Arseblog News understands that Arsenal players want Granit Xhaka to continue as captain of the club, despite his meltdown at the Emirates on Sunday.
The Swiss international reacted to jeers from the fans when he was being taken off for Bukayo Saka, cupping his ear to the crowd, mouthing insults, and taking his shirt off before going down the tunnel.
It has created a difficult situation, with the 27 year old only officially appointed to the role a few weeks ago, and it’s believed that the majority of the squad want Xhaka to remain as captain.
The midfielder’s agent flew to London today for discussions with the club, and to meet with Unai Emery and Technical Director Edu.
Arsenal were hopeful that a statement could be issued at some point today, but there has been no agreement as to the wording and thus no communication has been made.
Media reports this evening have suggested that Emery will seek the opinion of the squad as he looks to deal with the problem, much like he did when it came to choosing his captains. Rather than show leadership and decisiveness himself, he is choosing to defer to the players before making a decision.
Xhaka’s position does feel untenable, and his behaviour was unbecoming of the role, but within the club there’s a feeling that Emery’s prevarication over announcing the captaincy has been a significant contributory factor to what went on in the stadium on Sunday.
Arsenal are reportedly concerned about the impact this situation may have on results and fan sentiment, with the Gunners enduring a difficult time on the pitch at the moment, dropping 5 out of 6 Premier League points in the last week.
Earlier today, Hector Bellerin called for unity, saying, “We are all humans, we all have emotions, and sometimes it’s not easy dealing with them.
“It’s time to lift each other up, not to push each other away. We only win when we are together.”
This is the same process that created this mess. And what are the players going to do? Kick xhaka when hes down?
Best thing he can do is thank the players, apologize to the fans, decline the captaincy and have Emery take some of the fans heat.
While that’d be just about best case scenario, how much abuse would Xhaka get for renouncing the captaincy? The execution of it all would have to be perfect.
Xhaka has got to be sacked, or quit. However there is no scenario in which he should continue to wear the armband and should be shipped off in Jan.
But it shouldn’t be a social media tweet or Instagram post if he is going to apologise. It should be a recorded message to hear the sincerity. Social media amongst sportspeople, footballers in particular, is an easy out when they can just write a short paragraph to “sound sincere”.
Let’s talk a minute about the abuse he gets from the fans. To me, a lot of fans owe apology to him. Being fans shouldn’t be about mobbying to destroy others.
Absolutely!
No fucking way should he apologise for reacting to the bullshit some of the crowd submitted him to. If Emery has any leadership skills he’ll go out and deflect the fall out from Monday’s car crash. If he doesn’t then that’ll just confirm further how unsuitable he is as manager of Arsenal.
Is this not partly the whole management structure failing? Emery is the Coach of the first team and whether or not it loses something in translation it appears that all he wants to do is supervise the coaching of the team. Unfortunately at Premier League level you cannot just work on some free kicks and tactics in training but the job entails much more than that. It is evident from the Ozil fiasco that Emery has no man management skills and he does not have the self confidence to make decisions hence the farce that was choosing who from the… Read more »
Yes he should apologise. Of course he should, he acted like a knob – if that is how you think a captain should act it is little wonder we are in the state we are in. I also think it would be fitting for the Arsenal Supporters Trust to come out and issue a statement of apology too, if not for anything but to move forward. Some fans acted a bit knobby cheering when his number got called (seriously that $hit has happened with EVERY team in Europe – just google such and such a team booing their own player…),… Read more »
If I was him I’d just walk. Get a transfer during the next window and forget about this club with its crap manager and its abusive fans. He may not be world class but there are perfectly good teams out there he can go to and not have fans on his back like here.
Like seriously?! So if a teacher is in a class and the students start to boo him/her, its ok for him/her to tell the kids to fuck off?! I am sure if a teacher did that you would want your child to be placed back in that class, even after an apology.
I am not saying xhaka should not be forgiven, but the least he should do is apologize. Under no circumstances should a captain response that way and be allowed to get away with it.
Like seriously yes. If I EVER heard of any kid of mine pulling an act like that in school there’d be consequences for the fucking little brat until it learned what’s right and wrong.
