Arsenal: 3 reasons Granit Xhaka is not the future

2. He is too slow

It is very difficult to be an elite footballer and unathletic. Some are able to marry the two. Sergio Busquets is the prime example. He is not particularly quick or explosive, but he makes up for his athletic limitations with his positional sense, body positioning, feints and shimmies, superb passing and technical skill.

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Xhaka is equally unathletic. He is routinely skipped past by opposing attackers. He chases after the ball and rarely reaches it first. His fouling and ill-discipline is a consequence of his lack of burst and push-off. He is atrociously exposed in space, especially when trying to contain counter-attacks, which is a prominent responsibility for a central midfielder in a high-pressing system like Arsenal’s.

Sadly for Xhaka, he is not capable enough in other aspects to make up for his athletic limitations. His touch is neat and tidy, but he cannot swerve past defenders because of it. His passing is rangy and pin-point, at times, but it lacks consistency and he has the propensity to play dangerous balls that are easily picked off. His defensive awareness is shoddy, at best, and he is often needing to recover his position, which he then lacks the pace to do.

Very few players are able to perform at an elite level without at least a baseline of speed and athleticism. Even those who do not rely on it like Rodri or Fabinho or a prime Nemanja Matic had enough size, strength and acceleration to protect themselves and get by. Xhaka does not even have that, and it shows up time and time again.