In an interview with German outlet Bild, Arsenal star Granit Xhaka has explained why he picks up so many bookings.
With the departures of Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini over the summer, Arsenal clearly needed to beef up their midfield lineup and manager Arsene Wenger wasted no time whatsoever in doing so by securing the services of Granit Xhaka.
The Gunners splashed around £35 million in order to acquire Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach and although the 24-year-old has not managed to establish himself as a first choice starter at the middle of the park as of yet, it is clear to see that he possesses the required qualities to become a success at the Emirates Stadium.
While there is certainly many aspects to Xhaka’s game that are impressive, fans are a bit concerned regarding his propensity to give away fouls and receive bookings.
Xhaka was the player with the third most fouls in the Bundesliga last season and worryingly, the midfielder has picked up a whopping 8 red cards altogether since 2014.
Even in his short spell at Arsenal so far, the former Basel star has already been booked twice and received a red card for a silly tackle during the Gunners’ 3-2 victory over Swansea City back in October.
Wenger has admitted that Xhaka needs to work on such an aspect of his game but despite all the criticism, the Swiss international has now gone on to defend his poor disciplinary record.
Xhaka not worried about his booking problems
The Arsenal man explained that being aggressive in the tackle is part of what makes him the player he is and insisted that without such a fire in his belly, the Gunners would not have invested so much to bring him to North London.
Xhaka was quoted saying by German outlet Bild, “Yellow cards and red cards are part of what Granit Xhaka is. I’d no longer be the same player without my rigorousness, and certainly not the player Arsenal wanted.”
While Xhaka does have a point in saying that aggressiveness is part of his game, he certainly needs to learn a way to channel his rigorous game without picking up unnecessary bookings and putting his team in trouble.
