Arsenal legend Paul Merson has slammed Granit Xhaka by giving his verdict on the Switzerland international following his latest mishap in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
The Gunners fell behind to Christian Eriksen's tap in and then saw their deficit double after Xhaka's clumsy tackle on Son Heung-Min led to a penalty, which Harry Kane tucked home.
Arsenal fought back with goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to secure a point, showing their resilience and determination, but the defensive mistakes in the game have attracted vast criticism.
Xhaka has been the subject of a lot of those critics, with Merson now weighing in with a blunt verdict when asked what Xhaka brings to the Arsenal squad.
“I don’t know. I honestly sit here and I don’t know what he brings to the party," he told Sky Sports' The Debate.
“He doesn’t score a goal, he doesn’t have assists, he gets booked, he makes rash challenges, he gives away cheap penalties, he doesn’t sit in front of the back four as a number six to break things up.
“If you asked me what has he got, I’d say he’s got a hard shot. I don’t want to be disrespectful but I’ve got to say I don’t know what he brings.
“I’d like to sit down with him and it might be the case where he thinks he needs to do it, maybe he doesn’t trust the others to do it, but it’s gone past the stage where Arsenal fans go home and say ‘I wish we had more players like Xhaka, players who give their all’.
“The penalty, you wouldn’t expect to see that on a Sunday morning. When it happened I wondered if he slipped but he hadn’t and it was rash. I watched the game the other week where he got booked with five minutes to go and it was a silly booking.
“Now he’s got three bookings already and he’ll have five before you know it, then he’ll have a ban. I get frustrated because he’s got the size, he’s got everything, but I don’t know what he’s bringing.”
