Many Arsenal fans are patting Emery on the back for subbing Ozil last week and, if you believe some reports, dropping him completely at the weekend. The consensus is it’s not something Arsene Wenger would have done, a classic example of a player too comfortable under the previous reign.
It’s another example of gooners cheering change for the sake of change. What many have failed to mention following the German’s early withdrawal is it didn’t benefit us in any way. He left the pitch at Stamford Bridge with the scores level. Fair enough if the switch led to us getting a result but we went on to lose. Chelsea’s winner was the result of individuals not tracking back, full backs too far forward, and centre backs not comfortable building from the back.
This had been the case for the entire 90 minutes.
Some will have a black and white attitude. We won without him against West Ham but for large portions against the Hammers the bad habits were still apparent. That tells me it’s not just one man to blame. The reality is in the 3 matches so far, it’s the worse we have looked defensively in years.
Why do I think if Ozil played Saturday more would be mentioned about how we were skeptical to the counter attack? This was evidence that our issues are not exclusive to one individual. In fact it seems backwards that our most creative asset is under the most pressure to help our back 4. He is paid to be creative. Statistics suggest he’s very good at that. The idea of sacrificing someone with his assists record is not the cycle of change I was expecting. No manager should sacrifice his ethos but I expect a top coach to teach his values not make us weaker offensively.
It’s not like we have an owner who’s got any ambition. With a lack of investment we are simply not good enough to be not playing Ozil. Arsene Wenger wasn’t weak for not thinking so, it’s just common sense.
Again though fans will celebrate change for changes sake.
Dan Smith
We need a CAM who can control the tempo of the game. Someine who can hold the ball under pressure and open up spaces. We have so many players who are good off the ball (Ozil, Ramsey, PEA). Thats why it is easy for teams to dominate us. Where are you Carzola when we need you most?
There seem to be a number of “fans” and people in the media who are fixated on translating any fragment of info or misinfo into a stick to beat Ozil with.
Ozil is off sick = he’s been dropped for arguing with Emery (made up by someone claiming to “hear” things in the hallways at The Emirates” when A. it would be at Colney, and B. said mullet is in South America and nowhere near the Emirates in any case).
Emery says “maybe” to a question on Ozil’s position = Ozil was in a huff and refused play.
Emery has a discussion with a player on his previous performance and what he envisages for the next game = a warning that Ozil’s stay at Arsenal is under threat. (never mind that Emery is renowned for attention to detail and having such discussion with virtually every player on the team. Apparently, because its Ozil in this case, its far more ominous).
It says way more about the half-wits desperate to see anything and everything involving Ozil (and quite often stuff that has nothing to do with Ozil either), as a sign that he’s being criticised or side-lined by Emery.
We’ve actually seen this before, and most of it comes out when a foreign player is a better player than a British player contending for the same position, so there’s an active agenda to vilify the foreign player to get the British player selected ahead of him (Walcott, Wilshere, now Ramsey).
We’ve also seen it with managers when the media want one of their “pals” to get a job that is either already occupied by a foreign coach or is an open position that one of their “mates” might have a shot at but there are better foreign candidates (I mean, Brendon Rogers FFS!!!!!!!).
Do you ever watch Ozil play?
This is not because he is a foreigner.
Or because of there is an insidious campaign to get an English player selected before him.
Its because he offers nothing.
He offered nothing against Chelsea last week.
He offered nothing against City the week before.
He offered nothing to the German side in the World Cup
He turned up against lower teams in meaningless games last season yet vanished when needed (seen walking around doing nothing against Spurs for example)
No – its not because he is a foreigner its because he is an over paid, lazy mercenary happy to do nothing and get paid for it.
He offers nothing to Arsenal….
Yes I do.
Do you?
Offers nothing?
Do you actually know anything about football at all?
Oh so you are happy with him are you?
Except when he first signed for us I don’t recall a game where he was nothing but a spectator happily watching as we were over run in midfield because he refuses to track back.
Like him if you want – you don’t sound particularly bright.
I just watch him and know, as millions of others do that he is a lazy, money grabbing, whining little parasite who has zero loyalty to the club you claim to support.
