Arsenal: The perfect opportunity to drop Granit Xhaka

With Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos now fully fit, Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has the perfect opportunity to drop Granit Xhaka.

Last season, Unai Emery wanted five captains among his Arsenal squad. His logic was sound. He wanted the responsibility of leadership to fall on several players, not just one individual. This year, he said the same, with one player being the leader of the group — last season, that leader was Laurent Koscielny, who departed in acrimonious circumstances this summer.

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Initially this year, the ‘club captain’ has been Granit Xhaka. But Emery has been hesitant to name his the official captain. In fact, he has been hesitant to reveal any information about any of the potential captains. In the home matchday programs, Xhaka has written a ‘Voice from the Dressing Room’ piece, not the usual ‘Captain’s Notes’.

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In regards to Xhaka, this curious decision-making hints at two possible opinions that Emery holds: the first is that he is a key player who will be integral to the team, enough to be named captain for the five games he has started this season; the second is that Emery does not entirely trust him to be regularly starting, which is why he is so cautious to name Xhaka as the club captain in place of Koscielny.

It is difficult to determine which is the more substantial opinion here. Does Emery rate Xhaka highly or not? But given his team selections so far this season, you would have to suggest that the Arsenal manager believes in Xhaka’s ability and thinks that his team is better off for having the Swiss international anchor the midfield. Sadly, however, there is mounting evidence that that is not the case.

Whether Emery can see that evidence, and subsequently make a change because of it, we will get a good idea on Sunday. While Xhaka has started every game he has been available for this season, Emery has not really had the opportunity to drop him. However, when Aston Villa come to the Emirates this Sunday, that is very much not the case.

Neither Matteo Guendouzi nor Dani Ceballos started on Thursday night in the 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. It is reasonable to expect that both will start this weekend. Xhaka, meanwhile, played a full 90 minutes. Joe Willock and Lucas Torreira also started in that match, the former impressing in an excellent individual performance while Torreira now looks fully match-fit after the summer’s Copa America.

Moreover, Mesut Ozil was rested from the match altogether after he made his first appearance of the season against Watford last weekend. All in all, then, Emery has three players who could all feature in the midfield in one way or another in place of Xhaka.

Whether or not you agree that Arsenal are better off without Xhaka in the team or not, the opinion that matters Emery’s. And at present, that opinion is difficult to decipher. Sunday, though, will give us a major clue to figuring out just what Emery thinks of his incumbent club captain.