You could almost smell the gun powder in the air at the Emirates last Sunday, with the Arsenal faithful on the brink of an explosion, as they watched their team huff and puff against Crystal Palace. And as soon as Granit Xhaka’s number was displayed by the pitchside referee, the Gooners vented their feelings and then some towards their captain.
What happened next was one of the ugliest and unpleasant substitutions in recent memory. Xhaka, already unhappy at being substituted mid-match for the third straight game in a row, threw his captain’s armband in disgust and then incited the baying crowd before mouthing of expletives, ripping off his shirt and stomping through the tunnel.
It was terrible. It was mutinous. And it was almost completely the fault of Arsenal’s out of depth Spanish manager.
We all knew that following on from Arsene Wenger would be close to impossible, as no manager could successfully follow on from a legacy as rich and vast as that of Wenger’s. But there was a general feeling that Emery would not face the same amount of pressure as the unfortunate David Moyes since he was not inheriting a serial title-winning squad.
He was instead inheriting an aging squad, without the necessary quality or depth required to launch a consistent challenge for the Premier League. Three transfer windows later, Arsenal have done a remarkable job of getting rid of a lot of dead weight in the squad, while adding a few really exciting and talented players in compliment the likes of Lacazette and Aubameyang.
