Arsenal fans disagree with comments from Sokratis about Gunners midfielder

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Ex-Arsenal centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos has jumped to the defence of Granit Xhaka – but some of the Gunners fans on Twitter have been left baffled by his comments.

Sokratis, 32, spent two-and-a-half years with Arsenal before his exit in January by mutual consent, which allowed him to join Greek club Olympiacos.

He’s delivered some high praise of Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, who was a teammate of his throughout his time at the Emirates Stadium.

Xhaka, who cost £35million (BBC), has been under scrutiny recently after his glaring error gifted away a goal in the 1-1 draw with Burnley in the Premier League.

The 28-year-old is an ever-present in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI and is a technical central midfielder, but can be error prone at times.

Sokratis has though given a strong defence of his ex-teammate:

“Granit is one of the best team-mates I’ve had the pleasure of working with,” Sokratis told Football London.

“He’s a very important player for Arsenal and I believe that he’s a good player who can be a leader in the team. When you make one mistake everybody will go against you, but I know Granit’s character.”

A selection of Arsenal supporters on social media believe Sokratis is being far too kind on his former colleague.

Xhaka is a controversial figure when it comes to how he’s viewed by the fanbase.

There are some that feel the Switzerland international is great as a deep-lying midfield playmaker with his range of passing, experience and leadership, but others are critical over a lack of pace and physicality.

Here are some Gunners fans discussing Xhaka:

https://twitter.com/Spinxzy81/status/1369571440740212743

https://twitter.com/muriuki1/status/1369620858696785921