‘It’s ridiculous’ – Arsenal star accused of playing ‘pretend football’ as pundit destroys him

Posted by

Graeme Souness was in the Sky Sports studio for Man Utd’s win over Arsenal on Sunday, and it’s fair to say that he was left less than impressed with one player in particular.

Granit Xhaka has split opinion since he joined the Gunners in 2016, as while at times he has looked like he could be a perfect fit for the club and the Premier League, he continues to show indiscipline and naivety too.

SEE MORE: ‘Rub it in their faces’ – Arsenal ace criticised after muted celebration at Man Utd

That was on display again at the weekend as he dived in shortly before Paul Pogba’s opener, and that decision-making was slammed by Souness in his assessment of the game.

While it seems harsh to single out one player, it will undoubtedly be a frustration for Arsenal fans too that Xhaka isn’t learning his lessons, and perhaps it could be argued that those around him deserve blame too for not pushing him to cut out the mistakes in his game.

In turn, that led to this scathing analysis from Souness, as he did indeed criticise not only the Swiss international but the squad and management too.

“It’s kid-on football. It’s ridiculous. That is for TV cameras, it’s kid-on football,” he said, as per Sky Sports. “What is that? That is pretend football. That’s what you see from under-12 kids on the park. I’m sorry, not good enough.

“It’s more of the same from Arsenal. That guy is 25-years-old, he’s been at Arsenal two years. Is that the first time he’s done that in a game? I would question no.”

Xhaka has had his trouble with red cards in England too since arriving, but it’s the key decisions that he can get wrong which prove to be costly too.

In order to become an important and reliable figure in the Arsenal midfield, he’ll surely have to show more maturity moving forward and it remains to be seen if Arsene Wenger’s successor can get that out of him with the veteran tactician set to leave at the end of the season.

More Stories Granit Xhaka