defence. However, I feel like there would be something missing. Despite a poor couple of performances, I think Granit Xhaka holds together our midfield.