The fans were out of order here. They don’t think twice while dishing out abuse in-person or on social media…but the moment a player speaks up, everyone is suddenly appalled. Not one person here would have acted any different than how xhaka did. Players are humans and it’s time we accept that. And all this nonsense about fans paying money and so we are beyond reproach and we are kings of the hill is bullshit….fans have to own up to their shit as well. A football club is an equation where all parties…the fans, the players, the management…all of them… Read more »
Very well said. If I decide to throw a scene on a bus because I “paid for my tickets”, then get proper ass kicking by the driver and thrown out, I actually really do deserve it. All this entitled mentality by some of the fans is bloody disgusting, and absolutely weak. Another reality check to these fans, you’re not the only ones paying for your tickets, and you don’t see other fans acting up like absolute bellends. Give me a f*cking break.
Exactly how I feel, how can we call ourselves fans or supporters and behave so disgustingly towards our own player/captain, he is a loyal player, who is at fault here? EMERY, he should be stronger and more decisive, Xhaka is a real person with feelings imagine if your son/brother/father, would you accept this abuse??? Think again fans, this is wrong
“behave so disgustingly towards our own player/captain”…so disgustingly?! I mean I’ll give you maybe 10% of a 60,000 seater gave an ironic cheer when his number came up (after we give up another 2-goal lead and let Palace at least be on par with us in the middle of the pitch). That is disgusting behaviour? lol… And back in reality wars continue around the world, racism doesn’t go away (IRL or in football), and we face the greatest crisis in human history – climate change.
Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia – true enough. But they do so to voice their frustration. Not just with the player but also the manager who put him in that position and the club with whom they feel they have little dialogue and agency to change things. The reason fans boo is to get the emotional sincerity across to the team, manager and/or hierarchy. Xhaka should have known this and just walked off. No need to clap the fans but to lose it like that is too much. If someone does that on the street then fair play but in… Read more »
Lula, again another one with all this bullshit about paying for tickets. Were you forced to buy them? If you don’t like the product then don’t buy it. The fuck is wrong with your common sense.
fabulous – thank you for your polite and measured feedback. i refer you to my previous comment.
In that case boo the whole team at the end not an individual, remember how the fans destroyed Eboe is this what we are about? And remember the more abuse we throw at the players the more nervous they get and the worst they play, supporters is the key word, unai emery needs to be a lot more decisive
Xhaka has unfortunately become the lightning rod for all our anger over obvious failings in this club. Emery has shown zero leadership both on and off the pitch. He has thrown Xhaka under the bus. Xhaka is not good enough to be viewed as the almost undroppable member of this team. Giving him the captaincy cemented his place when it’s clear the majority of fans saw him holding us back and stifling momentum. Had he been allowed to fade into the background we could have cut him some slack. Even Mustafi has had a minor rehabilitation in the cup games.… Read more »
dastardltdick – fair point. agreed.
@ Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia – agreed 100%
Welsh Gooner – for me that is overly ritualistic, bordering on bringing back the pillory for those who have caused social offense. A message on an SNS site would suffice. Its his actions from then on that count.
It just goes to show what a shit coach he is that within 10 league games every last once of goodwill from the summer has evaporated. Never has so much talent delivered so little so fast. More than half of his job is man management and I get the impression that’s the one skill he is even worse at than progressive football coaching. Our club lurches from crisis to meltdown week on week directly due to this guy’s total indecision on and off the pitch. Who’s my captain, who’s in my midfield, what formation, what strategy, what player am I… Read more »
No coach will ever be good enough for Arsenal at this rate because frankly the fans are over entitled.
Do you think Emery is doing a good job?
One sentence? Who are you and what have you done with Santori?
I’d take Lampard or Brendan Rogers over Emery any day. At least those teams have an identity.
I agree, but remember, Raul voted for Emery right alongside Gazidis, and needs to take some responsibility and get us out of this mess. I suspect Raul is the one who recommended Emery in the first place. People are already criticizing Edu, he hasn’t put a foot wrong since he’s been here. Whatever happens, we need to get behind the club, thick and thin and all that. Up the Gunners!
