The main talking point amongst Arsenal fans in the last few weeks has been about the ongoing spat between Unai Emery and Mesut Ozil. The Spanish coach made it clear before yesterday’s game that wanted Ozil to stop missing training with his undefined illnesses and buckle down with the squad. Emery said: “Now, this week is good for all the players, because we are in a big, important moment for the season and I look at him [Ozil] doing the training like we want.
“I know he wants, but we need to be consistent and available in training and the matches without the injuries and without being sick. Like that, we can find and see the best Mesut with us.”
So the Boss finally picked Ozil for last night’s win over BATE, and he admitted after the game that our extremely well-paid playmaker has finally got the hint and has rejoined the squad, although he also said that Ozil can’t expect to an automatic starter every week. “Well, I said to him to carry on and be available like today and the last two weeks to continue training and helping us. Today I am happy and this is the way we want with him.”
And when pushed on whether he wanted Ozil to play like this consistently, he said: “Yes, he needs to be available and carry on. He wants to do this and today he showed what he wants. If he is available, like the last two weeks, we are going to play a lot of matches and maybe sometimes we need him in the starting XI and sometimes on the bench because we have a lot of players to also help us. His spirit like today is good and his quality and capacity and combination with some players is good, like with Guendouzi and Micki and Iwobi in the attacking third. I think we need every player and today playing Mesut was important and positive.”
As many of the writers have said lately, we really need Ozil to be playing to the highest level regularly to justify his wages, and hopefully now that he has started following Emery’s instructions we will see a lot more of him this season…
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I thought Ozil played well, without being spectacular. Let’s not get carried away though. That’s his first decent performance in how long? And it was Bate at home. Ozil has had enough opportunities, but if he does get yet another chance, then he needs to perform consistently for good amount of games, and has to start turning up in big games, before we could even consider that’s he’s finally turned a corner.
Given his age, the fact he’s very rich, and that’s won the WC, I don’t think he’ll have the motivation to maintain any sort of consistency.
In my opinion, his performance was nothing special, far from his form when playing against Leicester City at the Emirates
Regarding the article, I see no power battle ever occured between them. That’s just some media’s assumption and Emery has the authority on the players
Agree that Arsenal should look for a hungrier player next time. Being highly paid and a World Cup/ La Liga winner definitely have made him unmotivated
I agree, he has begun exactly where he left off. Not enough creativity for Aubameyang to enjoy
For over £300,000 per week he should do better on a regular basis. I know he hasn’t played for a while but since the end of 2015-2016 season he has played very well rarely and almost never against top teams.
We simply can’t afford that type of money on a once in a blue moon good player
He should be played more frequently until the summer then sold if possible
It was decent performance from Ozil…. Keeping and Moving the ball in and around….
He need to push offensively instead of selecting defensive lineups and formation… Then only we will succeed…
His performance was not spectacular, neither did he put any foot wrong, expecting more on Sunday against Southampton, that will be a chance for him to cement is place back in the starting line-up.
Emery wanted to push Ozil out of Arsenal but he didn’t have the luxury to do that! Ozil is introduced to the team and suddenly Arsenal become slick again! It is because of Emery that we are lower than we are supposed to be in the league. Had he played him in some of the obvious games we would have racked wins rather than those draws and loses.
I disagree with that based on what we’ve seen so far this season. Ozil has played in 4 big games, we lost 3 of them, and won none. That included 3 poor performances from Ozil, and an average one against Liverpool. Emery took Ozil out of the big games, and performances improved, and we’ve won 2, and should have won at Utd as well. I think Ozil has only had 3 good performances all season, and they’re all home games against weak opposition.
How did we improve our results against big teams? I don’t see any difference from last season! Can you elaborate on your claim?
I thought it was Emery related? Why mention last season? But if you want to mention last season, I think Ozil only turned up about 3 times from around 13 big games.
And as I already stated. Zero wins in big games with Ozil, and 2 wins without Ozil in big games this season. And it isn’t a claim, it’s fact.
You aren’t understanding anything I say. I am just surprised with your claim “Emery took Ozil out of the big games, and performances improved ……”
and when I compare our performance in big games in both seasons and I don’t see the improvements.
OT:all I wanted to say is t.v. that all the plsyers who haven,t been slagged off lije mustafi,mijhkatarian,leinester…and others stood up & counted,I think t there is lesson to be learnt here,ok it was bate but players turned up,worked for the team and manager! Whoever said they didn,t care were wrong,one negative iwoby should stop shooting with the inside of the boot and go for power,he would definitely score more goals!also the so called shitty xhaka had 2 assists.
I like how he admitted how Ozil links up with Iwobi, Mhki and Guendouzi in the final third. Especially Iwobi who played well yesterday even though he couldn’t score.
Months ago, I said it how I noticed Ozil building a footballing relationship with Iwobi since Sanchez left, how good they both looked when they played together under Wenger.
Ozil might not set the pitch alight every time, but he drops into the pocket and that ability to make others around him play easily and smoothly is what we’ve been crying for, it was obvious yesterday, few back passes, hell Guendouzi was always on the attack every time, Iwobi was bring w threat, played an impressive game, he just needs to learn to finish in front of goal then he can dream of winning African best player some day, notice ow freely he played and attacked every time inside the box, unlike when we play with five defenders and he starts waiting for Kolasinac to make those runs. Once again I’m saying it, maybe probably the best way to make Iwobi and Ozil very effective is to play then together, one has the vision and creativity, the other has the agility, mobility and tricks
Eddie, for obvious reasons, I watched both Ozil and Iwobi as much as I could on TV last night.
