Arsenal Vs Leicester City: Saying and doing are very different

Granit Xhaka admitted that Arsenal lacked ‘fight’ in Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Leicester City. But saying these things and doing these things are very different.

Have you ever been in a meeting of some kind in which much is said about what must be done in coming days, weeks, months and even years to enact change on the organisation? It might be a board meeting at work or a local council meeting or an AGM for a sports team or local church or community group.

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After these meetings, you often feel inspired. ‘Look at all these brilliant ideas we have,’ you might say, eagerly anticipating the change that will come as a consequence of the meeting. And then, fast forward a few months, and absolutely nothing has changed. Not one thing.

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It is not an uncommon occurrence. It happens all the time. And it goes to prove that there is a great deal of difference between saying and doing. Promising to do something does not mean that you will deliver on that promise.

After Arsenal’s horrifying 3-0 defeat to Leicester City on Sunday, which may well have ended their top-four hopes, Granit Xhaka was asked about the performance of himself and his teammates and the troubles that they have encountered away from the Emirates throughout the season. This was his response:

"“It is difficult to explain why we don’t play like at home and why we don’t take the points. I said this last week. It is a different game away and at home. You can’t play like at home. You have to win the duels, run more than the opponents because the fans are in front of them. All the teams in the Premier League can play football and they can fight. If you don’t take the fight against them it looks like (Sunday).”"

In what he says, Xhaka makes some pertinent points. Indeed, what Arsenal put on show at the weekend is very much what happens who you do not ‘fight’ away from home. And matches on the road are very different to those at home, with the raucous crowd and shift in mentality crucial to the patterns of the game.

But these things have been said before. Just three days earlier, after another embarrassing away loss to Wolves, Sokratis argued that Arsenal are ‘not stupid’ and that they are aware of their shortcomings away from home and are working to fix them. It took less than a week to prove what he said and he and his teammates did in stark opposition.

What Xhaka says is very encouraging. He owns up to the mistakes of the team and admits that their performance was not good enough. He did not try to shirk an excuse, there was no contorted reasoning to support the team. He simply stated that they did not fight hard enough. But whether this will actually have an impact on the remaining matches requires greater depth and motivation. It is very easy to say the right things and then do something very different.

What you say and what you do do not always match up. Integrity is a missing trait in the modern world. Xhaka may have assessed the loss to Leicester correctly, but until tangible change on the pitch occurs, I will pause from praising him. Let’s see the change, not just speak about what it might be like.