Arsenal: Granit Xhaka is just full of surprises, huh?

Granit Xhaka has been a defensive stalwart for Arsenal lately and if that surprises you, you’re not alone. And there’s still more to come, don’t you worry.

Look at me, squeezing in two Granit Xhaka articles in one week. You’d think that I had a prerogative or something. Whatever the case, Arsenal‘s stock these past few matches would be in a much different light if not for the Swiss midfielder, and if that isn’t worth double coverage, I don’t know what is.

Xhaka was tremendous on the defensive side of things against Chelsea, and the difference here is that he was an actual centerback this time, not just a deep midfielder. He was called on after David Luiz‘s red card to slide in next to Shkodran Mustafi and both of these guys became unexpected heroes.

Xhaka looked every bit the part of a centerback. Like he never did under Unai Emery. Maybe it’s just a new team spirit instilled by Mikel Arteta. Maybe it’s just that Granit Xhaka is actually far better than people think. (No waaaaaay.)

But after the match, Mikel Arteta spoke about how surprising it was that Xhaka did as well as he did at centerback. His exact words:

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"“From day one I spoke with him. I tried to convince him this was the right place for him and everything I ask he’s willing to do. I don’t know how good he was going to be at centre-back.”"

If nothing else, this also shows that Xhaka has been incredibly professional about his stay at Arsenal after being treated egregiously by fans and stripped of the captaincy. Just weeks after we thought he’d be sold, he’s anchoring the defense, a man down, at Stamford Bridge?

Tell me another midfielder who can do that. It’s okay, I’ll wait.

Arteta did sound surprised about Xhaka. How he has done everything asked of him, how he has exceeded expectations on the pitch. And the best part is, as the Xhaka expert that I am, I don’t think we’ve seen the best Xhaka yet. What we’re seeing now is him thriving defensively. Because he’s had to.

We haven’t seen him getting involved in the attack as much. We haven’t seen him cracking shots from thirty yards. These are all things that are taking a back seat to his sudden defensive dominance. So yeah, maybe it will be even more surprising when he ties it all together and becomes the everything midfielder we never thought he would be.

Just wait for it. He will continue to surprise, and Mikel Arteta is going to be there every step of the way to remind you all that he deserves way more credit than he’s getting. And I will be too.