Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has described Granit Xhaka’s reaction towards fans as ‘unacceptable’, the Frenchman added that the midfielder’s actions were like a ‘betrayal’.
Writing for Paddy Power News, Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has slammed Granit Xhaka’s heated reaction to being booed by Gooners during our 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
The Swiss midfielder reacted angrily to boo boys, the 27-year-old seemed to tell supporters to “f*** off” whilst he was walking off the pitch.
The aggressive midfielder also ripped off his shirt before storming down the tunnel. It’s very hard to make the case that Xhaka should play for us again after this.
Here’s what our retired midfield powerhouse had to say on Xhaka:
“I have never seen anything like what happened with Granit Xhaka before.”
“For me, he can’t be the Arsenal captain any longer. It’s impossible. What he did was unacceptable.”
“What he did on the pitch is one thing, I’ve made it clear that I don’t know what he adds to the team”
“But what Xhaka did as he left the pitch is totally different. You can’t do that – it’s like betrayal in England.”
Petit reiterated that the reaction from fans was unlike anything he’d ever seen before:
“I have witnessed fans booing players before, of course, but not like this. The anger was something else. It’s clear, they don’t want him to play for Arsenal any more.”
It’s well-known amongst the fanbase that the Swiss star is often the target for criticism when things go wrong, but even considering this his actions seem inexcusable.
The star’s reaction has taken the football world by storm, hopefully the incident hasn’t disrupted the squad too much ahead of tomorrow night’s mammoth League Cup clash against Liverpool.
Given our worrying recent form, the last thing we need is off-the-pitch incidents that have the potential to impact the team’s performance.
Tomorrow’s tie seems far to soon to bring Xhaka back into the fold – if that’s even on the cards for Unai Emery, the midfielder needs to be kept out of the limelight until this furore dies down.
Which Gunners star would you like to take the captain’s armband now that Xhaka is out of the question?
Guendouzi, all day long for me! Love his attitude, passion and everything else, even his hair.
Spot on.I don’t know how the big boys will react though.
I wonder if Guendouzi said anything to David Luiz about the hair pulling when we played Chelski last season?
He just joined Arsenal last season and he is too young
Chambers would be a better option, as long as he plays in Xhaka’s position. If he plays as a DM, he can command the players in front of him and organizes the defenders
So what if he’s 20, gotanidea, he’s an absolute baller and if everyone had his attitude, we’d be alright. But hey that’s just my opinion.
Chambers 🤣
Hi Sue. For better or worse, Matteos a bit of a hothead as was Mikel Arteta. I lke it. Shows passion.
Hey georgie! Yes I completely agree with you. I love players showing passion.. Matteo has it all, imo….
Knowing emery xhaka will still be captain. The man has no cajones.
This is the first time am commenting and giving my views on all this Xhaka saga.
Let me start by pointing out that fans don’t attend games to only watch the game but cheer. Cheering the team means supporting the team regardless of results . However, fans have every right to show their feelings by all means including booes. In modeen day football and especially in a team like Arsenal where the management is concerned of financial benefits and tends to overlook performance, the only way that a fan can be heard is by application of such attics. Having said that, the players are people too and have every right to show their frustrations as well because at the end of the day, they are not robots. Xhaka is a player I dislike and will never lie to myself that I will ever see anything good in him. However, to be diplomatic, the fans had their right to make it known that they are not comfortable watching him start games. He on the other hand, had the right to show that he was not happy with the criticisms.
The only problem I have with him is that he is a captain and should know how to save his career by trying to ignore his rightful emotions for the sake of tomorrow.
Let me point out similar incidents:
Jorginho
Being a good leader is not just about quality, it’s about personality. Remember when Jorginho got booed? He ignored it and proved Chelsea fans wrong. Xhaka gets booed and tells his fans to f*ck off, refuses to greet the manager and swears against his own supporters.
CR7
Cristiano Ronaldo in Real Madrid era won 4 UCL, 4 Ballon d’Or, La liga, Kings cup, Club world cups, Super cups etc. gets booed for whatever stupid reasons but he reacts by scoring a hattrick and do the talking on the pitch
POGBA
• tripped off captaincy
• Benched by Jose
• Pundits claimed he downplayed tools
• Media turned most fans against him
• Booed him off the pitch vs Cardiff
• Criticised even for haircuts
But he Never turned against the fans.
Xhaka has to change his attitude.
Ozil has been through all these booing, sidelined, media attacks but he has never gestured at the fans.
Torreira despite being sidelined, showed character,love and respect as he emotionally broke down in tears in support of his captain. Three more senior players visited Xhaka after the game to console him and it’s okay for teammates. Apparently, Arsenal management is held a showcase meeting yesterday and the most probable outcome is a fine and captaincy strip for Xhaka.
In conclusion, Emery job becomes harder than it has ever been. He is clearly getting exposed in all dimensions. Poor people management, poor results and overall poor performance..
Positive outcome, we might start seeing a midfield that excludes Xhaka and that’s why the BOOING might be working and unfortunately if this yields results then am sorry to say that it’s just a beginning because you don’t abandon a tactics that works to favor you and am for it. Aslong as it works and it makes the message heard, then it should be used to serve that purpose. We must stand up for the team. We should not go the AC Milan way as we look on.In England, once a team has become a mid table team getting back is not easy and it takes time.
