According to the BBC, Granit Xhaka has been offered counselling by the club as he struggles to recover from the fall-out of his outburst on Sunday. The Swiss international has faced widespread criticism following his actions at the weekend and is said to be “devastated”.
Xhaka has recently become a father and perhaps adjusting to such a huge life change and having to bear the responsibility of being the club captain at a time when the team are failing to perform has taken its toll. These fans however, have zero sympathy for their player.
Offer him extra training sessions!
— VAS Ltd (@VAS_Edinburgh) October 30, 2019
Dear God,Really? ?????
— Robert (@Rob_K82) October 30, 2019
Counseling for what, strip that captaincy band off that fraudster and ship him out in January.
— CHI-SQUARE ?? (@kkmutai) October 30, 2019
so if I worked in a costa coffee shop and I removed my tabard and threw it at the customers and gave them the finger… Would I get counselling or the sack???
— 337 (@PoshTrader) October 30, 2019
Not like him to duck out of taking responsibility for his actions
— Carl Byford (@Carlbyford89) October 30, 2019
Tell him to grow up & get over it. Counselling is a cop out.
— Charles Wright (@charleshawa) October 30, 2019
What do we think?
Offering Granit Xhaka counselling is not letting the player off the hook. He will know his actions were wrong and the club are expected to sanction the player following the weekends incident. Having said that, offering the player support at a difficult time is the right thing for the club to do by their player. Mental health is crucial to one’s well-being, none more so than those in the public eye who are forced to endure abuse and criticism from people all over the world.
There’s a very real possibility such an incident could affect a players mental health and so Arsenal have done the right thing and ensured the player is aware of the support available to him should he require it.