Xhaka blasts Evra for ‘provoking social media backlash’

Arsenal midfielder, Granit Xhaka, has hit out at Manchester United hero 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, claiming that Thierry Henry once switched his television off when he saw the midfielder was captaining his former side.

“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.

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“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.

“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.”