As usual Ozil has become the scapegoat for Arsenal’s latest humiliation away from home. From him walking off when being subbed, his body language at the final whistle or him needing to be convinced to acknowledge the away fans, everything he did/didn’t do has been dissected. Yet if he had run off, sat on the bench smiling and clapped the supporters with a grin on his face, would he not have been criticised for that?
What he deserves flack for is being paid the most money in our history and yet fading away the moment he faced any adversity, yet don’t think he’s the only one. The German has proven for years he is too inconsistent to be considered world class, yet he remains one of the best talents we have. If the funds are not available to get any better, offloading him is cutting your nose off to spite your face. Yet I wrote the same when some gooners were patting Unai Emery on the back for forcing out Ramsey.
The TV cameras were quick to capture images of our disappointed manager on the touchline with the midfielder burning a hole through the back of his head. Our boss has to take responsibility if Ozil is showing a poor attitude. This was a man who was quick to discard him at the start of the campaign, in my opinion a PR stunt to show he wasn’t afraid to make the big decisions.
When he was selecting the likes of Iwobi or playing a back 5 ahead of a world cup winner he put huge pressure on himself to ensure he got us back in the Champion’s League. Instead of owning his opinion he suddenly panicked and put his faith back into a man he was clearly trying to freeze out, man management you wouldn’t expect from Arsene Wenger. Then with the final lost, with another Europa League adventure confirmed, he couldn’t help himself, he took another shot at Ozil by bringing him off for a youngster.
Knowing the midfielder would already get a lot of negativity, he put himself ahead of the team. No one can convince me that he generally thought when we needed a goal that Joe Willock was a better option then Ozil. Willock had last featured against Blackpool in January. He hasn’t featured since even when he scored twice in that tie, that’s how little faith there was in him, yet suddenly you trust him in a European final? That to me was a man avoiding bullets and letting someone else receive them.
When Ozil arrived, the dressing room consisted of Sagna, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud, there was British core of Wilshire, Ramsey, Walcott, the Ox, etc. He’s watched our best individuals sold, not replaced, the club standards dropping every year. He knows this is another summer where the priority will be to save money rather than build a side capable of getting back to old standards. If he’s angry with what is going on at the club, that’s okay with me.
Dan Smith
Even if everything you say is true (and for the record I disagree with almost all if it), where does personal responsibility fit in the “Poor Mesut” narrative?
DAN I think you talk B*****KS. He is not good enough to stay up all night playing with his Z BOX
Awww, can’t you afford the real things so have to buy dodgy copies?
Poor little chav.
PRECISELY! WELL SAID! The truth is that Ozil has a weak character on the pitch and has no fight in him at all. He is far too comfy, thanks to the disastrous contract awarded by Gazidis and agreed or at least permitted by Wenger. Even when it was awarded he had already shown little interest in earning his then smaller money for some considerable time past. So what did those daft characters do? Oh yes, ply him with still more wasted money! You cannot put determination in any player who has none by giving him more money. He needed booting out and does even more so now. Those two characters are the TRUE cause of our plight, along with the appalling owner who cares nothing even for football, let alone Arsenal. Some fans though will never see what is clear to all. WENGER LIKE, THEY REFUSE TO SEE THE PLAIN FACTS AND CONTINUE FOOLING THEMSELVES. They content themselves with saying he sells many shirts. So that make idleness and non caring OK then eh? Grow up !
Can people get over the money. These days Football players surround themselves with managers and financial advisers. Ozils team proved they know how to get the best deal done. Arsenal didn’t have to accept. So congratulations Ozil. Well played. So ignore what he is paid. It has nothing to do with things. Arsenal overpaid. What we can complain about is the way Ozil drifts out of games or doesn’t even show up. And management should treat him like any player and sub him or not even start him. Management also need to ignore what he is paid and treat him like any squad player.
Our problems go much deeper than one individual player. Our midfield was actually better when Wenger was the manager. The whole club culture needs changing.
