Well-known Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan has hit out at Granit Xhaka after the Gunners succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby last weekend.
The Gunners came with a defensive mindset during the first half of the encounter, and the gameplan rather worked out perfectly as they held Spurs to a 0-0 scoreline.
However, the second period exhibited their flaws in the defensive department, and they ended up conceding for the ninth game on the trot after Harry Kane rose higher than Laurent Koscielny to score the winner in the 49th minute.
While plenty of players were off-key with the performances in the latter half of the match, Morgan and many other Gunners’ fans blamed Xhaka, who apart from his passing skills struggled to contribute much on the defensive point of view.
‘Xhaka must be the biggest waste of £35m in football history.’, Morgan said.
Xhaka was brought to Arsenal with the potential of being the Gunners’ holding midfielder for many years to come. However, his performances this term have been rather average with his lack of mobility hurting the side.
The Swansea game was one of the prime examples of him ball watching, where he should have shown the alertness to stop Sam Clucas, who just ran past him to find the scoresheet.
With the Spurs defeat, Arsenal now have a woeful record of just 13 points in 14 matches on the road, and this typically is a feat of a mid-table side, though the home form has kept them in the hunt for the top-four.
The Gunners are now seven points behind the Champions League which could be extended to eight, should Chelsea win their game in hand, and the Europa League very much looks as the route towards attaining a potential spot in the elite competition next term.
