It’s a feature of modernity that everyone gets to not only have an opinion we get to share it with a lot of people: here, on twitter, on Facebook, on YouTube, and in the stands. People are very quick to form opinions and not at all ashamed to share them.
Taking that a step further, truth has become something personal. And because truth is now personal, people feel an affront when they are not consulted for their opinion on that truth.
In the olden days people relied on experts for their truths. Truth was mediated by reporters who went to games and reported on the events at those games. Truth was spoken to us by doctors, lawyers, and scientists. We didn’t do our own research because that would be painstaking and time consuming. Few wanted to spend time going to a medical library to look at how a disease worked. They just accepted the diagnosis of their doctor, or if they wanted to be really sure, they saw a second doctor.
But the modern connectivity of the internet and the abundance of information available to people changed that. We didn’t all become experts overnight but we all feel like we are experts. If not experts, we feel well informed. We look up the symptoms on WebMD and ask the doctor to check us, not for general health, but for a specific disease that we think we have.
And in yesterday’s match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal VAR awarded a penalty when the referee had given a yellow card for diving and also chalked off Arsenal’s 3rd goal for a foul by Calum Chambers. How many of us feel like we know that VAR was wrong in those decisions? I would guess most of us. At the very least, the second one, I have heard many people ask what did Chambers do to foul? If you watch the video, there’s a trip. He’s trying to win the ball but he also steps on the defender’s foot and trips him when he goes through the legs to win the ball.
We all feel like we are experts on the laws of the game. That we know better than the professional referees who have been doing this job for years.
I wouldn’t have called that a penalty for Zaha and I wouldn’t have given that foul for Chambers. I say that as someone who has never refereed a single football game.
And not only that but the Laws of the Game are a peculiar beast: they are written in such a way that they are open for interpretation. And so I also feel like I can say that the referees in the VAR room were both right and wrong. If they refereed that match a dozen times, I bet we would get a dozen different decisions. Or at least 4 or 5 different decisions.
Me even writing that on an Arsenal blog is controversial. It’s an act of sedition among the folks who believe that the referees are out to get Arsenal. And I’m sure they will write their angry missives here or on Twitter. That’s what we do now: we get outraged when someone holds an opinion different from us and we make sure they know.
I’m not at all discounting my own role in all of this. I knew the exact sum of zero when I started writing about Arsenal. I still know next to nothing but it doesn’t stop me from writing or blathering or whatever you want to call it.
My purpose writing this blog was to both explore my own creative side and also tell all of you why you were wrong to criticize the Lord Arsene Wenger (Greatest Manager Arsenal Have Ever Had). I kind of dropped the last bit about 5 years ago when I realized that he had been the greatest, but that time had passed.
I will tell you to your face that this blog is just my reality. I do try to act in good faith. I admit when I’m wrong. I admit that I’m not an expert. And, most importantly, I try to see other people’s truths. I try to understand why people think the things that they think.
Because of that flaw (or strength) in my personality, modernity drives me crazy! I am buried under an avalanche of opinions, of different realities. It’s too much for me. I disconnect. I retreat.
This is the reason I can’t listen to Arsenal podcasts. I can’t read the blogs. I can barely listen to people replying to me on twitter and here. I’m sorry but it’s too much. The Emery thing, the Ozil thing, the Xhaka thing, the people still arguing about Arsene Wenger thing, the board, the owners, the former board members, the cladding on the building, the trains, the broadcasters, the matchday experience shows, the post match analysis, the post match pressers, the post match cringey YouTube selfie videos, and Twitter Twitter Twitter Twitter Twitter… it’s all just too much.
And I think it’s starting to get ugly. Ha, starting. It’s ugly.
Yesterday the fans booed Granit Xhaka. Emery decided to take him off and bring on Saka. He was visibly upset at the decision, shook his head, and sauntered off. The Arsenal supporters started ironically clapping. He threw the armband at Aubameyang. The cheers turned into jeers. He then raised his arms saying “bring it on” and immediately after “oh fuck off”. That’s when the booing started. He took his shirt off and stormed down the tunnel.
After the match, Unai Emery gave the correct assessment of the incident.
“He was wrong. He was wrong. Now we need to stay calm and speak with him, to speak inside about that reaction. His reaction was wrong in that moment. We are working, me and the club, inside with every player to manage playing under pressure. We need to be clever in our minds and create habits under pressure for our minds to be clearer. We can play with our hearts and can be hot in difficult moments, but our minds must be clever. We are going to speak about that, of course, because the reaction was wrong. We will speak with the players and the club about this reaction. We are here because we have supporters. We are the workers inside, but we play for them. We need to have a lot of respect from them, through applause and criticism.”
That doesn’t mean I don’t understand why he got upset. I’ve been faced with similar public criticism from customers. And gotten very close to telling the customer to fuck off. Unfortunately in my job, I’m not allowed to tell the customers to fuck off. I would be very fired if I did that.
Even Donald Trump, the biggest man-baby I have ever seen, a man who is a raw nerve and who rarely holds back when he’s attacked or criticized. Even Trump, when he was booed (LOUDLY) by the baseball fans at the Washington Nationals game didn’t do anything but smile and clap.
Maybe you think it’s right. Maybe you support him in this instance. I get it. I’ve seen the arguments: he gets death threats, his wife is pregnant, fans should never boo a player, he’s just a scapegoat. And I know what Arsene Wenger said in his farewell speech to the fans: “I would like as well to thank everyone at the club who makes it so special, I would invite you, really push, support these players and the staff who remains behind me, these group of players has a special quality. Not only on the pitch, but off the pitch. Please, as you follow this team, support them next season because they deserve it.”
This isn’t going to help settle this, I think they are all right to an extent. There is a huge segment of fans who are awful to the players and I kind of get why the players feel like they should fight back. And also it’s not very professional for the players to yell at the fans.
I also see the Xhaka thing as an extension of the Özil thing which is an extension of the Wenger thing which is now an Emery thing. In Wenger’s final years there were two clear subgroups formed among supporters: WOBs and AKBs. Not everyone was in one of the two camps but there were two camps. Two fairly large sub-clubs within the Arsenal Football Club.
It’s funny to me now to even write those acronyms. They look so childish on digital paper. “WOBS”, LOL.
I was an AKB for a long time but after he was abused on that train station in Stoke, I decided that he needed to leave. Not because I didn’t love him anymore but because I felt like the abuse was going to get worse. It did. I’m glad he’s retired now and hope that he enjoys his life away from this boiling cauldron of poop.