But remember all those players we’re inherited by Emery from Wenger but the biggest hole is when Santi left and we will never be the same until we have a player who can dictate the game now we have quantities not quality
liverfool is guaranteed to win the champ league….
I hope they win, they deserve it. Liverpool took action, bought the right players and created a win mentality for themselves.
its a guranteed win….
I can’t stand either team… sod the lot of them… to be blinded by all of those teeth on display – no thanks, got better ways to spend 90 minutes
Sue, your post reeks of jealousy. Sad not to be able to be more astute and as if white teeth matter a jot. Oh dear. You sound so very bitter and I find that a great shame for a dedicated fan as you are only hurting yourself
Jon.. yes I wish we were in the CL, but after that horror show on Wednesday, it’s obvious for all to see we’re a million miles from it!!
The teeth comment is just humour, even you commented once on how bright Klopp & Firmino’s are!!
Why would I want to watch 2 teams I don’t like?? I rarely watch them in the PL, so what makes this game any different?
Much better with rosicky and cazorla in the middle. No matter how many times we change our defense, if our mid players can’t hold on to the ball none of it will matter. Teams will just keep on attacking us until they score.
Spot on.With lazy and sloppy mid fielders. who are weak and slow .who don’t mark to win balls(very poor ballwinners),how do u expect a defense always exposed not to collapse sooner than later.All glory seeking teams must have hardworking challenging mid fielders .All arsenal mid fielders -Dhaka,Torreira(strong but slow-can still improve(young and hungry)Elneny,Ozil(seems to lack even what he had before) all fall into this category. See d way Chelsea mid fielders were made to look like all world class ! They lack fight or fire.What do they train-when it matters d most they crumble the more.Its also a complex problem as we know Chelsea struggled against German team while we beat Napoli(who beat Liverpool) and hammered Valencia who defeated barca recently.Its a psychological problem too.
Why are we judging Ramsey on the past 3 years? What about the other 7 years when he was without a doubt, horse poo? It was the right decision made about Ramsey, obviously it backfired, but then again once a player reaches the final year of his contract all the power is with him.
@QUANTIC
I don’t understand some fans. Ramsey has been so crap and because he had some good games this year, he is now like God leaving Arsenal looll
And Ramsey was not forced out. He and his manager sat on a contract extension offer from Arsenal for over 18 months, with the intention of running down his contract, leaving as a free agent and selling himself to the highest bidder with no transfer fee involved. This process began under the previous regime and Emery inherited it.
Ramsey was supported in accordance with his contract conditions for a number of injury affected seasons, yet he winds down his contract and leaves on a free. Somehow this relates to Emery forcing him out.
Mate you are clueless, Ramsey loved the club had been here 10 years he was crying his eyes out the day he left. He didn’t run down his contract Arsenal did, just like they did with wilsher, sanchez, are doing with welback. Ramsey wanted 200k a week. And increase of around 50% at 28 it would be his last big contract and pay day which he deserved as the player that ended our 10 year trophy drought. Scored the winning goal in 2 fa cup finals. And always scored in the big games. The reason the agreement fell through is simple the board didn’t want to pay it and changed their minds, this attitude of running down contracts is retarded business as a club. Even if they wanted to let Ramsey go they could have gave him his contract and then sold him the following year. I mean what we have to spend latley is a joke 40mil. We could have easily got that for selling Ramsey straight away that doubles your spending potential. I think the club was foolish keeping Ozil who has done nothing at our club for 5years doesn’t turn up in the big games is always apparantly sick half the games of the season and lets be honest stealing a living at 350k a week nobody would pay that for him. Thats why we will struggle to sell him this year.
Kris, I am not clueless as I have been following the Ramsey contract saga for over 2 and have followed the Arsenal for 57 years.
You are wrong in your assessment. The tears Ramsey shed were “crocodile tears”, probably as a reaction to the quality of the send off he received after his injury racked career at Arsenal.
Ozzie you are right and Kris is so very wrong. It is fact not opinion that Ramsey had a huge offer on the table and could have signed it for ages but chose not to.. He did not and so, rightly, it was withdrawn. Clearly Kris lives in a parallel world. Fans like Kris who distort and misread the truth apppal me. He is right about Ozil though.
