Arsenal: Stripping Granit Xhaka captaincy the last straw

Arsenal have a new captain, and it’s not Granit Xhaka. If Unai Emery wasn’t already on his way out, he has to be now. This is all wrong.

Let’s take a moment to rehash Arsenal‘s time this year with Unai Emery in charge. Despite an unconvincing start to the season, Arsenal landed in third, relatively comfortably. They then promptly lost that spot, all the while Unai Emery continues to make baffling tactical decisions.

He continues to call on the midfield diamond despite a midfield that is mostly composed of glass. He continues to call on Sokratis and David Luiz, despite it being obvious that they are not the way to move this defense forward.

He continues to make a mess of the Mesut Ozil situation. He continues to mismanage some of his most important players for the future (Calum Chambers), despite doing a commendable job with other important players for the future (Gabriel Martinelli).

He continues to need a committee of players to make decisions. He let the players elect their captain—Granit Xhaka—and then he himself elected to strip the captaincy from Xhaka mere weeks later.

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It’s a mess. It is such a mess. But for me, taking the captaincy from Xhaka is the final straw.

Xhaka had been the captain for such a short period of time. He had proven his leadership capabilities. He was then man for the job, like it or not. Unai Emery pulled a move os supreme cowardice not to stand by his captain and back him rather than removing him from the role.

In all likelihood, this will end up with Xhaka leaving the club in January. He deserves so much more than a spineless manager and a gutless fanbase. And it’s not just him either. I always joke about when the Spurs exodus is finally going to happen, now I worry that an Arsenal exodus is on the cards as well.

The new captain is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which is just as baffling as why you’d take it from Xhaka in the first place. Aubameyang isn’t a leader. He scores goals. That’s his thing. He’s not a captain though. That’s not his style. So why Emery has arbitrarily picked his forward is beyond me. It’s like he drew straws or something.

This is all wrong. I’ve lost all faith in Emery as a leader and while I will never advocate for any kind of managerial carousel, I’ve seen enough. Fire the man.