Garth Crooks has openly admitted his dislike for Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, but named him in his BBC Team of the Week for his performance this weekend.
The Swiss international has been a revelation this term, proving himself to even his biggest doubters, and he has been integral to our form which has seen us top the table for the past weeks.
Xhaka put in another starring performance in helping us to victory over Brentford this weekend also, with a perfectly weighted cross into the path of Gabriel Jesus to put us 2-0 up before the break, and that display has seen him earn his place in the BBC Team of the Week, despite Crooks making his feelings about the star known.
“I don’t like Granit Xhaka,” Garth admitted in his usual segment for the BBC. “I find him confrontational, overly aggressive and altogether irritating. Nevertheless, on his day he’s a very good player.
“He should have left Arsenal years ago. However, for some reason he has not only stayed at the club, but also occasionally wears the captain’s armband, such is his popularity these days.
“Against Brentford, he looked very impressive and so did Arsenal. I would like to know why Brentford didn’t look up for this game, but the Gunners were so good I rather suspect that even if they had it wouldn’t have changed anything – Arsenal were that good. Most worrying.”
It is difficult to ignore Xhaka’s recent performances, with him flourishing in his new role, and us Arsenal fans know all-too-well how easy can be to dislike the midfielder, as there isn’t many of us who were on his side when he moved to turn on the fans previously.
Times change however, and he could well be on course to become one of the most revered players in our side, continually giving his all in our famous red and white shirt, and really bringing a new level of consistency this season which we haven’t seen before.
While he clearly doesn’t need to be liked, playing for us for years despite turning large sections of the fanbase against him previously, but I do find it a little strange for a pundit to openly claim a dislike for a football player.
Patrick
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