I’m a hundred percent in favour of riding the storm that Arsenal currently find themselves in and I’ve supported Mikel Arteta with a sense of realism and enthusiasm. I never underestimated the job at hand, realising that the task to rebuild and rejuvenate Arsenal football club was enormous and to date, there has been a lot to admire about the way Mikel Arteta has approached the role. However, I am disappointed with his recent and obvious double standards concerning the incidents involving Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka.
Guendouzi and Xhaka were involved in an unsavoury incident which involved grabbing a player by the throat for no particular reason but in the case of the Frenchman, he was dropped from the first team and loaned out at the earliest opportunity. Rumours have been circulating that Guendouzi has told a number of players that he will only come back to Arsenal if Arteta leaves.
Watch this space!
Xhaka’s offence seems to be viewed as less severe by his Spanish manager because when asked about any pending actions awaiting the Swiss midfielder, he said:
“It [his red card] has been resolved internally. There is a lot of players who have had rocky moments.”
AD Opinion: Xhaka more than most!
“What I can say about Granit is his professionalism and his commitment to the club and with his team is maximal. He knows and we all know that he had a moment where he’s lost it and I know the reason why.”
AD Opinion: He basically fell over a player’s foot
“But what I cannot do is throw everything he has done away because he’s made a mistake. We all make mistakes and I am here to protect the players when I see that they deserve that.”
“For sure Granit is one of them for the way that he approaches every training session, the way he wants to do everything the right way, and the professional that he is.”
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Bollocks! What absolute rubbish. So why was a young inexperienced player jettisoned so swiftly and so publicly? Where was his protection?
I thought Xhaka’s career was over after the second incident of indiscipline but apparently not. We can only assume that Arteta’s non-negotiable’s depend on who you are and what day it is! I’m not disappointed, I’m disapproving and mildly disgusted by the dissimilar treatment of Xhaka and Guendouzi!
