Arsenal and Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka must be given a rest for the club’s Europa League trip to Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.
That is the view of Arsenal journalist Charles Watts, who was updating fans on the latest news from the Emirates Stadium in his Tuesday upload on YouTube.
Xhaka has made an appearance in every single Arsenal match this season, with suggestions from Watts that Thursday might be the ideal time to give him a rest.
Mikel Arteta has even trusted the 30-year-old to stand in as captain for the club’s two previous Europa League clashes this season, with the 106-time Switzerland international proving an influential figure in a young squad.
However, Watts has implored Arteta to find a way to rest Xhaka for Thursday’s trip to Norway – and has even suggested playing a youth prospect in his place if possible.
He said: “How do you find a way of resting Granit Xhaka? Because you’ve got to rest Granit Xhaka, surely you’ve got to rest him. He’s so important, he’s started every game.
“I know Astroturf pitches now are very, very good – they’re not like plastic pitches – but still, it’s going to take a little bit of extra strain on the joints.
“You just rest Granit Xhaka for this one, you’ve got to find a way of doing it.
“If that is a case of giving a youngster a runout, then, for me, I think this is the game that you do that in.”
TIF Thoughts on Watts’ comments…
We agree with Watts and think that with a big Premier League clash at Leeds United ahead on Sunday afternoon, the club need to find a way of resting Xhaka for this game.
Surprisingly, the Basel-born midfielder has been relatively influential in the side’s attacking play, ranking in the top 8% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues and European competition for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes (3.32) and in the top 13% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 (2.47), according to FBref.
Despite an obvious desire to be successful in Europe, we think that Arsenal’s focus should be on Premier League success, and therefore we think that Xhaka needs to have a rest ahead of the side’s trip to Leeds.