Souness slams Xhaka for shoddy defending

Graeme Souness slammed Granit Xhaka for a poor piece of defending in the build up to Manchester United’s first goal against Arsenal.

Xhaka certainly has his critics – and he did nothing to silence them when his failure to clear his lines led to Paul Pogba opening the scoring at Old Trafford, where the Gunners lost 2-1.

Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports, former Liverpool man Souness suggested the goal underlined Xhaka’s shortcomings – and Arsenal’s in general.

“Get there and stand up. Commit a cute foul if necessary. Don’t sell yourself as simply as that. That is for TV cameras and people sitting in Row Z,” Souness said.

“I’m sorry, but it’s more of the same from Arsenal. That guy is 25 years old, he’s been at Arsenal for two years. Is that the first time he has done that in a game? No.

“He has cost them that goal. When it comes to the critical things in the game they are not professional.

“I said a decade ago they need a couple of men to sort those things out. Nobody is pointing the finger at Xhaka to stay ‘Stay on your feet. Don’t do that you fool’.”