Arsenal: 3 things you didn’t notice Granit Xhaka doing vs Newcastle

2. Adjusted to his situation

Getting a yellow card in the 8th minute is not the kind of situation you want your defensive midfielder to be in. Especially when your defensive midfielder is Granit Xhaka, who has a habit for chopping down counter attacks by literally chopping down oppositions and accepting the punishment.

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A red card wouldn’t have been that unrealistic. But Xhaka adjusted accordingly to the situation he had created for himself. Only once did his yellow card get in the way, when he got spun in midfield and, normally, would have dragged the opponent down, but opted to let him slip by instead. It wasn’t a good look, but it was smart, like it or not.

He also adjusted in the attack. Normally you can count on Xhaka commanding the lion’s share of possession, but Xhaka realized that he didn’t need to. He realized that Dani Ceballos was on fire and all he did was keep feeding the Spaniard. The result was that Ceballos thrived. He commanded effective possession throughout the match and the reason why he saw so much of the ball was because Xhaka understood. He understood that Ceballos was having a much bigger impact on the match that he himself could have, and he adjusted accordingly.

Being able to adjust mid-match is such an outstanding quality, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Xhaka do it.

Finally, on to No. 1.