How would you feel if you were Ozil’s employer?

Ozil is an absolute disgrace! by ThirdManJW

I have been wanting to pen this article for a while, and the timing now seems perfect, what with the “Ozil in” agenda ramping up again. As a business owner myself, I wanted to give an employer perspective on the whole situation.

There are some fans who defend Ozil, mainly on the basis that his exclusion from the squad was for non-footballing reasons, thus Arsenal were unfair to him. Whilst none of us will probably ever know the exact reason, what we can do is form our opinion based on other players at the club in the same situation. Sokratis, Guendouzi, and Saliba have also been excluded, for footballing reasons, whatever they may be. So, if these three can be dropped, including a very expensive, hot prospect in Saliba, why would it be any different with Ozil?

Ozil’s performances have been dead for years, and whether you agree or not with Arteta’s policy of hard work above anything else, Ozil clearly doesn’t fit into Arteta’s philosophy. Attitude wise, Ozil is also very petulant, not a team player, which I imagine doesn’t sit well with Arteta. So, one can understand why part of his exclusion is for footballing reasons.

The other part of Ozil’s absence is obviously for non-footballing reasons. Come the end of his contract, Ozil will have spent 8 years at Arsenal. Given his performances (only one really good season in 8), he is extremely lucky to have lasted that long at a top club. Even more lucky, was the insane contract he was given almost 3 years ago. I estimate that Ozil will have earned somewhere in the region of 100 million from Arsenal. When you include his transfer fee, the whole deal will have cost the club almost 150 million!

Now of course, money doesn’t equal happiness, and Arsenal have played a role in this debacle as well, but Ozil, and his fans, are completely ignoring how well he has been treated overall by the club. 100 million for the type of performances that we have been seeing, and the club aren’t being fair to Ozil? Really? Just from a monetary perspective, the club have been beyond kind to Ozil. That is essentially, charity! Even KDB doesn’t earn that, and he is levels above Ozil! I think we’d all love to be overpaid for not performing.

Money aside, we then have the issue of Ozil publicly dragging the club’s name through the mud. From the owner’s perspective, one can imagine that he’s spitting blood! He’s loyal to an underperforming employee, gives him money well beyond his performances, and this is the thanks he gets? Like I said, the owner/club have made mistakes as well, and none of us like Kroenke, but if we put ourselves in his shoes, how could he not be angry with Ozil?

Not only has Ozil been damaging the club’s reputation, he’s actually costing the club revenue as well with his contradictory political views, and constantly stirring the pot via social media, like some delinquent, immature 14-year-old! TV revenue is huge, even more so now that the fans aren’t around, so Ozil had to be punished for this. For Arteta’s sake, the club should have bought out Ozil’s contract, because it’s huge ongoing distraction, but that would have given Ozil the easy way out. All the money, and then he could start playing again.

I am glad the club are punishing him! He constantly plays the victim, both on and off the pitch, and has acted like a spoilt brat! In our entire 134-year history, I think he must have been our luckiest player, yet Ozil is so ungrateful! For too long, players like Ozil, and their agents, have acted badly to get what they want so it’s refreshing to see a club make a stand for once.

I put this to Ozil fans, specifically those who are business owners. If you were overly loyal to an underperforming employee, who you had made one of the highest earners in the world in their field, and that employee started damaging the reputation of your business, thus costing you money, how would you feel? As a business owner myself, I would feel utterly betrayed! To have that loyalty thrown back in your face, especially from someone who hasn’t been performing at the level required, would be a disgrace!

I cannot wait until we are free of the biggest financial flop in the history of English football!

ThirdManJW