I know that every time he is selected he will be carried by his team mates.
Ozil represents everything I hate about modern football – greedy, self absorbed, self serving and lacking any idea of the concept of loyalty and pride in what you do or the club you play for.
Everyone says the same things about him for a reason….
Stop reading articles that are baseless and argue from their point of view. His job is to create chances so that we can score if our strikers can try and score from what we create no one will be blaming his defensive abilities.
Agree Leon, he was good years back, not now, hes finished!done! He’s no Ronaldo or bale or Messi. He cant carry on any further. Game over for him. The sooner he realises it and steps down, the better for all. Although I wish him all the best to come good again, he’ll never.Anyway why should he try? He’s getting 350grand per week irrespective of his performances. And he was missed by some because he was replaced by Ramsey another non perfomer. We need someone like isco or fabregas, good to dream cause in reality nothing will happen with this owner and board
No team can afford to carry people.
Ozil offers very little and seems to be going through some personal issue that has seriously affected his attitude and state of mind.
Not that he has ever had a good attitude.
Ozil is just baggage.
The sooner we can move him on the better – trouble is no one will touch him now…
Our club is terrible with this kind of things.They don’t know what call good business.Was it worth keeping Ozil for £350,000 a week knowing he’s not been performing?It wasn’t but they were afraid to sell Sanchez and Ozil at the same time.It was worth selling him.I was so annoyed when we let Sanchez continue with us until January.He should’ve been sold to a rival for good money.Football is business and even Barca won’t let Messi leave to Madrid for free if it came to that but the poor vision of the hierarchy showed itself again.
Both Ozil and Ramsay should be left out of the team and then sold in Jan for a knock down price,around 10 mil each
Leon would you mind explaining what you mean when you say ozil is lazy please, I only ask because in terms of distance covered he is almost always in the top 3 players on the pitch, Im not sure lazy is the correct adjective, I dont think he offers much but Im not sure you grasp the game that well if you think this is due to his desire
Ozil is a luxury player. Yes he can do it when his on form
But that isn’t that often. Can’t dictate big games (in fact he goes missing in most of them). Seems to be lacking confidence for sure at present due to World Cup failure and the criticism etc.
I personally don’t think he has much of a future in emery’s team as the coach demands 100% all of the time and Ozil cannot give that.
I expect he will leave in January window.
Lets give ozil our support this season to prove his worth, i have been critical of him especially last season but with unai emery changing things, he should be given the benefit of the doubt for this season. If he still doesn’t perform this season, then he should be sold to china, they would love to have a star like him in their league. Lets all get behind him for this season.
I’d much rather have Ozil in the team than Iwobi…
But the net effect contribution of both will be zero.Its just that Ozil has better technique and is better but I look at the total contribution.
Arsenal will never move forward if they keep carrying players.I’m sure I’ve seen people say we misses Xhaka and Giroud at times when they were either absent or out with a long term injury like Giroud.
kev, we have to read your bullshit every day but this is a free media.
enjoy freedom but know that we laugh a lot after reading your crazy posts
just to let you know…
I dont mind reading kevs waffle and dribble its quite entertaining to witness someone with as much tactical nous has a child. Kev keep it up squirt you help get us through the week 🙂
Kev did you hit your head at the weekend ? You are a plonker but a nice one I suppose 🙂
Iwobi just got a new deal Sue! I would rather have Ozil than Ramsey. Ramsey’s passes are either too short or to long. He creates little, and lacks iwobi’s work ethics.
I know ?
I’d rather have Ozil than Ramsey too!
The style Emery is promoting
requires very talented athletes
with brilliant technique
and football brains.
Do we actually have the players to deliver this style?
Guendouzi? and….aah??
As it was none of the goals v WH came from playing
out from the back or defending from the front.
Two goals came from an ordinary cross which
landed perfectly for our player to easily slot home
The third was an own goal.
It’s Bulls##t that Manchester City win because they
have Guadiola as manager or because they play out from the back.
They win because they have a billion pound squad full of said super talented footballers.
