“His quality is for playing between the lines. But I spoke with him for his best position on the pitch and I know he can play right and as a ten. And he wants that I can use him for two positions.”
Ramsey played very well yesterday to cement Emery’s thinking, but if Mesut Ozil can play on the right wing he certainly didn’t show it yesterday. According to whoscored stats, in the 83 minutes he was on the pitch Ozil made one dribble, one cross and had one shot that was blocked. Considering we spent most of the game in the Cardiff half that is quite a woeful record.
Emery was asked what he thought of Ozil’s performance after the game and he replied: “I want to give every player the same condition and every player is very important, but with Ozil and his quality I think we need to give us his moment in the match with his quality for the team. I think today in the second half he played a good match because he worked every minute that he was on the pitch. And maybe with the control and possession in the second half and the positions on the pitch, he feels better on the pitch.”
Really? He didn’t look very happy to me, and in fact he was taken off the pitch with 7 minutes to go and replaced by a real winger in Danny Welbeck. So I don’t believe that Emery was happy with him either. So what should we do with Ozil now? Should he be a reserve for Ramsey to give the Welshman a rest towards the end of games when he is tiring? Or should we use him in the Europa League along with Lichtsteiner and Leno to give us the best chance of Emery winning the trophy again?
Or should we persist with playing him out on the wing?
There is also the possibility of selling Ozil, but the fact is that he would be a big drain on any club’s finances. A new tool has been created which let’s you see how your club looks after it’s finances and it makes for very interesting reading. Maybe it will help to explain why the Gunners can’t afford a luxury like Mesut Ozil!
Darren N
Playing him out on the wing is definitely not the solution
He looked to be growing in the game when he came in centrally
Ramsey is not our best 10, he doesn’t have the creativity of one, if I won’t play ozil there, its mkhitaryan I’ll play
Play him as ahead of ramsey as a no ten in the games against lower opposition especially at home, then when we play against the top six teams especially away, he should be on the bench. Ramsey works hard but he isn’t better than ozil and he is tactically naive and injury prone, so both ozil and ramsey are not players we should be putting our hopes on, we need to spend on better players. After watching yesterday’s match, i have come to the realisation that its going to take us at least three years to be really competitive again. We have too many average, poor and finished players. How do we expect to ever challenge for the title with the likes of xhaka, mustafi, bellerin, sokratis, cech even ozil and ramsey all as starters. And look at the bench, we have welbeck, elneny, iwobi, holding. That is not what a top squad looks like, this manger as been left with a bad and unbalanced squad, then under him, they go and buy players that aren’t even starting. Gazidis, mislintat and emery better become more ruthless and replace these bunch of players, arsenal fans deserve better quality of players. Silent stan the devil wants us to win the champions league with these players, what a joke of a human being.
The sale of Ozil ,Mustafi and Xhaka is entirely justifiable given their mediocre performances during the past two seasons.The trouble is, who on earth would take on these underperforming overpaid players?Four games into this season and I have not seen any indication that they are improving under our new Manager and I very much doubt if they will.Is Emery strong enough to take appropriate action by leaving this trio out of the starting line up in the best interests of our Club? Time alone will tell but the longer be persists with them the less chance we have of securing a top four position.
Ozil is the most overated player in the world. He is just useless. He belongs to the bench for sure. We need a 10 who can control games, set the tempo and improve players around him ( Carzola type). Ozil is only good at passing sideways. His vision is long gone and it is no wonder he has not registered any assists this season. I would play Micki and Ramsey ahead of him any day. Damn it, even Iwobi is better at this stage. Ozil is a fraud with no heart. I wish we had given Jack more chances
Agree, but Ozil’s fans would never accept your harsh words
They are blinded by his shining statistics. Just like Beckham’s fans in the past
No matter what we say, Ozil is here to stay, because he has still got three years left with ludicrous salary
Ozil is a shadow of a player compared with his first two seasons with us its obvious that the man don’t like football anymore he should retire rather then go to another team and torture other fans
I have analyzed so many things concerning ozil and this is what I have come out with
During Ozil’s best season(19 assists).. He had two fast wingers around him Walcott and Sanchez.. They helped him drag defenders and midfielders away from him..hereby allowing him to face less pressure in the opposition half…..so he could do his stuffs freely….then with coquelin and cazorla behind it was easier
Now to regain Ozil’s form.. We need two fast wingers…a potent fast striker… A good ball playing midfielder that can link the ball quickly to ozil from midfield just like cazorla did and then aggressive defensive midfielder that can read dangers, protect the back four and stop attacks.. Whereby relieving Ozil of so much defensive duties
Luckily for arsenal we have Torriera that can do both jobs of cazorla and coquelin… He only needs a tall partner because of his height I guess that’s why Xhaka is being pared with cazorla and Xhaka is good with long balls……..Emery needs to get a left footed winger like Bailey to help out Ozil
buddy in ozil best season this our main lineup
cech
bellerin mertesacker koscienly monreal
flamini ramsey
campbell ozil walcott
giroud
coqueli sanchez and cazorla were out for sometime and when they returned ozil assists started drying up
Alexis: He missed a total of 8 games from the WHOLE season, doesn’t sound like he missed our main lineup due to EIGHT games in the WHOLE SEASON. Alexis still played THIRTY!!!
