Granit Xhaka isn’t just a good midfield passer, he’s a great one. Everything will tell you this, from the most basic statistics to the most advanced ones to your very own eyeballs. The problem, for Xhaka and especially for Arsenal, is that the same instruments will tell you he’s a very bad defender.



How essential is Xhaka to Arsenal’s ability to retain and move the ball? He had seven assists last season, one less than team leaders Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil while playing a deeper-lying role. His 82 passes per game led the team, and his 86.9% passing percentage was third among players with more than 1000 minutes played, behind only defenders Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal, a fact which is even more impressive after taking into account that Xhaka’s 4.9 long balls per match are half a pass more than any other Arsenal outfield player played.



A more advanced stat, XGBuildup, backs those numbers up. XGBuildup looks at the expected goals...