Is offloading Mesut Ozil in January a wise move for Unai Emery?

Mesut Ozil likely to depart the Emirates in January but is it a sensible move?

The departure of Mesut Ozil in January is looking very likely but is Arsenal shooting themselves in the foot?

Arsenal will probably have to pay a significant sum of money towards Ozil’s wage in the event of any deal. So, from a financial perspective, there is hardly a windfall on the horizon.

Ozil is still a quality player with the ability to turn a game on its head. The problem with the 30-year-old is that he does not work hard enough when the ball is lost. Well, not in Emery’s eyes.

But that only becomes a big issue if Ozil starts a game, it would be different if he was brought on as a sub.

We are not talking about a player introduced into a game for defensive reasons. He would be brought on to open the game up, to create a goal.

That is what Ozil is more than capable of doing so why not have that sort of game-changer on the bench?

There will be times when Arsenal need a breakthrough as a game nears its end. Is there a better player to turn to in that sort of moment than Ozil? Not at Arsenal in my opinion.

We have seen Christian Eriksen do it for Spurs and even the likes of Jesus at Man City, another two players that do not typically trackback but have that ability to create a goal from nothing.

No one is suggesting making Ozil captain and first name on the team sheet but as an impact sub, he could be invaluable.

49 Comments

  1. Ozil Plays in a team with no identity and boring to watch, opposite of his game. He should leave this club as Auba will in January and Laca next.. owners and Emery are killing this club! No identity no excitement, pathethic.

      1. Blago…the perfect comment – that is why Ozil has lost the drive to perform, he just despairs at the type of football we are seeing from this so called coach.

        He doesn’t coach anything and I would love anyone to tell me what has improved ON THE PITCH since his arrival – don’t talk about points, positions or injuries – just explain why any fan should be excited about UE’s brand of football.

        Fans are talking with their feet and with the Emirates showing thousands of empty seats, no atmosphere and tactics that defy logic.

        BUT, that does not excuse Ozil for not trying (and that certainly seems the case now), especially while he’s taking his salary.
        I have no doubt whatsoever that Ozil can prove UE and others they are wrong, but he needs to want to prove them wrong and that is the situation.

        1. So one thing that you can’t deny is that he bought some fight back to the team – how many times did we see the squad just give up when things were tough under Wenger?

          Personally I also see evidence of an intelligent pressing system, assured confident passing that allows us to play out from the back and play some pretty nice attacking football. This is to be found in the Europa league/Cup setup and is what I believe to be the blueprint for us going forward.

          Some think this should be ignored as it’s only in inferior competition and not the league – well if Ozil’s form in the Cup can be used as proof we should be including him then why can’t the teams form in those competitions be used as proof that there is more to come from Emery and this squad?

          1. madHatter, I will print the words that our captain, UE’s personal choice of course, said after the humiliating performance at Watford…

            “WE WERE SCARED OF THEM”…”bought fight back to the team”???..the most cowardly sentence ever uttered in my opinion.

            Did you ever hear that from any other Arsenal player or manager before?

            As for the europa games versus the premier games, have you asked yourself why the difference is so marked?
            It’s the younger players who have been influenced and brought forward by Freddie versus the estabilished players who are being told by UE how to improve their crossfield and backward passing from the six yard box.

          2. Ken with English not being Xhakas first language, so his comments about being ‘scared’ – how else would you word being worried about our ability to deal with their press whilst we try to play attacking football? Does ‘scared’ not cover that description? 🤔
            I agree that it’s not what I never wanted to hear from our captain either, but have worked alongside enough people for whom English isn’t their first language (even if they speak it well) that after I calmed down I can see where it could be an innocent faux pas 🤷‍♂️

            No you can’t place it all on youngsters in Europa, and Freddies coaching – that would imply that the different backline between the league and Europa has no impact and that Freddie is still responsible for the youngsters even though they are senior team now. The backline makes a huge difference and Emery is coaching the team not Freddie. I offer Guendouzi as proof – never went in our youth set up so never went under Freddie, meaning his improvements are down to his own drive to improve and Emery’s coaching 🤷‍♂️

      1. Mogunna, how do you propose to get rid of the owners? Do you think Kroenke would listen to you or any supporter?
        Raul Sanheili will make the decision whether or not Ozil is loaned or sold, not Emery.

  2. Ozil is no super sub, he gains momentum as the game goes on. But you are right that he doesn’t do much when he is not with the ball. It’s a small matter that he is not on the pitch, or the bench, or even the stadium!

    Arsenal is no longer just an English club, it’s a global brand. Money comes from this part of the game, much more than in-stadia and Ozil is a huge brand across the globe, much like Wenger still is, so people can say all they want, but our club will be the loser. It’s not shooting in the foot, but more like the buttocks & it’s going to hurt, all for one Unai Emery who managed to lose one season for PSG, out of the two he was there.

