It all seemed to be going so well for Arsenal today, they went 2-0 up at home to Palace and it all looked so easy. Since then they’ve thrown away the lead, the captain has embarrassed himself and now the fans are having a pop too.
There was so much made of Granit Xhaka captaining Arsenal, but it’s unlikely he will take the armband again. He took his shirt off, gestured and swore at the fans before storming off down the tunnel.
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After that it seems the fans turned on Emery as they chanted in support of a player who has been left out of the team:
Crowd singing “We’ve got Mesut Ozil” en masse. Pretty pointed message to Emery, that.
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) October 27, 2019
Ozil is an interesting one, it always feels like the Arsenal fans blame him when anything goes wrong because of his body language and fairly relaxed playing style. Now that he’s out of the team, it feels like they think he’s a potential saviour and want him to play as much as possible.
The result leaves Arsenal only three points ahead of Man United who have been criticised from all angles this season, so it might not be enough for Emery to plead for more patience and to trust his processes.
He faces a tough choice over Ozil, if he brings him back then it undermines his authority, but the longer he leaves him out it reflects badly too. It’s like that situation is exactly the same as the one he’s engineered for the team on matchdays – you just can’t figure out how he’s going to win.