Ramsey had an offer on the table, he was holding out for more money and when Raul replaced Gazidis, the deal was withdrawn.
Can’t you use google?
Yes Midkemma, Ramsey and his manager pushed the bluff and lost.
if you want to be the likes Liverpool and spurs are…You better understand that it’s a process.
how many years has it taken them to be where they are right now? Five or more. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t criticize things but if you think the manager isn’t good enough I don’t know… Maybe you’ll have to who is good enough for this squad we have right now.
and a player can be in decline once he’s approaching the age of 30…Maybe Mesut Ozil is. can he resurrect his career? I’m not sure about that.
Klopp has been with Liverpool for 4 full seasons, this was his 4th completed season with Liverpool.
Poch has been at the spuds for 5 years.
But they did that right men…they sold their best players but for great money, money that than they invest in their teams…they sign good coaches, winning coaches who looks to anything but winning (spurs a bit More gamble), not one who his cv is to be a good coach for midtable teams, playing with low amounts of money to invest but the only requirment Is top four or a fight for that…how much earn the best paid Liverpool player? How much at totenhamm?? U can get that only with players attached to the teams proyect, nada thats requires an ambition proyect, not just fight for FA or EL cup
I don’t believe Ozil has been made the scapegoat for Wednesday night. The whole team/squad has been slated for lacking any kind of winning mentality and lacking the quality/fight required to compete at the sharp end of the league and cup competitions. Sky Sports did a poll and 11 players were unanimously voted as being someone that should be let go and sold. Ozil being one of them.
Ozil maybe gets a little more attention as he is supposedly world class and the truth is that he hasn’t performed for 2 maybe 3 seasons and seems to epitomise this lacklustre attitude that runs through the squad. I was a huge Ozil fan but I think it is time for us to cash in, get his wages off the wage bill and look to replace him….and to be honest replacing him wouldn’t be too difficult based on his contribution last season. I don’t think it would be a case of cutting our noses off to spite our face. He had a very meagre goal/assist tally and if we can get some cash for him now we should. He obviously does not fit the managers plans and I would much rather we move on from one player so our coach can get in the players he wants and that fit his vision.
We’ve seen the contribution from Leno, Sokratis, Torreira and Guendozi (to an extent) and I trust with the right investment in 1 maybe 2 players from what we get from an asset line Ozil could be a good thing for the club.
The whole team was to blame BUT Ozil is RUBBISH and no where near worth £350,000 per week. Bellerin scored more assists than him last season
The person to blame is OZIL. He is finished, no passion nothing in that man.
The whole squad, the mentality of the manger, the manger’s skill everything sucks. We would have been saying something different if the manger did not throw away our top 4 position. Ozil will eventually leave the club, but him alone did not make us rubbish. I can’t even say any single player made us rubbish because it’s is an eleven men’s job, with a coaching staff that understands the weakness and strength of his team, understands the weakness and strength of the opposing team, the struck a balance that will tip the game in his favour, but if we can’t win then we should have shown character. It is totally beyond me how a team can fall this flat on such a crucial day. Honestly I cannot comprehend it at all. And to think this was coming from afar and our manger still couldn’t manage the situation. It has left a totally bad taste in my mouth that an not sure I can ever forgive Emery.
Watford against Man City, I gave Watford a lot of credit because it pushed Man City in a different direction (they lost) but I had respect for what their manger did and I truly wish them success in the future, wolves, Everton, Tottenham, West Ham, are teams that have brought joy to their fans. Not always winning, no trophies, but the shear excitement and joy their mangers bring to the fans is unbelievable. Excitement brings joy, hopefulness, togetherness, purpose, brightness, not all players are perfect but the performances of some help others. Emery is destroying the little hope Wenger left when he was going. Now we have disperse, misery, sadness, hatred, sorrow. Fan argue with other fans endlessly, we just don’t understand each other’s opinions. This man should go.