Apart from the miracle that was Leicester the only way to win the title is to buy the title.
But is Arsenal actually trying to win the title? Should we even dream of winning the title?
Utd bought Fred, Chelsea bought Georginho while the Spurs bought no one.
It’s like they all waved the white flag … no one can beat City.
Only Liverpool threw money at the title challenge.
We had a 70 mill budget and spent 66m.
So are we simple continuing the “sustainable” model?
Is 5th/6th and decent cup runs a fair and reasonable goal for our club?
I think that’s a fair reflection.I think personally winning the europa league should be our main objective .Top 4 no chance.We have no money compared to city so we have to bring through the young players who are willing to learn and to get rid of the likes of Ozil and Ramsay who want all the money but contribute very little.So out with the old guard and give youth a chance
As Craig Burley has stated Unai Emery has inherited Mezat Ozil, after the Arsenal board resigned him as the club’s highest wage earner. As such Ozil is paid to perform and it is a major problem for Emery to get the most out of him within his system. There is no indication that Emery will pander to player’s egos.
There will be only one winner in any disagreement between Emery and Ozil; therefore Ozil needs to comply with the manager’s requirements, be professional and nuckle down to work for the team in providing assists for Aubameyang and Lacazette, as well as taking opportunities to score himself.
Ozil may see the criticism of him being unfair, but given his salary he needs to toughen the FU and prove the doubters wrong.
Toughen the FU….. I’ve never heard you swear Ozzie ??
Lets be honest Ozils huge new contract last January was a mistake. Letting him leave for free in the summer would have actually been good for the club, as it would have ended the drama (not given Ramssey ideas,) and freed up enough room on the payroll to get someone nearly as good, but a lot more consistent instead.
Ozili is not as bad as some people make him out to be, even in his poor matches, but he is nowehere near the level of performance on a consistent enough basis to justify the scale of his salary.
And I wouldnt be surprised if at least part of his problem at the moment is that he cant handle the pressure, the expectation that he needs to turn in a performance to match the salary, to prove people wrong about him.
I hope that Ozil does have a good season this year at Arsenal, I really do. At his best he is brilliant.
But as other people have said, I believe Ozil needs a team set up around him in a certain way to get the best out of him. Im not sure that Arsenal have either the players or the structure to make it work.
If Ozils performances cant match up to to his cost, then yes, he needs to be sold, and it will probably be a big loss financially because so few other clubs can afford him either in terms of his wage or everything else that goes on around him.
As for Ramseys contract situation, he’s been a good player for us at times, I will be sad to see him go. But, Arsenal have slipped up again here. He should have been put up for sale in the last week of the transfer window given that he was still refusing to agree a new contract. And I hope that if he still hasnt signed a new contract at the start of January then he is sold as soon as possible.
And Arsenal should learn their lesson and not allow players to go into the last year of their contract any more, it doesn’t benefit anyone really.
“Skeptical to the counter attack”?
Arsenal are susceptible to the counter attack. That’s a team issue and one man does not change that. This is not new because of Emery and adapting to his methods clearly has not had a positive impact on what was an already flailing defense.
Ozil should be dropped – same as any other player – if his performances and playing style aren’t up to par. They have not been.
I’m very wary of what I’m seeing so far, that whether it’s the system or the people in it; that there will be any great turnaround in the near future. I fear that ever game it going to be heart-in-mouth.
My disappointment is that Holding / Chambers will not get a shot as the central pairing in the back.
@sue I know how much you love ozil but to use the word of one of the people I respect most on this site,Jon fox,am a realist,ozil is finished and this is why our club is not moving forward,ozil will not even enter the spuds team,the guy is just living on past glory
Well Leno that is where we all differ I’m afraid
I’ll go ahead and say that Iwobi is more technically gifted than Ozil and Mkitaryan because apart from passing, name one other quality ozil excels in. Even the stupid xhaka knows how to pass.
Let that sink in arsenal fans’ minds!!!!!!!!!!! because they are one bunch that cannot differentiate talented and non-talented players.
