An Eventful Return

One of Granit Xhaka’s most memorable Premier League moments, before his return with Sunderland, came when Arsenal played. In a disappointing encounter with Crystal Palace, the captain, showered with boys from Gunners fans, let his anger out.

That moment defined his time in the Prem, but he is no longer that player.

Xhaka remains a fascinating player in Arsenal’s recent history. Despite seven seasons with the club and captaining it, the Swiss international became the sin eater for a terrible era.

When he arrived from Borussia Mönchengladbach, Xhaka joined in the dying embers of Wenger’s time with Arsenal. No other player survived the following eras as well as the Swiss. From the failed Emery experiment to the start of Arteta’s revolution, Xhaka experienced everything that brought the club to this moment. 

Sunderland decided to bring Xhaka back to the Prem after Bayer Leverkusen let him leave for no apparent reason. Back in Germany, the former Arsenal outcast revived his career, becoming a key player for Leverkusen, which won the Bundesliga. Under Xabi Alonso, his play earned him many plaudits, with most Bundesliga fans viewing him as one of the league’s top midfielders.

As Sunderland continue to look the part of a solid side, Xhaka proves his doubters wrong.

In fact, it becomes easy to see the Swiss international as a perfect fit for the current Arsenal side.

The end of the Wenger era and Arsenal’s subsequent failures to find a proper replacement changed everything about the club. Perhaps, outside the fans, no one felt it more than the players.

After stumbling in the dark through the last five years under Wenger, the players and fans expected a smooth transition. None deluded themselves into thinking it would be easy. Especially given how much United struggled in those first post-Ferguson years.

Credit: Arsenal-Facebook

For players who joined at the end of the era, they were essentially fed into the wood chipper. Xhaka, a fine player who proved to be a good midfielder on a top side, became one of the players who would feel this wrath. His struggles became compounded as the club dug itself into a deeper and deeper hole.

Xhaka joined an Arsenal side where he would be the key starter deep in the midfield. While the team still employed Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil, the Swiss international promised to be the final piece.

However, that promise eventually evaporated, as the pieces around him started to fall apart. Never meant to be a star player, too much pressure was put on him to fix the team. Players came and went over the next seven seasons, but Xhaka remained.  

Eventually, however, the tension built to a point where the club’s stalling and fans’ anger were released in one moment. In that match against Crystal Palace, both the fans and Xhaka had had enough, forcing the player to react to the fanbase that was fed up. Despite working his way back and playing a few more seasons in London, this moment effectively ended both Xhaka’s time there and that Arsenal era.

One of the tragedies of this move lies in the timing.

While not a perfect player, the Swiss international joined a side that didn’t need a player in his mold.

Since leaving the Gunners, Xhaka’s image returned to that of his pre-Arsenal days. Instead of being seen as a flop, the Sunderland midfielder is viewed as a winning player.

Alonso’s Leverkusen side remains a fascinating experiment that mystifies fans. The Spanish icon built a winning side out of players who, for the most part, seemed to be average starters. Xhaka, given his style, became entrusted with shepherding the midfield.

After winning the Bundesliga, proving himself to be a top midfielder in the league, it seemed that Xhaka had beaten the perception set on him. At the same time, Arsenal, under Arteta, showed themselves to be true title challengers. As the two prepare to face each other, they find themselves in new and better eras.

For all the pain that Arsenal went through, as human nature dictates, a scapegoat was needed. As the captain and a player in his prime, Xhaka became an easy target. While the player did struggle at times, the expectations placed became gargantuan. For a club that spent years in the top four, their slide meant that Xhaka and his team were in the firing line.

Arsenal’s “banter” era, whatever that means, lasted for almost the entire time that the midfielder played for the club. Just as he prepared to leave, Arteta started to turn things around, but it was far too late for Xhaka. Nothing could pull him out of the sinking ship that he joined, even as he saw the rescue ships overhead.

The player who faces Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday represents the meeting of two new eras born from pain. Their divorce gave both a chance to rebuild themselves into the forces they will take the pitch as on Saturday. No more does that moment against Crystal Palace haunt them; rather, it’s been used to start over.

On Saturday, a hot Sunderland side takes on an Arsenal team ready to put distance between them and other title challengers. While that may steal all the show, Xhaka facing off against his former club may be more interesting to watch.

After that game against Crystal Palace, most never expected to see Xhaka back in the Prem, much less at a high level. Similarly, the vibes around Arsenal brought the club to its lowest point in almost twenty years.

Now, they face each other transformed with no eye on the past.