Michael Owen sides with Granit Xhaka and accuses Arsenal fans of double standards.
The former England international has criticised the Arsenal fans after they booed off their captain, Granit Xhaka at the weekend.
The Gunners were frustrated after their team blew away a two-goal lead and took it out on the Swiss midfielder as he was substituted off the field.
Xhaka didn’t take the incident lightly and cupped his ears at the Emirates’ crowd before swearing at them.
He has come under fire by several fans, club legends, and soccer pundits, but Owen seems to think the problems are with the club’s fans, not the player.
To Owen, if the fans want the players to do well on the field of play, they should support them in good and bad times and not turning against them when the going gets tough.
He tweeted: “About time somebody went against the grain.
“Is Xhaka a great player? No.
“Should he react like that? No.
“But if 60,000 fans boo you off? Where’s the unity?
“Expect him to die for the shirt one minute then walk off to a cauldron of hatred the next? #DoubleStandards.”
Understandably, fans have become a lot more impatient with their footballers recently. While there is no single explanation for this, players earn lots of trust from the fans when the season begins and when they begin to perform below par, the players should expect to get some stick from those taking out time to support them.
It is the scale and manner of the fans unhappiness at a player that is the debating point.
Owen is stupid, always was, and dnt know who made him a pundit?!
Crazy.
You are an epitome of the sorts of fans Owen called out here. I may not be in tune with most of his punditry commentaries against Arsenal but on this one he’s spot on. Shame on most of our fans despicable attitudes,players will be scared coming to Arsenal i thinks.
The one thing I’ve noticed lately is how many pundits feel it is acceptable to say a player “Is not good enough”. It’s a judgemental society we live now. That’s for sure! But surely this is hurtful to the player too, right? Roy Keane does it a lot too, just like Michael Owen!
The fact is Michael Owen, we do not expect him to die for the shirt. However, we do expect all players to put everything they have into the team. I watched the game and I saw a “static” Xhaka for most of the game. A player who looked uninterested! Now, Mr Owen, I don’t blame him totally, because we have a manager who needs to realise the errors of his ways.
If the “so called” people in charge would make the right decisions you wouldn’t have angry fans in the first place!
Owen has always been out-spoken against Arsenal and it’s fans. Period! At the end of the day, the fans pay the wages. Just like they did for Michael Owen. It’s a lot of money they spend and they are entitled to feel “ripped off” when the team they support does NOT turn up!!!!
Xhaka should have by now apologised unreservedly to the Arsenal fans for his insulting them when they booed him as he was walking but lakadiasikaly off the pitch after he was substituted when Arsenal was seeking to score the winning goal in their home PL match against Crystal Palace.. And equally should apologise to his head coach Emery for his unruly and indisciplined behaviour as a Gunner and as the Arsenal captain not worthy of emulation. And also apologise to his team mates for betraying the confidence they repose in him when they voted him as their firstly team captain.
But it is disappointing of not reading in the media up till now of Xhaka apologizing for his unprecedented show of arrogance to the Arsenal fans and disrespect to them and his head coach in particular and to the club that is too far bigger than him in general.
Let Xhaka know if he is wise that the supports reported in the media to have been accorded to him by some of his team mates and those given to him by Michael Owen will not help him. This is because these people offering their supports to him will laugh and relish seeing him stripped off the captaincy arm band of the Gunners. .
Exactly my point! This dude is putting ego ahead of even his livelihood. He is done being Arsenal captain for good and he deserves to be frozen out of the team until January that he should be shipped out. He is not good enough for the team. He doesn’t have that leadership quality if he can’t roll out an apology almost immediately for his shameful behavior. The fans indirectly pay his salary. What the fans did was shameful but then, what control does anybody have over fans? They are all kinds of people from different backgrounds, psychological and emotional states. The only qualification to be in there is to afford to buy the ticket. Does Xhaka really expect majorly sane people? He is the professional paid 100K weekly. This frustration has been building up for a while, Emery has been forcing him on the team despite the obvious laxity. Jeers will sound like cheers to my ear if i’m paid 10K weekly to tolerate fans for 90+ minutes once a week. It’s a show business, do your job, get paid, deal with the occupational inconveniences.
It’s an ugly situation. Xhaka was wrong but I could understand the anger, I just felt he channeled it all wrong. The fans were piss poor, but it annoyed me too when Xhaka chose to stroll off as he did. Emery prob has to take him out of the team now, and I think the player will likely want a move, a lot of people will say then it’s a good thing, but our fans need to be careful because behavior like this is ugly and what players are gonna love the idea of this fanbase behind them when things get slippery/sticky.
At 2 2 that is when you need a boisterous crowd, you need them influencing ref decisions and putting nerves into other teams, we rarely have that and we often complain about it when decisions go against us. Fans should get upset but I feel they too channeled it all wrong, I would rather they let the entire team know before raising the volume whenever we’re entering the opposition’s half, and then heckle, whistle and boo the opposing team. It’s nuts, when we’re in a good mood, when content, we’re called the library – when our emotions are running high, all we can do is attack our own.
Owens comments contradict. If he is not a good player then what is he doing at AFC? We are a top club, not mid level championship club.We should not get accustomed to mediocrity. Not all rubbish players get the boos. CR7 /Pogba too were booed, they took it on the chin with sportsmanship and came back stronger. I would say that when a German does not play / perform or throws his hand up in the air – it is acceptable to some fans. When a Swiss does the same he gets the boos. However his gesture and reply was pathetic/uncalled for, not of a winner or a pro and reflects his weak mentality.He should have been out of the club before Elneny or Mkhitaryan IMO.Good riddance to a bad captain. No sympathy!He is doing charity for AFC.
I have seen Real Madrid boo Ronaldo,bale,benzema and more they answer on the pitch by performance and good performance at that.what xhaka did is unexpected of a person supposedly to be leading a team.those the kind of reactions that usually make him give away penalties!!!!
Owen is a poor pundit, is not liked by anyone, should stick to his day job and should keep his mouth shut, when it has naff all to do with him. What a prat.
Owen is a pest. He has nothing to offer discussion. Waste of time.