When Wenger finally stepped down the WOBs and AKBs reorganized and switched sides. LOL. WOBs became EKBs and AKBs became EOBs. Scarf dude became a clack for Unai Emery, Meercat homie became an Emery hater almost overnight. It’s funny.
I was Emery in before I was Emery out. So, I too switched polarities!
Everything Emery has done (or hasn’t done) becomes a battlefield for two (growing) sets of weirdos. The Ozil thing? Benching Ozil? Total battle ground with the ultimate prize being that they get to score points on each other over “who’s right – is Emery a terrible manager or is Emery a good manager”.
The Xhaka thing became a more recent battleground – I think this is over Emery picking him as captain, one of five captains, and playing him instead of Lucas Torreira.
And while y’all out there winning skirmishes against each other THE FOOTBALL SUCKS.
THE FOOTBALL ARSENAL PLAYS IS A STEAMING PILE OF TOTTENHAM.
Lost in what will now be the neverending story of Granit Xhaka and the Day The Boy (the Fans) Acted Really Badly is the fact that Arsenal went 2-0 up in 10 minutes and then very predictably played hyper-conservative, give the ball away constantly, ugly football and let Crystal Palace get back into the game.
I watched the Newcastle game earlier in the day and the similarities between the way that Arsenal play with a lead and the way that Newcastle played with a lead were remarkable. We can’t control games. We can’t keep possession when pressed. We can’t defend leads. We play football like a rich-man’s version of Newcastle.
This should be our shared experience. This should be what we are all talking about today. The football was awful. I don’t care about Xhaka or Ozil or Unai or Arsene. I care that we have spent hundreds of millions on a bunch of new players in every position and we are still dangling legs out to give away penalties. I care that we can’t hold on to possession and can’t defend. I care that we can’t advance possession unless the opponents let us. I care that we are still making the same kinds of mistakes that we made 13 years ago and that we are still the most error-prone team in the League.
Remember that day in Birmingham when William Gallas sat down on the pitch because Gael Clichy gave away a last minute penalty – the Eduardo leg-break day? Well, what has substantially changed? I guess we aren’t getting our legs broken anymore.
This new hyperreality of multiplicities, this fractured reality, makes it difficult to have shared experiences. And shared experiences are what make us human. They are what makes Arsenal a club and not just a team. Without the shared experiences of good football, of clearly making progress as a team, we get this muddy mess of infighting and sniping.
This club needs a manager to come in, clean house, play his best players, and get the team playing football with an identity which isn’t just reactive to whatever the opponents are doing on the day. If we could possibly get someone in who can teach the players where to stand, how to pass, how not to just dangle a leg out for a penalty, and how to win the ball back out of possession, well that would be gravy. But for right now, I’ll just take a clean sheet.
I don’t think it will be long before we get it. The fans are on the verge of complete meltdown at the Emirates – they sing songs about Ozil and Torreira when they aren’t playing, basically telling the manager he’s wrong for his team selections – and the players are already clearly cracking under the stress.
Sometime in the first half yesterday, I predicted we’d draw 2-2. We were still doing well, but it’s clear to me now that Emery tries to get us into our shells, and we don’t defend well. So it was a fair chance.
I was also surprised that Bellerin wasn’t starting at RB, or if not he’s not fit enough, then AMN. I like Chambers a lot, think he’s been doing well , but I was worried about Zaha running at him. I had flashbacks to Montero.
Personally, I missed the significance of the Xhaka thing during the game. I couldn’t believe anyone would actually be upset about his reaction after the fact. But people actually are. I kind of get where they are coming from. But in my view, it was plain bullying, and I don’t have to condone his specific actions to stand by him here.
Guendouzi’s pass to Auba deserved a goal, but his touch was poor. Lacazette’s shot was saved well. Did we create anything else? It seemed to me set pieces were our best hope to score. Thrice as it turned out, we did. (pre-Var) Maybe that’s why Emery was insistent we deserved to win the game when we had more corners.
I really see no way back for Emery. I also don’t expect him to get sacked after this (Ornstein has already suggested he won’t). We’re a club stuck in limbo. We’re no fun.
“Man up”, btw, is a horridly toxic phrase. Wanna know one of the many reasons that fantastic campaigns like #MeToo exist? It’s the intentions behind phrases such as “Man up”. Men not permitted the space to show emotion – and that doing so is some kind of sign of weakness, et al. I think we can be better when discussing Xhaka.
Spot on Numbles.
+2
+3
It’s okay for Xhaka to show emotions, it’s okay if he felt the fans got under his skin.
Maybe it is unbecoming of a captain, and maybe the armband will go to someone else and he will have to be okay with that. But it’s okay to let it fly a bit than to bottle it up and then literally hit the bottle.
Well said.
“Man up” has a heck of a lot to do with #MeToo, as it represents one of the many many reasons that the movement began in the first place – toxic masculinity.
As for whether I’m a liberal? I’d rather demur on that definition, as I’ve long presumed ‘liberal’ to define the kind of Hollywood type that I’ve long despised – a kind of middle to upper-middle class snootishness, blindness and hypocrisy that I’d rather not embody. I much rather prefer lefty. I won’t apologise about that.
“What the hell does man up have to do with #MeToo…? LOL
You must be a liberal.”
Ha. As if you don’t give yourself away. And aren’t you that ‘yank my balls’ guy? If so, you may be giving away more than you intend.
+3
I’m with Shard on this one.
If you’re harassing and abusing someone for weeks/months as part of an ‘untouchable’ mob pile-on you don’t get to act all offended when that person finally snaps and tells you to do one.
To use your own term, I’d suggest the people who harassed him and abused him for months should probably grow a thicker skin and ‘man up’ themselves if being told to f off once is going to have them clutching their pearls.
That’s what I hate about this. It’s the double standard. Fans like this are the f’ing worst.
Pen for Zaha right call. I saw the Chambers foul too, and e.g. in Italy, I’d fully expect it to be overturned. In England, with how it’s been, not so much.
The problem with VAR in England is that earlier they were just blatantly refusing to overturn calls, and now they do it as per the will of a guy who has apparently never even reffed a game. Why not just alert the on field ref and let him see it, like the rest of Europe?
I cant stress enough that fans booing or jeering their own players is deplorable. Said it several times on the last post.
