ARSENE WENGER defended “intelligent” Granit Xhaka for his Arsenal fan row – but insisted Unai Emery was right to strip him of the captaincy.
Wenger appeared as a pundit on beIN Sports and was reluctant to criticise his beloved former club.
Emery took the armband off Xhaka this week after the Swiss international’s controversial meltdown with the Emirates fans as he was substituted against Crystal Palace last month.
The midfielder trudged off at 2-2, cupped his ear, waved his arms sarcastically and told the fans to “f*** off” before ripping his shirt off and storming down the tunnel.
He has not featured for the club since and it is becoming increasingly likely that he will be forced out in January.
Wenger, though, believes his successor has handled the situation well and followed the club’s values.
He said: “You have people with passion, with the pressure they are under, with the disappointment they carry out, they have sometimes reactions you dont want.
“But you have to remind people of the behaviour you want.
“I think Xhaka is an intelligent player, contrary to what I heard in recent weeks.
“Finally he apologised and thats what he [Emery] wanted from him.
“As a manager you have to face these kind of decisions.
“We always face the unexpected as a manager, you have to make quick decisions.
“I think Arsenal Football Club is respected all over the world because its built on values and everyone has to respect these values and the manager has to get them to be respected.
“Arsenal, for me, had always had a touch of class, for me football today in the modern era has a huge responsibility on the way we behave, the way were are examples.
“Arsenal are part of the big clubs in the world and we have to show that.”
Xhaka was left at home as Arsenal travelled to Portugal in the Europa League this week.
Another poor performance, resulting in a 1-1 draw away at Vitoria, cranked up the pressure on Emery once again.
But Wenger, who has been linked with the vacant post at Bayern Munich, was determined to remain positive about Arsenal, where he spent 22 years as manager.
He added: “I dont talk a lot about Arsenal, I just support them.
“Im a supporter who wants a team to win, so thats all.
“For me its very difficult to have any assessment on Arsenal because it will be straight away interpreted when youve been at the club for such a long time.
“So Im just a supporter, when they dont win Im not happy, when they win Im very happy.”
