What did Xhaka say?
Speaking to Blick, [team 19] midfielder Xhaka said, “Of course I read [about the interest]. But now I’m one 100 per cent focused on the national team here.”
“That’s more important than Arsenal or rumours right now. I have another two years on my contract in London and Arsenal they know what they have in me. When the time comes to talk about a transfer, I’ll be here.”
He added: “To be honest, I didn’t hear what Mourinho has said about me. But that makes you proud. Everyone knows Mourinho, knows what he has achieved. Mourinho knows how to win titles.
“You can now see what work I have done over the past few years.”
Jose’s comments on Xhaka
Two years ago, Jose said, “Granit Xhaka is the main man in the entire Arsenal midfield, you can’t see it unless I lend you one of my eyes. Arsenal appears lost without him. He is a leader. Remember, mistakes are made by humans.”
Jose’s style of play
Since his breakthrough in European football, [coach 455375] has always been marked as a defensive coach. All of his successful teams have had a solid back four with his [team 18] side from the early 2000s still holding the record for least goal conceded in a Premier League season.
His treble-winning Inter side is known as one of the strongest low-blocks ever seen. [team 2930]’s iconic win against [team 83] in the Champions League semi-final second leg is arguably the greatest defensive performance ever seen.
However, praising him solely for defensive robustness is somewhat unfair. His Chelsea side’s record of the most goals in Premier League season stood for a long time. Players like [player 565], [player 48], [player 95], [player 639] were a part of a stunning counter-attacking side.
Very much the same at Inter, where the counter-attacking pace was destroying teams every week. His [team 3468] side is one of the best counter-attacking sides ever witnessed. [player 580], [player 1430], [player 129501], [player 93948] and [player 4105] was a spectacular counter attacking set of players. At Real Madrid, Jose defeated [coach 455361]’s Barca to the [league 564] title.
And of course, how can we forget his [team 652] side with whom he defined the odds of winning the [league 2] when no one gave them a chance.
Jose’s system has always been built around the strength of his players and the weakness of the opposition. His strategic changes during games is a big part of his success.
Would Xhaka suit Jose’s style?
In all these great teams that Jose built, his midfield always went under the radar. His defenders were known to keep clean sheets, and offensive players were appreciated for their counter-attacking display. However, his midfielders in all those teams have been an extremely critical part of the success.
[coach 511], [player 768], [player 4134], [player 1335] are some of the finest defensive midfielders to have played under the Portuguese manager. Jose’s midfield have always been relatively compact and super effective in both boxes.
[player 1887] is the type of midfielder that could thrive under Jose. His versatility, maturity and game reading ability are a great set of skills. Along with that, his long-range shooting is something he is known for throughout his career. Jose would most probably use him as a deep-lying playmaker; that would suit Xhaka well.
He has played a lot of games in the same position for Arsenal over the years but has looked shaky. That’s because of the way Premier League is. A deep-lying playmaker of a Resgita is something that has never worked to the fullest in the Premier League. Though Xhaka consists of the passing quality of a Regista, he does not have the physicality required in that position in the [league 8].
In [league 384], however, he could be an excellent player under a legendary coach. With Jose hoping to make [team 37] great again, Xhaka could be the backbone to that potential success.
Author: Devashish Akolekar
