Granit Xhaka Arrival Is Next Step on Road to Arsenal Building a Strong Spine

There’s no great mystery to where Arsenal’s problems lie. For years there has been nothing much wrong with the team apart from its spine, something that may continue to be true as a metaphor but which is gradually becoming less so on the pitch.

The signing of Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach, perhaps belatedly, should add steel to a midfield that has so often lacked it.

Two seasons ago, Arsenal needed a goalkeeper, a centre-back, a holding midfielder and a top-class striker, and they have now filled two of those gaps. Petr Cech made some surprising errors last season, but he still projects a confidence and authority that has been so often missing from Arsenal performances in recent years.

Bringing in Xhaka should continue that process; the biggest question is not why Arsenal moved for him but why they didn’t move for somebody like him earlier. At 23, he could be a mainstay of the side for several seasons.

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It is arguable that the centre of midfield was Arsenal’s biggest problem this past season. The absence of Santi Cazorla with the knee injury he sustained in the draw against Norwich in November caused significant damage. In the 30 league games he has played alongside Francis Coquelin since the partnership first came together against Manchester City in January last year, Arsenal have picked up 64 points.

Discounting the game at West Bromwich Albion when Coquelin went off after 13 minutes, this season Arsenal took 23 points from the 11 games they’ve played together (2.09 points per game); without the pair they took 45 from 26—just 1.73 points per game.

The lack of bite has been clear. It’s true that Arsenal had more possession than any other side in the Premier League this season, and so they’re never going to be making as many tackles as teams who are perpetually having to hunt the ball, but it still seems telling that only the strikingly insipid Everton have committed fewer fouls this season. Manchester United, second in the possession stats, have committed 12.4 fouls per game to Arsenal’s …

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