Why the hell are Arsenal fans abusing Xhaka? Show some class please…

I have written this season that there is a section of Arsenal’s fanbase who don’t deserve to see any success.
Whether it’s verbally abusing Arsene Wenger, comments I read, or throwing objects from the stands, we have supporters guilty of thinking that if they’re in their footballing bubble they can say and do what they want.

I have learnt in the last couple of days that includes insulting and intimidating Xhaka when he was in his car with his wife. The midfielder had just had a poor game against Man United, although he wasn’t the only one. If you don’t feel the Swiss international is good enough, that’s fine, it’s what platforms like this are for, to have a debate.

Some on Friday night, outside the Emirates, took it upon themselves to get in the man’s face. Anyone familiar with match days knows where to stand it you want to try and get pictures/autographs with the players. They have always been happy to stop at the traffic lights and interact with Gooners. But we can’t have it both ways.

We celebrate when we win together so we need to support each other through adversity. It’s sad that Xhaka trusted his own supporters enough to assume that a defeat would not be reason for such disrespect. Trust me, at other clubs’, players won’t give you the time of day if they bump into you. If Arsenal players just drove past blanking us, we accuse them of not being able to relate to the everyday person in the street. Xhaka, next time, will most likely keep his window closed and so will his teammates.

Before he left Mr, Wenger said he saw a minority of fans ruining our image of doing things the right way. Yet again he’s proven correct…

Dan Smith

45 Comments

  1. I blame wenger for put him in dlp, not a cm.
    Now he play as cm and he still bad
    He just slow
    That all, nothing else

    1. He still plays as a deep-lying playmaker, because he drops very deep and most passes come from him. You can check on “premierleague.com/stats/top/players”, his passing statistic is one of the highest

      Despite the deceiving high forward pass statistic, he is rarely able to control the tempo and produce successful through balls when playing against a top team. He is a tough guy, but Arsenal need more skillful playmaker like Andres Iniesta, Santi Cazorla, Matteo Guendouzi and Denis Suarez

      If Xhaka doesn’t score or assist from set-pieces, his only strengths are his height and tackling. Nonetheless, no player deserves to be humiliated on the streets

      1. got….xhaka is easily beaten in the air and has absolutely no tackling skills, he is usually last to a 50-50 ball and is extremely poor at setting off plays, his occasional long balls does not support the rest of his usually poor presence in the team. Do I blame wenger, of coursde, I would have a different expectation if the guy was 10 mil but 30 mil??? when we could have got kante for less…..who would you have preferred then?,

    2. arie82, itdoesn’t matter whether he plays Dlp, dup, ddt, ditto, dmp, dcf or even dfs sofas, would you like someone to do/say that to your parents/wife/children?

      As for bringing AW into the discussion and blaming him, that really does take the biscuit, don’t you agree Jon!

      1. Well, i still remember the hype when xhaka first time at arsenal, he can pass, long shot, strong body, dominant middlefield and captain material, he should be our frank lampard. But that not happen, wenger turn him to be matic, and the bad one version of matic.

  2. Sorry to drift off topic guys. But as a South African I support two teams. Two teams that I would die for. That’s Orlando Pirates FC and Arsenal FC. Down hear in South Africa the chairmen or owners of clubs really listen to what the supporters have to say. Not because they care but because south african supporters are active. Rich people will only listen to you when if you dent their pockets. If the team is headed in a direction we don’t like we simply stop buying shirts and boycott the stadiums. You guys in England just go on ATV and rant on YouTube. Or hold placards saying “Wenger out” at the stadium. I remember in 2001 our coach at Orlando pirates that time was a guy called Gordon idesund. We were playing poorly because his tactics were Sh#t and the board didn’t want to buy good players to save money. A group of fans waited for him outside the stadium and whipped his ass. I mean literally with a whip. We won the league that year lmao!! Now I’m not saying whip anybody. But take some action and stop ranting on YouTube. Kroenke will listen if the team players with 500 people in the stadium for a couple of games or if the shirt sales go down by 50%. You guys rant about the board being greedy pigs then reward them by giving them your money and expecting them to change. I for one am tired of under achieving because of greed. Kroenke must go!

  3. Everyone forgets why Xhaka was bought. Everyone was talking about wanting a tough imposing DM who wasn’t going to get pushed off the ball. Now he is too slow and everyone is high on Torreira. In six months all the fans will be seeing him knocked off the ball too much and will be yelling for a tough DM again.

    We are doing the same thing in defence Mertesacker then Mustafi. And all players have good games and bad games. They have games where they match up well and games where they don’t. You can’t blame the player.

    The team has to have a balance of silk and steel, some games against silky teams we will want more silk and our steely players will be less useful, and some games we will need more steel and those silky players will come under fire. But you always need a mix of both.

