Arsenal youngster tipped to replace Ozil but is he ready?

Emile Smith-Rowe is held highly at Arsenal football club, and may well find himself given some mighty shoes to fill.

Mesut Ozil has stuttered through his latter career, coincidentally since signing a monster contract extension with us in 2018, and he looks highly likely to run down that contract before leaving on a free transfer in just over a years time.

We have come to rely on the former German international much less in recent seasons, having endured a number of lackluster performances when we needed him most, and have a number of players currently vying for his starting spot.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Eddie Nketieh, Reiss Nelson, Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe have all been played in place of Ozil this term, with the 31 year-old playing the full 90 minutes only seven times this season.

The club are now believed to be keen to find the right player to give the keys to Arsenal too, with Ozil no longer being who he once was, the assist king who could control the game with the ball at his feet.

Smith-Rowe is one at the club who is regarded highly, and is an outside shot at taking over the helm. The 19 year-old was sent out to Huddersfield on loan in January with a view to getting some key match minutes, and he has impressed in his short time there. The youngster is now looking forward to coming back from his loan to showcase his skills to the new manager here.

He said earlier this month: “I’ll go back to Arsenal in pre-season and show the manager that I’m capable of getting into the team.

“At the end of the day the dream is to play for Arsenal. That’s what I’ll be working towards.

“Am I ready for the Premier League? I hope I am. After this loan hopefully I will be much more confident going back to Arsenal.

“I’d like to say I can go back and prove to everyone what I can do.”

To take over from Ozil however he would need to make some giant strides between now and next season, with new signings likely to come in and stake a claim for the spot.

Could Emile break into the first-team next season? Could Arteta get Ozil into form with a full pre-season?

Patrick

32 Comments

    1. Third Man, BASED ON THAT TRUE AND REALISTIC SUMMATION OF OZILS “WORK”, ALMOST ANY PLAYER WOULD BE OF MORE USE TO US THAN OZIL, THESE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
      I predict a big future for ES-R and hope and believe it will be with us. I also forsee him being a starting regular before the end of next season(which, however, may not even start this calendar year at all, wearing my realists hat)

  1. Game time is important for all youngsters, senior players develop trust in you when you play constantly together and with that you develop more confidence. What worries me with ESR is injuries too much so young. We need him to play one full season away from the senior team, with minimal injury problems, before we place him in the senior team. In the meantime look a solution for Ozil position and this individual has to take on a lot more responsibility he has to be a goal threat

  2. No, ESR is not ready? You just need to score one goal and one assist of a corner kick all season to be in the match day squad for the Arsenal of today! Surely ESR can do that much if not better. Bring him on.Players with special talents start benching the seniors at the age of 18. And ESR being a humble lad will stay focused and make it big very soon. Waiting to see him as our no. 10

  3. ESR definately needs to be blooded like we have with all our other youngsters. He’s not ready to be a starter just yet but he already offers more than Ozil does.

  4. I think Smith can deliver if given the chance and adequate support . The young man has a bright future

  5. I just hope MA realises his mistakes, as it seems he can do little right while dragging us out of a relegation fight progressing to the last eight of the fa cup and within striking distance of top 4/5.
    I’m beginning to doubt this man’s capabilities, when the team and players he selects are so obviously under performing – why he thinks he is doing a decent job with these facts, is beyond me, but I’m sure he will read the comments above, take into account their professional status and concerns and carry on doing the same thing as he sees fit…. Doom gloom and more doom/gloom from the usual posters who one minute say we can’t trust our youngsters and the next want to bring in ESR… a very good prospect who has been loaned out to gain experience… the mind boggles.

    1. Ken, Your rather mixed message post is unclear, at least to me, about what you actually think about Smith-Rowe. You appear to be jumbling up several matters, yet not making your PERSONAL opinion of ESR’s readiness clear.
      You do appear to be defending MA (using sarcasm) and on that we are firmly on the same page, but I am unclear as to WHY this is connected with the topic on this thread.