Theo: Played a higher than average volume of games that season. 28. I mean, he only played 14 the season before and 13 the season before that… It was a boost in volume of games. How can you claim he wasn’t part of the main team?
I watched the games. Did you? What you said makes me think you prob watched some MotD and didn’t check a single thing you said, Chiza is closer to the truth that you who I guess will proclaim Cech to be a great Cazorla replacement =.=
Bahhh also forgot to say that although Cazorla did get injured, he was one of the best players in the EPL prior to that injury and he was one of the best link up players who linked CM to attack while finding the right passes. This meant picking out Ozil when Ozil was in space and not give it to him expecting him to make the space.
It is also no wonder that Ozil assists slowed down towards the end of the season, when our little magician was injured.
Ozil didn’t get assists because Cazorla was missing, he got them partially due to Cazorla being such a magician from CM, making and finding space.
Sell him to the spuds or the special one
What to do with Ozil? Nothing. The more the season goes, the more things stay the same. Favorites still start regardless of form, same mistakes made, players played out of position, team still unbalanced.
For example, Xhaka been hot garbage all season, same old mistakes, continually gets caught out, yet always starts every game. Why? What does he offer ?
We have needed DM for 10 yrs, finally get one, and he only plays as sub. He changes game with EVERY appearance, balances midfield, great defender, great passer, but still on bench. He might even be most well-rounded, but still on bench.
Ozil on wing doesn’t work in PL; years with Wenger shows that. Yet there he is on wing, underperforming quite frankly. Why Emery continue with square peg in round hole?
Bellerin I feel is actually a worse defender now than he ever was. Almost like hes reverting back to RW like he was at Barca. I hesitate to even call him a wingback; defending is more than just running back. Tackles? Interceptions? Blocks? Lichtsteiner clearly the defender our woeful defense needs, but on the bench.
I understand it’s only 4 games, and then there’s behind the scenes as well. But after weeks before the season, all the training, some of major issues remain. Favoritism, stubbornness, woeful defending, excuses.
Not looking for miracles, maybe just more ruthlessness. 3 games to figure out Auba and Laca together is best? Maybe another 3-4 games to figure out Torreria should bench Xhaka. Maybe by Xmas realize Ozil on wing won’t work in PL.
I think back to Emery saying he’d rather win 4-3 than 1-0. If so, we’ll never get back to top 4, and forget about title.
Strikers score goals, but defenders win you titles. Of course I’ll support club and manager, but also not expect top honors until I see real change in the defense.
I totally agree with you durand, him saying he prefers to win 4-3 to 1-0 just shows he has the same wenger mentality with defence. I guess we should expect a lot of nervy moments in defence this season. The main issue i am having with emery is that he also seems to have favorites like wenger. Why are xhaka, cech and bellerin starting over the new signings. We have to give him time though as its still too early, but we need more ruthlessness. We also need to spend to change a lot of these players as we have a lot of average and finished players.
Totally agree Durand with your assessment.
By the way, what is Ramsey doing on the team sheet when he refuses to sign a new contract?
Bring back discipline and “1-0 to the Arsenal”. Will the Arsenal ever keep a clean sheet?
