Granit Xhaka was in action for Unai Emery’s Arsenal on Thursday evening.
Xhaka started for Arsenal in their Europa League game against Frankfurt at the Emirates Stadium in North London on Thursday evening.
The 27-year-old Switzerland international suffered an injury in the first half, but the midfielder soldiered on and played for the entire 90 minutes.
The midfielder was making his return to the Arsenal team, and club legend Keown has criticised Emery for not taking him off and also has some strong words for the player.
Football.London quotes Keown as saying: “I think Xhaka should have gone off at half-time. He didn’t look right really but I can understand why he wanted to stay on, I think he wanted to show that little bit of heart. I do give him credit for that but this is where the manager really has to know whether a player is fit or not.
“I think the medial ligament really opened up and the player knows. After that, he limped around, he didn’t want to go off, but it’s not really intelligent for the team. I don’t want to blame him for this but I was really surprised to see him come out for the second half.
“I’ve had this injury myself and it is really tricky. Maybe Emery wasn’t really sure what he was looking at. For the first goal, he couldn’t really move and I think that maybe there is an injury there, I don’t think he was completely honest and in the end it became a disaster.”
Disappointing performance
Xhaka tried his best and gave his all for Arsenal, but his performance against Frankfurt could have been better.
According to WhoScored, the 27-year-old took one shot which was not on target, played three key passes, had a pass accuracy of 88.9%, won two headers, took 66 touches, attempted two dribbles, and made three tackles and two clearances.
Arsenal will return to action on Sunday when they take on Norwich City away from home at Carrow Road in the Premier League.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