But for the “I understand why Xhaka did it” folks, the sequencing you mention there Tim is important I understanding what happened, and it’s what has been largely missing from the discussion. You’re right, here…
“He was visibly upset at the decision, shook his head, and sauntered off. The Arsenal supporters started ironically clapping. He threw the armband at Aubameyang. The cheers turned into jeers. He then raised his arms saying “bring it on” and immediately after “oh f*** off”. That’s when the booing started. He took his shirt off and stormed down the tunnel.
He got disrespect when he gave disrespect.
Ramsey and Ozil showed dissent at being subbed by Emery, but nothing like that.
I respect Emery for his spot on response when asked about it.
The ironic cheers were disrespect too. Especially because it’s not the first time. Throwing the armband, I dunno. It didn’t even register as a thing with me. Would it have led to jeers if Auba had just caught it? When the jeering for that started he lost his cool. That’s…not cool.. but I still find it difficult to get annoyed about it. It’s understandable to me. Moreover, I don’t think it necessarily shows poor leadership. Even a leader is allowed to lose his cool sometimes.
What the consequences of it ought to be is a different matter. Clearly it can’t all be business as usual. But it should also not be a defining thing for his captaincy. At least, not without consideration. But I really think he’s going to leave Arsenal asap if Emery stays.
On the coach though, I was initially annoyed when I read an excerpt of Emery’s comment. But I saw the video, and he handled it well. In content and tone.
“Throwing the armband, I dunno. It didn’t even register as a thing with me. Would it have led to jeers if Auba had just caught it?”
Now you’re reaching. Carry on smartly.
I think the ironic cheers were for Unai.
I said this on Twitter:
The whole controversy over Ozil and Xhaka basically comes down to the fact that Arsenal play s*** football. If we played better football nobody would be upset about any decisions that the club and coach have made. In short, this is all Emery’s fault.
I also understand the fan reaction. They were singing Torreira’s name in the 15th minute of that match. That is the fans booing Emery. And when he made his substitution, I think the fans were ironic clapping that the coach finally took action to try to win the game.
It’s unfortunate that Xhaka was caught up in that. And that he had an emotional reaction to it. And yes the fans should act better, but if we’re playing good football none of this happens. Even if it just looks like we’re playing good football none of this happens.
It’s over to the board to fix this. Emery is tearing the club apart.
This, 100%. A very small amount of this is due to Xhaka sometimes making stupid mistakes. But pretty much all players make mistakes. Bergkamp missed a penalty against Utd that likely cost us the FA Cup in 99 an won Utd the Treble.
But there’s a big difference between Xhaka mistake, and Xhaka and other players looking bad because Emery plays them out of position, and doesn’t seem to have a clue tactically. Most of the discontent fans are expressing is because we spent a huge amount this summer, Emery has had more time with the players, and yet we’re worse.
Tim, I 100% agree with you that what we should really be talking about is the awful football we are playing right now. Horrible as the Xhaka incident was, it only served as a reminder of how badly we’re being managed at the moment. I’d be interested to hear which (available, feasible) coach you thought might take us forward. For me, we need a guy who for starters can make us better than the sum of our parts.
xhaka’s behavior was unacceptable, especially for a leader and his status as captain should be reviewed. leaders are special people who readily provide direction, purpose, motivation, and composure in tough situations. yesterday, in a tough situation, xhaka provided none of that and, under his leadership, arsenal surrendered a two-goal lead. he made the substitution moment about himself and not about the players he was leading. he’s got kids that play for youth teams at the club looking up to him. is that acceptable behavior for others to follow? in fact, his selfish behavior could have led to defeat.
if xhaka doesn’t provide leadership to the team, particularly being the elder statesman in the midfield, why should he be captain? i don’t care about his parents giving him the key when he was little. i care about the leadership he can or can’t provide when we have tough games that need to be won.
have you EVER seen a captain behave like that? throwing the armband on the ground? telling the fans to f*ck off? disgraceful. unprecedented.
That was an accumulation of things for him.dont for a minute think it was isolated.perhaps the abuse before now got to a head for him.follow his actions and you would read that it was like come on you lot another abuse bring it on
The jeering started when he didn’t hustle off the pitch. That’s when the vitriol started. Up to then, the ironic cheer for him being taken off was probably more directed at the course of events than Xhaka specifically, although he’s definitely not one of the fan favorites.
Xhaka is a defensive midfielder who can’t defend. Pretty simple diagnosis of the problem in my humble opinion.
How many players get jeered for not sprinting off the field in the 60th minute?
When you throw something to the floor, you throw it downwards. Xhaka tossed the armband towards Auba. He wasn’t particularly careful about it, and Auba wasn’t expecting it, or just doesn’t have great hands. That’s why it fell to the floor.
As for all the other stuff you don’t do even when you;re frustrated. Great. But Xhaka has people threatening to do that stuff to him and his family. For months. And not just online, where he and his wife have had to disable comments or just leave the platform. Which btw, is also an adverse effect on his earning potential if we’re going to make it about being professional.
I don’t condone Xhaka’s behaviour. I get it though. I find it more understandable than people complaining about some 5 seconds extra he might have taken (in the 60th minute), which contradicts the care they reckon he should have shown with the armband, which I have never before seen venerated as a physical object. Respect the armband but jeer the guy wearing it? Seriously, I don’t get it.
This wasn’t even an issue for me while watching the game. I saw Xhaka was upset, I thought the fans weren’t right to boo, but I didn’t reckon this would be THE talking point of the game. I’m going to stop talking about it now.
“When you throw something to the floor, you throw it downwards. Xhaka tossed the armband towards Auba. He wasn’t particularly careful about it, and Auba wasn’t expecting it, or just doesn’t have great hands. That’s why it fell to the floor.”
__________________
Shard, this is ridiculous hairs-splitting
Have to agree with Shard here. You are arguing that Xhaka wasn’t disrespected before said “f*** off”. The cat calls and the jeering are forms of disrespect as well. Also, this is not an event that’s happened in isolation. Him and his family has been getting dog’s abuse from fans online for a while now. So yes, Xhaka should have have kept his cool but he is human and given the amount of abuse he has taken from fans from at the Emirates and especially online, I can understand why he lost his cool. As a player, he is a huge problem in our midfield but if us fans are all about abusing every bad player that plays for Arsenal, we would have to quit our day time jobs to keep up. It’s certainly not his fault that Emery made him captain and he has become the face of Emery’s football.
This isn’t hard.
A section of the crowd jeered him in an unforgivable manner. He reacted in a totally unprofessional, OTT, out of control manner, for which there should be consequences**
I dont know why some have a hard time processing those 2 things simultaneously. It’s nota zero sum situation. If Jack cruelly needles me and I react by subjecting him to personal abuse, Tim would be totally correct in removing me.
