Xhaka pre Gunners (Athletic / ALS)

https://www.a-love-supreme.com/post/xhaka-pre-gunners

Speaking to The Athletic, Granit Xhaka has revealed the honest conversation with Mikel Arteta which turned his Arsenal career around and convinced him to stay at the club. Xhaka was stripped of the captaincy after being jeered off the pitch against Crystal Palace but he credits Arteta for his Emirates turnaround - eventually leaving as a fan favourite in 2023. The Switzerland international will captain Sunderland on Saturday against his former club in what is sure to be an emotional day for him, he also spoke of his potential future coaching ambition...

FALL-OUT WITH FANS

"It was bigger than that, absolutely, for sure. I don't need to lie about it. Everyone knows the story. I still don't know what exactly happened this day and why, let's say that. When Mikel came, he had a very open conversation with myself. My luggage was already done (packed). I was ready to leave. I already had a contract on the table from another football club."

HONEST ARTETA CONVERSATIONS

"Mikel had two conversations with me and he convinced me to stay, to give me another chance. He wanted to show me that I am in the right place. From this day, I just had the feeling that every word he told me in this first conversation, everything was exactly like he said."

QUALITY MANAGER

"That's why I say that in 2019, when Mikel came, he changed me completely - as a human being, on the pitch, outside the pitch. But every year Mikel was doing new things, every year he brings something. And if you look at them in these first 10 games this season, they look very stable with and without the ball. I'm not surprised, I know how they work."

FAVOURITE SUNDERLAND MOMENT SO FAR?

“It was the first day I came here, for sure — the first time I walked through this door. It was the feeling here. I believe in first steps and making your first steps into the dressing room, you need to have a positive feeling. I felt it. The first steps are important."

NEW HOME

"You have to feel like you’re at home. This is our place, we’re here from nine until three most days and if you don’t feel it when you come inside this place, it’s not so good. But I didn’t have that, I felt positive. There were not a lot of people here; not a lot of players, but the people I met on the first day were very positive, exactly what I was looking for."

IMPRESSIVE START IS DESERVED

"After that, you are building day by day to get the feeling and after 10 games, if someone told us we’d be here with 18 points, they would laugh. But we knew what the club is building, what it’s looking for. Where we are, it is deserved."

FUTURE IN COACHING?

“I don’t want to be the ‘second coach’ or something. I’m still a player. Coaches always tell you to stay on the pitch as long as you can because afterwards it’s different. But of course I try to help the team with my experience on a daily basis. I am waiting on my UEFA Pro, but I can’t do it while I am still active as a player."

 

Gold dust.