The Resurrection Of Xhaka
Is there any other saga that captures the madness of this season any more perfectly than Xhaka's rehabilitation after there seemed no way back? Six months after that game (see below), he's close to being undroppable.
Leaving aside the football, what does this say about us fans (and society) that we can be so fickle? Why do we put some people on pedestals and take relish in knocking others down? Sometimes it's the same person. They're brilliant, they're overrated, they're so nice, they're too arrogant. It's hard to find a middle ground. I just saw a clip of John Cleese who captured this brilliantly. Moderates are the common enemy of extremists on both sides in an increasingly binary world.
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November 2019
The North Bank has spoken (Arsenal v Crystal Palace)
Has any captain in any sport been so reviled? How does someone who is supposed to be the leader of a team become such an unpopular figure? I wanted to say "divisive figure" but that ship has sailed. I think there are few who support him and I fear there is no coming back from this. I felt sorry for him. He's a limited player but is still someone who has played at the highest levels. He's captained his country as well. He was voted as captain by the players. Surely these people know something we don't? Then again, we now live in a world where only our opinions matter, not those of experts. Anyone in the public eye (in any sphere of activity) has become fair game for abuse.
The other thing that struck and scared me to some extent, was how quickly the situation escalated. While he has become increasingly unpopular as an individual player, he has also become a lightning rod for all the animosity towards Emery. Even so, I was astonished by how quickly some segments of the crowd (albeit a small segment) turned the initial jeering into something akin to naked hate and vitriol. In a game that had so many things going against us - VAR, the the referee Martin Atkinson (who seemed to give every decision against us in the latter stages), our own ineptitude - it was a powder keg of emotions and when Xhaka's number came up that lit the fuse.
As expected, there was a lot of discussion in social media and fan forums about whether Xhaka deserved that response. Yes he did not help himself by publicly showing his unhappiness and taking his time to walk off. Booing him in some ways was not an unexpected reaction - sitting in that stadium I understood it. But when that turned nasty, it was probably the closest I have physically been to a lynch mob. Not a pleasant experience for sure.
It is not a nice thing to do to anyone. Arguments about how the players are highly paid and should be able to take it in stride are way off the mark. So is the logic that somehow just because Arsenal fans pay a lot of money for tickets, that it entitles them to ventilate their fury in that manner. That is irrelevant. No one should be abused like that. Secondly how does it help the team? The other members of the team would be thoroughly demoralised that their captain is subjected to such abuse. It reminded me of a time in a department where I worked where the head would spend almost the entire duration of a meeting excoriating the leader of a team - in front of the team he was leading. How can the team function normally after that? How would they now view the leader? Who would want to step up to be a leader next? I think that explains the quality of political leaders in the world today.
Speaking of the people, after coming home from the game I saw huge crowds in Japan follow Tiger Woods win his 82nd PGA title equaling the record of Sam Snead (but that's no comparison really - that was a different and less competitive era). On a Monday morning. Everyone loves a winner and there were lots of people wearing full-on tiger outfits. A bit early for Halloween...
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