“I worked for one and a half years with Mesut and tried to help him” Emery on Ozil

Unai Emery has reiterated that he helped Mesut Ozil as much as he could while he was the manager of Arsenal.

The German midfielder was an important member of the Arsenal first-team under the management of Arsene Wenger, but the change of management brought about a change of tactics.

Emery needed Ozil to be more physical, but the German has never been known for his physical attributes. The Spaniard managed to get some good performances from him while he could, but also sidelined him on different occasions.

Mikel Arteta similarly trusted the German in his first few games as the manager of Arsenal, but he has now axed him completely from his team.

Emery was speaking to Football.London recently about Ozil and said that he did what he could with the German when he was the manager of Arsenal and cannot comment on what the issue is now.

He said: “I worked for one and a half years with Mesut and tried to help him, support him and achieve the performances for the team with him.

“Now I don’t know what the problems are as I am very concentrated and focused with Villarreal.

“I follow every Arsenal match but I don’t know what the problems are with the team or the players. I can only speak about Mesut Ozil when I was with him there and I tried to achieve the best performances with him.”

Emery was the first Arsenal coach to have problems with Ozil, and as they say; the rest is history. Let us hope the saga will come to an amicable end this month.

Darren N

30 Comments

  1. When 3 different managers says the same thing about you then surely you have to look at yourself and see how you can adapt your game. David Silva worked with 4 or 5 different coaches at Man city and not one of them ever put him on the bench, same with the likes of Lampard and Gerrad. A good player will always find a way to help his coach and team regardless of who the coach is. Anyways good luck Mesut.

    1. No a good player does not always find a way to help his coach. A good coach always find a way to use his players to the best of their ability.

      Funny you mention David Silva at city but you conveniently forgot Yaya Toure. While speaking of Guardiola how about Dante, Alexander Hleb, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Samuel Eto’o and the list is long of star players who left because of Guardiola.

      I will not use Emery as a reason to bash Ozil because he failed miserably while coaching the most talented players at PSG. His system/formation did not suit the players at Arsenal either and he was not flexible enough to change course.

      Ozil did not shine under Emery ,
      however he played almost every game during Emery’s tenure despite not functioning as a true No 10 so to say he did not work hard or did not try is just bogus.

      1. Funny you mention Yaya who has always had the reputation of taking days off. And you mention all these Barca players who left because of Pep, and fail to mention Pep has been Barca’s best manager in the modern era, so clearly the guy knows what he was doing.

        1. Yes with players like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi a blind squirrel wins trophies.

          Guardiola then moved to Bayern to ride the tide with Muller, Kroos and Schweinsteiger.

          Then he even had it better at City with plenty of money to buy the best of the best.

          Give the guy credit. He is the best at finding the easiest jobs.

    1. Dan yes you are right, like he ruined Martinelli ,Saka ,Martinez and Smith Rowe. Emery believed in our academy players a lot, yes he made mistakes like everyone else but saying he ruined ozil is just stupid. I will always be grateful to Emery for believing in the likes of saka and Martinez and Martinelli, if emery was still here, I’m sure Saliba will be playing well for us.

        1. lol Iwobi is an average player. Just look at his performance at Everton and even they tried selling him. This comment actually made me laugh, thank you for the giggles. We got good money for him, he will never be worth that again lol

        2. You mean the same our highest sold player Iwobi, the same Iwobi who is playing on a consistent basis for a team who is presently in the top4, the same Iwobi who has been involved in more goals this season than Willian and Nelson, yes that Iwobi is doing well in Everton.

          1. Don’t believe you got my question mate .
            You was talking about all the players Emery as developed but he got rid of your fav Arsenal player .
            Also the only reason iwobi as been playing is because of their injuries.

          2. Dan, Emery did not have a say in who was sold or bought. That much is obvious, so emery did not sell Iwobi. And you still deflect from Leno’s point. Iwobi is playing with a world class manager, who starts him, and is in the top 4. You can say he falls over himself all you want, he is making a difference for his side, is way further up the table than us, and even scored his last game. Iwobi is definitely not regretting leaving.

          3. RSH @ so they sold Iwobi without his saying ,give it a rest ,the excuses are embarrassing .
            Have you actually watched Everton this season ,as soon as he was bought into the team because of injuries the results dropped off .