    1. I am not an Emery but I would like and hope for you to be so wrong. I will like to return an laugh at this post if Arsenal in a few years time are better off as a club than you wish for it to be. Sometimes I wonder if fans critiquing is for the love of the club or preference for certain individuals. Please let’s support the club by wishing it well whilst criticising.

  3. ozil should not go anywhere,he should just sit his azz down till his contracts ends,emery and management are making life hard for him,and I have an ouch that they are behind the goons attack on him…they want him gone by force.. nonsense!!..boring emery

    1. Yeah yeah I have insider news that ozil staged the attack to get more sympathy and excuses. No physical contact at all

  4. “Ozil is still a quality player with the ability to turn a game on its head”. When did that last happen?

    You also ponder the idea of Ozil becoming an impact sub. When has Ozil ever made an impact from the bench? We saw him plenty of times from the bench last season, and he offered almost nothing. Very strange to suggest this, if you had watched Arsenal regularly last season. Ozil was very poor as a starter, and non existent as a sub.

    1. Last time you said he played 35 games but records say it was 24 games. 4 games as a sub in that.
      4 games is plenty eh?!?!

      1. 35 games in total, which included more than 4 sub appearances. I never understand why some people only talk about the league appearances, whilst ignoring 3 other competitions?

    2. At his peak at Real Madrid, when Mourinho started Ozil he always took him off after 60 minutes. He never used him as a sub.

          1. The Arsenal will survive Ozil leaving to sell shirts for another club.
            This is Arsenal FC, not Ozil FC, Wenger FC or Emery FC; no one is bigger than the Club.

          2. The only stats I could find re. shirt sales is for 2016/17.

            Arsenal sold a total of 1.225 million shirts and Mesut Ozil ranked 5th highest sales worldwide and that’s only shirts. Probably covers his salary (whatever it is)!!! The Kroenkes will need to fill that hole when they get rid of him .

  5. It’s international week and Ozil articles get us all arguing so in turn get more people commenting .

      1. to his fan club, maybe. I left whatever sympathy I had for the man on that fateful night in Baku, when he walked off the field and the other lad came on and scored a consolation goal! Good riddance to a bad attitude.Maybe his fan club will miss him, the club will continue as it has been over 100 years. Good luck to him, happy birthday to him, we move forward without another distraction. The only success Unai has had till date at AFC is to show the man the door.Period.

  6. Emery out ozil stays i stop watching arsenal games since oil is not playing our game is very bad…arsenal is going backwards with Emery incharge..our football is not beautiful anymore..we struggle a lot before we win even bottom club matches

  7. i hate the stle of play by the manager. you start by defending in first halve,yet you start lacaz,Ozil who will play for 65mins, .ALL YOU DO IN THE FIRST HALF IS TO KEEP THE BALL AT THE BACK.BY THE THE TIME YOU CHANGE TO ATTACKING IN THE SECOND HALF,YOU HAVE SUBD OZIL,
    LACAZ,PEPE.HOW DO YOU WIN. WHEN YOU LOOSE ITS OZIL.
    IF CEBALOS IS BETTER THAN OZIL,HOW MANY SUCCESSFUL TACKLES HAS CEBALOS DONE THIS SEASON.ONLY ONE.pliz. dont destroy our team. Dont take us the manchester united way. beyond repair. SHOW ME ANY TWO BALL INTERCEPTED BY CEBALOS FROM AN OPPONENT IF HE IS BETTER THAN OZIL

  8. “Ozil is a quality player with the ability to turn a game on its head.”

    He can’t control the tempo, let alone changing the game or carrying the team

    “Ozil would be brought on to open the game up, to create a goal.”

    His avid fans can keep waiting for his rare defense-splitting through balls. I remember Guendouzi’s Pirlo-esque through balls in this season, but Ozil’s was in Leicester game two years ago

    Loaning Ozil out will reduce Arsenal’s wage bill and send a bad role model away

    He could still be useful if playing as a half-winger, but I don’t think he would ever play in that position at Arsenal. Playing in a slower league like Serie A would be good for him, as it is for Lukaku and Sanchez

      1. Viju, read again. He didn’t say Guendouzi is pirlo. Giving a Pirlo-like pass does not translate to being Pirlo in a whole. You guys can moan all you want about ozil being left out from the team but most of the fans have come to accept that he doesn’t deserve to be in the squad. He doesn’t fit in. He is not hard working esp without the ball, his presence in the team puts more stress on the midfield because he will never assist in winning the ball back. He’s so called defense splitting passes are few and far apart these days. FFS, he was subbed in Baku for Willock and in 20 minutes Willock out performed him. What did he offer in the finals? Tell me? He has more bad games than good games and goes missing a lot of times. If he’s too old/big to change his style then he shouldn’t play. Simple! He may not be finished but for the modern game, he’s not cut out for it. Let him go to Spain where its less physical or Seria A where its much slower.

