Eris … a good article by Eniola Aluko. https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/oct/31/sorry-granit-xhaka-arsenal-fans
Unfortunately there are too many people who lack sensitivity and some who are downright sadists. There are the weak ones who follow the bandwagon. There are others who don’t know how to manage their pains and disappointments. I swear a lot during games but usually under my breath. Such curses are more liable to destroy than build. It’s one of the reasons why I hardly comment here during matches. I fear that some of my numerous curses might seep into the public domain.
We treat these players (public personalities) as if they are robots with no feelings. The truth is that they are as delicate as you and I. Their close ones (partners, children, parents etc) feel their pain and they in return feel the pain of their pain. I know that fans cannot but have opinions but we must endeavour to bring them out in the least hurtful of ways.
Our team is notorious for playing with the handbrakes. It’s no handbrake, it’s fear: fear of the unforgiving response of fans who are supposed to swim and sink with the players. The players should lift us the fans but when they can’t it is for us to try to lift them. In victory or in defeat we march home as one. It is disheartening that some of us have chosen the path of dichotomy. Would Jurgen Klopp have ever accepted to come to Arsenal? I doubt it. On sabbatical from football he chose Liverpool for his return because he knew that he and his team would never walk alone irrespective of the journey which by itself is the guarantee of the triumph of the journey. Class.
Unfortunately this very vocal minority of Arsenal fans have developed an ugly group ego, a pompous and selfish ego that must win every of their fancy fight whatever the cost. They must win even at the cost of the Arsenal FC going under. These are fans who are no longer there to support the team but to pander to their egos, their whims and caprices. Tragically their malaise is very contagious. Not many are able to escape being sucked into the vortex of mass hysteria.
The silent majority, the real fans, should have themselves to blame if this classless group is allowed to drive the culture of Arsenaldom. It’s time the real fans raise their voice against these scoundrels. Xhaka should send his apology to the real fans who silently sympathize with him but never to the ego maniacs. It is our fight that Xhaka has taken upon himself. He has just turned himself into my hero. Maybe his blood will wash away our sins. COYRRG!!!
By PE.
Bergkampesque 
BK Predictions:
Brighton v Norwich
Watford v Chelsea
Eintracht Frankfurt v Bayern Munich
Roma v Napoli
Everton v Spuds
Bordeaux v Nantes
Fully agreed, PE. It is the beginning of the end if we continue like this.
They’ll be the ruin of us, you could feel it last season that they were itching to get started, itching to go on a rampage on social media. They’re full to the brim in the ego department, riddled with confirmation bias and they don’t care how our fans are perceived by others. They take no blame whatsoever for the resulting poor atmosphere. They want certain qualities in the captain, fair enough, but look at how they treated the armband, with the match on a knife edge and this is how they played it.
N64 …. so succinctly put. 🙏🙏
A good write up and summary.
I myself kind of sit in the middle, I would never boo an individual at a game and from reading his apology, I find it sickening that he got so much personal abuse. No one deserves that, however he does not help him self. I feel the apology was not from him, it was prefrabracted from the club, hence why it took so long to be published.
We as a club, deserve so much better. Let’s not forget we are the nighty Arsenal, some of our past captains like Paddy or Adams would have died for the club and guided us to some of our best achievements. He is not captain material and in the 35 years I have loved and followed this club with every beat and passion from my heart, he is not the right captain to bring us forward. We all know we have a very weak staructire at Arsenal, as soon as we concede a goal I feel like we are 50/50 on if we are going to collapse and throw the game away. We need someone that gives everything and also is a leader. I never see this from him, when ever he plays. All I hear from him is excuses and not responsibility.
Again, is this his fault? Probably a lot falls on Emery for picking him but he really needs to try and win fans back with more leadership and passion, which is something I have never seen from him in 4 years. Just mistakes and excuses for 4 years.
Personally I would not start him for a few weeks, I would give the captains arm band to either Bellerin or Holding and give Xhaka the chance to earn respect and chance to play by showing what we are missing in cup games or training. I think if we did not play him for few weeks, we would see our results and confidence getting better
JamieG …. congratulations. Yours is a fine example of emotions under control. Exactly what this post is asking for.
Sometimes we forget that players are also fans of their teams. The rule is that each player does his best on the field irrespective of whether his best is good enough or not. To me critisism should be directed at the effort not at the aptitude of a player.. If the latter is below the requirement of the team, the onus is on the management to correct it. It’s unfair if the limited player who’s doing his best for the team he loves is turne into an object of ridicule by fellow fans.
By the way, there must be a reason why Xhaka’s mates want him as their captain, why he is made the captain everywhere he goes. What we see on the field is only part of the captainship story.
The players need our support as much as we need them to meet our expectations.
Yes I agree, we do need to support the team, now more than ever.
I totally agree about the comment around players giving everything sometimes means more than actually how good they are. Fans in the past have loved players that not necessary have been the most talented but have given everything on the pitch each time they stepped foot there. Recent examples bing Jenkenson and Parlour to an extent.
Xhaka is not talented enough for the EPL. It’s too fast and does not give him time to compose himself, hence the amount of mistakes he makes. I see him as swuad player at best, just a modern version of Denilson.
