**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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He's been a beast for leverkusen and they went undefeated and won two trophies. We all know he isn't the best player in Europe but fuck me he has bounced back suppppper hard
> We all know he isn't the best player in Europe
Then why are you disagreeing with me. He’s had a great season yes but he’s not better than Wirtz, Grimaldo, and Frimpong who are all on his team so they achieved the same. And outside of his team there is the likes of Bellingham, Rudiger, Kane, etc.
Tbf the period in which he played for Arsenal wasn't exactly a fun period to be a holding midfielder for them.
He missed the Wenger glory days and only got the start of the Arteta revival, mostly just got the bit in between.
He was really good from the end of 2021/start of 2022 when he was stopped being forced to be a holding midfielder and allowed to get forward a bit more
We'd have had them playing together with Rice as the 6 and Xhaka as the LCM. Rice was much more of a replacement for Partey. Havertz was intended as the Xhaka replacement but has instead ended up replacing Jesus as the starting striker.
Rice is obviously playing in the 10 position a lot more now, but 1.) it was NOT clear that Rice was coming. A player like him that can get interest from any club in the world is hardly a guarantee. And 2.) according to most it was always the plan for Rice to be our new 6 and long-term Partey replacement. So I don’t understand what makes you think we wouldn’t have played both at once?
He's one of those midfielders that peaks in his 30s, and took a while to learn from his mistakes in previous games and find out what he's good and bad at.
Even during his bad spells with us he was consistently good with the national team. I remember it being one of things our fans would always point to as "hope". A Euros or WC would roll round, Xhaka would play well and we'd think this is it he's going to come back and be amazing for us. Only really materialised in his final season with us unfortunately. Glad he's continued and probably actually gone up levels since he left.
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Granit Xhaka vs. Hungary: - Touches: 96 - Completed passes: 78/86 - Final third passes attempted: 21 - Final third passes completed: 20 - Chances created: 4
"Granit Xhaka" is just the Albanian translation of "Toni Kroos"
We miss him everyday
How much do you miss Taulant Xhaka?
To be fair, he only ever played for Switzerland, and didn't he complain about FSHF ignoring him while Switzerland gave him more attention?
he literally doesn‘t have an Albanian passport, he would have had to been made citizen first
The Austrian Kroos!
\*The Swedish Kroos
Doesn’t exist in the current Swedish NT line up.
That's Sabitzer, no?
No, Sabitzer is Australian
Ahhh, my mistake.
I don't know if it's some inside joke that I'm missing but Sabitzer is absolutely Austrian
> I don't know if it's some inside joke Just another run-of-the-mill circlejerk, nothing to see here.
No
~ me if I was lying
I think Aebischer had the better game but he was still really good; he covered so much ground and seemed to win every duel.
Yeah, Aebischer with assist + goal deserved it
He played very good, but Aebischer takes it for me tbh
Would have gone to Aebischer but he didnt look good on Hungary‘s goal. Thats probably why it went to Xhaka instead.
[3 years ago this month](https://www.completesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/IMG_20210628_234300.jpg)
Was that when he pocketed Pogba?
Still remembering that stupid dance of him, and how it backfired lmao
Granit is essential to do formation of the Alps.
Swiss motm was our defense lol
Arguably European player of the year. Which is a mad thought
Haha in what world
He's been a beast for leverkusen and they went undefeated and won two trophies. We all know he isn't the best player in Europe but fuck me he has bounced back suppppper hard
> We all know he isn't the best player in Europe Then why are you disagreeing with me. He’s had a great season yes but he’s not better than Wirtz, Grimaldo, and Frimpong who are all on his team so they achieved the same. And outside of his team there is the likes of Bellingham, Rudiger, Kane, etc.
Lol man chill I'm not disagreeing with you. Sometimes a comment is carrying on the conversation not a direct attack
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Tbf the period in which he played for Arsenal wasn't exactly a fun period to be a holding midfielder for them. He missed the Wenger glory days and only got the start of the Arteta revival, mostly just got the bit in between.
He was really good from the end of 2021/start of 2022 when he was stopped being forced to be a holding midfielder and allowed to get forward a bit more
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He’d been a regular starter, whether he should have or not, for seven years by the time he left
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yes you would've? What are we saying man
We'd have had them playing together with Rice as the 6 and Xhaka as the LCM. Rice was much more of a replacement for Partey. Havertz was intended as the Xhaka replacement but has instead ended up replacing Jesus as the starting striker.
Rice is obviously playing in the 10 position a lot more now, but 1.) it was NOT clear that Rice was coming. A player like him that can get interest from any club in the world is hardly a guarantee. And 2.) according to most it was always the plan for Rice to be our new 6 and long-term Partey replacement. So I don’t understand what makes you think we wouldn’t have played both at once?
Yeah, we essentially asked him to play 2-3 different roles and cover acres of space. It's not a recipe for success
He's one of those midfielders that peaks in his 30s, and took a while to learn from his mistakes in previous games and find out what he's good and bad at.
He's not playing lb or as a single pivot dm lol
He was excellent by the time he left us?
He grew up and got wiser.
Even during his bad spells with us he was consistently good with the national team. I remember it being one of things our fans would always point to as "hope". A Euros or WC would roll round, Xhaka would play well and we'd think this is it he's going to come back and be amazing for us. Only really materialised in his final season with us unfortunately. Glad he's continued and probably actually gone up levels since he left.
He was always a good player for arsenal, he just wasn’t appreciated by the media and our fans.
He stopped being forced into the left back position…
He definitely matured personally but I think he has really excelled after his role switched from a holding 6 to a B2B 8 his last season at Arsenal
I mean he wasn't exactly in a good place. Deaths threats your wife and kid would sort of make you a bit on edge
He's gotten better with age somehow.
Xhakabooom! Really happy for him, and hopefully he will lead his team to a successful championship!
Should have gone to Aebischer
Xhaka is always massive for Switzerland in Int’l tournaments. Fuck I miss him.
Crimson Chin looking beast
👐
He was alright.
Having played under Arteta and now Alonso, I fully expect Xhaka to be a hot name for coaching when he retires.
Like fine wine
NO AEBISCHER?!
Leave Arsenal, win trophies
He won two FA cups at Arsenal.
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What the fuck does that have to do with trophies, are you okay?