I fear it sends wrong message to young players and sets a bad example. Whine, fuss, and hold out on contracts; manager with still start you, coddle you, and deny competition for spots to please player. Sanchez, Ozil, now Ramsey. Who’s next? Cech in goal?
Guess we shouldn’t be surprised to see Smith-Rowe or other youngsters tru this in future.
Top brass concerned about wage bill, yet give in to players; huh? Will club decide future of midfield, or they leaving it up to Ramsey?
Absentee owner with soft approach creates this environment.
We’ll never compete with top clubs if we don’t start acting like top club at least. Different manager, same management. Only true change I notice so far is from supporters in the stands, home and away.
Sure we have Sven and Raul, but new boys rarely play or not at all, lack of competition, and still buy cheap.
Buy Christmas change should be noticeable front and center; players, performance, competition, results, etc…
Kronke is somewhere smiling counting all the money rolling in. New kit deal alone is enough to get a £60 million player next summer if club is serious.
Otherwise it’s merely same shit different stink. Won’t need the Scooby – Doo bunch in mystery machine to tell me I’ve been had.
?
Lupe nice to see we noticed the same things. Take away the pressing and playing out from the back and what’s really changed?
Brought in DM but only use as a sub, AMN was LB when he played, Cech, Bellerin, Xhaka start regardless of form, and Ramsey is same mindless running around as always. Manager is always on about attack, attack, attack, and liitle noticeable difference in poor defending.
Emery pacing sidelines rather than playing with zip is something new, but not exactly change I was hoping for.
Bellerin, Xhaka, Cech, Mustafi, Sokratis, guaranteed to start; can anyone say that about Laca? Torreria? Guendouzi gets subbed and Xhaka stays on?
Recipe for disaster against big boys I fear, we shall see.
That’s what I’ve been saying aswell ,couldn’t have said it better ,he bought 5 defensive players and we look worse at the back any any of the 20 years wenger was in charge
Really?silvetre schillachi Cygan Santos jenkinson Stepenov ……
These clowns were bought by Wenger I believe
Yes but he also bought us some of the finest defenders to grace the premiership ,and the players you have metioned were only back ups .can you honestly say our defensive is any better than it was 5yeras ago ,the tactics he’s using at the moment are terrible ,not one of them defenders looks comfortable atm ,don’t give me the ,but there wengers players ,he bought 5 defensive players in the summer so that argument is none and void
Xxnofx, I think some realism is starting to sink in with our fans and your views sums it up perfectly.
Now before anyone starts on about AKB people, that is not what makes your post so sensible, it’s the example of comparisions and facts.
I would have included last seasons defence in one part example however,as they were as bad as Emery’s current selection in my opinion.
We all have selective memories when arguing our points to those who disagree with us.
But I fail to understand why positives are always ignored to promote negatives, especially with Wenger.
Any manager can be slated for the bad buys made, including AF, and Wenger is no exception.
But let’s have a level playing field when we discuss topics.
What I find so difficult to understand is that wenger’s last season saw us finish 6th…not sixteenth.
Rubbish football but finished sixth despite that awful away record and lack of respectfor the shirt.
It was said that we only needed a few players to bolster this squad and five have been bought, all defensive minded to strenghten our undeniably weakest area.
Now on to the OZIL DEBATE.
I don’t believe Emery’s team selection is allowing our most gifted player Mesut Ozil, the opportunity to showcase his exceptional skills.
We all know the team were crap last season and Ozil was found wanting as were all the others with NO EXCEPTION.
Surely now that Emery has bought FIVE new players who, one assumes, were meant to improve the team, it would follow that Ozil should now have the squad around him to be able to dictate the play as our No 10?
So why aren’t the new signings playing? Why are Wengers so called “favourites” still being picked? Why the same measly transfer kitty?
I honestly dont know the answers to any of the above, but let’s try to go with the facts as they appear:
We have a new manager making these decisions and, while I as a mere supporter, do not understand the manager’s choices, I give him my support. Once he has sorted out his best eleven, Ozil should be the man controlling all our attacking moves. WHY? Because he is a proven midfield maestro when surrounded by players who have the vision he does.
If he doesn’t perform, mark my words Emery will get rid of, as he should with Ramsey unless he signs a new contract before our next premier league game.
I thought he had a very productive game on Sunday, as did Ramsey. Just shows how we all see differently when it comes to the Arsenal!!!!