I think if Xhaka apologizes, the fans should accept that apology, and we all move on from the affair. Up until this week, when nearly every fan has shifted their deepest criticisms to Emery (rightly so), our collective ire has lashed down on the captain’s back this season, and social media/the internet means the boos and the jeers don’t fade away when the stadium empties. Emery should stand beside Xhaka during the apology, and follow it up with his own admission that, despite what he’s been saying, he has not made Arsenal more competitive and the team is struggling to… Read more »
Its the fans that should be apologising. Xhaka will prob (if he should decide to continue) apologise for his outburst. he will have the testicular fortitude to do so. but these idiots hiding in the rafters sniping from the sides get away with it and it will embolden them to do more stupid things. Which is why probably good to stick to the guns 9no pun) make sure the manager’s decision is final. He falls on his own sword. if the manager is spineless enough to have to bend to the will of the fans, he should not be manager… Read more »
At this point, it’s clear that Xhaka will have to apologize in some form, and the fans can voice their acceptance of that and apology of their own by applauding his next appearance (Emery could give him a bit of a break, especially as I think he’s about to have a baby). Football fans are not the greatest mannered people, I’ll grant you that. Arsenal are playing without a spine these days, so if Emery’s got one I hope he can do a much better job than he has of instilling its virtues throughout the squad and give this team… Read more »
Oh for god’s sake just get rid of Emery and give it to Per.
*Ljungberg
Ljungberg caretaker manager until we find a new guy. Obviously not Mourinho or any nonsense like that. A real manager to get more out of this squad.
Bertieme – agreed. He needs to take the pressure off everyone. Talk about it being an honor, apologize and say that although he wants to stay on the best thing to do would be to decline it in light of his actions and say something like he wants to earn it through effort and good application. That is something a leader would do. To be clear, I’m not that angry at Xhaka. But it makes a mockery of the captaincy for him to stay on as he has. But I bet he won’t do the above. He’ll apologize and stay… Read more »
Bellerin is a good guy, but he’s really not captain material, at least not an on-the-pitch captain like Vieira. Guendouzi is the one, that kid has been leading the squad all season long. He steps up in big moments and drags the rest of the squad with him. He’s the one the rest of our players look to when things get hairy. Guendouzi has got steel to spare, give the young lad the armband and watch him turn into a midfield beast.
I think the most obvious candidate is Aubameyang, but is it really fair to ask his to lead the team and score all the goals?
Have you considered Emery wants the players to have a say as a means to having them then accept leadership? Getting people to bond and understand it’s their team and their matches to win? Building a team beyond showing them how to kick a ball around? Perhaps, just perhaps.
But I may be wrong. Every one of us could be.
Has it also occured to people that Emery has 5 captains because he doesn’t trust any one individual to be up to the job as so graphically demonstrated by Xhaka?
Does it also occur to people than filling a leadership vacuum in the squad thats be present for the best part of 15 years isn’t magically filled overnight?
I see there is a clear bias here in this blog against Emery and every and anything he does is wrong or stupid.. but it has been pointed out here before with reference that this process is not an uncommon one. The much-respected Pep Guardiola conferred with the City squad to appoint Silva successor to Kompany as club captain by putting it to a vote!
I know this fact means nothing around here and doesn’t match the narative perfectly, but c’mon blogs.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11679/11780935/david-silva-voted-new-manchester-city-club-captain-reveals-pep-guardiola
Come on yourself ! I put the first sentences of the article : “Ahead of city first premier league game of the season”. Do you see the difference with us ? We had 6 premier league games without a “true” captain. That was dumb.
And if you listen To the arsecast, blog said that if the captaincy had happened ahead of the season just after koscielny departure nobody would have argue with that.
“Media reports this evening have suggested that Emery will seek the opinion of the squad as he looks to deal with the problem, much like he did when it came to choosing his captains. Rather than show leadership and decisiveness himself, he is choosing to defer to the players before making a decision.”
It didn’t seem like he is specifically making this point in the context of timing alone.
But like I said before, none of that stuff I am spewing means anything around here, at least not for now. Still an angry mob!
Erm, well I would. Prior to the first game of the season or not. Xhaka should not be first choice for the first 11 and therefore should not be club captain.
I would. Prior to the first game of the season or not. Xhaka should not be first choice for the first 11 and therefore should not be club captain.
It is extremely difficult to conspire against a man who conspires against himself. There is no anti-Emery agenda on arseblog or any football blog for that matter, there is simply an analysis of the man, his role and his results. Nothing looks good. He should be nowhere near this role, unqualified, unfit for office and lastly, very very annoying as a person (now that is a personal bias and make of it what you will.)
You’re welcome to hire him at Everton if you like. Well swap him for Marco Silva.
To all that booed him, ask yourself, did u really booed at him or Emery instead? If Xhaka is so ineffective or underperforming, who keep selecting him and gave him the captaincy, for a task beyond his capabilities? Unai has to take the blame and clear this mess and put things right.
