Xhaka talks about being booed by Arsenal fans in 2019: The worst day of his life, but also the best day of his football career

Before the game against Arsenal on November 6, Sunderland captain Xhaka accepted an exclusive interview with TA and talked about his old club.

Talk about Arteta’s first impression

Xhaka: I will never forget the first day Mikel took office. At the training base, we had a large room with some chairs in it, but the chairs were scattered everywhere - it was a mess.

He called all the people who worked in the building into the room and said, "Guys, from the outside, this is what you look like. Chaos." So everyone picked up a chair, put it back in its correct position, and then he said, "I want you to look like this every day."

You think, "Wow," he started emphasizing these standards on day one. After that, he shaped our mentality, training standards, pre-training preparation, activation, recovery. He brought in people who were doing a great job. He's great to work with because he sees football in a different way.

On breaking with Arsenal fans

Xhaka: I call it a misunderstanding between me and the fans. More serious than a misunderstanding, absolutely, definitely. I don't need to lie; everyone knows the story. I still don’t know exactly what happened that day and why.

(Before joining Arsenal) I was ready, I was ready to deal with the ups and downs, to deal with the British media, who are tougher than the German media - my former agent had British experience. I'm ready for anything, but I'm not ready for 2019, for 60,000 people to turn against me. I was not prepared for this. It was the worst day of my life, in football, but also the best day of my life.

I took a lot of positives from that moment and I saw a lot of things that were unreal, even from friends and people around me and sometimes fans - and of course when you live in London you meet a lot of tourists. I don't think everyone there is a real Arsenal fan. Little things like that, but it was still learning for me and I learned from it.

On Arteta's retention

Xhaka: When Mikel came, he and I had a very open conversation. My luggage has been packed. I'm ready to leave. I've got a contract on the table from another club.

Mikel and I talked twice and he convinced me to stay and give me another chance. He wanted to prove to me that I was in the right place. From that day on, I felt like every word he said to me in that first conversation came true.

That's why I say that when Mikel came in 2019, he completely changed me - as a person, on and off the pitch.

Talk about his own changes

Zhaka: It’s been almost seven years since 2019. I was 26 or 27 years old at the time. Maybe at 26, 27, some people are more mature, maybe I'm not - let's just say, not every day.

I have no doubts about myself, no doubts about my level, no doubts about how professional I need to be - because I already am - but there are always little mistakes, yellow cards, red cards. Stupid red card, you don't need it at all... But Mikel, he changed that.

He changed a lot of things, he introduced some people to communicate, and I also changed some people around me. My family certainly helped me as well. It’s hard to do it alone.