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Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal claimed Granit Xhaka’s criticism of hiring “bulls ***”

Arsenal reached their quarter-finals of the FA Cup against Sheffield United over the weekend with bad memories of Bramall Lane.

The last time the Gunners played at the stadium, they hit rock bottom with a miserable 1-0 defeat last October.

The toothless display kicked off a winless win for six games, culminating in the layoff of Unai Emery and the appointment of Mikel Arteta.

After that game, former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra rose to the headlines for his sensational evaluation of the Gunners.

“I called them my kids 10 years ago and they are still, when I look at them, my kids and that’s the truth,” Evra said on Sky Sports.

“I’m not disrespectful when I say it, it’s just the feeling I have with this team.

“They look good, they look good, but they don’t look like a winning team. I’m just here to play football.




“When I saw Arsenal, I was so happy to play against Arsenal because I knew I was going to win.

“Even when Robin van Persie arrived, and the first time I shook his hand, I said ‘welcome to a man’s club’.”

His comments hit a nerve with the then captain Granit Xhaka.

The midfielder ruled against the statements of the “bulls ** t” and asked for respect while he seemed to defend their character.

“Many people talk too much,” Xhaka exhaled. “I heard that something speaks against us.



Arsenal collapsed in a miserable defeat on Bramall Lane earlier this season

“I have a lot of respect for him because he was a great player. But you have to be careful what you say even in those situations.

“It’s not just him, it’s a lot of people. They talk a lot about bulls about us. It’s always the same.

“Maybe sometimes we play well, sometimes not so well. But if you talk every weekend, every game, you don’t like bulls **, they won’t get respect for what they say. “

Upon their return to Bramall Lane, the scene where the war of words emerged, the new Arsenal regime under Mikel Arteta appeared to claim Xhaka’s defense.

While problems remain clear, they demonstrated their character to overcome a delayed David McGoldrick equalizer and get a winner in the downtime through Dani Ceballos.



Dani Ceballos hit a late winner while Arsenal showed his character on a second visit to Bramall Lane

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There are clearly shortcomings still present in the Arsenal part, but the determination was not one of those on Bramall Lane the second time.

Since Arteta’s date, the Gunners have become much more difficult to beat, with their recent Brighton blip only their second defeat in nine Premier League games.

Overall, there appears to be a lot more character from the Gunners under Arteta in games where they previously could have crumbled as described by Evra after their previous visit to Bramall Lane.

And this will probably be a crucial ingredient if they really want to change the club’s deep-rooted visions and restore previous glories.

Appropriately, Xhaka ended the game with the captain’s armband after Alexandre Lacazette’s retirement since his team showed that he was right to put their trust in them with a public defense against Evra’s assumptions.

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