The people who are backing Xhaka are confusing two distinctly different situations here. The first is the abuse that Xhaka (like every other footballer) endures on social media, which is completely unacceptable and plain wrong. However, the 2nd situation is what happened on the pitch on Sunday where Xhaka was in the wrong, not the fans. I can’t believe that in a world where players are subjected to racism and all kinds of ugly abuse in the stadium, our own fans are crying over some ‘ironic cheering’ for a player that threw the armband to the ground, told them to… Read more »
?
Whilst in no way do i condone online abuse on social media what i don’t understand is why footballers etc don’t just turn off the comments section, it’s pretty easy to do.
Asking the players what they think is such a weak move from Emery. Nobody in that dressing room is going to say to ‘you should strip him of the armband.’ But their opinion is neither here no there really. That’s not their decision, nor is it Xhaka’s. Its your decision Emery. This fundamental lack of leadership is the main reason why Arsenal have been allowed to regress into a Europe League team. So I fully expect Raul to show the necessary leadership to prevent this slide from going on much longer, regardless of the next 3 or so results. They… Read more »
He doesn’t have to strip him of the captaincy does he as he has 5 captains, he just puts him on the bench.
Just take him out of the spotlight for a while and let the other captains take over for a bit.
Hard to imagine their statement will please everyone or indeed anyone
You mean ozil? Lol fuck emery, this clown has created this mess
Theres Auba, Laca…relax
I’m just saying he’s one of the 5 captains. He had all summer to figure this all out. How can you let a player you don’t want to use be a captain? He’s creating a mess
He’s got 5 so it isn’t a problem, that’s the beauty of having the that number
Does Emery ask permission to go to the toilet?
or maybe he puts it to vote
It’s a process. Its important to do well in training.
“We have to be in the moment.”
He has the team shit themselves on the pitch on his behalf every game.
Wow, blogs drops the bait and you guys are on it like piranhas “Rather than show leadership and decisiveness himself…” I’m rather disappointed in how blogs frames this, he is certainly setting the tone here and should ask himself what kind of journalist he wants to be on Arseblog “news”. Could also say, “Emery wants to make sure there is consensus in the squad before handing down an unpopular decision that could result in further unrest and loss of team spirit, and more dropped points” Or just not add your own spin to the story. Also, I’m no fan of… Read more »
I think it is again longing out a problem that can be put to bed in a day. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that referendums fuck shit up.
I dunno if that’s fair, there’s plenty of websites that you can read that look to stay neutral on the whole thing. He is entitled to have his opinion on the matter, whether you agree or not. It’s a blog at the end of the day.
Personal opinions is what makes the blog and the comments such an interesting read!
Agree with LeBlanche on this one. Although I would prefer blogs had a more critical view on the boo-boys, he is of course entitled to his own opinions (and that’s why we come here).
Listening to other football podcasts today there’s pretty unanimous agreement that the treatment of Xhaka was a disgrace. I’ve seen some pretty rubbish things at the Emirates but this tops it. Never been more ashamed to be an Arsenal fan.
Emery deserves this gloves off approach, he dishes it out constantly with his team selection biases and press conferences talking about how some players “deserve it more.”
There is no agenda, he is terrible at his job.
Agree with btw, regardless of what one thinks of Emery, there’s nothing wrong with taking the squad’s opinion into account rather than acting unilaterally. Well, in theory anyway, imo the squad seriously erred in making Xhaka captain in the first place. I think it says as much about our players as it says about Emery.
That would be your opinion and your style of writing. Does not mean all agree with it.
He will select 5 toilets.
Ha
Bollocks !
Weak decision making is exactly what got us here. I hope to god not all of the players think he should remain captain because then none of them would be fit to be captain either.
This is absurd – and a complete abdication of responsibility by Emery. What on earth does he imagine his teammates were going to say?! Putting Xhaka himself in an untenable situation too. This is a complete fail on Emery’s part.
It’ll help mend what’s been broken within the team and get them to buddy up. Helps more than the vitriol coming from the fans. Helps trying to step out of the convenient narrative.
Make a fucking decision Emery and sort this shot out, you made this mess in the first place. The more I hear of Emery the more useless I think he is. Cut your losses and move on
Arsenal that is
He made the decision. He made Granit captain.
…and someone made him manager.