      I REALISE OF COURSE THAT YOUR BIZARRE LOVE IN WITH OZIL GOES ON AND I REMIND YOU THAT A FEW MONTHS AFTER HE HAS LEFT US IN JUNE 2021, AFTER HIS LUDICROUS AND UNDESERVED CONTRACT EXPIRES, THERE WILL BE A MASS SIGH OF GOONER RELIEF AND A REWRITING OF HISTORY, EVEN FROM HIS CURRENT ADMIRERS. People will always admire and revere the likes of HENRY, BERGKAMP, ADAMS, WRIGHT, VIERA ETC. But if you imagine Gooners will retrospectively think likewise about Ozil you will be widely and correctly ridiculed.

    2. Careful Ken – there are some on here who will be unable to detect your irony/sarcasm and think you are joining in with their views!!??
      In the meantime I’ve been happy to join your ‘Mind Boggling Club’ since I first saw the ridiculous headline.

      1. Gunner Jack, you were correct that some would not detect irony and sarcasm… BUT… to think it would be our own self confessed man of realism and forward thinking, Jon Fox, is a bonus in itself!!!!

        Jon, when will it sink in that I support our manager, as you profess to do, which means his player selections and tactics, as you so fervently did with UE of course.

        I felt sorry for you actually Jon, because you are consumed with Ozil (along with others) while… and this is the most laughable part for me… if Mikel Arteta decides to sell, drop or even offer him a new contract, that will meet with my support – you just don’t get that do you Jon?
        It’s called supporting your club and all your ravings about lazy, mentally frail, dross and weedy players does absolutely nothing to convince me you think likewise.

        As for worrying about a mass sigh of gooner relief and your self inflated importance that a “vast majority” of fans think like you, I have no need or desire to rely on others for back up
        Unlike your incessant boasts that you are the voice of realism and truth, I just rely on my own judgement.

        Interesting point about rewriting history Jon – you are the world’s best at that my friend – Walcott only having played a handful of games since joining Everton – can I suggest you do your homework before making such statements?
        You will most definitely be widely and correctly ridiculed.

        1. Ken, OH I DETECTED IRONY ALRIGHT, THOUGH I’D CALL IT SARCASM AND SAID SO TOO, IF YOU READ MY POST FULLY.
          On OZIL, I TRULY THINK YOU HAVE LOST ANY TRUE CLAIM TO RECOGNISE THE USE – OR OPPOSITE – OF ANY PLAYER TO OUR CLUB. Interesting that you think I am obsessed with Ozil, WHEN IT IS YOU, DEAR KEN, WHO RARELY EVER FAIL TO JUMP ON ANY ANTI OZIL OR ANTI WENGER comment from anyone on here. It is YOU my deluded friend, not I, who are obsessed with BOTH these gentlemen.

          In fact, on Ozil, I crave to be able to forget he ever existed at all at our thus disadvantaged club. BUT I am unable to forget him while he is still here. Ah well, only 15 months away now til he is finally gone and unlamented by most, even though not all.

          Now to the subject and REASON for my post, which was to ask you, as you did not say, exactly what you think of ESR. CARE TO ADDRESS THE SUBJECT IN HAND, RATHER THAN ONE OF YOUR TWO OBSESSIONS, KEN?

          Perhaps though, as we are discussing obsessions, you might also care to tell me how much chance you consider there is (in percentage terms, if you like) of Ozil being offered a new contract to run after this one expires . As MA so clearly highly rates him, as you claim, then he is bound to offer another renewal wouldn’t you say? Rather like your other man love dear Arsene did repeatedly with Weed Walcott and we all know where that eventually led to. To Evertons sub bench chiefly. Or else, regularly subbed when he does start games.

          My opinion of an Ozil renewal is zero chance and I would say far less than zero, were that possible. But MA COULD decide, if he wished, to offer him a new one. I’d love to know how likely you think that is. I’m sure other sober minded player assessors like me would also love to know. After all Ken, in these bleak times we could all do with a laugh. So do tell !

