The man who divides opinion made his return to the starting line up last match day. Love him or hate him, you cannot question his attitude or work rate. To come back to elite level sport from a high grade MCL tear so fast shows the desire he has to help this side.
Simply cannot be questioned.
HI quality as a footballer however is what really offers debate amongst Arsenal fans. Many of us think he adds so much control and leadership to the side. Whilst just as many think the negatives far outweigh the positives.
Unfortunately I think Granit Xhaka will divide the fan base as long as he plays for Arsenal.
Perhaps unsurprisingly (given the nature of Arsenal fans loving to be negative), over the last few days I have heard many people criticise Arteta’s decision to start the central midfielder against Everton.
My aim for this piece is to explain why that mentality and thought is just plain wrong, and the Arsenal medical team and Mikel himself made the correct decision to allow Granit to be available for selection.
Firstly we must look at ligament healing times. A high grade ligament tear to the medial collateral ligament can take anywhere from 8-12 weeks for a return to sport. Granit Xhaka clocked in at a return to first team football at 10 weeks.
Box ticked.
Some people will question, well sure that falls within the time frames but he is not match fit an ready to play at an elite club like Arsenal.
Well that is not true. Injury rehabilitation involves management of structural healing times and symptoms initially and then a return to optimal biomechanics and functional movement. Finally from there, loading progressively increases until match level football is manageable.
This means that his last month of rehab is all about this progressive loading of not just the knee but also the body. Rehab will focus on improving strength around the knee first and foremost and then ensuring it can withstand the vigors of elite football. This would have included sprinting, football sessions, high intensity cardio, plyometrics, and football specific contact drills done with the entire squad. The final few weeks of rehab would have included all these scenarios which are designed to fatigue the player, replicate a match and test the injured knee under load at a match pace.
The medical team must ensure that the knee not only feels pain free and stable under small episodes of high intensity football, but also under the fatigue that a football match brings. Will the quads still support the healed MCL in the 85th minute as much as they did in the 5th minute.
In this sense it looks like this was successful, as Xhaka was able to return to full training weeks before Arteta brought him back to the squad. \Wen he finally made his return to the XI he was able to cope without pain, and last a full 90 minutes – albeit looking very tired for the final 30 minutes or so.
So by this account Arteta absolutely made the correct decision on this one. Guide of course by the physios of Arsenal’s medical team. Admittedly I would have only given Xhaka 60 – 70 minutes t ensure no overload or weakening of the knee and thus avoid unnecessary tackles and collisions with a fatigued knee.
But no matter as the situation played out well. Unfortunately the lads couldn’t quite pull through with the win. Disappointment certainly ensued for me for a couple of days. Amazing how much a football club can affect the mood. Fairly disastrous in this case.
Interestingly we will most likely see what I have said above when the Amazon doco comes out in the near future. Should be fascinating viewing seeing the up and down nature of our season so far.
Luckily it’s almost time for the next one.
Big win for the lads surely.
Saka to bag a hatty. ESR on the bike. Ramsdale singing to the fans and pounding his chest.
I’ll take that.
Kia Kaha team.
