Opinion: The reason why Granit Xhaka is beginning to flourish at Arsenal

Granit Xhaka is a funny character to analyse. It's easy to be swayed by the bombardment of critics, but at the same time it's important to make your own assumptions. While most of the media attention he gets are those picking out his flaws, the Swiss is an excellent player nonetheless.

For too long, Xhaka was looked at as Arsenal's answer to their defensive problems. Those who watched him at Bayer Leverkusen and for the Swiss national team knew this was a recipe for disaster, as defending is one of the only things he is bad at.

However, under Unai Emery, this onus has been removed from Xhaka, and now the fans of Arsenal can witness why the club signed him.

Emery is a man of heavy video analysis. Many of his past players have joked about his technique, but they of all people know just how much it works. Upon arriving at Arsenal, the Spanish coach would have analysed where it has all gone wrong for Arsenal in recent seasons, but it doesn't take a genius to see it is the defensive side of the midfield.

That said, it is difficult for a manager to find a player who likes to do the dirty work, but Emery found just that in Lucas Torreira. The Uruguayan midfielder signed from Sampdoria and had an impressive World Cup.

With Torreira dealing with the defensive aspect and protecting the back line, Xhaka has excelled

He is most renowned for his performance against Portugal, in which he was responsible for stopping Cristiano Ronaldo from having an impact. This is what Torreira loves to do, alleviate the problems for his teammates. He does this for Arsenal, and with that, Xhaka has thrived.

With Torreira dealing with the defensive aspect to Arsenal's play and protecting the back line, Xhaka has excelled in his favoured approach, which is dictation of play. Now, the fans of Arsenal often see him playing short passes, or unleashing immense cross-field balls to Hector Bellerin.

This is incredibly important in Unai Emery's slow build-up play, and it has been key to a number of goals Arsenal have scored this season. And of course, it's all made possible by the dirty work carried out by Torreira.

The best thing about this partnership is that they are both young. Xhaka is 26 and Torreira is 22, meaning the two of them have several years to grow together and become a force to be reckoned with in the league.