          1. Well Jon, a lot for me to digest and answer here, so let’s try and get through the accusations, claims and questions.

            First of all, just go back and read my post at 12.05 and you will see that I wrote of ESR ” a very good prospect who has been loaned out to gain experience”.
            I would think that is what most see as the reason for the loan move endorsed by MA, wouldn’t you?
            Until that loan deal is over, how can anyone, let alone MA, judge whether he can join the first team squad, let aone be worthy of a first team spot?
            Please note, no mention of any other player or manager in this post…Correct?

            Your reply had failed to notice my comment on ESR, but then, for some unknown reason, I get the full hair dryer treatment with a full on capital letter onslaught about my love for Ozil – along with your fixation regarding his salary.
            Now I would suggest that is a really unhealthy obsession without even accusing me of the self same thing?

            Jst out of interest and following your call for a poll Jon, I looked up the last poll regarding Ozil on here dated the 26/8/18, following your words “unlamented by most, though not all.”
            The question asked was “Is Ozil still world class?” and 404 fans responded – the outcome was that 51% said No (205), while 49% said Yes (199)…..looking at it a different way, the difference was 6, is that the “vast majority” you always quote when discussing Ozil?
            By the way Jon, in your post regarding this poll, you asked the question “does ozil have world class skills? Yes he does”.
            You then go on to state that “this coming season will be his last I feel sure. Hope it is not though, but on balance it is more likely than not to be”…you got your wish Jon, the player you said has world class skills is still with us, thanks to MA and not UE.
            You may want to check out the quotes, as they all depended on UA, except the one where you say he is world class of course.

            Walcott next…and yet again you make a false statement, unable to just admit you were wrong in your initial statement that he had only played a handful of games since joining Everton in 2018/19, it was 40 games in the first season Jon.
            To add further insult regarding your views on this lazy, weedy no good player, on the 12/5/2018 he was declared the fourth wealthiest player in the premier league…not bad for such a load of dross eh Jon?

            Finally, the chances of a new contract for Ozil? Who knows Jon, a world class player (your description not mine) under the auspices of Mikel Arteta might just warrant that happening.
            As I have said previously, whatever MA decides is fine by me, as I am completely relaxed over his decisions…what about you Jon, he obviously has the same opinion of the player as you have.

          2. I should have added, just for a laugh Jon, how words come back to haunt us, but that would be unkind.

          3. Well Ken, I’ll return the favour in some detail to rebut much of your reply to my post. Firstly, I CAN read and did read your brief and inconclusive comment about ESR. I WAS HOPING FOR MORE DETAIL FROM YOU ON HIM BUT HEY HO, THATS LIFE!
            Secondly, there was no mention by me of OZILS SALARY. NONE WHATEVER, so your comment on that is false . By your own words, that Ozil poll was 19 months ago and yet “Barrister Ken” managed to drag it out of the museum. Like most fans Ken, yourself included, I OCCASIONALLY GO OVERBOARD ABOUT OUR PLAYERS AND HAVE IN THE PAST SOMEWHAT BIGGED UP OZIL, when he has had some of the brief but never lasting better spells, that have been the norm since that blinding first season and ok next season. But he has been here 6 years now and most posts NOW, not in 2018, want him gone. Being a “barrister you have a rare ability to choose quotes , often from the archives and distant past that support your view but are not so keen on promoting posts that do not support your case. I have many many times slated OZIL, correctly too, and my honest opinion of him is crystal clear and extremely well known to you and others and you well know that truth. yet you try to propogate the lie that I have rated him. What always matters above all else on rating any player is how consistently effective he is and also how often over the years does he play ANDstay fit. I still think he has world class skillsi him but the difference between you and I is that I say he is far too lazy to use them and in our 100MPH Prem you need to work ferociously , like such as KDB always does. Ozil NEVER does ! It is attitude and workrate and therefore EFFECTIVENESS, not ability, he lacks and he lacks it big time and has done for some years past.
            On Walcott, the facts are that he has been subbed most games he plays and very often starts on the bench. I never said in my post that he had not played a number of games. But most would think that what you actually ACHIEVE in those games is rather more important than how many times he wears the shirt. He wore our shirt regularly when fit (and I won’t go down the injury road, even though I SHOULD) but was in my estimation a dreadful buy and waste of money and wages; a wage that YOU, not I, brought up, btw. The ludicrous notion that all the best PAID players are also the best players is given the huge lie it is by none other than your own hero OZIL, among countless other players too. Much depends on their agents “talents” and a myriad of other interconnecting matters pertaining to the sqads strength at the time of renegotiation. It has been posted by numerous fans how , mysteriously, Walcotts form always picked up just around negotiation of new contract time. ODD THAT, EH KEN?

