There’s a lot of times Xhaka has done silly things which have been impossible to defend, including in the past at Anfield.
Yet to blame him for us throwing away a two-goal lead on Sunday? I’ll defend him all day long.
Some in the media have tried to create the narrative that his altercation with Arnold influenced the home crowd to make some noise having been subdued. The equivalent of waking a sleeping bear.
I would suggest that goals change games and momentum, and that it was Liverpool scoring that changed the atmosphere not anything else.
I think the home fans were relieved to still be in a contest they had been outplayed in and recognised their players needed help.
That’s why for years 2-0 has always been described as a vulnerable lead to have with the next goal vital.
There’s zero evidence to suggest that Salah only scored because of the Xhaka incident, and actually quite insulting to suggest a team would need something like that to motivates them.
The fact is Liverpool rarely lose in the league at their own stadium and have dominated this fixture for the last decade.
Man City, Man United and Newcastle all lost on their visits.
Liverpool have lost just one League game at Anfield since winning on this date last year.
That is ONE defeat in THIRTY-SEVEN games, so credit to Arsenal for giving the Reds a scare…@JustArsenal— Just Liverpool Blogs (@JLiverpoolBlog) April 10, 2023
You don’t have that kind of home record without having resilience.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where there has to be a reason and someone to blame, it can’t simply be a case of a world class football match where both teams deserve credit.
I suggested at half time to my best friend (who supports Liverpool) that it was quite lazy punditry from Sky and maybe even bias.
If our player had picked up a needless booking so had Liverpool’s, with Trent the one to square up to our midfielder.
Given how he had defended, I’m sure Klopp wasn’t happy about Martinelli now getting to run at a right back on a yellow card?
What’s more needless? A player confronting one of his peers over a tackle, or a player confronting a linesman at half time (against the rules) and making such a drama that official’s job is now on the line?
Both of Liverpool’s full backs got yellow cards for off the ball incidents yet it’s Xhaka’s temperament which is questioned?
I actually commend the 30-year-old and his teammates discipline, because it was clear Liverpool’s game plan was to pressure the ref and get us sent off.
Liverpool went direct in the second half. That style of play and atmosphere is not easy to play in.
Especially when you’re having to time when to tackle or block or throw your bodies in the way.
Tierney coming on too late, Martinelli’s failure to find Saka when we were on the break, the occasion getting to us, all reasons why we failed to win at the weekend and all more crucial then what Xhaka did.
Dan
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Perharps for once JA can i blame a tiny bit paul tierney ,same ref in the game against tottenham last season when he game the softest pen ecer to tots and re for holding.and we lost and then lost the forth,but anyway subs were bad just bad at 1-2 shouldve kept pushing for the 3rd but as i say with paul tierney it was alost immposible
Ion wanna blame nobody coz its like we getting carried away, we drew Liverpool in anfield and we were so dominant in the first half, what a lot of progress we have made. That said if we are to blame anybody then it’s our captain odeegard, I noticed he is never commanding in big games like he influences other small games same issue I had with ozil sometimes, up next is arteta tierney should Av come up earlier but I will he know zinchenko will blunder like that, what pained me was substituting Jesus, he was our best player and d best on d pitch, u don’t substitute such player especially in dat critical moment when we need fire.
But overall kudos to the team for holding their own and more kudos to our saviour Jesus ramsdale😊. I even have more faith and believe now in the coach and the team. UP GUNNERS!
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Liverpool have lost just one League game at Anfield since winning on this date last year.
That is ONE defeat in THIRTY-SEVEN games, so credit to Arsenal for giving the Reds a scare…
🤔
Losing 2 points was not Xhaka’s fault. It was a team effort.
That being said, him riling up the home fans was UNNECESSARY. We are in control, Pool fans are quiet, the Pool team is quiet, there’s no need to show emotions and give them fire. This is why emotion control in sports and in every aspect of life is so important.
When did he riled up the home fans?
Some Arsenal fans are just too emotional and it seems the draw at Anfield just revived some negativity over the team.
There’s still a long way to go and there will be twists and turns. Am gonna say it over and over again the race is in our hands as much as it’s in Man city’s hands.
We need to trust the team more
The hotter the bottle the sweeter the Victory, the gaffer fought this one fire to fire.
No one player should be blamed for the result, it’s a good result in the scheme of things, we must kick on from here.
I would rather blame the manager for taking out Jesus and Odegaard.
I would have taken out Martinelli for Troussard and zichenko for Tierney. We needed to keep the pressure rather than go defensive
But it’s gone
One thing for sure is Xaka’s continuous inability to control his emotions at his age. He can never make a good coach with such attitude. He has chosen the wrong profession. He can’t make a good administrator of human beings
I think most fans here didn’t blame our vice-captain for the draw. Better stop making articles based on little problems that are trivial and the ones that don’t even exist
Really? @GAI
Don’t even exist? Did you not read the comments on here after the game?