I dont know the way forward, because his relationship with the fans in the stadium has totally broken down. Perhaps they give him a big cheer next time? That’d do some healing.
_____________________
**Consequences short of removing the captaincy, which I think would be a very divisive step.
The big, overarching issue is that Xhaka isnt worth his place in an Arsenal starting XI. I applaud Emery for his clear-eyed comments on the incident, but he’s going to have to grapple with the bigger issue — that his skipper is one of his weak links. He is defensively suspect, and slows the play down. He should, if he understood defending a rudimentary level, have cut out the cross for Palace’s equalizer (even if, to be fair, Luiz’s ball-watching was a graver offence)
So Emery is going to bench the last remaining one of his 5 captains appointed at the start of his tenure.
Maybe the one good thing that will come out of this is that Emery will be forced to bench Xhaka for a few games and during that time our midfield will click. One can only hope.
On that note, can we bench Luiz too? Our best CB pairing from last season was Holding and Soc. We should give that a go again.
What bothers me about it is when fans spend months abusing a player and it’s all grand and acceptable….but as soon as he fights back EVEN ONCE they start clutching their pearls and acting all indignant.
In my opinion if you want to shout abuse at players and harass them on twitter, or whatever, you should be able to take it if eventually they tell you to f off.
It’s that double standard I don’t like.
Exactly
Agree Claude, the timing and sequence of events tell a much different story than Xhaka being bullied just because. The boos didn’t start until he’d thrown the band down and started acting like a poor professional wrestling villain. If you’re gonna villain out, at least do it with some style or hit someone with a chair!
Ummmm…..’I dont go off and commit murder, or ram into cars because im “frustrated”…
I dont get home and beat my wife because im “frustrated”…’
In which universe is any of that a fair comparison?
blimey – I saw Xhaka screw up by being annoyed (with his performance/ tactics whatever), trudge off, get jeered and ‘snap’ by cupping ear/ encouraging them and telling crowd to eff off etc, but I missed where Xhaka beat up a woman!
Did he go full Cantona?
Parsing the events of the Xhaka substitution would, I feel, be a justifiable basis for a thesis. There is the ‘respect/ disrespect’ question; the political manoeuvring of parties off-pitch and at pitch-side; the role of social media and the possibility that it plays an increasing role in the offline world; the very personal feelings of the main protagonist – and again the role played by social media in this, and the part played by the necessity or otherwise of modern sportspeople to be involved; and, of course, the money involved in all of this….
In short, it’s a convoluted mess.
I don’t think Xhaka is crap, but I am fairly certain he’s not made for the Premier League (not because we’re a better league, btw). I also think that Emery, quite literally, doesn’t actually know what he’s doing – but that this may also be because he’s not really a PL manager. It’s perfectly possible that those two mistakes have been made. The questions are – how do we correct it, and do we have the right personnel to do so with some kind of success? As I know the sum total of zilch about such things, I have no idea. I can bloviate, but I’m not sure that’s terribly useful….
Personally I see the ‘ironic clapping’ as the instigating factor Claude.
We often say that players SHOULD be upset at being subbed off so that’s not too out of the ordinary. I’m guessing that if the ironic clapping hadn’t started it wouldn’t have escalated to this same extent. Under normal circumstances his reaction is way over the top. But after being abused and harassed for months I don’t hold it against the guy for snapping? The fans that ironically clapped were the ones pouring gasoline on the fire.
Very thoughtful and insightful Tim. I think your experience is shared by many. I’m a believer in the silent majority and try to remain optimistic that the loudest components of the fan base don’t represent them. The many folks here who are much more schooled in philosophy can correct me but I think I recall from the haze of college that Plato may have described the intangible nature of “truth” in profound ways that still apply today. More pertinently to our experience today, the concept of truth has become enmeshed with the concept of self, in my opinion. The unknowable, polarizing truth of the aptitude of a certain manager, footballer or club is analyzed by an individual, conclusions are drawn, convictions are born, and that conviction, because it is based on personal investment of time and thought, becomes part of a sense of self. I see this in my job too. Many well meaning doctors confuse their impression of a clinical situation with their competence as a professional and therefore cannot abide being second guessed. Lost in that kind of thought is the overarching truth that really matters in my opinion: it’s not about you.
agreed, 100% with truth not being about you. likewise, i hate social media and don’t participate in that form of truth either.
btw, bun is the 7am philosophy guru.
What I don’t really understand is the position of the board regarding Unai, are they supporting him? Do they see some sort of progress that we don’t? I know there is a lot of controversy regarding Kroenke’s fam and how they manage their teams, but Sanhleli and Edu are wise men, they see the games, they can clearly see that with much of improvement regarding squad, the quality of the games, structure of the team hasn’t changed. We look lost, afraid and we don’t seem to understabd Emery’s ideas. There’s lot of controversy around the club now, Ozil, Xhaka, structure, etc, etc. But there is a way out I think – let Emery go, bring in someone that fans love, in the summer appoint someone in line with what Arsenal’s values(?), someone with a clear philosophy, vision, progressivenes, maybe Arteta? And Ljungberg + Bergkamp as an assistant. Rose from Monchengladbach, Hag from Ajax u have some options. But, as of today, we need decisiveness from board, otherwise, it will get worse and worse and worse. People are very angry, aggressive and divided altogethet, we beed someone to unite, to lead, that’s my hope.
There are a lot of things going on here:
1) Emery is owed £7m if we fire him and we are still a VERY close-run club with little room for payouts.
2) Who comes in? That’s going to cost money as well, even if Freddie is promoted (which I’m ok with – even though he doesn’t have any experience)
3) I think the board is trying to dump Ozil and they are using Emery to do that. If they replace Emery, will the next coach stick to party line and lose games because he can’t play Arsenal’s most creative player?
4) Who comes in permanently and how much do they cost both in terms of salary and transfers? Emery was attractive BECAUSE he didn’t demand that the club buy him players. Allegri or another top coach isn’t going to be like that.
So, for me, this all goes back to how Kroenke manages his investments. He ain’t putting any money in so whoever we get it will have to be a guy like Emery, cheap and pliant. Those guys don’t usually make good coaches.
Emery demanded transfers last season. They’ve backed him with transfers this. They’ve also been forced to appoint Freddie to help push young players through.
I agree about Ozil, and no, I think other coaches will play him. But are we really saving money on him by doing this?