#KroenkeOut
Xhaka has been poor, but he hardly stands alone and I am not comfortable with one player taking the hit alone. When a club has been so pitiful over 18 months, things should stop at the managers door because he is ultimately responsible for their performance.
Bournemouth at home was where I finally admitted Emery will not bring either success or entertainment.
I don’t think Xhaka has been poor anymore than say Willock and Torreira were poor.
Same people who don’t want granit believe Torreira is answer to everything and Willock should start in PL until last midweek…then strangely silent.
Its called selective viewing.
As I said, it is Emery that unfortunately doesn’t have the answers. I certainly would not blame young players like Willock and Torreira is bizarrely played as an attacking midfielder now.
I know my opinion may not be popular with most but I think if the players want him to continue on as captain then he should. We as fans don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and lack personal knowledge of the individual so if the players chose him they did so for a reason and it shows that they are willing to fight for him as captain and the players themselves obviously have good reasons to rally behind him and stripping him of the captaincy will make an already toxic situation worse. That said I really dont think… Read more »
You are totally right. Who the hell are we that we THE fans are demanding to change the captain if the players themselves feel that he should stay. We are just unpaid ambassadors of the club who represent them in the best possible way. We are the first one who should respect the values and stay classy in those moments. While it is read like a cliche, it is true though. Those fans yesterday didn’t do a good job.
Let’s perhaps lose the whole “class and values of Arsenal” nonsense. We clearly deserve to be held to no higher standards than any other set of fans or set of people for that matter. We boo our players, academy lads included, more than any club I can think of. We fly planes. Our biggest fan site is basically people screaming obscenities at camera. We rarely get behind our team either in the stadium or on social media channels. We exist in London but have zero players in the England squad. Our captain is a child who goads his own fans,… Read more »
HelderHughes, Bloody hell that was well said.
The Arsenal class and values were really more Arsene’s.
This was my favourite example of Wenger’s classy behaviour, incidentally after a 2-2 draw at home to the mighty Hull, who were relegated that season.
Obviously the level of opposition his teams always steamrollered as we’ve been repeatedly told the past couple of weeks!!
https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/football/29677078
Well said that man!
nailed it as always Helder!
HelderHughes couldn’t have put it better myself;
Damn!!
That some existential crisis sh*t for our beloved club right there!
It made me crack a rib while loling.
Sad but true, god I miss Arsene
Last Monday, before kick off at Sheffield, you could clearly see that Xhaka was tired, after becoming a father!
He’s not getting enough sleep, which is having a big impact on he’s performance.
Time for a time out!
Hector should be captain.
He’s the only one with the sense and cojones to say anything sensible.
And sack Emery, the weak, incompressible twat.
The same Hector that the fanbase were trolling because of his hair and fashion sense? We only appreciate players when they are gone. I bet Kos is laughing his head off. ??♂️
My biggest issue was that he went full sloth mode; all the rest is human nature and, for me at least, excusable.
Emery hanging him out to dry again and letting the players decide for him is shocking. How can they not see this at the top? Maybe the small minority of fans willing to drop to even criminal actions (death threats) silence the majority in a shared opinion.
Dark times to be a gooner. We shouldn’t tolerate shocking behaviour from fellow fans. Death threats! I can’t believe I share a passion with deranged lunatics.
#EmeryOut
Best solution in my humble opinion: Keep him as Captain to please the players, and don’t play him in every premier league match regardless of form or tactics to maybe win some matches and please the fans.
I think this is the part in the story we need Carl Jenkins and his Dad to play “Purple Rain” while Ty and Claude from AFTV slow dance together.
Joke.. but unfortunately our club is becoming the real joke.
How the hell did we get here?
By having a manager who keeps failing to get more out of what is a pretty good squad. Get someone new and more capable in and this will be but a memory.
We got here when some spoilt fanbase waved a banner with the inscription: “Thanks for the memories but enough is enough. #WengerOut”. Then without a second thought or consideration of the consequences, our kneejerk board picked the cue, conducted a hurried recruitment drive and settled on a Spanish David Moyes just because “he had won 3 back to back UEL titles”. And that’s why we are here.
Clearly wasnt lacazette though by his social media activity
The armband is cursed this year. 2nd instance of unbecoming behaviour in as many Captains.
And every year. When was the last time we had a reliable captain? Kos was injured half the time, so was Per, rvp jumped ship, as did cesc, Gallas was Gallas, Henry abandoned ship too. Vieira was probably our last dependable captain.