    1. TT , A curates egg of a post; some truth , some nonsense. I much agree with your final paragraph. However, to equate poor players , as most Gooners seem to think Xhaka is, with such as Torreira is false. Fans are quite capable of seeing who is good enough and who is not, though there will always be differing shades of opinion. Where is your evidence for your false claim about Torreira in six months time?
      You also say “don’t blame the player” and in a sense that is fair, since players have a natural limit to their ability and some are far more talented than others. Most of us however hopeless we may be at football would gladly play for our club and pocket the vast wages players earn, with alacrity too, had we that chance. But as a professional player, criticism goes with the territory and no one forces any player to choose pro football as their living. In you choose to go into the hothouse, expect to be scorched at times. Surely that is fair comment?

    2. I don’t think Torreira would get bashed in six months time, because he is more mobile and more specialized in defending, but let’s see

      Who knows, maybe Chambers would be the first choice DM next season, because he has good skills and physical attributes

    3. wrong wrong wrong, i think torreira would actually improve after his first season, after being used to the epl intensity in almost every game as compared, with all due respect to serie a. Now zhaka, he has actually got worst, maybe i was looking thru rose colored glasses when he first arrived but now…easily the most overhyped player in the squad…i just wonder why emery starts him so regularly

  4. Dan, you are in danger of linking fair criticism with beyond the pale abuse. Language and being precise in it’s phrasing is vital if you intend to make a powerful point. Had your headline instead read “SOME Arsenal fans are intimidating Xhaka,” INSTEAD OF ” “What the hell are Arsenal fans abusing Xhaka”, (which is grammatically nonsense, in any case) then your point would have been more potent , more powerful and more correct. As a lover of the English language and as someone who fully understands how powerful words can be when correctly used, it saddens me to see a decent man , as you are, muddy the point he was trying to make by poor choice of words.

    I counsel against anyone using the generic “Arsenal fans” in any comment . My first thought upon reading such a comment is ” To which PARTICULAR Arsenal fans does this comment refer?”

    To illustate my point, what if I said previous Arsenal managers were rotten/ brilliant/ old /young / tall / short etc? You would rightly think I was nuts!

    1. Jon, agree with your sentiments regarding the use of english language.

      Secondly, the way different groups are continually being shoehorned under one convenient umbrella is also wrong.
      I give you AKB’s and WOB’s as a classic example.

      But Dan was reporting a really worrying trend that seems to be happening, not only at our club, but football generally and the world itself.
      The sentiment surely outweighs the delivery?

      AFC should not tolerate this behaviour and there must have been stewards around, if where I think this happened actually occured.

      Looks a good signing for the club with Suarez, that’s eight in now for UE.

      1. Ken, It is dreadfully distressing to see how society in this material world is making so many less fulfilled, more angst ridden and feeling less valuable to us all. This is a far more complex subject and football behaviour is just one rather small though inportant part in a downward trend fuelled mainly,IMO, by false values. “Society” for example, considers someone to be “successful” who is well off, in a profession, with a big house, expensive car and so on. Success as a human being depends upon none on these things. Truly successful people are humane, compassionate, kind, decent, wise, morally brave, guidors and mentors, quite irrespective of material “wealth”. I TRULY FEAR THAT UNTIL “SOCIETY” REDICOVERS WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT IMPORTANT, NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL WILL CHANGE. It is the duty of ALL such good people to keep pressing for good behaviour and setting thr right examples. And NEVER tolerating yobbish and damaging behaviour by damaged people, as mentioned in the article.

        1. ?jon it’s unfortunately that so many have forgotten, or never learnt maxims like:
          “Treat others like you would want to be treated.”
          “Learn to walk in another person’s shoes.”
          I read that in ancient Egypt if a person died, when they entered the after life, they would be asked the questions:
          “Have you had joy in your life?”
          “Have you brought joy to others?”

      1. Dan I suspected as much. Why not insist insiston your own strapline when submitting future articles then? HIS HEADLINE IN EFFECT BETRAYED YOUR ARTICLE.

        1. Apologies! I must admit I did change the headline halfway through writing it (And i do consider my self a headline expert, Lord Jon!) As i told you that day, jet lag came into play!
          The reason I insist writing the headlines myself is because of a little thing called SEO. I’m afraid I am not perfect, but I am an original edition…..

          1. The Lord duly forgives you dear Pat. He is a merciful Lord and also a thirsty, pedantic, irritating old git but oh so modest, (ahem!) if the truth be known. Even if he describes himself in the third person, which is intensely irritating. As I sometimes say, I used to be big headed but now that I am perfcet I don’t need to be.

    2. Jon, in respect to the ability of using the English language correctly, don’t you think you are too hard on non-english speaking arsenal fans? Or are you trying to discourage fans who may not be proficient in English but want to make a contribution to the forum of their beloved club. Stop bragging about how efficient you are in English. By the way, English is not native language.