Besides, we’re willing to potentially waste 50m in CL money, goodwill among players and fans (which also translates to money) and forego attractive ‘on brand’ football (yet more money) to save on 6-7m in payouts? They must see CL qualification as more achievable than I do, because it seems a stupid gamble at this point.
If Ozil is such a superstar, why aren’t teams coming for him then? Even before he signed the new deal, we heard of no interest.
The modern game has moved away from the #10 that is absolved of defensive responsibilities. Ancelotti is a laid-back and tactically flexible manager and even he didn’t want Ozil at Real.
“…I think other coaches will play him”.
That is exactly the point Tim is making there, Shard. If it is indeed the club’s intention to force Ozil out the club this way (which I think it is going by comments from inside the club and Emery’s recent comments), then they wouldn’t want to run the risk of hiring another coach who could be inclined to or even insistent on playing Ozil no matter what. The feeling might be that -until they achieve that aim- they’d be better off just keeping Emery who’s shown that he is perfectly ok with sticking to the party line.
Yes. I understand. It’s been my argument too. I’m saying it doesn’t make sense. We might be saving some money through not paying bonuses, but the drop in his value, the disruption to the squad, and risking missing out on the CL make it seem like an emotional, vindictive call, rather than a business decision.
And that’s ignoring the commercial appeal of Ozil, and of Arsenal’s values as part of its brand.
I see your point now.
That’s very true I agree, but still some things baffles me. From economic perspective, if we are close-run club and 7m feels like a huge gamble, to miss out on CL for another year will cost more like 40 + million, + it puts the club in a very weak position to negotiate new deals with Auba and Laca. Regarding Ozil, it feels to me like this decision is driven exclusively by economic reasons, that resources are wasted, but if you don’t play him, his market value goes down, he becomes burden that no one wants to take (again some f* up position). Well I still want to believe ( a dream) that we are the Arsenal, the club that has that masive attraction for coaches and players and everyone, but dunno it’s very depressing, the coach who can’t speak, players being booed, players playing a very very poor quality football, out of positions with no identity, ah, it’s sad day isn’t
I think it’s becoming increasingly evident that we are not going to finish top four this season under Emery. In the grand scheme of things, £7 mill is not a lot considering what’s at stake. I think the club gave Emery want he wanted over the summer. Pepe, theortically, is the kind of player that Emery’s football is based around. So I don’t think money is that much of an issue. If the club decides to fire Emery, it should and will be for the sh*t football we are being served.
I fear it will get worse before it gets better. There’s speculation we’ll try and move Ozil and Xhaka in in January but it would be terrible business. I’m a little more optimistic in my view of how the club’s owners will make decisions. 7M for releasing Emery is small beer if we fail to qualify for Champions League. Plus if we do fail most of our top talent will bolt for the exit. You summed it up earlier; the solution is to replace the coach with someone who can restore confidence and some semblance of a playing style. But first Emery needs to truly fail and 4 points off fourth with 28 games to play is too premature for the axe to fall. I wonder what Arsene makes of it all? I barely recognise the club anymore.
Wow, lots here.
No way did Chambers trip the Palace player – it was an honest 50/50 skirmish for the ball and the three Palace players around him are equally guilty of fouling Chambers. Big VAR failure.
That said, Zaha skinned Chambers for the penalty. No doubt for me that Zaha teased Chambers to stick his leg out and then very quickly shifted the ball to get tripped – totally legitimate. We may dislike Zaha, but that’s fantastic skill and awareness and that’s what he does for Palace.
The massive boos for Xhaka started when he decided to walk off the pitch, rather than jog off. We’re at home, we should be demonstrating some urgency to get the win, not acting like we’re trying to eat up the clock. Then he can be seen mouthing “F**k off” twice, as he cups his hand to his ear. I can’t do that in my job to a client, neither can he. I’d be fired. He should be fired too.
Why is Emery pulling off the captain at 60 minutes? Isn’t the captain the last person you want to pull off, shouldn’t he be the person leading the rally back?
Torreira should go too. Crying like a school child because his teammate is being booed?
Things were toxic at Liverpool too during the Gillette/Hicks era. Now look at them. We may make fun of Fat Frank, but look at Chelsea, week to week improving with young players. That fan base seems the happiest I’ve seen in ages. When you have an identity and it’s producing results, the fan base will rally.
I don’t think Torreira was actually crying. I think there’s some media manipulation going on here.
Chambers trips the dude.
http://arsenalist.com/f/2018-19/var-disallows-sokratis-goal-for-this-chambers-foul-2019-10-27.html
No way is that a foul on Chambers. He’s getting kicked in the shin at the same time by 2 Palace defenders, then tries to make a play as he’s being knocked over. That doesn’t even get a foul in my 11 year old’s league. Really poor call.
Yeah, if you call that a foul, you have to call fouls on 90% of corners where the ball is bouncing around in a scrum in the box.
I thought it was the club photographer who posted pictures of Torreira crying and used it as an example of a player torn up about the treatment of his “leader”.
You know, I remember watching a clip about life at the club and how one running joke amongst the players was that Xhaka never knew what the training schedule was and was always texting the other guys to find out. That’s a leader? I must be from a different generation…. the captain is the guy who knows the answer to those types of questions.
“I thought it was the club photographer who posted pictures of Torreira crying and used it as an example of a player torn up about the treatment of his “leader”.”
Yes, I saw that too.
I don’t know exactly what to make of Torreira crying except that it seems to me that he is a very emotional guy. I remember he was the only guy weeping unconsolably after we lost a game last season -the Europa league final I think.
“Granit Xhaka. He is always asking ‘what time is training’, he knows, but he keeps sending messages asking for the same thing. If he becomes captain our captain, I’m dead. (laughs).” – Aubameyang on Xhaka.
As for your comment on Xhaka, I think this Aubameyang quote references what you said above. But I think the key phrase there is “he knows”. This might just be some sort of reverse psychology stuff from Xhaka to keep his mates focused. Which, if that is the case, further re-enforces his cred as a true leader of the team. Because he wasn’t even captain by then! I just might wrong about that though.
But “timing/schedule” is an unusually strange stick to beat the Swiss with. Remember he is also the captain of the Swiss national team. So it a little bit strange to me from where all this talk about him not being qualified to be Arsenal captain/leader is coming.
