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Football London
Football London
Sport
Phil Spencer

How the Arsenal fans reacted to Granit Xhaka's substitution against Aston Villa

It was a frustrating afternoon for Arsenal, but one man in particular has taken the brunt of the bad feeling.

With the Gunners putting in an under-par performance against Aston Villa, supporters were within their rights to make their feelings known, but it was Granit Xhaka who was the main target.

The Swiss international has been the target of much of the fans' annoyance this term after numerous mistakes which have led to goals.

And that feeling came to a head as supporters cheered the decision to substitute the midfielder in the second half against Villa.

Fans have been losing their patience with the midfielder in recent weeks as a series of reckless tackles have left the Gunners to pick up the pieces in recent weeks.

He also received criticism after saying his teammates were 'scared' in the 2-2 draw with Watford last week, a comment which certainly irked club legend Ian Wright.

Wright responded: “You don’t really want to hear somebody saying you’re scared because then what will happen is teams will recognise [it] and then they’re going to start saying ‘they’re going to get scared'."

“Whether you’re scared or not you’re going to get a kind of a pressure put on you where you’re going to be tested now.

“So it’s really, for me, it’s irresponsible of him to speak like that, for me.

“To hear it was like ‘oh my gosh, really, did you have to say that?’. Scared? How can you be scared on a football pitch?”

Whether the reaction of the supporters will affect the Arsenal captain remains to be seen, but supporters will certainly be hoping for some improved performances in the coming weeks.

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