Former Arsenal striker, Charlie Nicholas believes Granit Xhaka’s “atrocious” behaviour will understandably leave the midfielder out of action for months.
The Swiss international grabbed headlines this week for flipping off his own fans in the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace. Supporters and many former players turned against Xhaka for his behaviour and thinks he no longer has a future at Arsenal.
“The sympathy is not with the reaction, the sympathy is with him being nominated captain by his fellow team-mates,” Nicholas told Sky Sports.
“The manager let the players take the responsibility and it’s all been evident that Arsenal have struggled to find a natural leader within the group. He is obviously popular within the dressing room.
“He’s obviously a team player in some category but the actions that we saw on Sunday are just unacceptable. Xhaka may be current captain but I don’t think he will be captain anymore after what he did at the weekend. The fact that he didn’t instantly apologise to the fans about his behaviour tells you that he’s probably upset and angry.
“I would imagine it’s a horrible feeling being in the position he’s in right now, but that anger must be controlled. To be a footballer of any significance, especially at the higher level, if you don’t have a thick skin to take some criticism, then you are not a footballer.
“You cannot live at the top end because you may get a lot of compliments, but you don’t think the likes of Messi and Ronaldo ever get criticised? Everybody does at some point.
“He’s representing Arsenal as a captain and it is unacceptable to think you’re as big as anything at the club. His behaviour was atrocious, and I don’t see him having a future at the club.
“I think the bosses at Arsenal, and not just Unai Emery, are probably looking at this and thinking what is Arsenal meant to be? It’s got a great history, it’s got some fabulous players but if it doesn’t have the crowd it doesn’t have a soul, it doesn’t have a heartbeat.
“The crowd will always be the element of the football club and they are bigger and better than anyone else who’s involved in it, so he’ll have to take his medicine. I’ll be surprised if he comes back in any capacity to play for Arsenal again.”
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