      1. I do not pick people up on mere grammar. The reason I pick certain people up in using words like “hate” incorrectly,is that it makes their comments on rating mere footballers, as distinct from dictators and tyrants like Mugabe, Idi Amin(of yesteryear in Uganda ) and such evil types, pointless. Words are a great source of good when used correctly. They have the power to persuade, to educate, to make people consider matters which they had not previously done and much else besides. I make no apology for defending artistic use of words and powerful phrases. If you REALLY read ALL my posts you will notice that I often praise various posts for their wisdom and for making pertinent points. In a spirit of friendship, I respectfully suggest you read ALL MY MANY REPLIES TO OTHER POSTS AND THEN RECONSIDER WHAT YOU WROTE ABOVE.
        Finally, SOCCERBOY,I use capitals for emphasis, as is common in SPOKEN dialogue. Finally, it is not a fault of mine that my written English is good. As a professional writer in non sport matters it is a necessity but I do not expect others to be perfect nor even good. Punctuation is not very important on this site, PROVIDED that the writer’s correct meaning is clear.Goodness knows I am not perfect either.

  5. People like this call themselves ‘supporters’
    After what I heard the team being called on Tuesday from a so called ‘supporter’ was sickening! Reading some of the comments on here is too!!
    Yes I understand that we are disappointed when we’ve lost, but to behave that way is bang out of order!!
    I wonder what the players think… being abused by their own fans!! Unbloodybelievable! Makes you wonder if they think why should I perform for them when all I get is abuse hurled at me!!
    Yes there is constructive criticism…. but the lengths some people go to (on here as well) ?
    I think these idiots need to man up & grow some cojones…. we’re not all like that, i hope the team realise that…

    1. Sue, were you at the clock end?
      There is normally zero tolerance where I have my seat and I can’t understand why others around you didn’t react to this moron.
      Any idea what your seat numbers were?

      1. Yes the clock end Ken… he was a few rows back from where we were… I did say something but to no avail! I’ve sent an email & have spoken to someone about it

            1. Sometimes I get very disappointed, frustrated, annoyed and disillusioned with some of our squad that are slow and can’t carry out the basics. I am sure others feel the same. One of the problems is that I and a vast majority of the older supporters remember the class players we had when we were a force to be reckoned with and then Wenger was more interested in the finance of the club rather than the ability of the incoming squad. He bought mediocre players in the hope of discovering another Henry, Peires, Ljumberg, Viera, Adams, Bergkamp, Wright etc etc but we all know what has materialised………….a major fall from grace and a uninspiring crop of players who are not good enough. I suppose we have to put up with these player till the present manager gets a couple of transfer windows over him. That’s if he gets finance.

  6. Its the very ugly and deplorable side of
    professional sports and sadly it isn’t going
    anywhere for the time being. Arsenal fans
    have been a suffering lot for far to long and
    the criminal actions of Kroenke and the board
    over the years has pushed a number of
    passionate Gunners to there breaking points.
    They see Xhaka instead of Kante and his
    continued poor form subjects the Swiss international to constant criticism culminating
    in the pathetic scene that transpired following
    the United defeat. Arsenal fans have grown
    tired of Mustafis repeated mistakes at the back,
    Ozil’s casual disappearing acts on and off the
    pitch, Mikis rather pedestrian form and
    predictable spells on the treatment table. They
    expect more from some of the highest paid
    players on the team and there resentment will
    continue to simmer and sadly at times boil over
    if said players commitment to the badge is
    questioned and performances on the pitch
    continue to underwelm.

    1. Yes, the hatred came from the accumulation of disappointments over the players’ performances and actions

      But not all fans are hatemongers. Some of them just want to criticize the players’ performances, not targeting the players’ identities or personalities

      We can even see the ones that have bad characters on this site. They are the ones that usually use swearing words like “id**t”, “s*up*d”, “f*c**ng”, etc

      1. I am as frustrated as the next supporter, but I would no more think of using the F word than shouting abuse at a player sitting in his car, even if his partner wasn’t there.
        The minds of some people is akin to a sewer rat and that’s being polite!

        1. Gotanidea, I swear, I don’t know too many people who don’t swear or who would never swear. If those words easily offend people rather than the manner they are used, then they are very faint of heart people, someone should’ve done a better job in preparing them for the real world. Allot of the people I know who swear, are decent people with morals and values in which people are told to aspire to. I’ve also known one or two others over the years who never use bad language, personally I mistrusted them, because they’d ask others not to use certain language in front of them. I would never tell a person that they should act like me, talk like me, maybe even dress like me, but I have known some people to try that with me …We are all our own people and if that isn’t enough for some, well then, stuff you.

          1. B-o-t, there is a time and a place for everything and swearing in front of women and children is not one of them.

            1. I somewhat agree with BOT.
              I have cursed “For f.. sake!” when we lost the ball and I think we all grew up where football drawn out the passion and people cursed, the word shouldn’t be such an issue over the context it is used in.

