Arsenal need a major shake-up quickly – Drop Ozil and Cech?

Something must give by Twig

We have come to the point this season, as we have every season since 2006, where radical intervention needs to be made in order salvage our season. The result against Chelsea wasn’t surprising, after all, how many teams go to Stamford bridge to get a point? And did we not also beat them 3-0 at the Emirates? However, the gutless performance as well as the loss to Watford a week earlier, were simply inexcusable. If we had beaten Watford, as we should, the loss to Chelsea would have been more tolerable. The talent and variety in this Arsenal side is clear for everyone to see. However, the truth is our top players have failed to deliver when it mattered.

Something has to give tomorrow and for every game for the rest of the season. Cech made an uncharacteristic error which led to Chelsea’s third goal, which killed off any chance we had of securing a draw. Perhaps the error could be excused as a one-off, but if you consider Cech hasn’t made a single penalty save of the 7 he has faced this season, coupled with his less than accurate ball distribution in recent times, you begin to wonder if a shakeup isn’t required between the sticks. In fact, a shocking story carried by the Daily Star has it that it might be Ospina and not Cech who will be in goal this afternoon.

Mesut Ozil began the season in thumping fashion, showing more intent to get into goal scoring positions. This saw him grab a hat trick against Ludogorets scoring an impossible 10/10 in Whoscored rankings. However, although Ozil was scoring, he didn’t seem to be getting enough assists as he was the previous season. In recent games, Ozil has looked a shadow of his earlier season form. It is clear Ozil needs competition, but unfortunately that is unlikely to happen with the number of injuries we have this season.

Shearer recently enthused that Aguero is the only world class player in the premier league! Curiously, Aguero now finds himself playing second fiddle to a 19 year old kid! If Aguero could be dropped, then why are the likes of Sanchez, Ozil and Cech guaranteed starts week in week out? As Giroud will undoubtedly agree, bench time is sometimes required to get the best out of a player. Today, we need a morale boosting win against Hull if we aren’t to take a demoralised squad to Bayern Munich next week. If the EPL is lost already, we can at least still win the FA cup and better our quarterfinal record in the champions league. Wenger must make radical changes to his team starting from today, if Arsenal’s season is to be salvaged.

Twig

11 Comments

  1. Laughed when I read that Aguero to AFC rumour. Not in a million years would another top prem team sell a goal machine to a rival, we seem to be the only one who’d pull that trigger. Even Newcastle kept Shearer away from the top teams. Yes Arsene needs to start making cuts, whether it’s for games and in general. Players get away with too much, some of our players aren’t even expected to pitch in with the basics of the game.

    1. Shearer is not a good example. He had the chance to go to a few clubs including Man Utd, but chose to stay at the club he supported and loved.

  2. I agree that one of the reasons our players don’t seem to play with much urgency is that, by and large, they know Wenger will remain stubbornly loyal to them and not sit them down.

    But it’s not the only reason. Here’s an alternate theory – they don’t seem to play with much urgency because, by and large, they know that the majority of disgruntled fans will stubbornly blame everything on Wenger instead of the players’ complacency and ineptitude.

    Not excusing his role in recent performances but as Ian Wright said, Wenger has been badly let down by this group of players. And Cech, Ozil, Ramsey and Xhaka have been, for different reasons, the poster boys.

  3. Wenger will never bench ozil unless if he is injured as soon as Ramsey comes back he goes straight into the XI no matter what, I just pray this be his last season with us let another manager come give it a go, what could be worse than 2 fa cup trophy’s in 13 years a round of 16 exit in the last 7 years, there certainly has to be better than what this man is doing to us

    1. While I’m not arguing that Wenger shouldn’t go after this season, I suspect that there a lot of things that would be worse than two FA Cups in 13 years and 19 or so years of Champions League football.

  4. Sanchez was easily one of the best players in the league and what happens? Giroud is fit and Sanchez gets moved. And then the ignorance of Goroud is scoring goals – well duh, it’s an attacking team. Seriously? Sanchez was scoring and Ozil was scoring too. Goroud comes in and we are one dimensional again. Sanchez predictable, Ozil not scoring or assisting and back to being predictable.

    It is beyond a joke that we lost the fluidity that Ozil and Sanchez had just to accommodate Giroud.

  5. Wenger can never bench any player based on performance,he can only bench a player who just returned from injury. We have the most experienced goal keeper in the league,yet he haven’t saved any penalty for the club,always beaten at his near post. Some smart players knows that Cech’s weakness. But expecting wenger to drop Him or Ozil? Not in Wenger’s DNA.

  6. For his heading prowess and his defendig qualities in a set piece situation I think having Giroud in the Arsenal’s team is a big plus asset for any Arsenal game. But I don’t believe Ozil should be dropped for our Hull game in particular today because he’s still doing the job that is required of him to do for Arsenal. I am yet to see any Gunner amongst the present crops at Arsenal that can take the corner kicks better than Ozil takes them. And that’s a plus for Arsenal.

    Nevertheless, as a starting point to correcting some ills that have been bedeviling the Gunners match winnings in their recent games for Arsenal, I strongly ascribed to the thoughts that have opined that the dip in form goalkeeper Cech should be dropped in our home PL game against Hull City taking place this afternoon at the Emirates Stadium. And subsequently be dropped in other Arsenal PL games until he has recovered from his dip form.

  7. Let’s not in anyway mince our words. For, I believe the Gunners will this afternoon at the Emirates Stadium caged the relegation battlers, the Tigers from Hull City comfortably by 4 goals to nil. And even if the Pgmol’s referee, Mark Clattenburg takes side with them in his officiating the match this afternoon, the Gunners will successfully deal with that and still find a way of caging and beating the Tigers comfortably.

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