Most of them blamed Arteta
Then you need to update your knowledge
Sky sports , Talk Sport , MOTD , AFTV all debated was Xakha to blame ?
If you believe that narrative then you have to wonder what the Anfield crowd and Liverpool players were doing for the first 40 minutes. Why wait for a Xhaka yellow card to get going?
As long as he gets yellows and not reds I am nor worried about him. He has been excellent since he took that out of his game.
Excellent article – couldn’t agree more.
Xhaka had a brilliant game and he stood up for our young players, showing Liverpool we won’t get intimidated.
The fact, that Liverpool scored just after, was only a coincidence, and as you write, that is what kept the crowd going and the Liverpoool players believing.
You don’t rile Liverpool fans up.
Arteta did it before and we suffered.
Now Xhaka has done the same.
Xhaka can’t be trusted.
Never has been or never will be.
He’ll always let you down.
Shouldn’t even be at the club after what happened seasons ago.
Saka, when you say Xhaka shouldn’t be at the club because of what happened a few years ago, would that be because he told the fans to f**k off ?
And Xhaka still here. Arteta still here. And we are top of the league. You think the world is a fairy land? Go support someone else.
So he says Xhaka cannot be trusted and your comeback is he should support another team 🙄
Xhaka is still one of the big reasons we don’t win the league people on here don’t see it but xhaka right now is the most the biggest flaw or the weakest link technically and football wise. He has a big heart but do does everybody’s grandma
Thankfully, you are not a football coach. There is a reason that all the coaches we have had since Arsene have retained Xhaka in the starting lineup. There is a reason Arteta has retained him despite having moved most of the other players he found. Xhaka has been a consistent presence the whole season, and we are 6 points clear of City.
Thats the same reason ansysame faktor thats been here since We last finished top4. Xhaka been a weak part of a strong team tell me a weaker link than xhaka I’m this 11? To be honest he is the player we really need to upgrade that’s why we going for d.rice canciedo bro don’t be blind even arteta knows by know b2b need upgrade
You watched a different game to a lot of us, the linesman’s elbow on Robertson got them fired up
The game was getting fiesty and liverpool players were getting physical which lead to Xhaka reacting and I am pretty sure most of our invincible players would have done something similar and wouldnt have backed down. It was not like he was trying to rile up the fans, sometime you just need to stand your own ground. Its unfair to put the blame on Xhaka. Our team as whole needed to handle pressure well and probably missed a trick or two to influence the game
Agree 100%. Mentality has always been lacking and it continues to cost ud
We were in total control until Xhaka decided on a moment of madness.
Liverpool was moments from being booed at halftime.
What did he do that was madness? I think you have phone and write nonsense is madness.
Off Liverpool site.
it is probably only the stupidity of Granit Xhaka that saw our reluctant team wake up, thereby remembering that Arsenal are a team that can be bullied and overwhelmed.
Who cares what they think, no European football for them, and no we are not a team that can be bullied or overwhelmed, so F..k the scouse turds
I am very sad to realize that some fans hate Xhaka just like they hated Wenger for no reason whatsoever.
Bad people!
That they were happy with Granit’s rejuvenation this season was a lie they told themselves and others and was just waiting for any excuse however lame to bring the hate out again.
And I think hate is the correct word here. Granit is hated just because he is Granit, nothing else.
Many players have cost the team with recklessness from time to time but the hateful eyes always see when it’s Granit.
@ HH Well said.
Against Liverpool I just felt either Zinchenko or Xhaka should have played in MF. KT should have been @ LB position.
Still in our hands.
Granit is being hated for what he done stop saying he is innocent my friend. Just because it was a retaliation doesn’t mean he didn’t do what he did. Look it up on YouTube it’s pretty clear he did something.
Blaming Xhaka for liverpool comeback is as stupid as eating up the propaganda being created by the media. Liverpool were fired after scoring like it usually happens when team get from 0-2 to 1-2. Same would have happened had Robertson scored that big chance at 0-1.
I see many blaming arteta for not bringing tierney on for zinchenko. I will admit i thought the same during the heat of the moment but watch the match again from the moment tierney came in the 88min, there is 2-3 incidents when tierney drags salah down in the box where we were lucky VAR didn’t do anything. Yes zinchenko didn’t defend well but neither did tierney when he came on. I don’t think any defender could have stopped him.
Also it is overlooked that all 4 fullbacks in the match got their ass handed to them.
Amazing !!! He is still captain of the Swiss national team. The Swiss management must be idiots to have selected him for so long !!!
Do we always have to find someone to blame when we dont win ??
Maybe Zhaka was sloppy in defending which let to the equalizer. Or maybe he caused a penalty,or maybe he got a red ♦️. Or maybe he’s the reason that Anfield became a difficult place to play. Poor Zhaka. Scapegoat for pundits and fans.
I stand by my view that it was disappointing that Xhaka got wound up.