    2. It’s all about the right formula, grouping like minded players together. A few weeks ago Lacazette couldn’t buy a goal, then we had our injury crisis, in came ESR coupled with Saka on the right and Martinelli on the left Lacazette looks a different player, The same can be said for the Sanchez, Ozil partnership, Sanchez was not the same player when he moved to United and neither was Ozil. some players need others around them to shine and unfortunately Ozil are one of them so is Sanchez, Lacazette and many other stars. What Emery wanted from Ozil was just plain impossible, come now just think about it, Ozil being physical, really, he is a specialist player, it’s like entering the Dakar rally with a race bike designed for the Isle of man TT

    3. @Dan kit

      Actually it was Wenger that ruined Ozil, by over pampering him.

      Under Wenger, Ozil knew he didn’t have to defend and work hard. His starting place was guaranteed, he knew he would never be held accountable for his poor performances, so he clearly got complacent.

      Our next three managers tried their best to get Ozil working harder, and performing with more consistency, but it was too late. He’d got used to the easy life under Wenger, and once he had that monstrous contract in the bag, it was time to put his feet up…which he did!

      1. Not to mention that the next three managers where all “a big failure” so thinking they are capable of helping an accomplished player like Ozil is laughable.

        They could have helped themselves first by winning football games.

          1. No Artera did not win the cup without Ozil. He won the final without Ozil. Big difference.

            MA himself announced that both Ozil and Guendouzi deserve credit for winning the cup because they contributed all along.

        1. @Icw

          Emery got us to our first European final in 13 long years, and finished only 2pts off third, with a dreadful squad, crippling injury list, and also inheriting a club in absolute turmoil thanks to the mess Wenger and Gazidis left behind.

          Arteta wins two trophies, and is doing well at gutting the squad, with huge problems still.

          Both epic failures are they? What should they be doing when looked at in context?

          And if Ozil is so good, then why aren’t any top teams coming in for him? A world class player on the cheap now, or for free in 6 months, yet no interest? This baffles me!

      2. TMJW, In reality he was lazy and ineffective long before that stupidly awarded contract. And ever since too. Which is why he is not in the squad, now that we FINALLY, have a man in charge who will not indulge lazy players for long.

        That last comment means that I believe that both Willian and Pepe are on quicksand now at our club. Auba too, IMO.

        ALL THREE HAVE BEEN LAZY THIS SEASON AND UNLIKE MANY FANTASISTS WHO LIVE IN A WORLD OF THEIR OWN BIAS, I CALL IT EXACTLY AS IT CLEARLY IS!

      3. Agree TMJW. Hate to keep pulling the Aw card but it is true. There are even quotes from AW where it’s clear Ozil was given special treatment. It was not the right buy for where Arsenal were as a club. Ozil works with Germany and Real Madrid because he’s surrounded by the best of the best and can do as he pleases. It’s the right environment for him. Having to acutally work hard, being expected to be a leader is not who Ozil is. A shame the club couldn’t see this and even offered him absurd amounts of money to keep putting in half the required effort. Wenger clearly liked ozil but had a hard time seeing his deficiencies.

  2. Come on guys Ozil is never at fault its everyone else, or his cold or chair hurting his back or the formation or others around him, tactics, poor strikers that he supplies NEVER OZIL!

  3. MO is a world cup winner, highly recognised global football star. All these coaches claiming attempts at helping him are laughable given he has achieved at the height of his profession. He is an ageing star now, but at his youthful best was a truly brilliant playmaker. The obsession with trying to devalue him as a player and human being is just foolish.

      1. lcw, a brilliant comment.
        Hayvn cannot seem to grasp that having a difference of opinion regarding a player, means that those who disagree with him should stop following the club.
        Strange thoughts indeed.

  4. A common mistake that many make is to believe that a manager can ever give desire to a player who has none.

    It cannot be done and that is why it is so vital to only bring on board players wirh moral character and a strong work ethic. Ozil never had either and he should never have come here.

    Has AW brought back Cesc instead, as he should have done, we would be massively further advanced now. If Ozil had never arrived and so much time, energy(not his of course, perish the thought!) and money had not all been wasted!

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