Ferdinand slams ‘worthless’ Arsenal duo for their ‘lack of discipline’
Rio Ferdinand has labelled Arsenal first-team regulars Gabriel Magalhaes and Granit Xhaka as “worthless”.
The former Man Utd defender – who was only sent off once in his Premier League career – has criticised the pair for their disciplinary issues.
Xhaka, on the other hand, has been shown four red cards in the English top flight, in over 300 less appearances than Ferdinand.
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Gabriel has been sent off twice in 42 league encounters for the Gunners and was most recently sent for an early bath during his side’s 2-1 home defeat to Man City last month.
During his Vibe with Five podcast, co-presenter Joel Beya singled out Xhaka and Gabriel as two ill-disciplined players in the Arsenal squad.
Beya asked Ferdinand (quotes via the Express): “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?”
Ferdinand responded: “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.
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Arsene Wenger reacts to Granit Xhaka's red card against Swansea. pic.twitter.com/zzpzjVgcFM
— Sky Sports Retro (@SkySportsRetro) February 11, 2022
“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.”
The two former France internationals played with each other for six seasons at Highbury, winning the Premier League on two occasions in that time.
Speaking to L’Equipe, Pires chose Dennis Bergkamp and Zinedine Zidane after he was asked to pick the best players he played with at club and international level.
“With both, I have improved enormously,” Pires told the French newspaper.
“It is not enough to copy them, it is impossible, but to observe, to learn. When I arrived in 2000 (at Arsenal), Dennis said to me: ‘The most important thing is the first control. It puts you in a good mood. If you miss it, you will be disturbed’.”
