Arsenal fans irate as Xhaka lashes out.

Arsenal fans have grown frustrated with their teams performance of recent months. Having seemingly thrown away top four with losses against Crystal Palace, Leicester city and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The team have not really kicked on, this season despite having spent over £130 million in the transfer market, currently sitting 5th in the Premier Legue with only one away win.

One player who has bore the brunt of the Arsenal crowd frustration is Swiss International Granit Xhaka. Xhaka, who has been the club since 2016, has failed to impress in his time in North London. For example he comitted the most mistakes leading to goals, of any midfielder in the Premier, two seasons in a row (1st 2017/18 (3), joint first 2018/19 (2)).

This combined with his poor disciplinary record (consistently giving away the most fouls of any Arsenal midfielder every season since joining the club, with 161 fouls committed in total) has caused the Arsenal fans to lose patience with him.

This season, it has culminated with online abuse, jeering in the stands and post match ranting from many fans. Against Sheffield United, Xhaka's substitution was met with ironic cheers and boos. When this happened again at Crystal Palace, Xhaka, responded by, throwing his captain's armband on the ground and strolling off the pitch, cupping his ears and goading the crowd. In response to continuous booing from the crowd, Xhaka appeared to say 'F**k off' into the camera before walking straight down the tunnel and taking his shirt off.

Arsenal fans took to the internet to vent their anger, with some appearing on AFTV. Many criticised him for not leaving the pitch fast enough in the first place. But in response to Xhaka's words, fans were irate. Many of them demanded that he never play again, that he should be benched and then sold over the Christmas. Xhaka himself did little to repair the damage. His statement which came out a few days later did not contain an apology but more of an explanation. He said that he stands by what he says, directing it only to the group of 'fans' that have been abusing him and not the ones who have been supporting the club with "positive energy".

This could be interpreted many ways, but many of the most vocal fans took this to imply that he was referring to any Arsenal fan who hadn't criticised him. With Xhaka's refusal to apologise, and the fan's unfavourable interpretation of his words, it's hard to see how this rift can be healed. It'll certainly be interesting to see how Emery handles the situation.