One incident and he is gone? That seems overblown. I think he should be gone because he doesn't have the quality and is really hurting the team. But methinks he is a scapegoat just like Mustafi was and seemed to degrade in quality ever since Emery came compared to Wenger. Xhaka position and strengths always confused me he is a DM but not a deep lying playmaker, not a holding midfielder, Not a true CM nor a creative mid. A destroyer perhaps? He does have a good shot but never had much pace or mobility especially laterally to provide cover to a defense.
I think the only way Xhaka can come back in is if Emery is fired. The stories linking him with Newcastle concern me in the sense that the executives seem to be planning for Emery to still be here in January and beyond.
That's certainly one way to look at it. The more optimistic way (that is for those who want to see Emery go) is that management thinks Xhaka just completely torched his relationship with the fans so he needs to go, independent of Emery.
I've always believed that's more to the point. The furor over Xhaka's exit from the pitch wasn't that he dissed Emery (which he clearly didn't) but was he dissed the fans. That's a taboo for a player. And moreso for a captain. And at that point, it seemed less a matter of when Xhaka might play again, but how long until he's shipped out.
Barring an injury crisis, Xhaka won’t play a premier league match again for Arsenal. Its not about Emery, but the club’s standing with youth players, etc.
Read that Xhaka is on 130k a week, that has to make it harder to move him. Can't really hold out for a higher fee when everyone knows they have to move him. Supposedly Elneny isn't happy in Turkey, do they bring him back as cover in midfield? Emery obviously didn't like him, but it's not like he's a great judge of midfield talent and besides, it shouldn't matter by January. Elneny isn't great, but some depth will be needed. Hopefully firing Emery and getting regular PT is enough to convince Torreira not to leave. Otherwise MF gets really thin.
ROFLMFAO WGAF?? Wait . . . Did we loan him there? We did, didn't we? Is he still an Arsenal player!?!? Please tell me he isn't one of us!?!
Apparently you don't follow the transfer threads? The loan is for one year with a buyout clause. I can't really imagine him coming back here midseason.
Can't say I get the Xhaka discourse. I don't think he was ever good enough to be captain and I don't think he's good enough to be in our first XI. That being said, him being stripped of the captaincy over this is kinda BS to me. Like he has one moment of reacting negatively to constant abuse and he's never gonna play for Arsenal again? If the reason given were: "he's not good", I would understand. But god damn this fanbase is so soft if this is the price we need for a player reacting to his own supporters booing him.
No Xhaka in midfield and still looked like utter crap. Methinks the problem was Emery and not Xhaka. But I agree I do believe he won't play again because you cannot give a go at the fans like that especially as captain and expect to play.
Cantona karate kicked a fan in the stands, admittedly not a United fan, was suspended for a year by the FA and remained a United player. The club's reaction to player fan conflict depends in large part on the importance of the player to the team. If Xhaka is sold, it's clear he wasn't very important to the team.
For sure. My issue is framing it as him disrespecting the fans. He's not good enough to be captain and he should be sold. But jfc, I see no reason that his reaction requires the fans receiving his head in recompense. Think the fans should grow up and stop being so precious.
Cantona was also world class xhaka is a squad player level. Someone Crystal Palace would probably pass on
As I said at the time, we should have sold him in the summer, when he still had some market value, to clear payroll and budget for a new midfielder. Now we will take another bath on a dumb contract and highly overvalued player.
Looks like Emery is going to give his teacher's pet Xhaka a path back... https://www.arsenal.com/news/xhaka-feeling-better-and-wants-come-back Can't say I'm too surprised. Edit: I just noticed one phrase which alludes to his possibility to leave in January: "...his performances will be better and they will be proud of him in the short or long future with us"
Xhaka like Mustafi was just a scapegoat. Yes they were poor for long stretches of time. But it's not like them being cast aside made us better. In retrospect were worse without both. So the common denominator Is Emery. Hopefully Xhaka gets sent to a club where he can contribute. He isn't that bad of a player just not up to this level.
I switched my Xhaka hate towards Emery very early on this season. Not fair on Xhaka or other players when Emery puts them in positions to fail. although I still maintain that Xhaka sucks and isn’t complete enough as a midfielder for the top level. He has all the same issues I mentioned in the pre-season thread when we played Bayern.
Isn't he linked with a move to Hertha Berlin? I think Italy would suit him better right now in his career. His passing has deteriorated and that was his best part of his game with his long range shooting.