Graeme Souness Slams 'Fool' Granit Xhaka for 'Kid Football' After Arsenal Defeat

Graeme Souness delivered a scathing assessment of Granit Xhaka during Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday in the Premier League, slamming the Switzerland international for playing "kid football."

The midfielder—who wore the captain's armband for the day—was culpable for Paul Pogba's opening goal, as he missed the Frenchman with a wild challenge that allowed him to advance on goal, and he then failed to track Pogba's run in order to prevent him from turning home a rebound from Alexis Sanchez.

Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports (h/t MailOnline's Max Winters), former Liverpool player Souness branded Xhaka's attempt to tackle Pogba as "ridiculous," and believes the lack of discipline he showed is symptomatic of Arsenal's decline.

"That's for the TV cameras and people sitting in Row Z," he said. "It's kid football, it's more of the same from Arsenal. That guy is 25-years-old and he's been at Arsenal for two years. Is that the first time he's done that in a game? I question no. Does he do that in training? Then if so why hasn't it been pointed out to him? He's cost them that goal."

Football writer James McNicholas was eager to hear Souness' assessment of the goal:

The Scot thought Xhaka should have stayed on his feet and attempted to "body check Pogba and risk taking a yellow card."

Sliding in was the wrong option, in his opinion: "This is what you do not do, it's almost as though he thinks Pogba is lining up to shoot and he's going to get a block in. What is that? That is pretend football, that is what you see on a park from under 12s."

Football.London's Charles Watts believed that while criticism was fair, it was also worth pointing out Xhaka's strong recent form and assist for Henrikh Mkhitaryan's equaliser at Old Trafford:

However, Souness took the moment as further evidence of a lack of leadership at Arsenal:

"Arsenal have turned up today, played neat and tidy football, but they've been like this for a decade. When it comes to the critical things in the game, they're not professional. They need a couple of men to sort these things out. Nobody has pointed a finger at Xhaka to say: 'Stay on your feet you fool.' It's the basic things."

"I could have done that once in my career at Liverpool and I would have been sitting on the bench watching the game until I learned that."

Indeed, while Xhaka may have played well in recent weeks, it's hardly the first time one of his reckless challenges has caused Arsenal problems, even if this one did not connect.

The Switzerland international has his strengths, but discipline is not one of them, and he has not been able to offer sufficient protection to the Gunners' defence to emerge as the solution to their lack of steel in midfield.

The instance against United is emblematic of Arsene Wenger's management of the team in the second half of his 22-year tenure at the club.

He has not been ruthless enough with his charges, which has allowed them to repeat their mistakes over and over, and he has not recruited or developed players who can act as leaders on the pitch.

As such, the match offered a stark reminder as to why the club needed a change of manager in the summer. Wenger's replacement will need to address the issues his predecessor failed to and do a better job of ensuring his players learn from their mistakes.