Oh my word!!! We all have different opinions Herb
soon enough everyone will realise how Özil has declined just like Wenger. it won’t take long. he’s a luxury we don’t need at Arsenal atm. we need to buy two 60 million midfielder (120m) to get the best out of him .
the good players always makes others around him better. why is this different for Özil? Payet made everyone around him look good at Westham, Coutinho made other midfielders (henderson) look good at Liverpool. etc. The best players gets the best out of others. why can’t Özil do this ? ooooh he has a back problem ?
if it was up to me , I’ll tell him to find another club in January. if not, I’ll drop him to the u18s
So Ozil can’t pass a football?He is one of the best passers of a football I’ve ever seen.Please don’t embarrass yourself by even beginning to compare Ozil to Iwobi.
I love footballers that play football.The two best footballers in the country are Hazard and De Brynne.Closely followed by David Silva.Robert Pires was a fantastic footballer on par with all three I mentioned here.A fit confident on form Mesut Ozil is capable of matching these players.He will not produce if he’s expected to run himself into the ground defending.Nor will any other player.He needs the ball at his feet in the right areas with the movement to the side and in front of him.That is Mesut Ozil.That is what is required to get the best from him.I would rather Ozil ran 10 yards into space than 30 yards to put some opponent under pressure.That is not his game.
If Emery can’t find a way to play to his strengths then don’t play him.But Arsenal are better with Ozil in the team than when he is not in the team.
I am looking at all the adulation Guadounzi is getting.Ues he’s a young player and yes he shows promise.But it’s far easier to run everywhere making tackles in midfield than what it is to use the ball creatively.The hype over this boy is just too much.Hes given the ball away more times than anyone but I don’t see too many calling for him to be dropped.His constant mistakes are making him a liability but it seems it’s more important to criticise Mustafi than Guadounzi.Ots the same with Ozil.
Play him in a free role as a No10.Get the ball to his feet.He WILL CREATE.
@Phil
I’m going to tell you what happens when other players get the ball to him….
HE GETS ROUGHENED UP, BUNDLED OFF THE BALL EASILY. throws his arm up at the referee and doesn’t care to get the ball back. THAT’S MESUT ÖZIL.
I watched a video uploaded on the Epl swebsite sometimes lastweek, players were being asked the greatest player ever for their respective clubs . when it got to Özil,
he was asked the greatest player ever at Arsenal, he replied with MESUT ÖZIL . That’s how much the hype has gotten to him . I would count our best players from 2012 till date and Mesut Özil won’t even be in the top10
Really?So who would you put in front of him as an attacking central midfielder?
Cazorla by miles (was our playmaker before we bought Ozil). Arshavin. Nasri ( was a winger for us but can play as AM). Fabregas. Bergkamp. And you still believe no one was better than ozil?
Bergkamp was world class and before Ozil’s time.Cesc was brilliant for us but better than Ozil?Im not sure about that.Nasri?Please do me a favour.Nowhere near the quality of Ozil proven by the fact that he plays for who at the moment?
Cazorla was at his best when playing from deep next to Coqulein with Ozil in front of them.Who was the first player Santiago looked for when he got on the ball?Ozil.
Who else would you like to mention?
soon enough everyone will realise how Özil has declined just like Wenger. it won’t take long. he’s a luxury we don’t need at Arsenal atm. we need to buy two 60 million midfielder (120m) to get the best out of him .
the good players always makes others around him better. why is this different for Özil? Payet made everyone around him look good at Westham, Coutinho made other midfielders (henderson) look good at Liverpool. etc. The best players gets the best out of others. why can’t Özil do this ? ooooh he has a back problem ?
if it was up to me , I’ll tell him to find another club in January. if not, I’ll drop him to the u18s
Ozil is the most overrated player in EPL right now. He would not even appear in the top 20 players in the league yet he is in the top 3 highest paid. Some people will come here and talk about his passing and vision, but I cannot remember the last time I saw him giving those mouth watering defense splitting passes. Even in his best season here, most of his assists were predictable crosses and set pieces. He is worse than Ramsey and Xhaka. How much I would give to have Carzola back
I really do no which story to believe, If Ozil was actually ill, if he had a disagreement with Emery about getting bench or switch to a different position and in truth it does not matter. I expected to beat Westham with or without Ozil.
