There is a lot of outrage at the moment about the way that Arsenal fans were booing when Granit Xhaka went off the pitch, and a lot of fans are saying that it is a sign of the times that fans don’t have as much respect for players than they used to have. Well I have to disagree…..
Over 10 years ago,in a game for Arsenal against Wigan, Emmanuel Eboue was destroyed by the Arsenal fans as he walked off the pitch after coming on as a sub himself and being taken off again in the 89th minute. He had just returned from an injury layoff and was hardly fully fit, but was abused maybe even more than Xhaka was this weekend.
Watch this video and let us stop pretending that this is a new thing for Arsenal fans….
https://twitter.com/FootbaII_HQ/status/1188836309441400833?s=19
Bad Arsenal fans + poor coaching/managing + horrible owners = no CL or cups
Ban AFTV and its principals from Emirates. Their business model is to stir up and vitiate the with their relentless vitriol! If not Wenger, it’s Mustafi.. Xhaka ( yes, recruited and retained by Wenger!)… .. More than the tabloids, AFTV thrives on trashing the Club.
Save the boos for those who rightfully deserve them; Emery and his mismanagement, and ownership for mugging fans for 14 years.
Josh Kronke was at game and had usual sit down with Emery after he attends games. Love to know what they discussed.
I don’t condone what was done to Xhaka, even tho he’s be awful for 3 years. Emery has done nothing he said when he came on board.
1. Improve the defense?
2. Protagonists and pressing without
The football
3. Winning 5-4 rather than 1-0
4. Playing attacking football now cowering and playing timid against lesser opponents.
His responsibility as coach, yet doesn’t take the lead.
Rather than stripping Xhaka of captaincy, says wait let’s talk and see.
Said it’s wrong, but has yet to discipline the player, as if there’s a defense for a “captain” telling home crowd to f-off.
Meanwhile Mustafi and Ozil banished in limbo for doing far far less.
Wow, complete absence of leadership from coach. Maybe beginning of the end for Emery.
After watching this Eboue video and the long history our fans have of booing our own players it is my fervent prayer that this behavior should stop. It should stop not because the players do not deserve criticisms but because they are human beings. Life can sometimes be very rough and we do not know what each person is going through. Many of us go to work sometimes to take our minds off other issues and players are no different except that thousands are watching them while at work. Robert Enke, the former Barcelona, Hannover and German national goalkeeper committed suicide after becoming depressed from the death of his daughter. The point of this example is to point out that players deal with issues that ordinary people also deal with and we should try to be nice to them.
Xhaka is on the field because Unai Emery put his there. We should reserve our anger for Unai Emery and the management. Okay to criticize the players but booing them is not right. By putting Xhaka in the game and then removing him in such circumstances Unai basically fed him to the dogs they way Wenger fed Eboue to the dogs back in 2008. These players have family members who could be sitting in the stadium while their son, husband (boyfriend)or brother is being humiliated. The players have their own pride too. We all need to be very careful if we do not want to see more of the Xhaka episode.
Well said
I love what you wrote. It’s so beautiful. It’s a relief that some fans can see things from this perspective. Torreira was actually crying. It’s even more painful for s foreign player. In fact, some people can take their lives because of a such embarrassing treatment.
Well said @Restless.
Now what do we gain by chopping Xhaka to pieces for being human? What elite player will jump at the opportunity to come to Arsenal with the way we are treating our player? Just because we are not where we want to be on the table does not give some the right to push Xhaka like they did.
He may be made to apologise and even fined, but do you seriously think he will busy a gut to play for us?
I think not.
👍 👍 👍
People should also consider the language and tone they use on this site.
And at the end of the week they still collect their huge wages. That should be a their consolation.