Wishlist Granit Xhaka

[Rekin 835]

Koke and Pogba are two of the hottest names in world football today, and fans on every football forum get ecstatic if any of those two are rumoured to their clubs. Both are young, and most see them playing in the central midfield role. Both also play for top clubs and would be extremely expensive and hard to get.

While these two might be the most hyped ones, I thought it would be interesting to do a statistical analysis of CM/DM's in the very early 20's and see who the hottest prospects based on their role characteristics are (Pogba and Koke included for hype-comparison, Matic and Fabregas included for familiarity-comparison). The players are expected to be 23 at most, play in one of the better leagues where a lot of statistical information is available, must have had a good season (based on their rating, above 7,0 which only Pasalic and Van Ginkel did not have) and played for more than 15 games from the start.
The statistics have been chosen to show whether the player is well rounded, or just very good in one area. I know WhoScored gets a lot of crap, so please understand that this is no ultimate proof of how good a player is, but at the same time a player who for example has had a high amount of successful tackles during the whole season is likely to be good at just that. There are many other factors involved, but this never the less gives a good first look. The stats are per game (bold for highest stat, underlined for worst, italic for most hyped players not including Cesc and Matic):


Name Age Dribbles Tackles Interceptions Aerial Duels Key Passes Passes Pass Success Through Balls Long Balls Shots

Pogba 22 2,9 2,2 0,7 1,4 1,4 46,6 83,8% 0,1 3,2 2,2
Koke 23 0,5 2,8 1,2 0,7 1,9 52,7 78,7% 0,1 1,8 1,3
Xhaka 22 1,4 2,7 2,7 3,2 0,7 78,2 86,1% 0,2 7,8 2,0
Kondogbia 22 1,7 3,1 2,5 1,3 0,4 55,0 86,2% >0,1 2,5 1,2
Imbula 22 3,0 2,4 1,2 1,2 0,9 53,8 89,8% 0,1 3,4 1,3
Verratti 22 2,0 3,0 1,5 0,3 1,2 90,6 91,5% 0,5 4,6 0,4
Sanson 20 2,5 3,2 1,4 0,9 1,2 34,5 81,0% 0,1 2,4 1,4

Geis 21 0,1 2,1 2,3 2,0 2,2 53,6 72,3% >0,1 8,3 2,3
Kovacic 20 2,6 1,6 0,6 0,3 1,8 53,1 87,5% 0,3 1,7 1,2
Pasalic 20 0,7 1,4 1,0 1,8 0,4 28,5 80,3% >0,1 2,2 1,0
Van Ginkel 22 0,3 1,8 1,6 1,9 0,9 38,8 84,7% 0,1 3,4 0,6
Isco 23 3,5 1,7 0,8 0,4 1,6 51,4 88,0% 0,2 1,4 1,3
Wanyama 23 1,2 2,9 1,9 2,2 0,5 47,3 84,1% 0,1 2,1 0,9

Fabregas 28 1,1 2,6 0,7 0,8 2,8 80,6 85,2% 0,5 5,4 1,3
Matic 26 1,5 3,6 2,0 2,1 0,7 63,8 86,4% >0,1 3,3 0,8


That is a lot to process, but the key question is what implications can be taken from this. This topic is named Xhaka, and I think the numbers explain why quite well. Other than Veratti who is a beast, there is no more well rounded player in this register.

Looking at the numbers of Xhaka, we find someone who is very intimidating physically, shown by his high amount of tackles and aerial duels. His superior amount of interceptions show brains and finesse, the pass numbers that he is comfortable with the ball at his feet (although key passes could use some work for sure) and that he is versatile in distribution, shown by his large amount of long balls and decent amount of through balls. He is also not shy of both dribbling and shooting when given the option.

He has a reputation of being extremely driven, and not afraid to show his authority if needed. Clashed with Ter Stegen when they were team-mates. Has a tendency to be involved all over the pitch, supported by having a high amount of passes, shots and defensive stats.
I personally believe that he will be at a top club within two years, and if the leadership at CFC decided against making RLC, Chalobah or any other of the current youngsters a part of the team, then I think Xhaka is a top choice.

EDIT: Apologies for the format, it looked quite different on my screen while creating it. I think it is still possible to read the numbers. I also decided against including a video, as highlights rarely give the real picture of a player. There is a lot of content on youtube if anyone is interested.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

What a name

[DYC. 7,542]

Damnit, was hoping for an actual link. Missed the wishlist part.

I would love Xhaka here.

[Leif 6,006]

He's inconsistent and takes a lot of time to re-find his feet once he's lost them for a patch of games. He's not very adaptable, and he's slow. He wouldn't develop being on the bench, but he's not better than Fabregas at what Fab does. He basically is Fabregas but a 2nd-tier version, who becomes 4th-tier without consistent game time. Fans believe he can still become a really top player, but you need more than the most attempted passes to be good enough

[Rekin 835]

He's inconsistent and takes a lot of time to re-find his feet once he's lost them for a patch of games. He's not very adaptable, and he's slow. He wouldn't develop being on the bench, but he's not better than Fabregas at what Fab does. He basically is Fabregas but a 2nd-tier version, who becomes 4th-tier without consistent game time. Fans believe he can still become a really top player, but you need more than the most attempted passes to be good enough

Eh what? No offense meant, but this is both unclear and a very poor representation of what kind of player Xhaka is.

He is on the slow side yeah, that much is true. To label him as a 2nd-tier Fabregas is just wrong though. If anything he resembles a young Xabi Alonso. Coincidently, he had the second highest amount of succeeded passes in bundesliga after Xabi, which is no small feat. He was quite inconsistent last season, but the one that just ended he has been very good in for a majority of the games. He is just 22, and like most players at this age he will have his peaks and valleys. No one doubted Hazard's class in is first season with us, but he had a lot of substandard games then as well.

He is good at passing, but not as good as Fabregas (which the stats support). The advantage of the player though is that in difference from Fabregas, he is also very, very strong defensively, something that has been a problem for CFC the past season in top games. I suggested Xhaka not because he is an improved Fabregas, but because he is a more complete central midfielder.