Was the team under performing due to the changes/strict requirements being effected by Unai? Were they trying to send out some signal to him/coaching staff? Was it sabotage by some players – the so called big names? Was it correct for Ozil to stroll when replaced and rant at the coach? Is the team balance lost because someone is drawing 350K per week? Was it the ugly player power raising its ugly head at Arsenal? Or else how can we bottle up our last EPL games? I am just thinking as an outsider, have no clue what is going on the training ground. Well Unai is at fault for not benching the under performers during our EPL run in. Had he played the bright energetic reserves, we may or may not have got the desired result, but would have sent a strong signal as who is the boss. In my opinion, Ozil should be left to train alone as he has nothing to offer the first team and would be a negative role model for the budding youngsters if sent to train with them. Just see the professionalism of Edin, last match for them, yet he turned it around single handed. We scout and sign the wrong players and compensate them well for their one season wonders.We are too emotional with them, yet they care a damn for the badge and the fans. Somedays back, read a blog, that the revenue from player shirt sales pays off his wages! How absurd our thinking is! We are more concerned about merchandise revenue rather than performances on the field!
Bob Stevens, I was one of those fans who commented, very forcefuuly, on the stats about Ozil’s shirt sales.
The reason behind this was the micoception being put out by those who always single out Ozil as the reason for our bad perforomances.
It was not about concerns regarding merchandise…it was about those utterly false claims that Ozils fanbase was shrinking and these official stats proved otherwise.
It was an opportunity to highlight these false claims that appear as regular as night follows day and it most certainly did that.
No-one said that, because he sold more shirts, it made him a better player did they?
As for the sales paying his salary, that comment was to, again, highlight the fact that only four entities know how his salary is made up…and yet the same fans always comment on it, as if they are privy to the facts, when they actually know nothing about his contract!
These figures and quoting that they paid his salary, was a dig to show just how absurd the whole “bleeding the club dry” scenario has become.
You and I know exactly the same about his contract, and as far as I am aware, have never made claims about it.
If others would just concentrate on his performances on the pitch (good or bad, that’s an individual opinion) then we might be able to have better debates.
Hope that clears this up for you from my point of view, as one of those fans who delighted in showing the fanbase for Ozil was as strong as ever…up until October last year anyway.
Now it’s Emery’s fault for Ozil’s nonexistent personality.
Used to be Girouds, Ramsey, Arteta, flamini fault for him not performing.
Then it was Wengers fault.
Then average headless chickens like Walcott, The Ox, Welbeck’s fault for not making him look good.
Then it was the formations fault.
Then it was the lack of a winter break he was used to.
Then it was because he needed the likes of world class Ronaldo, the Germany team etc to make him perform.
Then it was the lack of fast and better strikers.
Then it was because Wilshere was not giving up the No10. If he could give it up and gave it to ozil then this might motivate Ozil.
Then it was because some fans were not showing enough love and passion towards Ozil.
Then it was the PL referees not protecting Ozil.
Then it was because Arsenal were not showing ozil appreciation by rewarding him a big contract that reflects his talent.
And many more excuses..
Now it is because Emery etc.
Totally agree Goonster. Mezur Ozil is a well credentialled, experirienced, extremely well paid, professional footballer. One expects such a person to be self motivated, act in a professional manner and show courage and commitment to the team. However when these criteria aren’t met it’s Unai Emery’s fault, as it was his previous coaches for clubs and country.
Next I expect to hear that Emery’s actions led to Teresa May resigning as British PM.
ozziegunner, I have it on good authority that he supplied the sandpaper allowing the ball tampering to take place with the Aussie “cricket” team.
Not only that, he supplied Boris with the £350,000,000 misleading figure during the Brexit campaign.
Life is so full of different thoughts and ideas, yet the sad death of Jose brings everything into perspective doesn’t it?
And Ken he supplied the mints to Atherton et al as well!
I cannot agree more with your comments on Jose’s death. Our lives hang by a tenuous thread and we should live it to the full with family and friends. Jose appears to be someone who “had joy in his life and brought joy to others”.
