“Don’t have them” – Rio Ferdinand brands 2 Arsenal regulars as ‘worthless’ if they don’t fix key issue
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has slammed Arsenal duo Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Magalhaes for their lack of discipline amid red card incidents involving them in recent weeks.
Magalhaes has seen three yellow cards and one red card in the Premier League since the turn of the year. Meanwhile, Xhaka has also accrued a few red cards during his stint at the Emirates.
Ferdinand criticised Xhaka and Magalhaes on the latest episode of Vibe with Five, alongside co-presenter Joel Beya:
RED CARD Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli is shown a second yellow card and is sent off! The Gunners are down to 10 men!
Wolves 0-1 Arsenal (69 mins)
#WOLARS
Beya asked Ferdinand:
"Why is it that Xhaka and Gabriel keep getting booked the way they do? Is it lack of discipline or do you think they're a bit rash as well?"
The Englishman was scathing in his response:
"Both. Lack of discipline. You've got to have sometimes a trigger in your mind that when you're going in for a tackle 'is this the right time or not?' That separates the top players a lot of the time from the okay, good players. If you can't rely on people, they're worthless. Don't have them."
"In pressure situations, especially, throughout a season really, you need to be able to go on that pitch and think 'I can rely on him, he's one I can put in, I know what I'm getting, he's cool'. These guys at the moment, that's been Arsenal's problem, that lack of discipline."
This isn't the first time Ferdinand hit out at an Arsenal player for a red card incident. The Englishman had torn into Magalhaes in January when the attacker received a second yellow card for pulling back Gabriel Jesus during the Gunners' clash with Manchester City.
Xhaka picks up the 6th red card of his Arsenal career 😳 https://t.co/pL3ktiEyTf
Ferdinand had said on BT Sport:
"This is stupid; this is immature; this is petulant. A penalty against your team… what do you think you’re achieving by doing that? This is where the stupidity enhances itself. He’s not going in on goal; he’s not a threat; he’s in the middle of the pitch and straight away after that incident, you commit a silly foul like that."
What's next for Arsenal?
The Gunners will continue their Premier League campaign with a clash with Brentford at the Emirates Stadium this season. Mikel Arteta's men will be motivated to win the clash after losing the reverse fixture 2-0 in August last year.
They'll then lock horns with Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 24. With the Premier League campaign already in its decisive phase, Arsenal will need to rack up as many points as possible as they look to finish in the top four. It remains to be seen how they fare in the coming weeks.