Unbecoming behaviour. The way Kos, as Captain, held himself for not wanting to go on tour and how he reacted. The way Granit held himself yesterday towards Club and fanbase.
No mention of reliable.
The true story of how the club mishandled the Kos situation will come out eventually.
I was thinking of Gallas sitting on the pitch as the last example of our captain behaving in such a way during a game.
Absolutely, we haven’t had a proper captain for 15 years and that’s not a stick to beat Emery with is it?
When a club (manager), for 15 years uses the captaincy as a device to placate the ego of wantaway players it can come as no surprise that there is a leadership and accountability vacuum amongst the playing squad can it?
Again that isn’t a stick with which beat Emery and the cultural issues at the club will take many years to fix and won’t go away by sacking the manager.
True in many cases, but Arteta and Per were great captains even if physically they weren’t at peak.
They were not great captains, they weren’t terrible captains al la Gallas but it just goes to show how far the quality had been allowed to fall. I’m pretty sure both of those players hardly played in the seasons they were actually appointed.
Whatever the rights or wrongs here he just needs to come out apologise and resign as captain. If he continues every slight mistake and error will be exacerbated making a difficult situation worse.
Reading on here im in the minority in that ild give emery more time but I am disappointed he’s put this to the squad if reports are true
Not taking responsibility again as manager to make a decision. Regardless of opinion about what happened the clear thing is Xhaka needs a break from the first team for a couple of games. If we improve from that it probably means the end of him as a starter, if not it means the end of emery to be honest.
Makes you yearn for the days when AW took the flack for everything.
Do you think Xhaka would have reacted like that if Wenger was in charge? Would Wenger have even put Xhaka in the position to act the way he did? Highly doubt it. Emery is totally befuddling in some of his personnel decision, let alone tactical ones.
Wenger made Gallas captain – he had a similar meltdown, and was retained as captain. The art of making points with some nuance is clearly a lost one.
I thought the same thing. Arsene would take the heat for his players.
“I’m sorry that I’ve brought embarrassment on myself and the team. With immediate effect I stand down from the captaincy. I will do my upmost to support the team and win back the hearts and minds of the fans…”
Emery is a clown
Oh man, how did it get to this level so quickly.
We had just gone through a major rebuild, the last window but facing another one already. However, with the change of manager, the other issues can be dealt with internally.
Xhaka must be one hell of a character in the dressing room
Or the players have a lot of sympathy for a situation that they could easily imagine themselves in. Just see the reaction from Toreira.
I think this hits it on the head. They are colleagues, they obviously respect Xhaka, and they all see and know how vile the baying mobb can be and is all too often. What does everyone think and expect their opinions of fans to be when they’re assaulted all of the time by cack for brains gits? They’re constantly under intense and frequently personal criticism both online- where most of these players are of the age that that is a basic part of life – AND at the stadium. If I were in their position I’d quietly hate the whole… Read more »
What Emery bring to Arsenal since he came: 1) Appoint an unpopular captain and makes him the lighting rod 2) Awful team selection and timid tactics, undermining Arsenal potential and ability 3) Episode with Ozil that goes on for as long as a year I just can’t see how the management of the club are able to ignore such facts and continue to blindly support him. The performances had been bad. The on pitch and off pitch saga had never stopped. What Emery do is to push all the responsibility to the players. Look at the game, the strikers are… Read more »
You’ve got to think time is almost up for Unai. Lots of reports of discontent and discord being leaked and Emery catching the blame in almost all of them. Lose to Liverpool and Wolves/Leicester and it’s probably all over.
Emery is a clown Wtf supports this guy is insane I wasn’t high in his hire from his psg stint but was willing to give him a chance because of his Sevilla “success”. IIRC just one incident really sticks out that made me sour in him at psg. I don’t remember which season it was but when Cavani and Neymar has that embarrassing BS penalty kick drama and I believe after the game Emery was asked about it and said something like I’ll let them handle it and the drama continued for several more games smh Same shit here. How… Read more »
If they don’t “want to boo him”, they shouldn’t. Impossible to get to the manager? He’s right there on the sidelines. What the hell has this schoolyard antics bullshit come to? “Sorry, new father, we’re not really angry at you per se, but we’ll hurl abuse at you for half a year both on the pitch and on social media, because it’s frankly impossible to voice discontent at our manager. We would have hurled abuse at other players too, but we decided not to”. Come on. Seems the lads (at least some of them) are behind him (or at least… Read more »
The good news is most of the players are still together. I would thank them for their opinion and still drop him. That way they won’t have to feel bad for not sticking up for him. Leaving him on as Captain a big no no, he has reached the point of no return for me.
