Arsenal vs Eintracht Frankfurt: You have to give Granit Xhaka a chance

Arsenal need to figure out how to move forward with Granit Xhaka, and fans have a part to play in that too. But it all starts with giving him a chance.

The only thing that has deadened the effect of the Granit Xhaka fall out is the fact that the team itself is crumbling down as well. So Arsenal fans can redirect all that negativity towards the entire club rather than focusing on one person who has been out of the picture since it really started getting bad.

That said, while I’m not here to make the argument that Granit Xhaka can help repair the club (even though I do), I am here to say that he needs to get back out there, and that’s starts with being given a chance.

Honestly, I would have preferred him returning to the starting XI away from home, maybe against Norwich City, and not at the Emirates, where Gooners are at their worst, but at this point, we have to give fans a chance as well.

You may say that Granit Xhaka has had all the chances he deserves, that he has proven he isn’t right for the club, isn’t who we need, isn’t whatever.

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To which I would say that fans have had all the chances they deserve, they have proven to be vile and toxic, aren’t what the club needs, aren’t whatever.

In order to start repairing things, we can start with the small things, like player treatment. Even players that we don’t necessarily like. And that singular repair can begin with Xhaka just getting out onto the pitch again and letting fans see him.

Chances are they’ll be awful. Chances are he won’t be able to put this behind him and he will struggle to settle in because there’s nothing settling about a fanbase that doesn’t support you, but there’s a chance that things can start to improve.

Eintracht Frankfurt is a good staging point. Give him some youngsters to watch over, let him settle in to a match that is familiar to him, given his experience in the Bundesliga, and let him get back out there while simultaneously giving the fans an opportunity to shut up and appreciate him.

Xhaka loves Arsenal. The fans do to. Let’s start there. Put your differences aside, as Xhaka has already attempted to do, and move forward with some damn positivity. It shouldn’t be that hard.