Piers Morgan leads calls for Granit Xhaka to be stripped of Arsenal captaincy after ‘f*** off’ fan rant
GRANIT XHAKA told Arsenal fans to “f*** off” as he was booed off pitch during draw at home Crystal Palace.
The Gunners skipper, 27, was roundly booed by fans after a lacklustre hour on the pitch in a game were the home side threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2.
As he trudged off the bench, Xhaka cupped his ear to the abuse, encouraged them to give him some more before mouthing “f*** off” and ripping off his shirt.
The Switzerland international then stormed straight down the tunnel.
Arsenal fans reacted with sheer rage after the stunt, reminding everyone Xhaka is supposed to be the club captain.
Piers Morgan was one of the first to tear into the midfielder, tweeting: “Wow. Xhaka subbed for another poor performance.
“So responds by telling Arsenal fans to ‘f*** off’, ripping his shirt off & storming down the tunnel.
DISRESPECT
“And this is supposed to be our CAPTAIN?
“What an absolute disgrace. He should be stripped of the captaincy tonight.”
One fan wrote on Twitter: “Booing your captain is poor but Xhaka’s reaction was even more poor.
“He disrespected the fans, the manager, his own teammates, the whole club.
“Terrible mentality for someone who’s supposed to lead us on the pitch. Emery has damaged us hard.”
Another said: “Xhaka should never play for us again with this reaction.”
A third added: “XHAKA NEVER PLAYS FOR US AGAIN.”
Gunners boss Unai Emery was quick to condemn his skipper – although he refused to say if he will strip him of the captaincy.
The Spanish boss said: “Xhaka was wrong and now we need to stay calm and speak to him inside the club about that reaction.
“We are here because we have supporters. We are the workers but we play for them and we need to respect them, whether they are giving us applause or criticism.
“Now is not the time to speak about the captaincy but we are working with every player to manage dealing with the pressure.
“We can play with our hearts and sometimes get hot in difficult moments, but in our minds we must always be clever.
“I have had similar situations in the past but this evening the connection between the team and the supporters was amazing.
“There was one small individual incident but overall they support us and we must always respect them.”