Arsenal – playing with knives will eventually cut your hand

(Baonghean.vn) - Playing at home against a weak opponent like Burnley, it seemed like 3 points would easily belong to Arsenal, but everything turned out to be more complicated for the Emirates team, all stemming from Xhaka's red card.

Since Patrick Vieira left London, manager Wenger has been unable to find a worthy replacement for the French midfielder. It is not an exaggeration to say that the poor performance of more than a decade without a trophy in the Premier League and often having to stop early in the Champions League is partly due to the huge gap in Arsenal's midfield.

The lack of a central midfielder with excellent defensive ability and leadership qualities in the midfield area has made the "gunners" weak and fragile against powerful opponents.

For the second time in the Premier League, Xhaka received a straight red card after a foul. Photo: Internet.

In the summer transfer window of 2016, the "professor" was forced to spend 35 million pounds to bring Xhaka from M'gladbach to Emirates Stadium to strengthen the team's midfield. There is no doubt about the talent of the Swiss midfielder. Just looking at Xhaka's statistics, any coach would feel satisfied. The 23-year-old wears the captain's armband of M'gladbach, playing for the Swiss national team since the age of 19.

Possessing all the basic skills of a central midfielder such as distributing, recovering the ball and choosing a very good position. In addition, long passes and powerful long shots are also the strengths of the player born in 1992. Famous journalist Raphael Honigstein once commented: "Xhaka has the qualities of a leader. He can manage everything very well. He is an upgraded version of the current central midfielders". Former head coach of the Swiss national team Hitzfeld also praised: "He is a real leader, someone who always works with a sense of responsibility and confidence".

In short, coach Wenger saw the shadow of Patrick Vieira in midfielder Xhaka. However, discovering him is one thing, using him successfully is another story. With what the Swiss player has shown at the Emirates Stadium in recent times, it is really disappointing. At the beginning of the season, Xhaka could not compete with Cazorla and Elneny. Even in many matches when he was put on the field, the 24-year-old midfielder did not play as expected. If Cazorla had not been seriously injured and had to rest for a long time, Xhaka's familiar position would most likely have been on the bench.

The red card he received in the match against Burnley was the second time the former M'gladbach midfielder was shown the red card by referees after Xhaka's foul play. The first time he was sent off after moving to England was in the match where Arsenal beat Swansea 3-2 in October 2016. It is worth mentioning that in both situations where Xhaka received a red card, the London team was in a comfortable position. In a situation of 10 against 11, fortunately the remaining teammates played hard to win all 3 points with great difficulty.

At this time, coach Wenger and the Gunners fans just remembered the warning of sports writer Stefan Bienkowski right when the Swiss player officially arrived at Emirates: "Arsenal fans, be careful. Xhaka is a very hot-tempered player. In 108 Bundesliga matches, he has received 29 yellow cards and 5 red cards." Now everything is clear, Xhaka has not proven much in terms of talent, but losing control of his mentality is causing Arsenal to suffer unnecessary consequences.

Coach Wenger will have a big headache with Arsenal's midfield in the coming time. Photo: Internet.

For now, coach Wenger only has midfielder Coquelin who is good at defending while Elneny is busy serving the Egyptian team at CAN 2017, and Cazorla is not known when he will recover. Therefore, the French "professor" will have a huge headache because of Xhaka's suspension. This is the price to pay for coach Wenger's trust in Xhaka, so he closed his eyes and let Jack Wilshere move to Bournemouth on loan until the end of the season. So, a disappointing season is at risk of continuing after what is happening at the London team. Patrick Vieira's void will probably have to wait a long time.

Well, “once you start, you have to finish”. We have to accept the fact that “playing with knives will eventually cut your hand”, what can we do, Mr. Wenger?

Thanh Hung