Granit Xhaka revival key to Arsenal’s Champions League hopes and Mikel Arteta deserves credit
There is a sense of fate in Granite Xhaka scored the decisive goal in the 3-1 win against Manchester United Last Saturday at the Emirates, celebrating wildly in front of the North Stand, arms outstretched, drinking to applause.
Xhaka’s goal, and subsequent victory, put Arsenal in the driver’s seat to break into the Premier League top four for the first time since the 2015-16 season. With five games remaining, they are two points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham (with the North London derby rescheduled for May 12), and if the Gunners qualify for next season’s Champions League, they will have a Xhaka’s revival under coach Mikel. Thank you Arteta.
But the dynamism between the 29-year-old midfielder and the Arsenal fans has circulated through every emotion since his arrival from Borussia Monchengladbach for 35 million euros in 2016. Xhaka has always been breathtakingly capable and his leadership qualities have seen former coach Unai Emery make him captain in September 2019, but too much Yellow and red cards, as well as a mountain of defensive mistakes, have hampered his Arsenal career. He has become a target for fans’ frustration and has not forgotten the criticisms directed at him in the past, which he expressed in a recent article for Player Tribune.
“I could barely move when I heard the boos. And it wasn’t just a few people in the corner: it was a lot of people. I was shocked,” Xhaka wrote of the infamous game on October 28. 2019 against Crystal Palace at Emirates. He was substituted after Arsenal threw two goals ahead to draw 2-2, then taunted the fans and threw his shirt on the floor in an offensive manner.
“I’ve never been through anything like this,” he added. “As I approached the tunnel, I looked up at the fans sitting there, and this is the part that I will always remember. Now when I close my eyes, I can still see their faces. I have I can’t see their anger. It’s not that they don’t like me. No, it’s different. This is hate. Pure hate. I really don’t exaggerate this. To feel the level of hate and disrespect. I wouldn’t want that to happen to my worst enemy.”
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After that match, Xhaka looked as if he would never play for the club again and was Emery takes the captain’s armband after that. Even when Emery was replaced by Arteta two months later, Xhaka was ready to leave. (“My bags are packed. My passport is empty. I’m done with Arsenal. Finished.”)
A meeting with Arteta changed that and it took him six months to think about staying. More than two years on, Xhaka is still here, fighting for his club. Mistakes and hasty decisions can still be regular – such as his red card against Burnley to retrieve Ashley Westwood by the throat that led to a 0-1 loss in December 2020, or his strange comeback against the same team in March 2021, which resulted in a 1-1 draw – but passion also.
The most important thing for him against Man United on Saturday was not to show people that they were wrong; The most important thing for him is to restore that communion with the fans.
Xhaka will never have the status of Thierry Henry or Patrick Vieira when he finally leaves Arsenal – he is far behind their legendary level – and fans will forever debate the quality of the money. this defender (or lack thereof) and his impact (or failure.) But a tactic master at Stamford Bridge in the previous 4-2 win Chelseafollowed by his impact against United a week later, showing how important he is to this Arsenal team and to Arteta.
At Chelsea it was obvious. It feels like Xhaka is Arteta’s “first assistant coach”, not only delivering the message to his teammates, but actually coaching from start to finish on the pitch. Because of Arteta’s game plan – hybrid three/back four depending on ownership, Bukayo SakaHis position is on the flanks, covering the left-back Nuno Tavares and every Arsenal player has to work with the ball – the manager needs Xhaka to help make things happen. It’s like telepathy: a hand gesture or look at Xhaka from the bench, sometimes just a word, and the midfielder will then filter instructions for the entire team.
In the match against United, Xhaka had a different role. When his team came under pressure in the first 20 minutes of the second half, he was the one who urged the team to regain control, overcome poor play and score the decisive third goal to cement the victory. win.
Arteta has a special relationship with players like Xhaka – who understand well how drills, game plans or subtle in-game tactical transitions can make all the difference. Football is much easier if you have 11 players on the field with Xhaka’s soccer IQ, but if you don’t, at least one player like him is important.
That intelligence was the main reason Arteta convinced Xhaka to stay. They speak the same language in the game. Since Arteta’s arrival at the club, the Spaniard has done everything to put his midfielders in the best positions so that he can influence this team and repair his relationship. it with the fans. So far it’s been working this season and Arteta deserves a lot of credit for bringing Xhaka back to this level.
The Arsenal manager’s people management skills aren’t talked about much beyond the results he gets week in, week out. He can be ruthless, conveying the introspection of Pep Guardiola, as we have seen with his stance towards players who want to leave like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – who debuted on a free transfer in January after being stripped of the captaincy – no matter how big they are. But he can also be a nurturing influencer. He has invested time in younger players, like Albert Sambi Lokonga and Emile Smith Roweto help them work on their positioning.
With Arteta, there are always words of encouragement for his players and it is no coincidence that he has improved almost every member of the Arsenal team: White Ben, Aaron Ramsdale, Kieran Tierney, Gabriel, Saka is now filled with confidence. After the game against United, Arteta quickly hugged Mohamed Elnenywho hadn’t played a minute in the Premier League since January 1 before being rehabilitated in the crucial game of crucial wins over Chelsea and United.
But the biggest change that Arteta has made at the club is the mentality. There’s a winning vibe there, now: this team fights until the end, celebrating every goal, every decisive tackle and every point won. A close away win against Wolves will be grandiose, because the win will trigger other wins. At the London Colney training ground, Arteta moved his office from near the reception to a more central location where he could see and hear everything. He added pictures and murals, and placed motivational slogans everywhere like “practice to win” or “win for the fans”, which helped open up the sentiment. family and bring people together.
Great moments in the club’s history are captured all over the ground as well, and it’s important for Arteta to bring back what once made Arsenal so special. When he was first appointed, he felt that the club had lost some of its identity in recent years. Now, as the players leave the building for practice, they pass a mural commemorating the 49 undefeated games of “The Invincibles” from 2003-04, while below there is a sentence: Said by former manager Arsene Wenger: “This is an opportunity to realize the greatness that is within each of you.”
This spell certainly worked on Xhaka. He has never been so critical in his career and his transformation is the greatest success story of the Arteta era to date. Almost from nothing to a hero in a matter of minutes, Xhaka has become the indispensable force Wenger believes he can become when he signed him in 2016.
Wenger never really found the key to unlocking his potential; Arteta has. And what a story it would be if Xhaka were to lead the club back to the Champions League.
