Speaking on The Highbury Squad YouTube channel, Kevin Campbell has been discussing Granit Xhaka and his reputation in the press.
The Swiss midfielder isn’t the most beloved figure in English football, and that has never been more apparent than in this week’s BBC Sport Team of the Week column.
Garth Crooks included Xhaka in his team, but in a piece that was meant to be praising the Arsenal man, he ended up slating him and explaining why he doesn’t like him.
Campbell was far from impressed by this treatment of Xhaka, and while he says he has his own issues with Xhaka, he believes he deserves praise for his performance at the weekend.
What’s been said?
Campbell gave his view on Xhaka and the criticism of the Gunners star.
“There’s journalists out there saying ‘I don’t like Xhaka.’ That’s the first words in their piece, ‘I don’t like Xhaka’, and they’re supposed to be journalists,” Campbell said.
“I’ve had problems with Granit Xhaka for obvious reasons with what has happened. That’s an in-house issue, none of their business what we do in our community, we’re Arsenal together. We have problems and squabbles, but we back the team. Let’s be brutally honest, Xhaka deserves to be in the Team of the Week, he was incredible, he’s getting better and he’s improving. He has goals, assists, that ball for Jesus, as a striker you don’t get many of those balls in your career.”
Baggage
Unfortunately for Granit Xhaka, no matter how well he plays, he’ll always be viewed in the same way in some circles.
Ask yourself this, if Xhaka was actually as problematic as some make out, would he still be one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players?
Arteta has had a zero-tolerance policy for any players who are an issue within his squad, hence the termination of numerous players’ contracts including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil, and yet, Xhaka is still one of the first names on the teamsheet at the Emirates.
Xhaka has been a bit of a problem player in recent years, but over the past 12 months, he’s been almost impeccable.
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