Arsenal legend Lee Dixon has slammed ‘silly’ Granit Xhaka for diving of their Premier League win over Crystal Palace on Friday night time.
Xhaka was booked for simulation within the first half, throwing himself to the bottom after anticipating a deal with from Joachim Andersen.
The 29-year-old Switzerland worldwide has been handed a yellow card 53 instances within the top-flight since his 2016 arrival, with 10 of these coming final season.
‘Let’s simply wait till the second half and see if one other yellow comes out,’ former Gunner Dixon mentioned about Xhaka.
‘That could be a dive, fairly rightly booked and for a person of his expertise, silly!’
Gary Neville says Granit Xhaka will ‘at all times allow you to down sooner or later within the season’ and Arsenal ought to put together for that eventuality.
Xhaka has been a divisive determine among the many Gunners fanbase, partly because of his poor disciplinary report.
Nevertheless, Xhaka has persistently been picked as a starter by each supervisor he’s performed beneath on the Emirates Stadium – Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and now Mikel Arteta.
‘Even Xhaka tonight, he received booked. I at all times assume he's going to go and allow you to down,’ Neville informed Sky Sports activities.
‘He's at all times going to allow you to down sooner or later within the season, so that you assume, you need to plan for that now. You recognize it’s coming.’
Xhaka just lately hit again at pundit Neville for calling him a shame final season.
Neville was livid with Xhaka following Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle within the penultimate sport of the 2021-22 marketing campaign, a end result which noticed the Gunners give up their benefit within the Premier League high 4 race.
Mikel Arteta’s fifth-place facet finally missed out on a Champions League spot for 2022-23, with north London rivals Tottenham securing fourth as an alternative.
Xhaka got here out after the loss and appeared to take a jab at Arsenal’s younger gamers, saying: ‘If somebody isn’t prepared for this sport, keep at house.
‘It doesn’t matter your age. Should you’re nervous, keep on the bench or keep at house. You want folks to have the balls to come back right here and play.’
Neville responded in his post-match evaluation, including: ‘I don’t know who he’s having a go at, I hope he wasn’t having a go on the youthful gamers…him?
‘I let you know what he’s been a shame at instances over the past 4 or 5 years, getting despatched off recklessly. He’s left it up within the air there, that was nothing there.’
Xhaka, although, responded to these feedback and feels that he was misunderstood.
‘Everybody is aware of we've got a really younger crew, however this isn't the issue of younger or outdated,’ Xhaka informed ESPN.
‘This was not in opposition to our younger gamers. I put myself there as effectively. We weren't prepared for this sport, to battle.
‘We knew if we received this sport, we'd have one other remaining in opposition to Everton at house [on the last day of the Premier League season].
‘The factor is concerning the mentality – when you will have one thing, you'll be able to take it – it's not the primary time we let it down.
‘Lots of people begin to assume, ‘Yeah he’s talking once more,’ and stuff like this, however perhaps they didn’t perceive what and the way I imply it.
‘If I can say now one thing about this interview, I informed you: this has nothing to do with the younger gamers, it's do with us all collectively.
‘It doesn’t matter the age. I believe I mentioned that as effectively after the sport – it doesn’t matter the age, it's important to be prepared for these video games as a result of these video games you will have perhaps as soon as a season and it's important to be able to take it.
‘If not, you're out of the Champions League locations.’
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