Granit Xhaka has thrown his support behind Nicolas Pepe and urged the Ivorian winger to come back stronger.
Pepe was sent off following a moment of madness that saw him headbutt Leeds’ Ezgjan Alioski at the weekend.
With the Gunners struggling for a goal in the match, the last thing they wanted was to be a man down, but that was exactly what happened when Pepe got himself sent off.
The Ivorian’s act and dismissal didn’t please his manager who has been leaving him out of most of his Premier League games this season.
The former Lille man complained about not playing much during the last international window, now that he has had his chance, he has spurned it.
He apologised for being sent off yesterday and admitted that there was no excuse for his actions.
He posted the apology on his Instagram page, and there were several responses to the post.
One of the responses came from Xhaka who assured the winger that he had their backing and he urged him to come back stronger.
‘Keep going brother. You come back stronger,’ the Swiss midfielder replied.
‘WE ARE WITH YOU.’
This is a good sign of leadership from Xhaka.
Mistakes do happen in a football match and Pepe should get over it. Great show of support from Xhaka and no wonder all Arsenal players backed him to be Captain during UE’s time. The main thing of course is that Pepe should learn from this mistake and as Xhaka pointed out, come out stronger and a better player. Such pitfalls are the learning steps.
Nonsense from a nonsense player.First hug the culprit then some words of wisdom for the victim.
Watch the body language of the Spuddies when things do not go right for them and our “aces” hug, hi five, giggle and do other stupid things post final whistle. While others are competing for honors, our players are enjoying their weekly wages and perks irrespective of the outcome. Shameful stuff !