That does not equate to blaming him for Liverpool clawing back 2 goals and nearly winning
I agree. One of the issues is that in football there can be incidents that lead to a shift in momentum. And there is no doubt that the fans’ involvement in the game can be altered by such incidents. This can then have an effect on players.
In a game that we were leading by two goals and we were controlling it made no sense for Xhaka to get involved in proving he was a hard man and would not be “intimidated”. This argument is silly and immature. This was not a prizefight. We were there to try and win a football match.
The atmosphere was relatively flat and this appeared to be working to our advantage so we needed to try to keep it this way.
Getting involved meant he got a yellow and stirred up the crowd. That could only have helped Liverpool.
This. As it always does when liverpool aren’t winning, anfield became a hotbed of discontent. When that happens, build on it by not rising to the bait and refusing to let liverpool play. Instead of that xhaka lost his head, again, and that got the crowd going and behind liverpool again. As such, xhakas actions turned the game on its head. Denying that is ostrich mentality at its finest. However, it’s not xhakas fault that the rest of the team lost their heads and went into headless chicken mode. It’s not his fault the manager made poor decisions, and utterly failed to regroup at half time. Its his job to try and change the team was playing, and he didn’t. However, trying to claim that ‘naughty arsenal fans are blaming poor xhaka for everything’ when they quite clearly aren’t, is as much gaslighting as the press claiming he
ÌS 100% to blame.
No Xhaka is not a scapegoat of all fans but just the irrational ones who always see things in the negative. For starters Xhaka was our oldest player on the pitch and he os also not easily intimidated. Thus it was only natural that he stands up for his colleagues. What was wrong with that?
Stand your ground if I got to change any player in arsenal it would be xhaka not even on a hate thing. Tell me another player u would change in the starting 11 if u could change any player right now. He is the weak link we could get better b2b players that Chan help ödee more
Fans who wanted Zinny to move into midfield in place of Xhaka, I don’t agree because Zinnys weaknesses would be moved into midfield with him and that is where they say the game is won and lost. We would have had a weak defender both physically and literally right in front of the danger zone. In hindsight, you can argue that it should have been done but we have no idea how the game would pan out with that move and KT coming on, we might have lost the game for all you know
Complete rubbish, the incident between the lino and Robertson, Liverpool haven’t lost in what 47 games, haven’t conceded any goals this year til we scored two, Ben White getting an early yellow card made him play a little more defensive, Martinelli’s weighted pass that didn’t reach Saka. Arteta not making changes sooner, the crowd was bound to get on their backs Gabriel’s header could have gone in, so many factors, that is football. Xhaka was kicked and pushed and Xhaka of old would have gotten sent off. Carragher’s remarks were ill-judged and wrong. We have taken five points off of Liverpool the best season in a long time. They beat Man Utd 7-0, and beat City 1-0. We are top with six points. With six wins and two draws the title is ours and Xhaka has been instrumental in that with the rest of the team. After the Sporting game, we had fans moaning about Ramsdale’s antics, yet his antics saved us a point. Each player has had a hand in where we are today and our manager Arteta
Xhaka haters are spot on. Arteta is fully aware of the problem with riling up opponents and is drilling the lads hard on how to keep it chill with opposing teams and fans. Soon the team will be all smiles and friendly banter when we lead. Xhaka is also staying back after training to work on his fist bumps and high fives so he can play nice to prevent any opposition comebacks
Lol
That’s a good one
What planet are you on, @top4?
If Xhaka did not stand up to Alexander-Arnold, people would continue to emit the stupid narrative of Arsenal being weak. People who do not like Xhaka will keep on feeling that way, no matter what. His action had NOTHING to do with the outcome of the game, but set an continued new narrative that Arsenal will not be bullied, and he should be given plaudits.
The team still has all to play for and we should back them, period!
I’m on a planet that understands sarcasm
People need to be reminded of the Arsenal’s motto, which unfortunately has been removed from the crest:
“Victoria Concordia Crescit” – victory grows of harmony.
The players win, draw or lose as a team. Over this season the results show the good have far exceeded the poor performances, individually and as a team.
“Victory grows OUT of harmony.”
We always look for scapegoats.. Xhaka this, Xhaka that… aren’t y’all tired already?. The most annoying thing is most of the fans just follows a trend without thinking twice. When has standing your ground and not getting intimidated become a crime, we all needs someone to blame. It isn’t as if we lost the match and no matter how you look at it, it’s a good draw. Some fans hate for Xhaka had really blindfoded them, claiming he riled up the fans. is he alone at fault for our toothless display from the 40th mins till the end of the match?. He is too slow, he is our midfield weak link, he can’t do jack, he lacks technical abilities, & yet the influence in the team is so glaring in his most productive season in an Arsenal shirt. Yes, we need an upgrade in the midfield, even Ode got missing in games too, how many times had Zinc made costly mistakes this season? I don’ see many criticism of him by our keyboard warriors. The whole team except few falters at Anfield and it’s shameful we put the result on one person
Xhaka was awful against Liverpool and the game changed the second he flipped his tippi cup.