Arsenal at the weekend were missing a leader, desperate for character, in need of a personality, someone with a voice.
We needed Granit Xhaka!
That will hurt a few to hear because for many (including on justArsenal) he was an easy target.
The Swiss captain was busy on Sunday though. At the same time thousands were leaving the Emirates early, the ex-Gunner midfielder was celebrating winning the Bundesliga.
When I watched his interview on the Players Tribune years ago, I mentioned how you could make a movie out of the man’s story. How he went from throwing down the captain’s armband in 2019 to lifting the FA Cup that same season.
How he thought he would never pull on the red and white shirt again, but instead was one of our best players in the closest campaign we were to winning the Prem since it last happened.
His dad was in attendance that day his son threw down the armband in response to the jeers that greeted his substitute. The Father suggested to his son it would be a good idea to leave England. The perfect ending of the story would come in Germany not the UK.
The 31 old would not have enjoyed his former employer’s losing control of the title race, but he would have seen the irony. As Bayer Leverkusen fans ran on the pitch to congratulate him as a hero, he would have thought back to supporters in North London who also used to surround him on match days. Only to block his car so they could swear at him and his family. That’s how the movie could start, a now and then shot.
Maybe the editor could show the midfielder’s long-range strike against Werder Bremen as he voices over the verbal abuse he used to receive at his last place of work.
The player would admit how some of the vile words he received impacted his mental health. Others didn’t have much sympathy.
Those who hid behind their keyboards would have been sad on the same day the person they targeted was having one of the biggest days of his career.
Those who threatened him would have felt numb while he smiled the widest grins.
Grown adults who swore down a camera with those familiar feelings in their tummy.
Those who threatened shocked, their target was delighted.
Mr. Xhaka has too much class to ever point out this irony. I bet his wife doesn’t though! Not when it was wished she would die and that her baby got cancer!
Say that out loud. There are Arsenal ‘fans’ who wished that on a young family because they felt someone was not good at his job.
I always admired Xhaka for never being pressured to apologise, instead sticking to his convictions. Even when his disciplinary record was questioned, his principle is that you should never change who you are.
That’s the the message to take away from his tale, that’s his legacy.
This season Xhaka has been rewarded for his good decisions. He wasn’t forced out of the capital of England, he left on his terms.
One of Arteta’s biggest mistakes as manager was not convincing one of few leaders we had to stay. The last player we had publicly called out to his peers for always going missing at this time of year.
Mr. Wenger warned that a section of the fan base was in danger of ruining the proud Arsenal values he had helped to promote. Ultimately Mr. Xhaka’s legacy will be a time frame that didn’t paint supporters in the best of light, that put a spotlight on fan channels and made some look at themselves in the mirror. With pure honesty, Xhaka took his critics and turned the tables on them.
He was the face of one of the worst periods in our history. Where it was common for players to talk about how fans were mentally impacting them. How embarrassing.
If this were a movie shouldn’t Xhaka get the happy every ending and not those who abused him?
Isn’t that a great story to tell his daughter, a great lesson to be learnt. Making him a role model.
In 7 years as a Gunner, Xhaka was abused online, outside our stadium, his family has death and cancer wished upon them.
Granit Xhaka though will one day return to Switzerland, and he will be okay.
He will be stronger and wiser than the youngster who left his homeland.
He won’t ever forget the threats, the taunts, the abuse …. how his family felt not safe.
Yet he got rewarded for his character, for the person he is.
He returns home …. a Champion!
Gooners might have to go into their 21st year still waiting to be able to say that.
Let’s be honest …. some deserve that.
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