Arsenal midfielder, Granit Xhaka criticised his teammates over their performance in the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle, saying: “If you’re nervous stay at home.”
The midfielder felt his side’s display was that of those that could not handle the pressure of chasing a top-four spot.
A win would have taken Arsenal above Tottenham into the Champions League places with one game remaining.
“If someone isn’t ready for this game, stay at home” 😐
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 16, 2022
Granit Xhaka says the Arsenal players didn’t deserve to be on the pitch today..pic.twitter.com/0rvSmBg1YK
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Top four race in Spurs’ hands
As it stands, Arsenal will have to beat Everton with hope that Spurs lose at Norwich. Their rival needed just a draw to cement the 4th place.
“If someone isn’t ready for this game, stay at home. It doesn’t matter your age. If you’re nervous, stay on the bench or stay at home.
“You need people to come here and play. It’s one of the most important games for us. We’re feeling very disappointed for the people who came over here,” he said after the match.
“We wanted to have a big game but it didn’t happen,” Xhaka told BBC Sport.
“People speak always about leaders. We’re not playing tennis, we’re playing football. If someone is not ready for this pressure, stay at home.
“You can’t come here and play like this. We looked very bad today. The game plan was totally different. We played a totally different game.
“They were running us over from the first minute to the 96th. When you play like this, you don’t deserve to play in the Champions League.
“The thing is the pressure. If you can’t handle the pressure, it ends like today. It looks like we can’t do something against the pressure.”
The hosts opened the goal chat after Ben White’s own goal early in the second half before Bruno Guimaraes added a deserved second late on.
“If Tottenham lose and we win, you never know in football. “We have to hope. Before the game everything was in our hands. It’s a totally different game now,” added Xhaka.
The defeat was the Gunners’ sixth in 11 Premier League games – coming four days after they lost 3-0 at Tottenham – and boss Mikel Arteta accepted Newcastle were better than his side in every department.
Newcastle deserved the win by a mile – Arteta
Even Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta admitted that the hosts deserved to win the game “by a mile”.
“Newcastle deserved to win by a mile. It’s a really difficult one to accept.
“We have to cope with those nights [including the defeat by Spurs] and we didn’t cope with those nights.
“Newcastle were 100 times better than us. In every department, you have to earn the right to play and we didn’t do it.
“We have to put our head down and accept the performance was nowhere near the standard required for the Champions League.
“I am incredibly disappointed. It’s a very painful one. It was in our hands and today it’s not in our hands. We have to beat Everton and wait for Norwich to beat Spurs. There’s always a tiny chance in football.
“From Tuesday, we’ll prepare for Everton. It’s still mathematically possible,” he said.
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