Retaining Xhaka as captain is fine. We have five captains, right? Just make sure whoever plays is on merit. Based on what I’d see for many months now, that isn’t the case.
“within the club there’s a feeling that Emery’s prevarication over announcing the captaincy has been a significant contributory factor”
What’s that based on? It’s obvious you’re push an Emery out agenda, but you need to verify your sources.
Exactly.
These people want to see what they want to.
They are pushing for an emery out and manufacturing a crisis where there is none.
They are already pushing a fragile state to fraying point.
Under no circumstances can he keep the captaincy
of course he can. he has popular consensus of his teammates. If they say they want him, so be it. As I said the players are human. Unless they are stupid…they know if they don’t stick together they will be next. The Arsenal fans have shown them our arrogant conceited and fickle minded their cheers are. Torreira was very upset by this. It will have knock on affect. These stupid fans have effectively poison the well. The only way I see granit not being captain is should he decide its too much. BUT I think it is a real positive… Read more »
Give the bloke a rest. Xhaka. Emery. The whole lot. Just chill out, try to enjoy the football and perhaps question the source of this vitriol within the fanbase and within yourself. And when you see something you don’t like, on the pitch or in the stands, be better than that.
Tough times call for people coming together.
Enjoy the football??????
Listening to TalkSport today about this and Xhaka isn’t fully to blame for this, though it doesn’t excuse what he did one bit. We left it so late into the season to pick a captain – shows other clubs that we actually have no natural born leader who is gonna be the man to look to when the going gets tough. Xhaka by all accounts may be that guy in the dressing room (going by player accounts) but he certainly isn’t that guy out on the field. Taking footballing ability aside, the captain should carry himself well on and off… Read more »
The captain should be able to rally the team.
I’m more concerned as to what led to Granit’s outburst. Can’t be just the boos. There’s an immense pressure to get something ticking right and it’s not working, I can only assume he’s trying his best and like everyone else is very much emotionally invested in the success of this team (as a band of players, rather than Arsenal – that’s another story).
It would be great if we as fans could show more empathy.
Lucien Favre all the way
If you stand for nothing, you fall for anything. If Unai is in charge, he must handle this…not the players. It’s his job, not theirs.
At this point in time, a news conference with Emery and Xhaka with Xhaka basically saying, “I am a f-up and never intended to degrade Arsenal, our fans, nor my Captaincy”, would be enough for me. If this would get this team more together, then I am all for it. We need to side with the players on this one. Believe they have been astounded by the reaction to Xhaka walking off, and the ensuing negativity.
Stop making excuses for the Effing fans. 1) This was not Emery’s fault. He is the gaffer and has every right to make the decision who should be captain. He had poor choices so he made the best he could. And Xhaka (or Sokratis) were about the best he could. 2) This was not Xhaka’s fault. he should have been stronger than to be goaded into a reaction and perhaps that says something about him not being captain material but he is human and he was at least brave enough to step up and take responsibility as captain and put… Read more »
Nothing wrong for Unai to select Xhaka as captain. AND should he deem it fit for him to continue so be it. He does not need to bow to the effing crowd. What kind of management would that be. Arsenal fans are digging their own grave. they will will this club into the gutter themselves. They wanted out of top4 pot and preferred being in europa and they got that wish. They wanted Arsene out anyone was better we will give the gaffer 3 seasons. they got that but won’t give the 3 seasons. They want a new approach like… Read more »
I suppose the players will be voting on team selection and transfer signings next. What exactly is Emery’s job these days aside from confusing matters?!
Once you grow up and get a job, you’ll realize that most modern leaders like to make their employees feel involved. This is a completely normal leadership move. If you make people feel “part of the process” they’ll feel more behind your decisions. The days of the dressing room dictators has somewhat died out. This pleases most people in most jobs. Probably footballers too.
(apparently needs to be said) : I’m not for or against him putting this to a vote, I’m merely pointing out the obvious.
Any reason why he can’t be captain and still start from the bench? We do have form for that (Vermleen, Arteta, Mert).
Blogs writing yesterday that Emery isn’t a firefighter. I totally agree, the man’s a bloody arsonist.