Jack – I think Emery’s substitution of Xhaka shows he is a desperate man without solutions. He alienates big names like Ozil and Ramsey, then reintegrates them into team, and even names them captains. We have to play out of the back at all costs. Then the next week we are only kicking long balls. He puts Xhaka into a position where he can’t succeed, names him captain and sticks with him when it’s clearly not working. Then, when he’s desperate, he yanks him at the 60 minute mark after the fans had already begun cheering for Torreira as his replacement. It’s cowardly, and the players recognize it. As Claude says below, we will lose Auba (and probably Laca) if it continues much longer.
I think this might be a parody account.
+1
(i tried writing that in capitals but it became +! which…. isn’t far off I guess)
when it comes to truth, i don’t know so i often say what “it seems” to be. i also say “we’ll see”, which bun absolutely loves. bottom line, i’m just making a semi-educated wag like everyone else.
emery believes he has made arsenal better since arriving. that’s his truth, lol. most would say that arsenal seem to lack creativity. to me, it seems he doesn’t know how to facilitate the attacking talent of the center mids he’s had. he likes for his furthest forward center mid to be more of a ball winner but not a creative facilitator of the attack. as a result, most of arsenal’s goals have either been set plays or individual players doing something amazing. while i’d readily take a set play or individual brilliance every day of the week, it’s frustrating to see a team that once played such free-flowing attacking football appear so creatively inept.
i don’t think it’s so much that emery doesn’t know what he wants to do. he just seems to struggle clearly expressing ideas to players. as a result, the team appears to play with little confidence. i don’t believe arsenal can challenge for the championship playing the way emery has them playing; i can’t see a way forward. if they can’t challenge for the league, they don’t belong in the champions league; that competition is for teams with requisite title aspirations and quality, not merely top 4 aspirations.
It’s coming up to a year half now and the football has been largely awful. We struggle in the league against mediocre teams and we struggle in the cup competitions against lower leave sides. We are probably going to win our group ninnthe Europa League which will just set up for disappoinment in the KO stages.
I wonder how the 2017-2018 Wenger would do with this squad
And how about the 2003-2004 Wenger? Surely that Wenger would be able to craft something interesting to follow and get so much more out of this squad.
Tim – A great piece today. Truth is personal, and personal means subjective. We have learned that what we believe takes precedence over what can be proven. The more truths, the more fractious our society. The idea that any of us should ever sacrifice for a greater good seems like an absurd anachronism from ages ago. Would this country band together and take on a threat like Hitler today? Please. We are nimby, finger-pointing, science-denying people, who would rather gloat when someone from our side makes a point on social media than actually attempt to listen and understand an opposing opinion.
As to Arsenal, I had initially wanted to blame Emery for the Xhaka episode yesterday. A player is repeatedly put in a position where he can’t succeed, then haltingly awarded the captain’s armband, then yanked off the field in front of the home crowd. How else could this have gone? And yet, I look at the state of the club and think of smiling Stan sitting at Wembly watching the Rams yesterday. He couldn’t be arsed to see his other team play, even when he’s here. That sort of neglect and disinterest will filter down in the selection of personnel, coaches and players, and create a culture of apathy that allows things to spiral to this point. Simply investing in expensive players won’t do it. There needs to be passion and commitment at the top. Until the Kroenkes are gone, there won’t be, and we will find our club is “a steaming pile of Tottenham” again and again.
DTG – Wanting an investment to do well, and actively taking an interest and demonstrating passion are 2 very different things. Great presidents/CEO’s/owners make it a point to talk about their business, engage with employees, and demonstrate their commitment. That doesn’t mean being totally hands-on, but it does mean doing more than paying occasional lip service to things. It means finding someone with half a clue to run the team vs. Gazidis. It means taking the time to determine who will coach after a 20 year legend departs. It means showing your business is more than just an investment. There are teams that have players who are so enthralled with their owners that they publicly state that’s the person for whom they are playing/trying.
To be clear, my point was that it’s not fair to lay ALL of the blame for the Xhaka situation at Emery’s feet. Yes, Emery has been disastrous. But the people who selected Emery are equally culpable. His record was not stellar. The issues had to have been clear. But Stan’s top men made the choice, and SKE approved it.
There are no excuses for the poor play or the terrible coaching. Everyone deserves stick. But to look at this and say SKE has no hand in it is to willfully disregard the reality of professional sports.
Tim, I think I’ll be buying you that ice cream cone.
I now even hope to buy you one. This is just awful, awful football.
I didn’t want to gloat but I will now! NEENER NEENER – yeah I think it was plain to see that the club wasn’t going to improve under Emery. He might be slightly better if he gets Bellerin and Tierney on at the same time, but no guarantees. I applaud your positivity, however.
I was never going to agree with those who were asking for the coach’s head after just six months of appointment.
But I think it’s proper to move on if it has been well proven that he can’t improve us.
Marcos, stop making excuses for Granit Xhaka.
In my 26 years of following Arsenal, I have never seen one of our players react with such volatility when subbed. Ive seen strops, I’ve seen mutterings, Ive seen things thrown when back on the bench, and I guess there have been instances where the coach’s handshake was slapped away, but I cant remember one. I also cant remember an Arsenal player, let alone the captain, ripping off his shirt, tossing it away, storming down the tunnel (and by several accounts) leaving the stadium.
When you get subbed and youre not injured, you take your seat on the bench. You cheer on the team. You show that you’re as invested as the players on the pitch in a good result. The person replacing the skipper was an 18 year old, Saka. Did he high five him on the way off? I cant remember. What must the teenager be thinking?
When Emery was hauling off Ozil, Lacazette and Ramsey for fun, they kept their composure. No the crowd didnt jeer them, but they did Eboue (disgracefully) and he mentally disintegrated before our eyes. But he kept his composure. They used to jeer pre-injury Aaron Ramsey, round 20, for misplacing passes. He kept his composure.
Xhaka’s behaviour was completely unacceptable. I dont like it, won’t do it, and wish others wouldn’t; but sections of the crowd will give players the bird, and that is as old as spectator sport. Players don’t have a special entitlement to not get stick. But they do have a responsibility to keep their composure. especially if they’re the leader.
Am not backing him neither a I blaming him.you can’t assume all must react the same way.rem Zidane at the world cup or Cantona against his own fan.did their actions make them less as captains.emotions are crazy tins.sometimes it gets to a boil just like xhakas
One of the reasons I dont want us to throw the book at Xhaka is that we should be able to be firm with a player without destroying value. If we are going to to sell Xhaka down the line, we have to walk the line between censuring unacceptable behaviour, and blowing up a player’s relationship with the club.
