I don’t want to talk about VAR. I don’t want to talk about tactics. I don’t want to talk about drawing Palace after going ahead on 2 gifted goals from scrappy corners.
I want to talk about Granit Xhaka.
Today, Granit Xhaka cemented himself in Arsenal infamy. After being subbed off in the 61st minute for Saka, Xhaka was sarcastically cheered off by the fans and booed for yet another lackluster performance. To respond to this, the Arsenal captain cups his ears to fans, throws his arms up in the air to encourage the boos, throws the captains armband to the ground in the path of Aubameyang, and before heading straight down the tunnel rips off his Arsenal shirts and crumbles it up into a ball.
30 seconds from Granit Xhaka that should end his Arsenal career for good.
What we saw today from Granit Xhaka is perhaps the most egregious act a player, no, a CAPTAIN, that we as fans may ever see. The level of disrespect shown in this moment of madness will go down in history as one of the most troubling times in the history of this once great club. Being one of the most divisive figures among fans in the past few years that Xhaka has been at the club, today cemented his already failing legacy. A man who was supposed to bring fight, grit, and passion to the team, has done much more in the way of bringing useless fouls, sideways passes, and inspiring Instagram post.
Lets put the cards on the table. Xhaka is the definition of mediocre. He has never been anything more, but has frequently been much less. For the 1/10000 Xhaka BOOM’s we’ve had, there has been what feels like hundreds of Xhaka woes. If his play wasn’t bad enough to drive him out of this team, now this childish outburst has done it, thankfully.
For those Arsenal fans that have been booing Xhaka in the stands as of late, today you were proved right.
Granit Xhaka has certainly captained his final game for Arsenal today, and most definitely should have played his last game in the shirt. Unai Emery’s favorite player should be kicked out the door along with him. If Emery DARES to play Xhaka again during his short time left at the club, he should be blacklisted by Arsenal fans as well.
Symbolic of the fall in quality, spirit, and class that once defined Arsenal, can now be remembered in a 30 second clip of our club captain disrespecting the fans and shirt at our home ground, then storming into the tunnel.
Granit Xhaka is a disgrace to Arsenal, and from this day forth will always be remembered as such.
Author: Michael Dalo, one half of the Mostly Soccer Podcast, and a hopeless Arsenal romantic hailing from the home of world famous DJ Pauly D - Johnston, Rhode Island. Follow me on twitter @soccermostly and @mikedalo20