Ken, I also think that the contraversies and media pressure Ozil has been under has naturally had an effect. His head is not in a good space at the moment. Hopefully with Arsenal’s support he will prove the doubters wrong.
I know this is about Ozil but what I want to say is about Xhaka
The Xhaka that we bought is a passer, simple, he was a passer before we got him, he had his defensive frailties before we bought him, he had collected 8 or 9 red cards before we bought him, he was playing CM before we bought him, he was not a dribbler before we bought him, he was not fast before we bought him, but then he was in the bundesliga team of the year twice for his last two seasons at Germany.
I don’t think the problem is Xhaka, I think its the coaches trying to play him as a DM that’s the problem, he’s not cut out for that position, play a good DM behind him and he’ll perform very well. He makes mistakes at times, yes, but he’s not the flop that most people make him out to be.
Guardiola was linked with him when he was leaving Germany for England, that’s should tell you something, the guy has always done well when he’s not playing for Arsenal, at euro 2016, he was switzerland motm three times. At this world cup, Switzerland totally outplayed a Serbia team that had matic and serjeg milinkovi savic in the middle with a possession of 63-37 with Granit Dhaka at that centre of it all, if he performs so well when playing for other teams, I’m thinking maybe he’s not the problem then
I still blame him for Cardiff’s first goal but whoscored gave him a rating of 7.51, guendouzi who’s being praised or at least who’s not being bashed had a rating of 6.18, xhaka had 120 touches of the ball, over 35 more than the nearest person, now when a player has a lot of touches, it only means that he opened up more for the ball, that means he’s key to our possession game. So maybe xhaka isn’t the problem.
Thanks for existing mate. I think you have a good eye and understanding of the game. Many ppl here are bashing their heads with a rock screaming why? Why emery?… The reason that wenger got xaka was because during that time teams were starting sitting deeper and deeper playing 10 men behind the ball furestrating our game to play our usual combination passing to breakdown defences. In fact tactically, specifically most times it was a clear game plan to pass the ball mostly to the right side until we pushed the opposition to their corner and switch fast with a long diagonal forward ball (xaka) to the left wingback who will be near the touch line who immediately squares or passes to some one in the penalty area who creates or tries to score.( or vice versa). Emery still sees a value in that as he should. But now deep sitting teams are not our problem. our problem is that teams now press us high which should have been an advantage as so much space is freed up the pitch but we can’t seem to deliver the ball that far. Cazorla (or some one like him) would have been perfect now. (Not to say teams wouldn’t adopt to that). xaka does have quality of a top player. Ozil auba lacazatte and Mikis are world class meaning great quality and intelligence but have similar issues concerned with team setup and game play. Bellerin, mustafi xaka have defensive deficiencies but have good quality and intelligence. welbeck, Walcott, Elneny, are players with quality issues. While Ramsey, iwobi, petre, have great quality but low game intelligence. Similar players are found in every team of every level.To balance all this and form a good team is the challenge not the players them selves. Looking at what furnandinho at city and pogba at utd is enough. The players ply how they play and we need to understand it and support not bash them and hope emery figures this s$$t out before too much damage is done
??Xhaka is not a DM. Played along side Torreira, playing slightly advanced and he is a totally different and better player. Therefore it is incomprehensible why Torreira doesn’t start.
Here we go again. If you play Ozil out of position you will get nothing, he is NOT a winger he does not have the pace. Ramsey as a 10 is also ridiculous, he does not have the skills required in that position. If Emery does not have confidence in Ozil he should sell him and not tinker. He is a number 10 full stop, ask Jose Mourinho!!! The only player wen have that could possibly play in that position is Mkhitarayan but is he consistent enough?
Ozil is like a quarterback, give him protection and he will deliver. We can’t provide that at the moment so maybe it’s time we moved him on.
I have a feeling we could buy another important player for the first team this January transfer window.. . But I don’t know if it would be in defense,on the wings or in midfield….still don’t know…but with the money we have gotten from the adidas sponsorship deal starting from next year.. I feel Kroenke would feel relaxed releasing some money this January
Chiza, it certainly won’t be a DM because Arsenal took10 years to get Torreira and he doesn’t start games!
And it wont be a CB, because Arsenal could have bought Virgil Van Dijk from Glasgow Celtic for a relative pittance, when he went to Southampton and didn’t.