With Ozil, alas, it’s too late. And to those of you defending Emery on this on footballing grounds, you can stop now. It is a strategy by the Arsenal board. The coach is the tip of the spear. There is nothing the player can do to stop it. It’s disgusting.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/10/26/unai-emery-says-decision-omit-mesut-ozil-arsenal-team-part-agreed/
I can’t think of many clubs in the world that would actually pay money to take Granit Xhaka. I know he has his fanbois but I can assure you they aren’t people who run football clubs.
As for the Ozil thing, yeah, ok, Emery says it’s the board, but the board says it’s Emery. So, I don’t think this is settled at all.
people would pay more for xhaka. he’s not a bad player, just not suitable for the premier league.
as for ozil, imagine a manager telling a bold-faced lie on the people that hire and pay you that makes them look bad. that’s unthinkable. they’re hoping he’ll request a transfer but he doesn’t want to take a pay cut and he doesn’t want to leave london.
I think any of the Italian clubs, except perhaps Juventus, would gladly take a punt on him. He isn’t the first player who is unsuitable for the premier league. I know you hate international football but he has a pretty solid reputation on that stage and I’m sure there are managers out there who can get more out of him in a different league.
Lukaku was sold for lots considering he was criticized and made to appear dumb.you would be surprised at xhakas worth when he leaves
I don’t read Emery say that the Ozil thing is the decision of the board!
Rather, he said that the entire club is in agreement with the strategy that has kept Ozil out of the team. This is not an unreasonable thing to say, considering that the club (Raul et al) came out earlier to say they are ok with it.
His statement could very well be an indication that the club is motivated to force a transfer for Ozil as Joshuad points out below. But Emery is not a bigger idiot than I think he is to slander his bosses in the public like this.
I think the appropriate punishment is stripping him of his captaincy and, if Emery has any sense, not even rostering him for home games. He becomes almost exclusively a road player.
Ozil is undergoing what in my business we call a “constructive dismissal”. You don’t fire the person, but you make it so intolerable, i.e. don’t award them a bonus, assign them to terrible projects etc. that they quit of their own accord. The brass, through Emery, think that if Ozil sits he will eventually want out rather than waste his prime playing years in the stands. However, right now, Ozil seems content to not play football – which is baffling to me -rather than take a pay cut and move elsewhere. LA Galaxy is beckoning though, we should be rid of him in January finally.
Xhaka isn’t even a member of some national clique at the club. But he somehow has the respect of the players who voted for him. Kind of strange for people on the outside to decide he’s no leader when his peers seem to think otherwise.
Ozil made a decision to sign the last big contract of his career to stay at Arsenal and in London, and start his family life, and likely planning his post retirement career/businesses there. There’s nothing strange about his behaviour, especially because even in his own words he’s not been ostracised by everyone at the club. He’s not playing because of either Emery, or Raul, and it’s not like he’s bound to give in to their bullying. Player power means he has some freedom to choose. Meanwhile we’re playing horrid football, which no matter what you think of Ozil and his abilities, he could help with.
Tim’s right. Play well, and none of this would matter much.
But Tim also had a post last week – there’s no proof that Ozil is the cure-all to our playing well. Ozil is just like Tierney/Bellerin/Holding… this expectation that suddenly one or two players are going to revolutionize the results.
Xhaka is well-liked. But leadership is not a popularity contest. I played with some captains who were complete Roy Keane type a-holes, but when they spoke you listened. Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams, even my fave, Dennis Bergkamp… the other players were afraid of them. Mertesacker once gave Ozil a public rollicking in front of the crowd for not acknowledging the away fans.
I say bench him but let him keep stay on as the captain. We certainly don’t need to captaincy curse to spread. Keep it contained.
As sh*tty as this whole situation with Xhaka is, a twisted part of me thinks this is the best thing that could have happened in terms of forcing Emery’s hand in reconfiguring our midfield. I know that sounds convoluted but time and time again we’ve seen that we are a club that needs things to get worse before it can get better. And if we are really lucky, Xhaka will hand in a transfer request and we will replace him with [insert your dream midfield player here].
Shard, is it time to revive my calls for an elegant beast? 🙂
Did you say Ndidi? Yes please.
The players genuinely seem to like Xhaka, and are throwing an arm around him in public.
Hector Bellerin, on twitter: “We are all humans, we all have emotions, and sometimes it’s not easy dealing with them. It’s time to lift each other up, not to push each other away. We only win when we are together”.
The player I worry about is not Ozil or Xhaka. It’s Aubameyang. In his own, quiet ways he has been critical of the team, several times, for dropping points. He’s an elite level footballer. He does not want to be playing in Europa. And his ex-chairman at Dortmund (they hate each other) recently rubbed salt into that wound.
We are going to lose one of our few world class players if all this continues.
Thank you Clive! The Emery situation is all about Auba and Laca. If we don’t fix that problem, our roster is depleted, and we have no money to replace them.
What happened to Raul’s reasoning about never allowing any player to have less than 2 years on their contract?
And hey, an elegant beast is always welcome. Xhaka or no Xhaka.
“As sh*tty as this whole situation with Xhaka is, a twisted part of me thinks this is the best thing that could have happened in terms of forcing Emery’s hand in reconfiguring our midfield.”
+1 for the above!
But it very likely may not be a personnel issue as much as it could be an “instructions” issue. But I believe the key to this team playing well and winning is rejigging that midfield. And we have the personnel for that.
With the level of problems at the club the list of would be replacements for Arsene were quite underwhelming. Except for Allegri i think any of those targets would have got us in this very situation. The atmosphere is quite toxic and was never going to be rectified by stringing a couple of good results. The club needed an experienced coach who could bring all stakeholders to fall in love again with Arsenal a person who would have respected the club’s values and eradicate divisions within both the squad and the fan base. I was quite convinced that the right person was Ancelloti especially for the work he did at Real Madrid after the toxic period of Jose Mourinho. He was very willing to join but we blew it
Ancelotti after Wenger would have been more of the same and not what was needed. Ancelotti is an excellent man-manager, very good at dealing with big egos, but not a disciplinarian.
What Arsenal needed was a task master with a vision. We thought in Emery we were getting both. We scored 1/2 out of two.
The guy who could fix our defense and still have us playing some venomous football is never leaving Atletico Madrid.
Not getting into the Xhaka thing again, but just for the record on him supposedly wasting time, I went back and had a look.
59:40 Ball goes out of play
59:48 ref blows whistle for sub
59:52 PA announcement begins
59:55 Ironic cheers
60:00 board is still up, camera cuts to an upset Xhaka walking towards the sideline
60:05 Armband toss to Auba
60:07 Boos
60:27 Xhaka is off after (distractedly) high fiving Saka
lol.
