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