As you rightly say, there must be some kind of leadership behinds the acmes because he was made captain, but in my option he does not portray that on the pitch. I see more leadership ok pitch from other players. Personally I think Matteo has the drive, energy, leadership and talent to be our future captain, with maybe Bellerin or Holding now.
Maybe he will embrace what has happened and show us why he was made Captain by proving us wrong and becoming the captain we badly are missing, but I fear this is beyond his capabilities. Time will tell and I hope for future of the club I am wrong and he proves his doubters wrong.
JamieG …. I love Guendz’s energy on the field. From the much we see he looks a future captain. I expect he’d be a good man manager off the field too. But if it happens that he is not that arm band would elude him. There must be many tricks to the trade.
Fine, well thought out and constructed post. Thank you PE.
Jamiethegooner mirrors my feelings on the matter. No-one wearing our historic shirt should be booed – no-one. This NEVER happened at Highbury and believe me we saw some shocking players and performances.
It is a modern trend to boo a team off the pitch, especially at half-time. Does anyone perform better in a negative environment? Some will try to prove the fans wrong but a single mistake, even after a fine run of form, will only fuel the negativity about a player … just look at Mustafi who has been excellent this season yet still suffers the slings and arrows following a hands-up moment at L’pool.
That said, Xhaka cannot be captain. Either Bellerin or Guendouzi should get the armband. We are a young team and these men will be with us for the foreseeable future (I hope). Both show on-pitch leadership. So does Auba but I never think a forward should be the Captain.
To those of you who have yet to experience the atmosphere at The Emirates, it is very fickle – sometimes fervent, sometimes unpleasant and very often silent.
As I wrote the other day, there is a difference between fans and supporters. It is the fans who say “We can boo or cheer whom we choose. It is our inalienable right as paying customers”. A supporter simply loves their club and even when we are 2 or 3 down continues to sing and chant – that is support.
IMO the fans can go forth and multiply, but the club are too frightened of having an empty stadium (and in this they are right). Kroeke’s will pander to the fans,
Xhaka is the choice of the players. That makes it a sensitive issue. Being a captain shouldn’t mean he has to be fielded every game. These days captains are more of captains of the dressing room. Klopp has turned Liverpool into the model team and on the field his team has 11 captains and one nominal captain.
Erik, your description of the Emirate atmosphere is so apt and it is a more destructive factor to team building than the performance of any players ho can so easily be replaced. We the fans need to be less fickle. We need, as you said, to be more of supporters than indulgent fans.
The problem is simple. Xhaka’s qualities are not appreciated or understood by the majority of the fans and yet the managers and players appreciate and understand them perfectly well. Xhaka would be appreciated in every other European country but in the UK the fans are, let us say, much less football savvy. And now that we have reached the stage in which our own fans believe it is perfectly acceptable to jeer a player of the pitch and call them all sorts of things on line, we should all get concerned and do our best to turn things round before it is too late. There are very dark clouds above the home of football.
The other thing to asks the likes of the Jamie fellow above is, why was Xhaka voted MOTM four times last season, as many times as Laca and Auba? If he is crap he surely is consistently crap. Or could it be that if Xhaka gets the right support (i.e. Torreira next to him rather than Guendouzi and a proper connecting attacking midfielder in front of them) he is an awesome player to have. Many people make the big mistake with thinking of Xhaka as a DM. He is not a DM, but needs one next to him to complement him. Under Emery this is not happening and it is making Xhaka look bad at times. Once you will get that, you will understand what the real problem is.
Fellow Gooners also never valued Mertesacker and Giroud anywhere near enough… This is all to do with this obsession with speed and athleticism in the UK. Both became world champions of course…
Great post PE. Amen!
I am really quite puzzled by those who say that Xhaka is weak or should not wear the armband. Could you help me understand why? Where does this notion come from that Adams would die for the club but Xhaka is not as committed? Did Arsenal never lose a game or a lead when Adams was Captain? Thanks.
Good question, StH! 🙂
New Post New Post 🙂
Henry. I am one who says he should no longer wear the armband. Xhaka crossed a line on Sunday by disrespecting the people who pay his wages. There are very good reasons why he took this action but none excuse his actions. Do you think haka has improved the reputation of the club? In my opinion he has besmirched it and therefore can no longer be held up as the representative of Arsenal’s history and culture.
Is he committed? Of course he is, he would never have created the wonderful career he has if he wasn’t driven to succeed. As committed as TA? No, how can he be? TA came through the ranks and was AFC’s youngest Captain, a one club man.
Bum. AA new post when I was still thinking about the Xhaka business!!
I completely agree with this article. It takes a real set of ‘fans’ to boo off your own captain when your chasing a result. Yes, results and performances aren’t going great but this behavior helps no one. That being said, of course he made a stupid mistake. He’s the newly-named captain of a team who publicly states that he loves. He’s a victim of a malfunctioning system and no it doesn’t help that he is not defensively top-class. But Wenger certainly saw something in him, and I think when he is confident, he is up there with the best passers in the league. Now his confidence is shot, but I am with his teammates in sticking with him. Real teams stick together in good and bad times. COME ON YA GUNNERS
Cheers, PE. Loved the post and with you, all the way.