Ian Wright slams Granit Xhaka for ‘upsetting’ Arsenal stars with ‘very strange’ post-match interview

Ian Wright has criticised Granit Xhaka’s ‘very strange’ interview after Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle United and says the comments would have ‘upset’ his teammates.

Arsenal’s top-four hopes are hanging by a thread after the Gunners were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Mikel Arteta’s side now need to beat Everton on the final day of the season and hope Tottenham lose to bottom-placed Norwich City to secure Champions League football for next season.

After Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle, Xhaka blasted his teammates and said anyone who ‘isn’t ready for the pressure’ should ‘stay at home and watch’.

He told Sky Sports: ‘If you perform like this, you don’t deserve to play in the Champions League.

‘If you don’t listen to the coach, if you do your own stuff and whatever you think on the pitch, it doesn’t work.

‘People speak always about leaders. We are not playing tennis, we’re playing football, we’re 11 against 11, we need everyone on the pitch.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>“If someone isn’t ready for this game, stay at home” Granit Xhaka says the Arsenal players didn’t deserve to be on the pitch today ð pic.twitter.com/OdC37x3TAG

‘It doesn’t matter the age – if someone isn’t ready for this pressure like today, stay at home and watch the game from home.

‘You can’t come here and perform like this. We can’t accept it. We looked today very, very bad.’

Arsenal legend Wright felt the comments were ‘very strange’ and says Xhaka should have done his talking in the dressing room before the match.

‘Seeing a player coming out and saying “they didn’t listen to the coach’s instructions” is a very strange interview from Granit Xhaka,’ Wright said on Premier League productions.

‘To say it now, I don’t think it helps anybody. That’s