Loads of Arsenal fans have been reacting on social media after Martin Keown claimed in his column for the Daily Mail that Unai Emery was as much to blame for Granit Xhaka being booed as anyone else.
The former Gunners ace noted that Sunday’s events seen as the North London side drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace was not the first instance of fans booing Xhaka, as jeers rang around the Emirates in September when the 27-year-old was taken off against Aston Villa.
Five days after that Premier League clash Arsenal went on to win without the Switzerland international on the field, Emery named Xhaka as the Gunners’ new captain following Laurent Koscielny’s summer departure.
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Xhaka was handed the armband after Emery held a secret ballot among the Arsenal dressing room, in which the former Borussia Monchengladbach man is a hugely popular figure.
Keown has pointed to this as Emery turning up the heat on an already hostile atmosphere for Xhaka, that makes the Spanish tactician as much to blame for supporters reacting angrily on Sunday.
“Emery is as much to blame as anyone,” Keown noted. “If you let the players pick their skipper, then it becomes a popularity contest and that is not what leadership is about.
“I’ve never had a manager who decided the captaincy that way and, for me, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still the safer bet.”
Young forward Bukayo Saka replaced Xhaka in the 61st-minute on Sunday as Arsenal searched for a go-ahead goal at home to Palace, with fans reacting with jeers that soon turned to boos as the 27-year-old cupped his ear.
Xhaka responded to the boos by appearing to swear at supporters, before throwing the captain’s armband to the floor and storming off down the tunnel.
Here are some of the reactions shared to Keown’s verdict…