My concern has always been our midfield, yes our defence is not the greatest, but our midfield is still two easy to go through, like a hot knife cutting through butter. It is amazing to see our midfielders moving forward with the ball at top speed then jogging or walking back into position when they do not have it. The positional sense of our midfielders would guarantee less chasing when we lose the ball. Our defensive high line with slow defenders is also a major issue, it has to be coordinated with pressing game, therefore if we are not fully committed to the press we can not be playing high defensive line.
I do not know what is going on with Ozil and for some reason i do not take Emery’s word as GOSPEL, especially in this situation. It is just odd to me that for such a popular footballer that only few knew he had such an illness.
Amazing how many Arsenal supporters are so quick to put the knife into Ozil. Still the best player with the best pedigree and record in the Arsenal side and possibly the premier league when it comes to individual honours. I am surprised he even plays football anymore in the way he has been slated by our own fans and the British media. At 21 he was voted and nominated for player of the tournament in the 2010 World Cup Fastest player to 50 assists ever in the Premier league and also an Arsenal player of the year. The reason why for Arsenal he goes missing in big games is quite apparent. We are hopeless technically in playing out from the back against big opposition which leaves Ozil without the ball and frustrated. When he comes back to retrieve he ends up playing in our third of the pitch instead of the oppositions third. That’s why according to everyone he is missing. He was bought by Arsenal for his style of play to create chances. Which he has done successfully for his whole playing career Don’t change the way he plays. It is very sad to see what I consider an exceptional player in all the years I have watched Arsenal thrown to the wolves by certain Arsenal Supporters.
I believe you and I seem to be in the minority but I obviously agree with everything you say.Ozil was not bought to be a workhorse.We had players like Flamini and Coqulien in that role.This is a very gifted player we are talking about who when played in the free role he enjoys is able to create where nobody else in our squad and very few players in this league are able.
Emery inherited Ozil and knew enough about the player before he took over to understand his strengths and weaknesses.I don’t want Ozil chasing back into our half.He is a very intelligent footballer who we either play to his strengths or we get rid off.Simple as that.
I cannot believe the stick he took after the Chelsea game and what was the score when he was taken off?2-2 with Chelsea never looking like scoring despite having most of the possession in the second half.Ozil goes off with Xhaka and the difference was immediate.We had nobody to look for in midfield.Ramsey came on for Ozil and he spent all his time in the Chelsea half.Was he criticised for not defending?Why not?Surely that was part of his job wasn’t it?
I do not want to get into criticism of the Manager at this time as he needs to get to grips with enough as it is.But there is more wrong with Arsenal than Mesut Ozil and that’s plain for everyone to see but it seems that he is the one getting the blame for it all.
Well said Phil
Sir we live in the present, lets not bask in the past glory. Emery is done with him.From bergkamp and lumberg to ozil and ramsey, thats the misfortune of being a loyal diehard arsenal fan.
Ozil is without doubt the most technically gifted player at Arsenal.Unfortunately this skill is not enough for the modern day game where high energy, stamina and speed are needed for sides playing a high line pressing system such as that deployed by our new Manager Ozil clearly does not fit into this system and as a consequence he has or will shortly become surplus to requirements.During his time at Real Madrid he rarely played for 90 minutes so the prospects of him suddenly becoming a hard working energetic midfielder are remote given that he has aged 3/4 years.The Directors of Arsenal will shortly be faced with a dilemma. Do they support wholeheartedl y the Manager they recently appointed or a player who it must be said is highly overpaid by the same Directors decision to go along with a recommendation from Wenger?Crunch time is coming?
This was from the papers:
The Daily Mirror claims Unai Emery wants to see more from Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil going forward, and has been unimpressed with the German’s workrate in the Gunners’ first two games of the season.
Ozil was missing when Arsenal beat West Ham 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, having been ruled out with illness amid rumours of a rift between the pair.
