Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka was dropped in their Europa League match. The player thought that the decision to drop gave him ample amount of time to rest.
This year Xhaka has been one of the star players for the team, only missing 2 minutes of the game time.
This season, he has scored 5 goals and given 3 assists. Arteta removed Xhaka from his starting line-up in Europe. The midfielder has led Arsenal during 4 games of group A so far.
Arteta has played Xhaka for 1,168 out of 1,260 minutes across all competitions in Arsenal’s games this season. Although the Swiss captain has no concerns that he is being played constantly. Nor is he worried about the upcoming Qatar World Cup.
Xhaka to the media
“I am feeling very good,”
Xhaka said, as quoted by the Evening Standard.
“Of course, every time you win it makes it a little bit easier. But, yeah, I am not worried about the minutes, or the World Cup, or the future. I don’t think it’s about my games at the moment
I’ve been here seven years and my numbers speak for themselves. The numbers I’ve got for this football club, how many games I have had in seven years. I calculated maybe two years ago that I’m playing 45 games a season.
“It’s a number I had always in the past as well. Really, I’m not thinking about a break. Mikel is the boss, he decides when to take me out and when not to. He did against Bodo, it was maybe perfect timing to give me a bit of a rest. Games like this, everyone wants to play.
Xhaka has already played 50% of what he did last season. Last year, he got a total game time of 2456 minutes, whereas this season, he has already played for 1168 minutes in 14 games.
So far, it’s been like a redemption season for the midfielder. from being hated by the fans to fan favorite, it”s been a good transition for him.
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