You’ll never make the grade as a reporter. Too much detail left out.
But doggedness is a good trait, so keep trying.
I was only talking about the time taken. I didn’t note the specific times of all of Xhaka’s actions.
In total since the ref blew the whistle, it took less than 40 seconds, which it seems to me is about standard. It might have seemed longer to the crowd because the ball went out 8 seconds before the ref even blew for the sub.
Also, since I am now talking about it anyway, as a reporter you ought to know there’s more than a hair breadth’s difference between saying Xhaka threw the armband on the ground, and Xhaka tossed the armband towards Auba but it fell on the ground. The latter is what happened.
Shard, I think you’re missing the point here.
It’s not about what Arsenal could’ve done in those extra 10 seconds or so Xhaka might’ve wasted ( 30seconds for each sub added at the end of each half).
Arsenal under Emery are probably more likely to concede a goal in extra 10 seconds than score one themselves but it’s about the optics here.
You want to see how a true professional exits the pitch with his team needing a goal, take a look a Liverpool’ Milner for example.
He’s usually off in less than 10 seconds.
Xhaka’s lack of common sense is truly staggering but no one should be surprised by it by now.
His rap sheet of bone headed offenses is longer than most other players.
Against villa he ran off same against sheffield.he was upset the change was becoming a norm especially at 60 mins.je may have felt it was too early
Against villa he ran off same against sheffield.he was upset the change was becoming a norm especially at 60 mins.je may have felt it was too early
Tim
I think you write a superb blog and all of your posts are interesting and thought provoking but I thought that was the best one that you have written in my brief time following your blog. Awesome stuff. I don’t always agree with everything you say but differences of opinion are part of what makes a sports blog entertaining and interesting. I would never have the energy or patience to do what you do for us.
I completely agree with your sentiment about the refs and the rules of the game. The rules of the game are by necessity nebulous and subject to individual interpretation. Just about every call the ref makes are every bit as subjective as the pass interference calls which generate constant controversy and differences of opinion in American football. IMO, The refs in European football have by far the most difficult job of any match official in any sport in the world and isn’t even close.
We all want the refs to be consistent but consistency is utterly impossible when almost every judgement a ref has to make is subjective. The way most fans views the calls is often split and usually depends on which team they support.
I understand the distaste for the way VAR has been used so far this season. However, I still think VAR has a place and is needed but it has to be used correctly and the implementation has been poor. Myself I think there needs to be a way to overturn calls which are clearly wrong such as missed offsides calls or handballs which the ref can’t see because his view is blocked. There are also plenty of cases where the ref gets the call wrong (through no fault of his) because he has the wrong viewing angle and the right call is clear when you see the play from a better camera angle. IMO, for the sake of the integrity of the game those sort of obvious mistakes should not be allowed to stand when we have a way to correct them
Very insightful and balanced post, Tim.
Great take on the “WOB/AKB/EKB/EOB” dynamic. I like that you are not too shy to touch on that situation. It is a very real thing that some other blogs seem to shy away from talking about it.
As you say, Emery’s football and results aren’t helping the situation at all. It is a contributory factor in fact.
Start winning games convincingly and all of sudden this whole in-fighting, booing, relentless criticisms, and damnation disappears for good!
Lots of opinions here (as should be expected on the theme Tim set!).
Some thoughts:
– on Xhaka’s and the fans’ responses – “its not how far you fall but how far you climb beyond after”.
Xhaka made a mistake – he’s the Captain, the leader and should not have reacted like this regardless of the provocation.
The fans took out frustrations on him that were about his reaction and his playing, but also on Arsenal’s poor ‘style’ and Emery. If I’d been there, I’d probably have been making a noise as I saw it unfold, so I’m as bad.
I think as the Arsenal, its about how as *supporters* we learn what is appropriate and how Xhaka is reintegrated into the squad and fanbase.
– on Ozil.
I think Raul, Edu, Vinai have a ‘win’ if Ozil is playing (ie it means we’re playing well if he is) or he’s not playing (ie it means he might decide to leave and his wages come off books). Both positions work for them. So if Emery decides to bench Ozil (in fact not even have him in squad) then they will back him.
It doesn’t serve them and they don’t need to tell Emery what to do.
– on Opinions.
At work I used to say “I don’t give a sh!t about your opinion, but I do care about your *insight*”
It never worked as no one other than I saw the difference and its true it was one I made in my own head. And no one reacted well to the swearing, especially my bosses.
However what I was trying to get across was what I saw as the difference between someone saying “I believe this and so should you” with “I believe this because of these factors, data, customer behaviour etc”.
So if I read “this is my opinion based on my eye-test and I haven’t changed that based on anyone else’s thoughts/ facts etc” then I tend to shrug and mutter “I don’t give a…”
ah well, lost of words, no insights, I’m a waste of pixel ink!
I understand Xhaka. What I don’t understand is that we have ended up accepting the fact that so called supporters insult their own players. You don’t insult anyone. You support your players or you stay silent. You boo the opposition but you don’t insult them. We have come to accept that football fans are vulgar, brainless, uneducated, aggressive, violent, disgraceful. And if a player can’t stand it no more, he is supposed to swallow it all (to “man up”) because the fan is holy, brings the money and cannot be alienated. Ridiculous. I think that this is a football thing. Other sports have it not at all or a lot less. If it is a football thing, not something inherent to humans and sport, it can be fought. And this fight starts with not accepting verbal abuse for example.
This being said, the issue was also caused by a coach who kept selecting a player whose shortcomings were evident to all, game after game and in spite of poor results. Emery is largely at fault. This was brewing.
Folks folks folks…
The debate about whether fans booed Xhaka first or whether Xhaka showed disrespect first is (frankly, respectfully) a distraction and an irrelevance. His public reaction was so bad and so OTT, that he must be officially sanctioned. He has left the club no choice.
There are a lot of sins for which we could be forgiven if the excuse was that someone upset us, disrespected us, or made us angry. I hope that the internal fine is a whopping one, and I hope that he gets benched. However, I think that taking the captaincy away is a step too far.
How about the spare key to his parents house?
Would that be a step too far?
agree – a fine, benching, but not as some mentioned “sell him (because of this)”,
or burn him, ring a bell behind him as he walks through the streets of Islington, ask him to write “I must not lose my temper” 1000 times on a blackboard with actual chalk….
:¬)