The Sun quotes Emery as saying: “I spoke with him about things tactically for this match and the last match. And he said he was sick.
“On Friday, after my conversation on Thursday, he continued to stay off sick. We spoke with the doctor and decided it was better for him to stay at home. If he felt better on Saturday, he should come.”
If the quote is true, it suggest to me, that Emery knows what he wants from ozil, and has communicated it to him. It also suggest to me that Emery is prepared to move on without him if thats the way it turns out.(either he won’t or can’t do want Emery wants). I’m sure that he wants Ozil to be apart of the future success of this team, but I believe that he is a pragmatist, and is prepared to move on. I think we just need to give Emery time to sort all of the mess he inherited from previous regime. He clearly does not have the talent level at key positions to do what he wants, but I believe he is trying to see who on the current squad can be coached up to play modern football the way he wants. To get to where I believe he wants to take this team will be messy at times, but each week some players get a little better, and for some Emery gets a better feel for who can be counted on in certain situations and who can’t. I think its going to take more time to see big improvements.
Hello, all of you Morons that compare Mr Ozil with jerk Ramsey, and think that there is something to compare!
I am certain there is somethingwrong mentally with Ozil, almost certainly clinical depression. I have some experience in this field though qam far from being an expert and all the signs point strongly to this being the case. Non one canplay well withn this handicap andhe needs a ggood rest from playing for some considerable time to come. We are better off without a player in this condition , which is very clear to me. IDEALLY WE COULD AND WOULD SELLHIM BUT THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH TRANSFER WINDOW BEING CLOSED AND NO ONE WOULDTAKE HIM.He is a huge millstone round our neck and is thus a waste of a player and his huge wages. Wenger being the “God” some laughably thought him to be should have seen this coming. It has been apparent for some time that his mental state is not right. I see no obvious solution to this problem for the club but it is clear that his use at Arsenal is effectively over, IMO. SOMEHOW, WE MUST ENDEAVOUR TO MOVE HIM ON AS BEST WE CAN WHEN JANUARY COMES OR AT LEAST NEXT SUMMER AND CUT OUR LOSSES.
I am not surprised at his mental state after the way he has been treated by certain Arsenal fans , the media, and his country when he’s given all at what he has been selected to do. Create chances. No top class sportsman that I can recall has endured mentally what he has endured. It’s shocking that this has been allowed to happen to OUR player.
So now Jon your accusing Wenger of not being a clarevoyant?
Your post is very interesting and thought provoking, but you just can’t let Wenger go can you?
I’m actually starting to feel sorry for you and your obsession with “GOD”, especially as the club has moved on under Emery.
Still, whatever makes you happy personally is ok with me old friend.
KEN, Ozil has been fragile mentally for some considerable time in my opinion. It is not natural for any player- and esp for one with such outstanding natural talent- to not use it fully by not working at his hardest. Put simply, Ozil is lazy and I , being the person I am , ask myself WHY this should be so. HE IS NOW IN HIS FIFTH SEASON WITH US AND WE SHOULD ALL KNOW BY NOW, THAT HE IS IN AND OUT, AND MOSTLY OUT, ESP WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN. If not mentally fragile, which is in it’s way an excuse, WHY do YOU think he works so little and is such a physical weed? Either way, as Emery is not ” God” but a responsible manager who will put the team before any one player, as he should and is highly paid so to do, Ozil has little or no chance of any real future under him UNLESS he starts to earn his money. I do not see this happening, having fully thought the subject through and with the benefit of having seen Ozil for over four years here under a lax manager who indulged laziness – as he did for 12 years with Walcott – and seeing a tougher manager sub and drop him. IMO , he will not play a major role for Arsenal ever again and will be got rid of at the earliest opportunity. I firmly believe that and am glad of it .
I think people just keep blaming wenger and ozil unfairly every single time. But the real issue is the board. They need to spend more money. I think emery knew we have big problem defensively but wasn’t given enough money to buy players. Now, the reason he needs to not play ozil is he needs to put on more defensive mind players because our backline is a joke. Let’s be honest, we could have lost against WHU easily if cech didn’t had a good game.