        1. In your infinite wisdom you have decided, so who am I to contest that! All you needed was 141 minutes to decide he doesn’t fit in but Xhaka does, so that beds the issue for me.

    1. Like I said earlier, Ozil is not the most redundant player in the Arsenal team. But when the coach don’t like you then, it’s time to seek greener pasture else where. How better is Xaka and some of our calamitous defenders? Yet U.Emery still stick with them. If we let Ozil go, I hope he doesn’t come to “hunt” Arsenal later bcos no one can denial his skills.

  9. ADMIN, PLEASE stop these posts about Özil. This is getting ridiculous. Should he, shouldn’t he: play, go, stay, go to the toilet, wash his face….. ENOUGH ALREADY. He has no more to contribute so PLEASE, let him go in peace and good luck to him wherever he ends up.

  10. He needs to stay’nplay, got lots to contribute.

    Have to respond to Guendouzi being compared with Pirlo As much as I really rate him, that is the funniest thing I’ve heard for ages 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  11. Ozil is a quality player with the ability to turn a game if Ozil is in the field he show his self and create many chance and his control the game more and more. But I don’t know how Emery no like him he just like he play for youngers players like ceballos willock and so on. Now is better Emery to know who is ozil.ozil is batter than our youngest players.pls advice him immediately because we need Ozil very soon in our team

  12. Özil is mostly a problem of Emery’s own making (disclaimer: I still support him and believe he can take us back to CL football and needs enough time), probably because he lost his previous job due to the team’s most expensive player sapping his authority.
    He didn’t another Neymar situation to build up (I’m not saying Özil is in the same league either) so clearly worked to put Özil down from his “golden boy” place.
    It might have worked too well and, after a season working to try to fit more in Emery’s system of play, Mesut possibly gave up if the latest rumours of not training hard enough lately are to be believed.
    In any case, that’s TERRIBLE management from Unai, especially if you’re trying to sell your highest paid player!!
    The club lost millions by this management.
    Özil was clearly putting much more of a defensive shift the 2nd half of last season and you can’t say he wouldn’t fill the creative void in our midfield in games like against Bournemouth and such.
    What a waste!

  13. Not at all sir, but other way around; Emery out will be a wise article, relevant as someone else pointed.

    Ozil is not our issue, nor actually Emery who is board’s choice and strategy to erase Wenger 20 years as the way they had him to leave, like a low life, can’t say a dog as pets are adorable and way smarter.

    Wenger develloped this Arsenal brand, providing an Amazing image internationally. Kroenke is just a cowboy with no class nor respect for football and EPL.

    Sir Alex and football honored him but Kroenke used him, no money for decade strong, gave him away to the fans while cashing up on us, have us against him, insultant him, kicking him out of that Emirate that should have been named Wenger Emirate stadium.

    He made this brand a powerful internationally. Whoa! All these youngsters, academy New New facilities and youth policy… Devellopment takes time, he took that brand and made it a major brand as Man U on a decade, keeping us in CL 20 years with no money with a stadium built and paid 7 years ago!

    Reality we are totally bored after 5 EPl games, tittle out of reach, we played 8 and depend on bad results/period of Man U, Blues, Spurs to make it to 3rd or 4th.

    Then we are now also scared of Foxes & Wolves to eat us up as they getting used to for over a year.

    So does Palace or even Borsmouth, Everton as well; they have new players adapting, sure they will be stronger than team beating us last season by December…

    Pretty much for a year strong Arsenal is losing its identity and image. Wenger Bad to watch Chelsea, City and Reds spend money for 5 years and compete with kids, mocked for that.

    Funny how these kids are the ones we love and enjoy to watch; just as world did since Mr Wenger took over.

    He speaks about Arsenal, saying “we”, til this very day. So, with all due respect to Emery who is doing his best, Ozil is World class and why Auba or Laca came on board and or course all came because of Prof Wenger, just as Pepe or Saliba came for that brand he made them love for décades!

    Our best team is our Academy and young players with Ozil, Laca and Auba, beside Martinelli and Tierny he monitored they all Prof’s kids! Chambers, Holding, Nketia, Saka, Willock, Nelson, Martinez…

  14. You just don’t get it, do you? Özis WAS, in his day, a world class player who could turn a game on its head. The operative word is WAS!. He is it no longer, and has not been it for several years. This is not Emery’s doing. Already during Wenger’s time people, myself included, were saying Arsenals biggest problem is Mesut Özil. Wenger kept him in the team because he extended Özil’s contract and made him the highest paid player in the team, so he would have looked very silly indeed if he had left him on the side.

    Emery inherited the guy and will not let emotions run his decisions as to who should play. All credit to Emery.

    Thank goodness the saga is getting to its end and hopefully he will leave during Winter transfer window.

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