Yes it was disgraceful. This season, the season of comebacks, Liv and City, and we even had a few ourselves early in season that we got credit for, as well as taking slack over them. Ozil, was basically saying well it’s all over, doesn’t matter who you bring on because all I care about is my game. For everything that is said about his unwillingness to go the extra distance, how he won’t put his body on the line, before being countered with – but he’s not that type of player anyway so judge him for what he is good at – This is much worse than that, the disrespect to the manager who is trying to tweak something tactically, or put fresher legs on, the disrespect to the club and to the fans who give him great support, what was he trying to say at all, why didn’t he say it loud and clearly by stepping up and by allowing it to come through in his will to win. He hasn’t got one competitive bone in his body, he has an undeserving ego and he believes he is better than Arsenal. His personality outside the game is his people around him, his social media profiles, his charity gift for one special person that gets headlines, this isn’t Ozil, it his his agent and others doing a job. This here – walking off the pitch eating time up, stroppy, disrespectful, huge ego, this is Ozil.
We need to call a spade a spade .
We went on an unbeaten run . what was the difference in that team and the team of the latter part of the season .i will tell you . the coach played with one striker up top (i for one dont think we should have 2 strikers playing together .)and Ozil was not in the squad .this is just the truth . the moment Emery lost his stance on Ozil the lackluster attitude creeped into the team.
As for the Ozil fanboys and girls i dont understand them . They can pick on 22 year old player but argue when their prince gets slated . I remember the other day somebody said Ozil has a good pass completion rate .What rubbish .
We can go on and mention 40 Attacking midfielders in Europe and no one will consider Ozil in that list,if you doubt me check if Ozil is better than the midfielders in all the top 10 clubs in every league round Europe .While OZil cant solely take the blame .His salary put a target on his back especially after having a shitty World cup and for those who say he needs quality around him .it doesnt get better than the German national team and their team is better for getting rid of him .
lets be honest Ozil has been the worst player in Arsenal this season . Yes i rate Elneny as better because we know what Elneny is all about and he put his quota .
Emery must do the needful and get rid of a host of player.
Football is about effort and not about names anymore .Our players lack hunger
Kosc,Mustafi,Elneny,Lich,Xhaka,Sokratis,Miki,Monreal(humble servant)
Koscienly should look at himself in the mirror and leave because this is another European final that he offered nothing .
This might be an unpopular opinion but i think we should sell Auba to generate funds .Just like how Liverpool sold Coutinho. he will be missed but can be replaced for cheaper seeing that he missed the most chances on goal in the premier league though taking the Golden boot,he is too one dimensional ,he doesn’t even use his speed he is claimed to have.these are just my opinions every one is entitled to theirs .
Agree. But his wage demands are the problem
Emery don’t like creativity and he doesn’t like good football
Emery is nothing bout Spanish Morinho
Emery is about to take his rabble to the USA, for what reason I have no idea, but I think it would be advisable to leave our prize possession (Ozll) at home, we wouldn`t want him bruised in anyway before he goes on the market. Take him to Bayern Munich by all means (or did he come from there?) there could be some boy scouts interested.
For those who bagged me for saying some nice words about Klippiity Klopp, he now has a trophy, one that would very much satisfy the Gunners faithful.
Arsenal is steadily falling behind city, spurs and liverpool.. Its an all english affair but if u look keenly we have no players and we are not backing our coach in the transfer market.. Klopp and pep will continue showing dominance over us because they are given funds yearly to strengthen.. I bet they will spend more money than us this summer despite having a better squad than us.. Thats how mediocrity sets in slowly but effectively.. We will continue to struggle and to lose our best players to more ambitious teams as long as logic continues to exist.. Bayern are finally spending money to restore their position in europe, 80 million on lucas hernandez, 45 million on pavard and an anticipated 100 million on sane to replace ribery/robben.. Our own gnabry is showing more balls than ozil, no wonder germany is calling him up and quickly replacing ozil… ask yourself what is arsenal doing to close the gap????????? Signing 4 million pounds players and relying on 2-3 players.. Thats not enough as long as football ligic exists gooners…