Graeme Souness labels Granit Xhaka a ‘fool’ as Arsenal captain is criticised for Manchester United performance

Stand-in captain Xhaka was largely at fault for United’s opening goal as Souness claimed his defending was at an 'Under-12 level'

Granit Xhaka has been heavily criticised for his performance in Arsenal's defeat by Manchester United (Getty)

Graeme Souness labelled Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka a “fool” for his performance in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United and claimed that the type of defending seen in the build-up to Paul Pogba’s opener would not have looked out of place at under-12 level.

In what was Arsene Wenger’s final match at Old Trafford as Arsenal manager, United triumphed with an injury-time winner from Marouane Fellaini, summing up the numerous bad experiences that Wenger has had at the stadium throughout his 22-year reign that also echoed the famed ‘Fergie-time’ winners seen during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

But while much of the attention on Sunday focused on Wenger, Souness tore into Arsenal’s stand-in captain on the day, with Xhaka receiving the harshest criticism from the Sky Sports pundit.

The Switzerland international made a rash challenge on Pogba in the build-up to the 16th-minute opener, with the midfielder sliding past the United star who then broke into the box and tuck home a rebound off the post from Alexis Sanchez’s shot.

Speaking at half-time, Souness did not hold back in his verdict of Xhaka’s defending.

“It’s ridiculous, if he doesn’t do this then he doesn’t commit his centre halves. Get there, stand up, commit a cute foul if necessary but don’t sell yourself as simply as that,” Souness said on Sky Sports.

“That’s for the TV cameras and people sitting in Row Z. It’s kid football, it’s more of the same from Arsenal. That guy is 25-years-old and he’s been at Arsenal for two years. Is that the first time he’s done that in a game? I question no. Does he do that in training? Then if so why hasn’t it been pointed out to him? He’s cost them that goal.

“This is a classic case of the central midfield player not doing his job properly. He goes to ground and this is ‘Look at me, I’m working hard and trying to be aggressive’.

Xhaka was also lucky not to be sent off after picking up an early booking (Reuters)

“He then stands and watches, allows Pogba to end up free in the box and he has the simple job of rolling it into the back of the net. What he should do is come across, body check Pogba and risk taking a yellow card.

“But this is what you do not do, it’s almost as though he thinks Pogba is lining up to shoot and he’s going to get a block in. What is that? That is pretend football, that is what you see on a park from Under 12s.”

After conceding the early opener, Arsenal improved with what was a relatively young team featuring academy graduates Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, while January signing Kostas Mavropanos made his debut for the club following his January arrival from Greek side PAS Giannina, before former United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan equalised shortly after half-time.

But Souness was not impressed with how Arsenal went about their business, and believes that the performance was representative of the last decade under Wenger, with a lack of accountability meaning that the likes of Xhaka are able to get away with such poor performances.

“Arsenal have turned up today, played neat and tidy football but they’ve been like this for a decade,” the former Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle manager added. “When it comes to the critical things in the game they’re not professional. They need a couple of men to sort these things out. Nobody has pointed a finger at Xhaka to say: ‘Stay on your feet you fool’. It’s the basic things.

“I could have done that once in my career at Liverpool and I would have been sitting on the bench watching the game until I learned that.”

Souness’ comments were echoed by former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, with the current Belgium assistant manager admitting that Xhaka had shirked his responsibility to set an example as captain by choosing such a rash option.

“Stay on your feet, I don’t even know what that tackle is but then he can still come back and try and do something. That reaction I just don’t understand,” Henry said.

“He comes back but instead of staying on your feet he dives in. He doesn’t recover or track back.

“You’re the captain, turn, have a go, say something, but no he just walks back.”