Iwobi had a good game, his running and enthusiasm was excellent and, despite his obvious raw talent, I made himmy m.o.t.m.
Now for a completely different type of player, both in style and proven talent.
I urge anybody who questioned Ozil’s performance last night, to go back and watch him.
He was always looking for the ball and creating space for himself to influence the game.
Some of his balls were delightful, especially the little chip over two defenders to create a chance for Myk.
Fans are saying that it was only Bate, but wasn’t that the same team we lost to just a week before? Their defence last week dealt with everything we tried, but not so yesterday…the difference was Ozils ability to open that defence up.
IMO it is way too early to say what is going on with Ozil. Not sure Ozil could lose the power struggle with his contract. We will get a possible hint of what the manager thinks of Ozil if he plays him regularly in for the rest of the season and if he plays him in the big games.
Although even if he plays him regularly and on the big games it might be because he wants to shop him around in the hope to offload him the summer.
In fact, if we want to sell him we have to play him which is a bit of a catch 22. Because if we play him and he doesn’t put in a shift we risk losing out on our chance for a top 4 finish.
Özil had what really should be no more than an average performance for a player of his stature. So let’s see, if he carries on from here and add to this, especially against bigger teams.
I really hope so, but I have my doubts.
I want Ozil to be sold in the summer ???
For ??reasons and also ? ? reasons
But I do question Emery not using him enough this season. It could make a difference in our hope of getting into Champions League.
I can only assume Emery wants to avoid another Neymar type war or he wants Ozil to be so upset that he will request to leave
Well if that’s the case, then that’s pathetic
Some of UE’s comments about Ozil make me laugh, you’d think he was talking about a child!! I think after all these years, he knows how to train & how to play football!!
I know his wage is the reason he’s in the spotlight & everything is all about him, whether we win or lose, but he can’t help being sick, none of us can!! So that’s a little harsh.
The team performance last night wasn’t vintage Arsenal, but they got the job done. Great goals from our CB’s…2 wicked corners from Xhaka… the man I moan about constantly (Lichtsteiner) had his best game in an Arsenal shirt (So thank you for that!) I love Guendouzi, he’s not the finished article just yet, but imagine how good he’ll be in a couple of years!!
Everyone put in a good shift! So glad Sokratis is back… hope your leg isn’t too badly injured Kos… and finally Mesut it was so good to see you ?
Sue, for a long time, I have been an Ozil defender until last year when it became too hard to ignore his up and down performances. There is no doubt when on his game he is world class but even if he knows how to train and play he doesn’t show it consistently enough for my taste.
Best case scenario for me is that he changes his style a little bit to match the demands of the manager. Having said that, as Wenger recently suggested, he might be a bit too comfortable with his contract to change his ways this late in his career.
One thing is for sure IMO, without him we lack creativity going forward and since we will also be losing Ramsey we have a big hole in our creative midfield options that will have to be fixed this summer if Ozil and Emery don’t become best buddies soon.
Btw your last paragraph was what I suggested was pathetic
Yes it’s worrying with Ramsey out of the door & ‘beef’ between Ozil & UE… tbh I don’t think the others we have are up to Ozil’s standard of creativity… worrying also that we have ‘no money’ to spend!!
Oops sorry my pathetic comment was to someone else ?♀️
I agree completely Sue. How can people say Emery needs 6 windows if he gets no funds?
I also worry about the fact that this season we didn’t bring any young players along. I am convinced there were major minutes for Chambers, Nelson, Mavropanos and Smith Rowe. At least Chambers is getting minutes with another team (and another manager with a different style) as is Nelson but I would have thought both were at the level of many of our other first team players.
Mavopanos and Chambers must be better at CD than Lichtsteiner (and Mustafi?)
Nelson showed so much promise going forward last season, he was ready for first team minutes over Miki and other players that have been played wide. etc.
I also am not a fan of the 3 at the back but I will support the manager even in the decisions I find dubious (for now).
Overall Emery has done better than I expected.
I often think the manager must see something completely different to us (regarding certain players!)
UE hasn’t done a bad job… winds me up a couple of times, but he’s not going to please everybody is he?
I just hope Silent Stan pulls a rabbit out of the hat, as far as the funds are concerned, because how far is 40m going to go??? ?
Ozil always calls in sick, you heard it there from Emery. He misses a lot of training sessions that goes unnoticed but the moment he completes one training session he posts pictures on social media to manipulate his followers into thinking how hard he’s working.
No not quite Th14…
TH14… you think like you are 14.
When considering the performance of players, you must evaluate the quality of the opposition.In this case we were playing a side which in my opinion are no better than a mid table Championship side..We did enough to get through but the performance, once again was less than convincing and all the players selected against what is bound to be tougher opposition in the next round, will have to step up a gear or two.The point made by EH concerning Ozil and Iwobi is very relevant and if we could instill the composure and technique of Ozil into the strengths of Iwobi we would have some player.
So before now he was injured
He also didn’t fit 4-3-3 style of play
He calls in sick
It’s tactical reason
But when your back is against the wall throw him in lets play 4-2-3-1 and if we lose blame it on Ozil.
This week he trained well ha! I must be stupid to listen to Unai Emery. Arsenal fans just want a win a they go crazy.
Yeah… I think unai confuses being tactical with dubious