Granit Xhaka slammed by pundit as ’embarrassing’ Arsenal claim issued
Granit Xhaka needs to look at his own performance before blaming his teammates as Arsenal look set to miss out on finishing in the top four.
That is the view of ex-Aston Villa and England attacker Gabby Agbonlahor, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to Newcastle United on Monday night (16 May).
Xhaka, 29, questioned the commitment of his teammates to Sky Sports after the game and told some of them to “stay at home”.
Monday’s result leaves the Gunners two points behind Tottenham who travel to Norwich City on the final day.
“First of all, Xhaka needs to look at his own performance,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“He looked like he bottled it as well. He wasn’t getting on the ball as much, he wasn’t creating anything, he wasn’t getting the ball back.
“As a team, they bottled it too. It was their biggest game in the last 10 years and they didn’t come out looking like a team who wants to play Champions League football.
“It was a bigger than a cup final and they didn’t play like that, they weren’t flying around. Arsenal didn’t look like they wanted to score, in the first half there was no hunger or speed in the attack. It was very strange.
“Arsenal bottled it. But look at the teams above them, Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City all have better squads. Arteta has overperformed with this group of players
“They’ve got no world-class players while Spurs have Harry Kane and Heung-min Son. They have top young players like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard but if your striker is Nketiah you don’t deserve top four, he’s more of a Championship striker.
“Arsenal will be very disappointed and they bottled it but their squad of players is not good enough for the Champions League and they would have embarrassed themselves in the competition.”
In other news, Arsenal have been handed a Champions League ‘lifeline’ after a Uefa ruling.