There was a lot of controversy when Granit Xhaka was voted team captain by the roster of players on Arsenal football club, and it’s possible his reign at skipper might be coming to an end soon. Xhaka didn’t take it well when his own fans booed him and his side during the Gunners 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
He removed his shirt as he stormed off the pitch and swore at the fans. Later he changed his Instagram avatar from a pic of him captaining Arsenal to a photo of his captaining Switzerland. B roll of the incident plays over Arsenal manager Unai Emery addressing the incident in his news conference today ahead of tomorrow night’s League Cup clash at Liverpool.
Will Arsenal fans back Xhaka?
Should they? ? pic.twitter.com/lNpTxbiTQ5
— GOAL (@goal) October 29, 2019
“He is now devastated – devastated and sad,” Emery said. “We spoke yesterday and also on Sunday night. This morning he trained as normal with the group but he is devastated and sad about the situation.
“He knows he was wrong. He was wrong and he feels it inside very deeply. But that is normal as a human. You need, and every player needs, the supporters’ support.”
Emery said a punitive course of action has yet to be determined for Xhaka, but he could be fined. He might not be wearing the captain’s armband much longer either. Emery advises the midfielder to apologize to the supporters, but he said that he himself can do without an apology.
“Yes, I think when we make individual mistakes we need to make apologies for the circumstances,” Emery said. “I prefer to do that. We suggest to him to do it.”
As of now, Xhaka has not really shown any contrition. He won’t be in the team tomorrow night, but that was always by design, as Emery planned to rotate his squad for the EFL Cup, a lower priority competition, anyway.
Arsenal at Liverpool FC FYIs
Kickoff: Wednesday Oct 30, 8:30 BST, Anfield
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: Arsenal Liverpool
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Referee: Andre Marinner
Prediction: Liverpool 3, Arsenal 0
Liverpool have won 14 straight at Anfield going back to February 27. The last time they didn’t win on Merseyside was against Bayern Munich in the Champions League Round of 16. And as you might have heard, Arsenal has some issues with their road form to say the least.
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