I laughed because that was funny. I cried because it was true.
I upvote because I agree.
The initial mistake was not bringing in a big character manager to succeed Arsene. Man u made the same mistake with Moyes. Wenger was rightfully replaced but he is a massive figure in football. The replacement had to be a legend in the game by his own right. We were hustled with all the talk of how tactical he was and his video analysis. The thing is Wenger was very tactically astute at times he just believed we could go anywhere and play and win. Delusional stubborn and arrogant it seemed but he was hugely successful so I understood his… Read more »
Both Unai and Granit are ruinning Arsene’s legacy..
No need to make environment more toxic ,an apology (which those most enraged won’t accept anyway).Perhaps keep him out of limelight/team a few games. Personally I’ve already forgiven him. You give some you gotta take some self defense is always ok he didn’t act like a captain yesterday walking of but he showed a character I’d like in a captain Xhaka is carrying the rage for his own old mistakes and Emery’s current. I thought his reaction was honest and I think he does his very best for Arsenal I don’t get why Emery feels he is so indispensable but… Read more »
Personally I think Xhaka is not at the level we require as a player let alone captain. That being said, I still support him while he takes to the field in our Jersey. The fans treatment of him is distinctly reminiscent of the treatment Wenger recieved during the final years of his tenure. We are supposed to be the class outfit in the prem. Historically we have been that club but the fans honestly are dragging the club on an appearance front down to the toxic level of supporters of other clubs. The only difference being they dont do it… Read more »
What a mess we have become……….IF Emery gives the players the choice of captain again (which is utterly ridiculous in the first place)….and then IF the players choose Xhaka again……
We are officially a joke of a club
Emery and Xhaka both gone please, EDU (Edu has to be on to all this nonsense football and management)
Lol, what if Edu was actually brought in on a secret players’ vote?
I kid.
I am far more comfortable with Xhaka as captain than I am with Emery as manager.
Has the world gone completely mental? I wouldn’t be surprised if they ban clapping at the stadium at some point because the players are being triggered. Every one’s fucking soft these days.
Yup!
Emery is too insecure/scared to make the decision himself. I felt sorry for Xhaka with the crowds treatment of him, and still do; but, also still aggrieved with his reaction! Worse thing is 18 months and still no clear tactics, strongest 11 or creativity… Emery has to go. Asap.
Fuck Emery. Plain and simple. Toss his ass out and move on without this POS-excuse of “coach”.
Any other club, players getting behind their captain and showing unity is a good thing. Except at Arsenal where some people want things to have a different outcome of their own. Hopefully Unai will show cojones and get behind his captain, let BOTH the team and Granit show it where it matters most on the pitch. Use it as a point of strength to rally from idiotic criticism. I don’t see a problem with Granit continuing. BUT i’m not sure if he will want to. That’s where there is a bigger danger. The players will feel let down and they… Read more »
Chaka will have seen, booing for Ramsey, Gironde, Theo, wenger, a.m.n., Mustafi, and thought enough with the fans , ( arshavin, chamak, etc) before Emery here at Emirates.
Torreira,Xhaka and Matteo played well together at old Trafford imo.as playing Torreira further forward meant he pressed and marked pogba out the game.
Torreira and Matteo short and light weight
Average height / weight
5. 7 / 10 half stone.
Fernandinho, Rodin, 5.11/ 11 stone
Vieria / Gilberto 6.2 /12 stone.
I’m sorry if my opinion gets downvotes and people don’t agree with me but I don’t think Xhaka should be captain again. He hasn’t apologized to the fans yet and is, in my opinion, as toxic as they come. He doesn’t help himself on the pitch with his performances. He’s not helped by his own manager who can’t make a decision himself to save his life. If the players want him to continue as captain then there’s no reason why we should continue with this pathetic bunch of players either. They’ve not given us anything but disappointment bar some individual… Read more »
So they can’t even agree on the wording of the statement 2 days later…
I suspect there is more going on besides just agreeing the wording of a statement for what happened on Sunday. I don’t think that his agent flies into town for just that. If the reaction was due to something bigger than the crowd’s reaction – I think today’s blog points to that – then this might be more about the broader problems that UE has caused by not being decisive, and how those problems are impacting the players. Maybe what led to Xhakagate was the last straw for him. My concern is that he wants out and, given his popularity… Read more »
Be better at football and all this goes away!