            As to a possible OZIL CONTACT RENEWAL, I AM MORE THAN WILLING TO HAVE ANOTHER BET SAYING IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Up to you old chum. The ball is entirely in your court.
            Finally Ken, if my perfectly free choice of when I wish to use capitals upsets you so much, then you must have very little else of consequence in your life to worry about which REALLY MATTERS.

          4. Jon, at 12.59 “LUDICROUS AND UNDESERVED CONTRACT” means what then Jon? Unless of course you are now sayingthat we shouldn’t have kept him on with a three year extension…is that your ludicrous and undeserved contract moan?
            Yet again, you conveniently forget that you have said on numerous occasions that he hasn’t perfomed for six seasons….you cant keep moving the goalposts too defend
            yourself.
            That is EXACTLY what you are trying to do when with your comments on players, when you say you occasionally go
            overboard – saying someone is “world class”, then refer to him as lazy, mentally frail and dross after eighteen months under UE!!!! A remarkable turn around wouldn’t you say?
            Especially as you have told us all how wrong you were about UE and what he did in those eighteen months.

            I am, of course, not a barrister, but I have a good memory and use it when I need to point something out that isn’t true, or gives a false impression – isn’t that what anyone would do?
            I think the problem is Jon, you don’t like to be asked or contradicted about your views and whether it’s the present or eighteen months ago, your vindictiveness against individual Arsenal players needs to be questioned.

            You say there is a difference between you and me regarding Ozil and that’s correct – but does that influence in
            any way whatsoever the guy we both say we support?
            The real difference Jon, is that until MA does what you think is correct, you will keep on and on and on running down ANY player you feel isn’t good enough – no matter what MA
            is doing.

            Why haven’t I said more about ESR? As I wrote, this very promising 19 year old has gone to a championship side to gain experience – it would be ludicrous of me to say if I think he can take over from Ozil, or anyone else, for that
            matter….if MA thinks he needs time to assess the player, why on earth would I think I could?

            So lets recap, the guy you thought was world class less than eighteen months ago, is now a dreadful buy and a waste of money – an excellent example of your views regarding the usefulness of UE and how you changed your views on him in the same time frame.

            You expect me to give a detailed response regarding ESR?
            Leave it to the professionals is my advice, otherwise I could say he’s world class one minute and then judge him as dross etc eighteen months down the road. That would be silly and you would certainly call me a hypocrite if you remembered it.

            With regards to Walcott, he’s gone Jon, just let him enjoy his reported £25,000,000 earnt from playing in the premier league since the age of seventeen – he obviously lived the dream and good on him I say!!!

            By the way, what odds are you offering that this “lazy, mentally frail, dross world class player” gets offered a new contract?

          5. I should have added Jon, you said he (Walcott) played a handful of games”…see, moving the goalposts again!!!!

      1. Sue, I get exasperated when I am challenged in this way, especially when I keep having to explain my views about a subject yet again.

        On a lighter note, I loved seeing Santis son in our kit playing keepy upoues with a toilet roll – we are out of stock of this bare necessity in the shops up here!!!

        1. I can imagine, Ken!!
          Yes, who’d have thought he’d be wearing our kit 😊 bless him!
          Just as bad down here.. at first it was tissue and handwash.. then it was tinned food, now it’s just about anything you can lay your hands on!
          So even if you genuinely need just one item, you can’t find it anywhere as some greedy sod has bought the whole lot!! Crazy, Ken…. and I think it’s only going to get worse ☹

        2. Your post relying to mine was once again a total and deliberate distortion of what I ACTUALLY wrote and when about OZIL. For you to try saying that 18 months ago I thought OZIL was a world claas player at THAT time was nonsense and you know it. I resent the fact that you constantly and deliberately distort what I have written over the years -picking out past quotes that suit you, whilst ignoring others that do not suit, to try convincing others and even to convince me, which you will NEVER achieve of course, that I do not know what I am talking about. That is underhand and a typical “barrister” trick, even though you are not an actual barrister.

