Arteta told Xhaka he could be axed before adapting to new Arsenal role
Mikel Arteta warned Granit Xhaka over his Arsenal future if he failed to ‘unlock his brain’ and adapt to new role… before midfielder evolved into attacking force spearheading Gunners’ title charge
- Mikel Arteta warned Granit Xhaka about his future with Arsenal over a new role
- The Swiss man was told to adapt, and has helped lead the Gunners’ firepower
- Xhaka has scored three goals this season, triple what he achieved last term
- Arteta said the former club captain had to ‘unlock his brain’ to show his potential
Mikel Arteta warned Granit Xhaka could be axed from Arsenal, if he did not adapt to a new role in the team.
The boss told the 30-year-old Swiss captain that he had to change position to be most effective for the Gunners.
The command seems to have worked wonders, with Arsenal five points clear of reigning Premier League holders Man City going into the second half of the season.
Mikel Arteta insisted that Granit Xhaka had to adapt his position to fit into Arsenal’s frontline
Xhaka has three goals and three assists in 14 league games so far this season, as he has evolved amid a flurry of enticing attacking options at the North London club.
He scored just once in each of his last three campaigns, but his goals have come at an exciting time for the club as they lead the chasing pack at Christmas.
Arteta told Sky Sports it was a ‘necessity’ for former Arsenal captain Xhaka to move to a more advanced role, having been part of the club since 2016.
The 40-year-old added: ‘I think the squad wanted to evolve to another level and be more dominant and have more resources in the final third to attack and to score more goals. We needed to make that change.
Arteta has scored three times this season, equal to the total in his past three full campaigns
‘I spoke to him at the end of the season and said, “I need to unlock something in your brain because you’re so comfortable and confident playing in this area that you have forgot what is actually going to win us the game and the team now demands somebody here, so unless you unlock that I’m going to have to do something about it”.
‘He took it straight away. He’s a very intelligent player, he came to pre-season fitter than ever, slimmer than ever, and he knew that if we wanted to take the team to a different level we had to change his role. He knew that was coming.
‘We believed he has those qualities, those qualities were there to be exploited and they were hiding.
‘The team needed those qualities very much. As I said, he is extremely intelligent, he has the physical capacity to constantly threat and occupy those spaces and recover his position quickly enough to have the balance we need.’
Arteta revealed he was impressed with the Swiss man’s consistency, training, and honesty
Arteta hailed Xhaka’s consistency, training, and honesty. He said: ‘When you have someone like that you want to help him, you want to protect him, you want him to fulfil the talent he has.
‘He’s made some mistakes and he’s learnt from it, but he has always faced adversity and difficulty and he’s never run away from it.
‘This is what all managers wants from their players. You know you can count on him, he will fight and break walls for you. This is what we expect from our players.’
The Gunners return to domestic action with a home Premier League derby against West Ham on Boxing Day, and could extend their lead to eight points, with Man City playing two days later.
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