Don’t regret our inability to buy Vigril V Dijk because if we had bought him, Wenger would have converted him to a striker because of his heght.
Lol
?
chiza, i thought you knew everything about the arsenal. you are now saying that you dont know everything. i am confused and i feel let down .
Ozil played in a Real Madrid star team and was beautiful and Arsenal fans wanna give the guy people like Ramsey and xhaka and welbeck and Giroud and Walcott O my God it’s shameful
Emery is right, Ozil played as a winger and no 10 at Real Madrid. In fact, most of his assists for Arsenal are crosses and set pieces
Ozil’s fans cannot deny that Ozil likes to go to the wings to release himself from the opponent’s pressure and makes those crosses. Another fact, he sucked as both no 10 and winger in this season and the pre-season
Ozil could not hide his resentment in being subbed by Emery and it showed his lack of spirit for me. Arsenal should sell players that cannot motivate themselves and consistently perform badly
A mean look what city did for Kevin look what Chelsea did for hazard what United are doing for Pogba Liverpool for Mo sala what have we done for Ozil can someone please answer talking about lazy if I was Ozil I would take every penny Arsenal’s got.
Sorry but those player are not like Ozil. Those players are match winners and self motivate themselves and their team mates 80% of the time.
Ozil relies on others to look good, to give him motivation and to become a match winner. He will never be the match winner while all those other players apart from may be Pogba are all match winners.
But until Ozil can change his personality and attitude to mirror those players overall attitude then there should be any comparison between them and him.
ozil is fine period.
Ozil is a 10 not a winger. I agree with most about a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Put Ozil behind Auba and Laca. Those 2 link well, let Ozil feed them the ball. Put Bellerin and Ramsey on the sides, Torreria at the base, and Monreal and Lichtsteiner in the back 4.
Worth a try anyway, not like our defense would be worse. With Leno in goal we could actually play out from the back.
Durand, some people on here appear to have missed the fact that Ozil, Lacazette and Aubameyang combined for Arsenal’s second goal against Cardiff City.
Ozil is a world class player and he’s known and recognized for being that. And he’s a Jwel at Arsenal that balances the team from falling apart when playing with his giving assists acumen passing to kickoff the opposition teams in games for Arsenal but if the assists given by him are utilized to maximum benefits effect by those Gunners at the of the assists.
And his movements need to be well understood by his mates if Arsenal is to shine more and better in games. In our last Cardiff match last Sunday, I watched him passed the ball to Lacazette who momentarily switched to the right side and Ozil who switched to the center ran forward to the opponent’s 18 yard to receive the ball back from Lacazette pass. But Lacazette passed the ball awkwardly which made the ball not getting to Ozil who was running forward to the opposition box to receive it in a one two pass situation. Which had Lacazette passed the ball well to Ozil, he might have scored. So, let there be proper understanding between fellow Gunners and Ozil in games for Arsenal. Therefore, let all unjustifiable criticism of Ozil desist. For, the more he’s unjustifiable criticized the likely he could become put off in games for Arsenal leading to seeing him performing below par.
Please explain, how is ozil world class? Where is the consistency? When was the last ozil performance that wowed us as fans. I am struggling to find a world class player at arsenal, maybe auba but even that is left for discussion.
Ozil is a world class player and he’s known and recognized for being that. And he’s a Jwel at Arsenal that balances the team from falling apart when playing with his giving assists acumen passing to killoff the opposition teams in games for Arsenal but if the assists given by him are utilized to maximum benefits effect by those Gunners at the of the assists.
And his movements need to be well understood by his mates if Arsenal is to shine more and better in games. In our last Cardiff match last Sunday, I watched him passed the ball to Lacazette who momentarily switched to the right side and Ozil who switched to the center ran forward to the opponent’s 18 yard to receive the ball back from Lacazette pass. But Lacazette passed the ball awkwardly which made the ball not getting to Ozil who was running forward to the opposition box to receive it in a one two pass situation. Which had Lacazette passed the ball well to Ozil, he might have scored. So, let there be proper understanding between fellow Gunners and Ozil in games for Arsenal. Therefore, let all unjustifiable criticism of Ozil desist. For, the more he’s unjustifiable criticized the likely he could become put off in games for Arsenal leading to seeing him performing below par.
ozil is in deed world class, i agree. but , unfortunately, he is a world class WASTER.