              As for swearing in front of women.
              Why is it okay to swear at someone with a penis but not when that penis is missing? Isn’t this a bit sexist?
              How about a man who identifies as a woman?

              I do get irritated when people insinuate it is fine to be mean to men but not women, why not treat people equally? Why does the gender have to be mentioned to begin with?

              Credit to everyone before you who said people.

              1. Midkemma, I have stated above that you should treat others how you would like to be treated, regardless of whether they have a penis or not.
                However although swearing often shows an inability to use standard language properly and a shortage of vocabulary, it is socially more acceptable in non mixed company.
                As I have also said previously that I have heard women swear, who would make a bullocky blush.

  7. Regardless of your views on his playing ability there is absolutely no excuse for verbally abusing Xhaka whilst in the presence of his wife.This type of behaviour seems to be accepted by ignorant people in today’s society and is not of course restricted to Arsenal FC.Whenever we witness such behaviour we should let the stupid perpetrators Know that they are out of order.We can never condone such behavior.

    1. Grandad, absolutely agree with you.
      It seems that, in the world we live in today, the word”respect” has no relevance whatsoever.
      So pleased that Sue reported this moron who spoilt her family’s day out, but it needs a shift in people’s morals and actions generally to stop this in today’s society.

      1. Grandad and Ken1945, the unfortunate thing is that if Xhaka had got out of the car, “defended his family’s honour” and gave the foul mouthed lout a good thrashing, he would have been splashed all over the media and probably faced sanctions. The foul mouthed lout would have probably been paid by the gutter press for his story!

  8. Those fans were wrong and deluded. As a matter of fact xhaka has contributed most to our season so far, dont forget we are 4th on EPL log, which means we arent doing badly snd so is Xhaka. Out of all our players, he has played most as he hardly get injured or dropped, i respect the man anyday, he might not be a ‘superstar’ or have fan base but those with fan base, are they better than this guy? I mean what has ozil the superstar contributed that xhaka hasnt done this season?
    Football is a collective effort and if i get the chance to meet any of our player in full flesh, i cant snob or nag but ill rather apreciate them

  9. Xhaka was not just crap against Manure..

    He’s been average every game he plays if we’re being honest!

    He gives the ball a way more times than the guy in the street gives free copy of The Enquirer ffs!

    He’s terrible going backwards and tends to pick up silly bookings because his timing is all over the place. He just as bad going forward, well, sideways..

    He’s just bad, admit it!!

    1. Gunneray, that’s your opinion, but it doesn’t give any foul mouthed lout the right to swear and abuse him in front of his family, when he can’t defend himself.

  10. Gunners lets support our players..if we gone for discrimination to our important player like we will be lesser club in future.. Up Gunners up!

  11. If this is true this is absolutely disgusting behavior, unbelievable, like I don’t believe it. We are one of the worst set of fans when it comes to backing our side, yes you can talk about the high ticket prices, but that doesn’t give you any rights other than getting into the stadium and being apart of the Arsenal family. We can talk about it being an odd idiot or just a minority, but on the entirety, compared to some of the other bases, we are! severely! lacking!.

    People nowadays get influenced too much by social media and it can become a sort of frenzy with some of the “special cases”. I apologize to Xhaka and his family, I know Xhaka wont see this but if everyone with a twitter account done the same, it would be nice to think they could manage that.

    If they created a system that the fans also get awarded points for a certain level of support, for say, to break odd tie breakers and give you two points instead of the one, we’d be relegation material.

    Lacazette, Emery, Niles, Ramsey, and others. I’ve seen them all this season trying to rouse the Arsenal fans into being louder and more consistent. Do our fans ever even ask if we could’ve done a better job, do we ever think about our game. When Niles done it not long back, about two to three weeks ago, our fans didn’t even realize that he had a reason for pointing out how poor basically we (us) were, he got rinsed by our fans in the previous weeks.

  12. 100% in agreement that players should not be verbally abused or threatened ever. Makes no difference to me if they are with their wives or not. You can boo there performance when they are on the pitch but leave them alone when they are not on the pitch.

    I don’t rate Xhaka and think he (like Mustafi and Ozil) has been one of our mistakes under Wenger but I have no doubt he tries his best and puts in the effort. He lacks talent and skill but not heart or love for our club. Respect the man!!!

    PS: For the only reason to boo a player on the pitch is when you suspect him of not putting in an effort.

  13. To treat Xhaka with contempt is not nice at all. To realise he is not good enough is totally apparent.

  14. Nice article Dan.
    I hope the people who done those vile actions will see the correct consequences.
    While accepting that passion will overflow and we will hear colourful phrases in such environments… we can restrain ourselves from letting it turn ugly.

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