Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
EMERY HAS FAILED XHAKA
The captain is taking the heat for the manager and should now be pulled out of the firing line
IF UNAI EMERY knew his players he’d never have put Granit Xhaka in the position he found himself on Sunday.
The Swiss midfielder has had more yellow cards than good games in his 107 appearances for Arsenal over the last four years.
Xhaka was already an accident waiting to happen before Emery’s arrival. So why on earth would the Spaniard increase the pressure on him by making him captain?
Of course Xhaka needs to apologise for dishonouring his position by telling the fans to “f**k off ”, in response to the barracking he’d received as he was substituted against Crystal Palace.
Had he thrown away the shirt he’d taken off that would have been it for him at the club, let alone as skipper.
All that said, there are times when football comes second and the wellbeing of the individual comes first. This would appear to be one of those times.
Fellow midfielder Lucas Torreira was so concerned by the treatment his captain was receiving, the Uruguayan was brought to tears as he warmed up on the sidelines (below).
Xhaka looks a man struggling to cope with the pressure of playing for Arsenal. Since his £35million arrival three years ago, he has been found wanting or guilty in key situations on too many occasions to mention.
His crumble on Sunday brings back memories of that fateful afternoon back in 2008 when Emmanuel Eboue was reduced to tears by the booing he’d received from Gunners fans in the game against Wigan (left).
“When you are a footballer, and your own fans boo you, it’s very bad,” said Eboue.
“Your confidence goes. After that happened, I said to Arsene Wenger, ‘I don’t want to come in any more for training’.
“I got back home and I was crying. But the same week, some of the fans came to the club to say sorry to me about that. That was very nice. It meant a lot. ‘Eboue, don’t listen,’ they said. ‘You know we love you’.”
Eboue’s fragile mental and emotional state would become even clearer in a wide-ranging interview with Mirror Sport a couple of years ago after his fall on to hard times.
The value of that visit from fans cannot be underestimated in terms of helping the Ivorian to get back on track.
With that in mind, Xhaka might just be brought back from the brink by the trio of Arsenal players who took the step of visiting him at home on Sunday night.
If we really are in a period of enlightenment then perhaps Xhaka should be given the room to apologise and explain his position.
Ian Wright, in his analysis on Match of the Day 2, identified what he believed to be Xhaka’s unwillingness to want the ball.
Perhaps the former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder actually needs a spell out of the firing line to get his head together.
Either way, he appears to be taking the heat for Emery.
It was the Spaniard’s indecision over the captaincy in the first place that raised eyebrows, having the players pick in some sort of X Factor vote.
It smacked of a man unable to select a natural leader and was always likely to end in tears.
It is Emery who arrived as the supposed antidote to the stagnation under Arsene Wenger, only for the last year or so to reveal otherwise.
Good players are only half the battle. Emery needed to solve Arsenal’s defensive problems. He hasn’t. He needed to address their lack of steel in midfield. He hasn’t.
Where was the press against Palace on Sunday? Or the organisation at the back against Sheffield United? Why isn’t Torreira in the team? Why is Matteo Guendouzi no longer energised?
The players are taking stick for Emery’s inadequacies. He should be feeling as much of the heat right now as Xhaka.
When a footballer is booed by his own fans it’s very bad... your confidence goes. I told Wenger I didn’t even want to go training and I got back home and cried