Lupe @ u
Ozil world class status got lost in Arsenal’s mediocre team
Guess you’re like some who actually think switching Ozil for Kevin would suddenly make us world beaters ????? dude the guy neeeeeeds some real quality around him
That excuse of quality around Ozil to get him performing has been exposed since Miki, Auba, and Laca joined, because Ozil has actually got even worse since their arrivals. Unless you think Miki, Auba, and Laca are rubbish/average players?
@ jah son
Stop with the ozil excuse, fans like you never blame him but will easily target other players who we shouldn’t be expecting a lot from anyways. If he is truly world class, he should be able to carry us to some victories.
Play him out wide, expect nothing.Play him in the middle expect nothing. Play him as a striker expect nothing. Play him as a defender expect nothing. Play him as a goalkeeper expect nothing.Play him as an impact sub, expect nothing. Tell him off, he’ll fall sick in England or elsewhere, criticize him he’ll say thats racial. So what do we do, nothing!!
Red and White, at least try and be factual and fair.
I have never come across such an overrated and overhyped player like Ozil in all my decades as an Arsenal fan.
Same old excuses from his fanbase.
They keep saying lets play to Ozil’s strengths. What the hell? How can you play on the strengths of a weak inconsistent player like Ozil? If he was a threat goal scoring-wise, or if he was good at dominating or dictating our play etc then I would understand. If he had that Modric, Arsenal Cesc, Silva, KDB, Hazard kind of all round style then it would make sense.
But the guy is the most one dimensional so called world class player I have ever cole across at Arsenal. He needs all thr stars to align, needs the weather to be in the Goldilocks mode, needs the manager to tell him he is amazing, needs the fans to worship and praise him 24/7, needs this type player to do his dirty work and that type of player to make runs and convert his chances created, needs the media to hold him with kid gloves, needs this particular shirt number, needs a break during each season, needs this formation or that formation etc, all for him to have a decent game.
Instead of worrying about the team as a whole we still have his fanbase saying we should first and foremost first think about Ozil. Everyone and everything should be tuned to suit him.
No wonder we will keep fighting to maintain 6th place.
Hope Emery does not buy into this nonsense. We have had enough of it for the last 5 years. It has only turned us into a joke and a Europa club.
It should be a new era and new start. Every player has to adapt instead of the manager or the whole team.
Tired of this rubbish.
Increase the wages per week for Ozil and he will change to Messi immediately. In fact, Ozil need to be over paid to perform for Arsenal. Up gunner
Ozil is a luxury player similar to bergkamp but the difference is the players they are playing with bergkamp had top class players around him that allowed him freedom to express himself ozil dosnt have that if he did would be a dream no10 with his vision and assists would not be required to chase back cos would have other players doing that and giving him the role that he would thrive in!
Dan, Dennis Bergkamp was not a “luxury player”; he was in my opinion the best all round complete footballer I have seen play for the Arsenal. Every player who played with him, including Thierry Henri rate him the best footballer they played with. They all say how he changed the attitudes of players with his professional approach and commitment to health and training prior to Arsene Wenger arriving.
Bergkamp was also a tough player, who didn’t take crap from anyone when they tried to kick him off the park. You only have to check the number of yellow and red cards he received.
Mezut Ozil has some way to go before he can match Dennis Bergkamp, in my opinion.
Ozil is not a complete player he has 2 main strenghts. Firstly he takes up great positions when we dont have the ball and secondly he has great vision and passing ability to play that killer ball. The problem is our transition play is to slow, it takes us to long to move the ball from deffense to ozil allowing the opposition time to close him down. Our refussal to buy/play propper wingers means there isnt much runners for ozil to pick out either. Ozil isnt the problem our tactics and team selection is. Remember u dont take a ferrari offroading and then complain its a crappy car.
Ozil makes things happen ,i don’t know how or why,you are all forgetting we started winning silverware as soon as he came into the team.Sanchez has been exposed as the fraud that he is since he isnt playing with Ozil anymore and didn’t CR7 score the most goals in a season because of Ozil?.Leave our Mesut alone,he is a gift that keeps giving.Only fans of Spuds disagree