Arsenal and Granit Xhaka: Unai Emery partly to blame

The conflict between Arsenal’s fans and Granit Xhaka reached a boiling point this weekend. But head coach Unai Emery is not completely innocent here either. He contributed to the hostile situation that built up over several months and led to this heated moment.

The Granit Xhaka debacle is set to run and run. The Arsenal club captain has suffered horrendous abuse over an extended period, was booed off the pitch at the weekend, then, ill-advisedly, told the fans to ‘f*ck off’, and now ushered an ‘apology’ that really is not an apology but more an explanation.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — The Granit Xhaka One

That is telling. Xhaka does not feel he has done much — if anything — wrong. And there is a fair argument to make that that is indeed the case. This was the kind of apology that you make when you want to appease the conflict but still do not actually believe you have done anything wrong.

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Part of the reason why Xhaka believes he is not in the wrong is because of the situation he was put in, and that he did little to contribute to it. It was not his goading that motivated the fans to hail abuse at him and his family; he was not the one hoping that his daughter gets cancer; it was the fans cheering his substitution and then booing him off the pitch. And it was also not his decision to first be named captain and then be named after a painful delay. That was Unai Emery’s responsibility.

In the aftermath of Laurent Koscielny’s controversial exit in the summer, Emery dallied over the decision of who the club captain would be. Xhaka was the incumbent leader but he was not given the true responsibility of the captaincy, not until late September, nearly two months into the season, was he officially named the club captain. And even then, it felt that that was not Emery’s decision, an infamous player vote playing a key part in the decision-making process.

And since then, it was reported by James McNicholas of The Athletic that Xhaka is not overjoyed with Emery’s handling of the situation. McNicholas writes:

"“After the Palace game, it emerged that Xhaka had harboured some frustration with Emery as he delayed naming his captain. The Athletic understands that during that period, Emery consulted with another squad member about taking on the captaincy before the players’ vote and ultimate award to Xhaka. Whether or not Xhaka was aware of that dalliance, he was certainly never made to feel first-choice. Emery’s hesitation spoke volumes.”"

Reading between the lines, it was fairly clear that Emery was not completely convinced by Xhaka as his club captain. Quite why that was, it is not certain. Maybe Emery does not view Xhaka as a consistent fixture in the team and would rather appoint a more present individual. Maybe Emery sees something in his character that wards him away from entrusting the leading role in the squad to the Swiss international.

Whatever the reason was, and presumably still is, Emery was not fully on board with the idea of having Xhaka as club captain. And that delay certainly did not help the situation. The fans were never keen on Xhaka as captain and Emery handled their caution poorly. If you are to go against conventional wisdom, you must do it with certainty and gurantee. Emery did the exact opposite. He dipped his toe in the water, rather than diving in the deep end. And now he is paying the price.

Xhaka was wrong. The fans were also wrong. But so was Emery. He should share a part of the blame here. And that is beginning to become a recurring theme this season.