Gary Neville has blasted the ill-discipline of under-fire Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka, labelling the midfielder as ‘rash’ and urging him to learn from his previous mistakes.
The Switzerland international was booed by Arsenal supporters as he left the field during last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the Emirates, the 27-year-old reacting by cupping his ear and mouthing ‘f**k off’ to the crowd before angrily removing his shirt and heading straight down the tunnel.
Neville admits he is unsurprised by Sunday’s incident, believing the player has not learnt from mistakes in his own performances and urged the former Borussia Monchengladbach star to improve his discipline.
“I struggle with Xhaka full stop, I’ll be honest with you. I just think it’s his ill-discipline in his performances generally over a period of the last two or three years,” said the former Manchester United full-back.
“I’ve never watched a player who seems to learn less from his experiences than Xhaka.
ICYMI
Granit Xhaka gets booed off by Arsenal fans, tells them to boo louder, tells them to f*ck off and throws his shirt on the floor ????
Arsenal’s club captain, everyone ????#AFC #Xhaka #ARSCRY pic.twitter.com/NRSAuAachz
— GiveMeSport Football (@GMS__Football) October 28, 2019
“He makes what must be four hundred mistimed tackles a match. He essentially gets booked every time I watch him, I don’t watch him every single game but every game I do watch he gets booked.
“He doesn’t seem to set the tone for the rest of his team-mates with his performance levels. So, what happened on Sunday doesn’t surprise me.
“He does give his all, he’s committed. There’s no doubt about that. You can see someone there.
“But he’s the least-experienced experienced player I’ve ever watched. He’s rash.
“I’ve got no problem with this idea of taking on your fans or a bit of tension. It’s never great, it’s not healthy. But actually, in football, that can happen.
“I have a bigger problem, watching him, with his performance levels, the way he doesn’t perform and doesn’t carry his team on the pitch.”
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