Xhaka slams Evra for ‘provoking online abuse’ after Burnley red card
Arsenal ace Granit Xhaka has hit out at Patrice Evra for “inviting a wave of criticism” on social media after his red card against Burnley earlier in the season.
Evra ripped into Xhaka when he was sent off in the Gunners’ 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley back in December, claiming that Thierry Henry once switched his television off when he saw the midfielder was captaining his former side.
After his red card, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang went on to score an own goal for the hosts, which condemned Mikel Arteta’s men to their four straight home defeat at the time.
Xhaka has since rebuilt his reputation in north London, playing a key part in Arsenal’s recent resurgence under Arteta.
But two months on from the sending off against Burnley, the Switzerland international has revealed his family were targeted on social media by trolls who went “beyond the pale”.
“There have to be boundaries to the criticism,” Xhaka told The Guardian.
“For example, there should be no references to any player’s family, personal attacks and certainly no mention of any player’s children.
“Criticise the player and his game by all means but keep it within that area. Don’t go too far.
“I had the big thing against [Crystal] Palace … I’ve also had the Burnley issue … and October 2019 was the hardest time for me as a footballer.
“But the attacks on my wife and the targeted comments about my daughter, my friends – that’s really beyond the pale.
“One of the problems is we don’t know who is writing this stuff; this is the nature of social media.
“As I say, criticise the player. I’m the one on the pitch. But your family and friends are nothing to do with it.
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“It’s happened recently with Anthony Martial and his wife receiving some hostile comments. You have to ask yourself: ‘Why?’”
Xhaka believes scolding comments like Evra's play a part in this abuse, accusing the Frenchman of "inviting that wave of social media criticism"
“There have been comments made by Evra, Henry … they make them as ex-players, sometimes about the performance of a particular player, and they kind of invite that wave of social media criticism,” he said.
“I think some pundits might actually be provoking that criticism.
"It’s something you never see in Switzerland or Germany, that just doesn’t happen. It seems to be rather unique to the United Kingdom.”
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