Arsenal: The Granit Xhaka limitations are insurmountable

Granit Xhaka has some serious limitations, from his inability to deal with the ball under pressure and his lack of athleticism. Despite some positive performances recently, they are insurmountable for the Arsenal midfielder to be a top-four anchor.

Granit Xhaka has certainly not been the easiest player to evaluate during his time in north London. Initially signed for £35 million and heralded as a leading Premier League central midfielder, expectations were quickly underwhelmed. Xhaka was slow, exploited physically, and struggled defensively with horrendous ill-discipline.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Mikel Guardiola or Pep Arteta?

But while his initial impressions were far from positive, the criticism he received was disproportionate, so much so that, by the end of his second season at the club, you could almost argue that he was underrated among the Arsenal fanbase.

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

However, now in his fourth season at the club, Xhaka has since regressed once more, his tackling reverting to the uncontrolled fashion of his early months, his immobility still a major issue when defending or implementing a high-press, and his overdependence on his left foot harming Arsenal’s play out of pressure, unable to play passes quickly or spin away from defenders as a result.

He is a capable footballer, and so therefore has positive performances. In fact, he impressed in his first two starts under new head coach Mikel Arteta, the high-intensity pressing and reintroduction of Lucas Torreira seemingly the keys to unlocking the best of the Swiss international while also providing him with the protection he requires. But even in these positive showings, those same limitations exist, and eventually, they will catch him out.

Xhaka was decent against Bournemouth and Manchester United, but then followed up those displays by his disastrous outing against Leeds United on Monday night, in which he was consistently off the pace, dispossessed time and again when placed under pressure, horribly ill-disciplined and late in his tackling, and largely detrimental to Arsenal’s play.

Other players have weaknesses. Thierry Henry was never brilliant aerially, Cesc Fabregas was small and not the quickest, John Terry could be exposed in one-on-ones, Xavi and Andres Iniesta are physically slight in comparison to many of their midfield opponents. But these shortcomings are not insurmountable. Either they are not so damaging to the player’s overall impact or they can be made up for by other elite qualities. Not with Xhaka.

The extent of Xhaka’s immobility is such that he cannot make up for it with his passing; the extent of his ill-discipline means that he cannot make up for it with his physicality; the extent of his utter inability to play under pressure cannot be made up for by his play when he has time on the ball. His weaknesses are insurmountable.

And that is the crux of the Xhaka problem. No matter how much protection he is provided, no matter how much he improves those other areas of his game, no matter his brief positive performances, those restriction will always exist. He is an inherently limited player.