Arsenal and Granit Xhaka: Credit where credit is due

After a difficult first half-hour, Granit Xhaka slotted into centre-back with great aplomb in Arsenal’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday night. Credit where credit is due, it was a battling, leading, inspirational performance.

It has not been the best season of Granit Xhaka’s career. Starting the year as Arsenal’s captain-in-limbo, his performances were torrid as his defensive vulnerabilities and immobility were painfully exploited in central midfield. He was then named the official club captain, only to tell the supporters to ‘f*ck off’ within a month and find himself late stripped of the role.

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He tentatively returned to the squad a month later but struggled to force his way back into the starting XI until Mikel Arteta took over as head coach in late-December. His performances were improved under Arteta, but still showed the limitations of his play thanks to a lack of athleticism, one-footedness, and absence of natural defensive instincts.

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Then came Tuesday night. A torrid first 26 minutes in which he hid in midfield, as has become his customary manner — he had just 18 touches and 15 passes by the time David Luiz trudged off thanks to an early red card– Xhaka dropped into centre-back to comprise a makeshift a back four that consisted of Xhaka, an adapted midfielder, an injury-prone right-back who was making his return from a year-long absence with an ACL tear, a hapless centre-back who had just committed a horrifying error to thrust his team into a one-goal and one-man disadvantage, an 18-year-old winger filling in at left-back.

It was at the heart of this haphazard back four that Xhaka flourished. Heading, tackling, even with his head, intercepting, clearing, barking instructions, pointing to his head to demand his teammates remain focused, this was a stalwart centre-back at the top of their game, commanding the defence and keeping a relentless attack at bay. Only it wasn’t. This was an oft-criticised midfielder, who looked set to leave only weeks prior and was no longer the official captain and leader of the team.

After the match, to BT Sport, Xhaka himself spoke about the inspiration character he and his teammates showed:

"“We played very well after the red card. So difficult, but we showed great team spirit. We were speaking at half time that we can do it and we came twice back so I am very proud of this team. After this game nobody will have to speak about us. We showed big character. A lot of people say we have no character in the team, so after this game we showed we have.”"

And Arteta was especially pleased with Xhaka’s performance:

"“Everything I ask him to do, every training session, he’s like this and is willing to do it. Today, I knew the moment I put him there, I don’t know how well he was going to do but he was going to put everything in. He was great.”"

Xhaka has faced his fair share of criticism this season. Much of it has been deserved. His performances have largely been poor, his relationship with the fans has deteriorated to a nuclear extent, and his future was rightly on the rocks as he sought a return to Germany with a Hertha Berlin transfer agreed, per his agent. But when credit is worth giving, no grudge should prevent anyone from handing it out. And based on his performance on Tuesday night, Xhaka deserves all the credit in the world.

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This was a leading, battling, inspiring, fighting, scrapping, resilient showing from a man who has faced much and overcome much. He embodied everything brilliant about the Arsenal performance, and for that, Xhaka should be praised.

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