          1. (Continuation of my above post, pressed enter in error:)
            So I never though OZIL was playing at world class level at that time nor ever since . What I have said and say again is that he retains world class skill but that is useless unless it influences and changes the game, andUNLESS he works ferociously hard in the KDB and other WC players way, then he is cheating himself , the fans the club and THAT is what I have constantly written. KEEP THAT QUOTE FOR FUTURE USE BUT PLEASE DO NOT LIE ABOUT THE TRUE MEANING OF MY POSTS EVER AGAIN. Once and for all I REPEAT that the use OZIL is to us at present,is imo, almost negligible. He is in effect a passnger and is only picked because we have only Ceballos, who is in andout, form wise, as another creative midfielder. You will now distort that last sentence to mean that I think OZIL is a creative midfielder of great effect. I DO NOT.

            What is ironically “humourous” is that this latest row between us only started when I innocently queried your hopefully detailed opinion of ESR, which you brushed off with the brief and unhelpful comment on him in your posts above. It therefore appears that you do not share the excitement that I and others feel about his future. At least your comment made no mention of any excitement or expectations, which was ALL I WAS ASKING!

            I only mentioned Ozil at all because the threads question was whether or not ESR was ready to replace him. IMO, as Ozil has been this last season and most of the three other seasons before this one,ESR is easily ready to replace HIM. ESR however, is not YET, ready to play in our start eleven but soon well might be, hopefully even next season , even though Ozil will be still , damagingly, STILL HERE.

          2. Jon, I suggest you read your comment through yourself and then come back to me…you say that UE couldbe able to bring out the world class skills he has in him -nothing about being mentally frail, lazy, weak or with a languid body language.
            It appears this comes once UE has “motivated” him to greater heights, after his traumatic experience when both his family and himself were threatened with death and when the great german football federation and media decided he was going to be the fall guy fot their embarrassing world cup exit…I’m sure it never occurred to you that all this might just have affected him a little?

            Go back again Jon and check who sfarted blustering about my love of Ozil…it certainly wasn’t me.
            Neither was it me who said Walcott had only played a “handful of games” since joining everton and then keeps backtracking to try and cover that false statement.

            I have said my piece on ERS and that is that.

            As for mis-quotingr you or taking what you say out of context, eighteen months from world class ability to dross, mentally frail and lazy doesn’t need to be explained, it just needs to be pointed out as the humbug it is….in my opinionanyway.

            I am always happy for you to quote anything I print and as for you using capital letters Jon, it’s water off a ducks back…I actually find it quite amusing and, for me it’s an admission of not being able to use the printed word well enough to convey one’s thoughts and feelings.

        3. KEN, THIS IS IN REPLY TO YOUR LATER AND LOWER DOWN POST WHICH I CANT ATTACH TO.
          I am not in future going to engage with you at all on Ozil at all not on Wenger. THE REASON? Because I resent you deliberately misrepresenting what I say and using parts of selective quotes and then distorting my full, in context meaning, to try to convince folk that I am being inconsistent. I do not wish to be at “war” with you since I much respect your non Arsenal player views in general and think you a fine human. To me those matters are far more important.
          I have the maturity to step back from this joint long running battle we are both engaged in to convince each other of the truth of each of our views. That has not and never will happen , so it is pointless continuing. If in future you again question my views on JUST these two subjects, then I will NOT respond. Perfectly happy though to discuss anything else at all, whether or not Arsenal related. I hope and believe you will take this chance to bury our feud and we are both older fans and SHOULD be setting the younger fans a good example.

  6. This is not the right time for him to fit the shoes we need to give him enough time .

  7. If he can score 2 goals and create 2 assists per season, then he’ll be better than Ozil. There would be no need to fill the shoes of anyone

  8. ESR is sure good enough for the Arsenal first-team got to be better than Ozil at this moment of time

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