“With Mikel, I’ve had something of a new start, a reset,” Granit Xhaka said earlier this season.
Speaking to German website Sport1 via Arseblog, Xhaka recognised the role that new head coach Mikel Arteta has played in his resurrection in North London.
“I had very good conversations with him right from the start, in which he showed me what he expected of me, how much he needed me in the team and how much he valued me as a player,” he said.
Xhaka’s resurgence under Arteta has been remarkable. It is also a brilliant illustration of the astute, cerebral, progressive coaching input of the Spaniard.
Arteta immediately reinstated Xhaka to the starting XI after he was stripped of the captaincy following telling supporters to ‘f*ck off’ in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in October. Time had passed since that contentious afternoon and Arteta was keen to lean on the distribution skills of the Swiss international as he rebuilt a lacking team.
In a slanted 4-2-3-1 shape, Xhaka was handed the perfect role that both accentuated his strengths and limited his weaknesses.
Perhaps out of force with Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac out injured, Arteta used Bukayo Saka, a natural left-winger, at left-back. In possession, Saka would push high up the pitch with the left-winger moving inside. This formed a front five across the advanced positions of the pitch in conjunction with the centre-forward, attacking midfielder, and right-winger.
To balance this offensive-minded shape, Arteta tucked the right-back inside and shifted Xhaka slightly deeper and towards the left-hand side, occupying the space that Saka had vacated by pushing forwards. This created a 2-3-5 formation in possession.
For Xhaka, this was ideal. In possession, his greatest weaknesses are his over-dependence on his left foot and his poor body positioning and awareness when receiving the ball which makes him extremely susceptible to being pressed, especially in central midfield when space is tight and there is little time to receive the ball and release it.
When playing deeper and wider, however, Xhaka is put into spaces of the pitch that make it more difficult to press him, while his frequent use of his left foot becomes a positive. Stationed on the left side of the pitch, Xhaka plays more passes with his left foot, primarily into Saka and the offensive players in the left half of the pitch. In this instance, not coming inside on his right foot means that he can shuttle the ball forward that extra bit quicker.
This also opens up angles to play raking, long-range switches of play to the right flank. In this position, Xhaka has routinely released Nicolas Pepe with cross-field passes from deep that bypass the midfield, move the ball into advanced positions quickly, and help to isolate Pepe against an opposing full-back.
Xhaka is also harder to press in this position. As a holding midfielder, Xhaka would usually be pressured by the opposing attacking midfielder or even central midfielder. But when he moves deeper and wider, it becomes difficult for a central player to follow him into those spaces.
If they press Xhaka when he receives the ball, they vacate space in central areas for Arsenal to work the ball into, invariably through David Luiz stepping up from centre-back, another player who has a superb range of passing. If they remain in the central space, Xhaka has plenty of time to pick his pass, which is usually a dangerous and well-executed one.
Xhaka has flourished in this role. His passing has come to the fore, progressing attacks with scything balls between the opposition lines, he has grown in confidence, which was a huge issue following his falling out with the fans under Unai Emery, and he started to become the deep-lying metronome, controlling play and routinely ranking high in touches, passes completed and progressive passes.
Moving Xhaka to the left side, however, did cause problems in other areas of the pitch. Taking one of the double pivots and moving them deep and wide leaves just one midfielder to patrol central areas. Arteta balances this by tucking the right-back inside, but Arsenal have been caught out at times with little cover in central midfield, especially when possession is turned over.
Arsenal during the break
Arteta has rotated through several options alongside Xhaka. Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos have all started Premier League matches in this position, though it was Ceballos who was the starter for the last three matches, all of which Arsenal won.
Each offers different qualities. Torreira is the most defensively sound of the trio. He is the quickest and covers ground the most capably. He reads danger superbly and provides the greatest protection against the counter-attack.
Guendouzi is the most complete. He can carry the ball, is a superb distributor, brings energy and athleticism to an otherwise somewhat slow and lethargic midfield, but he does suffer from positional ill-discipline at times, something that the tactically stringent Arteta struggles with.
Finally, Ceballos is the most creative. He is an excellent dribbler, skilful in tight spaces, and can play further up the pitch, too. He, though, is the least athletic and, while combative and hard-working, can be easily outmanoeuvred in defensive phases. Arsenal need a complete midfielder to fill this hugely demanding role alongside Xhaka.
Enter Thomas Partey. The Gunners have been relentlessly linked with a move for Partey. Finances are a hurdle that they must overcome, but as football.london reported earlier this year, he would represent the complete midfielder that Arteta wants.
Put simply, Partey is capable in every part of the game. He is strong, athletic, skilful when receiving possession, especially under pressure, an excellent passer, a composed and patient tackler, positionally disciplined. He is the jack-of-all-trades midfielder that Arteta needs to partner Xhaka.
This season, his pass completion rate was 82.4%. He played 7.21 progressive passes per 90 and 6.62 passes into the final third per 90, the latter of which ranks eighth in La Liga. They are superb statistics that portray a midfielder who can play progressive, difficult passes to instigate attacks.
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But he was also excellent defensively. He won 1.91 tackles per 90 and 1.76 interceptions per 90, again, solid numbers for a defensive midfielder. He plays in the heart of the Atletico Madrid midfield under Diego Simeone, who works tirelessly on the defensive side of the game, the positioning and awareness of his players, being solid and stable without the ball for extended periods.
Partey is a positive contributor with and without the ball. The only other midfielder that Arsenal currently have who could emulate this all-round impact is Guendouzi, but his youthful exuberance and tactical naivety make relying on him problematic.
And so, while Xhaka has flourished in this contorted central midfield position, the Arsenal midfield as a whole has not been able to provide the support that he needs. Arteta is searching for the midfielder who he can pair with Xhaka, and Partey might just be the man he needs.