Want a job, Petit?
Emery’s says ‘Xhaka is devastated, sad and very down’at today’s press conference..
Take a full look at Arsenal.com but don’t expect an apology soon by the looks of it!
Oh, and it looks like Emery will keep his captain (Love child)!! 🙁
Well he’s lost the plot, the fans.. he may as well go out in a blaze of glory 😂😂😂😂😂
Hahaha.. He even says Ozil is in for the next game so maybe he has lost the plot?!^ 🙂
Well, GunneRay.. it could be a ploy, to try and win some of the fans back?? Why now all of a sudden?!
Can never work that guy out!!
Not a single person is going to convince me that Xhaka ahould have just kept quiet with the abuse and humiliation our fans have put him through since the season started.
I like fairness. I don’t defend anyone just because the status quo says so.
Xhaka is limited as a player. He has been giving the best to his ability even if we all accept that it is not good enough. But the campaign against him since being made captains has been disgusting. Called all sorts of disgusting names, him and his family being bullied online and it boiled over in the stadium where 60,000 a booing him for being nlt good enough even if he is trying his best.
Blame Emery, boo Emery, boo the entire squad that chose Xhaka to be their captain.
I have never accepted this notion of rewarding bad behaviour from fans towards any player in person.
Again, this notion of “The petulant Customer is always Right” is the biggest politically correct nonsense i have ever seen. Why can’t there be respect between me a business owner and the a petulant customer? The customer has also got to show some morals.
It’s like a typical bully that always gives it the big mouth, but the moment that bully is challenged back he / she runs away crying about to their mommy.
In that Heated moment the fans overreacted and because Xhaka is a human being himself he overrated too. But who is to blame mostly here? The petulant fans that have been harassing the guy all season or the frustrated xhaka that was being human by reacting back?
If you know that you are not strong enough to take it then don’t give it the big mouth.
Let’s all act like adults here, xhaka should be the big person here and apologise first. But the petulant children that have been harassing him and booing him should also man up and apologise to him too.
Then xhaka can ask for a transfer away in January or summer so that we can all move on.
Whatever happens xhaka has shown the type of player and person he is, changing his Instagram photo from arsenal captain to swiss captain. The bloke is a real piece of work. A quick appology and let the fans know he was wrong would have been the correct thing to do but no. Petulance, defiance and showing his true colours, typifies what this guy is all about. Rotten to the core, like Ozil, he needs outing ASAP but like ozil, nobody would touch him with a sterilised barge pole. These situations arent going to end well, horrible characters the pair of them.
Why were the petulant fans booing him, bullying him and his family online. Heard that things were thrown at his car with his wife inside etc.
Why are some grown ass men allowed to be bullies but a player should just take the nonsense?
The fans that do that are as bad as xhaka and they have s**t for brains, just like xhaka, peas in a pod.
Are as bad as Xhaka? Sorry my friend that’s completely wrong – worst Xhaka has done is tell people to fekk off and stormed off in a huff.
You actually think that compares to the abuse he has taken on social media such as threats of violence to himself, threats that his wife and new baby will be raped? Or that it in anyway compares to throwing items at a moving vehicle with him and his wife inside?
You may not like or respect the guy but please don’t seriously try and say he is on the same level as these idjits giving him the abuse 🤦♂️
Mad Hatter, xhaka is an arsenal captain, he should not ever respond like that to beying fans and when he does he is wrong. His actions since have shown he is a poor captain and a poor attitude. Everyone makes mistakes but his appology should have been instant, the fact that it wasn’t and his actions since show he is not an arsenal Captain. He is not arsenal, he is a poor relation to the real captains that have graced this club.
So my few cents worth I cannot agree that Ozil is categorized with Dhaka.Ozil is a very decent human being you just have to look at the charity work he does to understand that he is a footballer with a social conscience. Xhaka has now had 48 hours to issue and apology to the club not the fans…for throwing the captains armband on the turf. He chooses to not show any remorse. Unai has spoken about his emotional state but failed to publicly call on him to apologize.Now no matter Xhaka s playing ability or profile any self respecting club would not want to be disrespected in that way. If he is a true leader he will be at pains to accept that Hus reaction to the crowds jeering and booing can not be justified with disrespect towards the club adored my millions and its ethics and its history
SA, Ozil is nothing like xhaka but he is not showing anything but zero effort to be an arsenal regular. He is on stupid money and should be knocking down brick wallsxwith his bare hands to get in this team, he is just cruising, keeping low and bagging 350k a week for zilch. That is not the same category but it is still disrespectful to the shirt, at least shoe some fight.
There’s no way on this earth that Xhaka can be the Arsenal captain ever again, l mean Emery and Mesut Ozil have had their problems but you have never seen Ozil act as disgusting as that.
Personally l believe that Xhaka should be kicked out of the club or
made to train with the younger squad,and barred from the first team
until we can get rid of him,and play with Torreira and Matteo & start playing Mesut Ozil again who really gets our team playing with swagger when we are on for me!!!!!!!⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Xhaka’s reaction was unacceptable; however I wonder how Petit would react if his wife and family were abused and his car attacked during his first season, when he took time to adapt?
The world is a different place to when Petit played, with the trolls and low life’s frequenting social media.