sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Unai Emery Refuses To Defend Granit Xhaka Over Controversial Outburst

Unai Emery Refuses To Defend Granit Xhaka Over Controversial Outburst

Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka angered Arsenal fans telling them to 'f**k off* and cupping his ears to them after his substitution on Sunday.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has refused to defend captain Granit Xhaka following an outburst after his substitution against Crystal Palace.

Xhaka's substitution was cheered by Arsenal fans and Xhaka responded by telling them to 'f**k off' and cupping his hand to his ear before storming down the tunnel.

Emery addressed the situation speaking to Sky Sports after Arsenal's 2-2 draw at the Emirates.

Image
Sky Sports

"He was wrong, He was wrong," Emery said when asked following the game.

"Now we need to stay calm and speak with him, to speak inside about that reaction. His reaction was wrong in that moment.

"We are here because we have supporters. We are the workers inside, but we play for them. We need to have a lot of respect from them, through applause and criticism."

The Spaniard also addressed if the Swiss midfielder will remain Arsenal captain and he didn't offer a concrete answer for Gunners fans.

"It's not the moment to speak about that (if Xhaka will stay as captain). First, I want to speak with him and the club, and we want to stay calm before we speak about that. He was not right to do that."

Image
PA

The 27-year-old only received the captaincy last month following a few months of consideration from the Arsenal boss.

He replaced Laurent Koscielny who joined French side Bordeaux in the summer in acrimonious circumstances.

The situation with Xhaka won't have helped Emery's current cause with the Arsenal fans who are beginning to turn on the 47-year-old.

The North London outfit have won 6 of their last 17 Premier League games and they let a two goal lead slip against Palace this evening.

Furthermore, ArsenalFanTV personality Troopz posted his discontent with the manager on Instagram which was then liked by the clubs French forward Alexandre Lacazette.

Worrying times for Arsenal indeed.

What do you think about Xhaka's outburst and do you think he should be stripped of the Arsenal captaincy?

Sound off in the comments below.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Football News, Unai Emery, Football, Granit Xhaka, Premier League, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Emery