The Ozil Decision Could Haunt Arteta! By Dan Smith
I don’t want to repeat myself every time we lack creativity in a game by asking why we are paying Ozil 350,000 thousand pound a week to sit at home, but I do have to say it could be a decision which comes back to haunt Arteta.
Yet again we lacked creativity against Leicester, and if we are honest, I could have written the same for the majority of our games this season. Even in our wins against poor sides we are not making lots of chances which for so long has been our DNA.
Some readers have called me offensive to our manager by suggesting he’s only dropped Ozil based on the owners wishes. To me, common sense suggests it’s non footballing reasons. You play a player every League fixture from December – March and only lose once. That players last game before lockdown is to assist a winning goal.
Post lockdown, he can’t get in the squad.
We lose the first two matches after the 3-month break and he can’t make the bench at a time when you can have 5 subs?
You don’t have a shot on target at Villa Park, and we are meant to believe a World Cup winner can’t make a 22-man squad, but Matt Smith can?
I want it to be for reasons off the field. I want it to be because we are doing everything to force out an individual because we regret the contract we offered.
Because I like Arteta. I believe with time he could be special. But if I have to believe my theory is wrong then that forces me to question the coach’s decision.
If your telling me the squad, we submitted to the Premiere League is 100 percent based on a footballing decision, then I have to for the first time questions our boss’ judgement.
If he truly believes that Joe Willock or Reiss Nelson are more capable of picking a pass then Ozil, we might have a problem. I don’t believe it, I can’t.
A man mentored and taught by Pep Guardiola does not choose to leave out a number 10, but include Elneny without outside influence.
Yesterday was a perfect game for Ozil. Our opponents tactics were to let us have the ball because they knew we didn’t have a midfielder who could unlock the door.
That’s what some gooners don’t get.
It’s become such a hostile debate that if you say Ozil should be in that squad you are called names.
The truth is I want whatever gives us the best possible chance of winning games. If Joe Willock was picking out passes, I wouldn’t mention Ozil’s name. But he’s not.
If we had the ambition to buy a Coutinho or Aouar, I could understand them being picked ahead of Ozil. But we didn’t.
Instead, we have one of the least imaginative midfields in our recent history who have just finished in our worst position in 25 years.
I’m not saying Ozil should be starting, but when the Foxes took the lead who else can you think of who could spot a run and just try something different?
We had 10 minutes to find an equaliser, yet where was the kitchen sink?
Let’s say we were not forced to change Luiz and had two options to bring on after Pepe. Maitland Niles, Willock, Elneny, Eddie?
With a straight face I’m meant to believe Ozil isn’t a better option?
With a straight face, have they got the mentality or personality to come on and be the man who will create something? Or will they play it safe?
If that’s what Arteta thinks then we won’t progress.
That’s okay though. Maybe Ozil agrees to leave in January? Maybe he agrees to be released before then? Maybe we don’t have to pay him his bonuses if he can’t play?
As long as Mr Kroenke saves money, right?
Meanwhile Ozil is still getting 350,000 pounds a week!
So the only people losing out are us fans. We have to watch a midfield with zero creativity lose at home to Leicester for the first time since 1973.
Like we have to see Leno play all cup games because Arteta doesn’t trust Runarsson, yet we had proper competition with Martinez. Like we have signed a young defender for over 20 million who can’t get in a Europa League squad to play Dundalk.
So no, I don’t think these are all footballing decisions being made.
That’s our 7th defeat post lockdown. You can’t blame Ozil for any of them!
All you can be is the best version of yourself, Arsenal are not doing that.
Ozil will leave next Summer. Kroenke will save money on the wage bill. They will be fine.
But if we miss out on the top 4 and it’s due to a lack of creativity, we have hurt only ourselves and a managers credibility.
Dan Smith
100 %..
we had ONE Shot in the second half.. just one and then we should have tried to come back.. no creativity and a really weak bench
I have to agree there was no one absolutely no one who could thread a pass through to make things happen, absolutely no ONE!!!!!!!!
Ozil is the only answer
If anyone dares argue with what Dan has written then they honestly no nothing about football at all
Ah but you know the usual crowd will Phil .
I could list the names right now and what they are going to post .
As regular as clockwork
Dan Kit
You arrogance is showing like a neon light. Hubris.
Think you read my post wrong Sean
Dan Kit
Apologies if I did
Well Dan, let them explain to us exactly how we are a better attacking side without Ozil. If I’m missing something I will be the first to agree with them but there the issue. It’s their blind hatred of Ozil that clouds their own thinking because they never have an answer to the simple fact that no other player in our squad is able to offer what a fit, confident Ozil can bring to the side.
Maybe you’re missing the fact that Ozil has had five assists for Arsenal in his last 4119 minutes-two seasons, 42 matches. That’s an assist rate of one every 824 minutes, or one every 9 full games. Two very different things,what Ozil is capable of and what he has produced-that has led 3 different managers to drop him.. maybe it was the managers blind hatred of him as well , maybe that’s why they all dropped him
Can I ask who is doing any better
An assist requires that your forwards are capable of putting a decent effort on target.
So, should Ozil or any other Midfielder be judged by the penultimate pass before a goal(assist) only or the goal itself ? What about the overall influence on the game?We all know the kind of magic Ozil can create!
Dan you ate spot on, our team is playing a boring game. There is no excitement, most of our midfielders play closer to the defenders, we don’t have a midfielder who can make things happen. Teams can easily predict our moves. Ozil is far better than all our midfielders, except Partey.
Very true ntate.. and our frontline end up having to come back deep to collect balls.
Hello, Phil, If two assists a season is what Dan is talking about, then there is no point in debating. I give up. But if we are talking in general about improving the midfield with different options either through CAMs or wingers then we can debate. Yes we do need upgrades on what we have, but FFP and quotas need to be looked into before we make the signings. Next summer with the departures of Ozil and hopefully Xhaka, Laca, Elneny, Kolasinac,Luiz we have to chose wisely whom we hire.We need creativity, but not from Ozil,Two or three assists for the last 3-4 years if we rely on this, then we are better off losing 1-0 than 3-0, at least goal difference may get us a spot higher in the table.
Yesterday, if Laca had scored, Mustafi had marked his man, we would not be debating this.Rather than getting on Arteta’s back, boo and shoo Mustafi, Xhaka and Laca.
Hold your horses, we would not be seeing Ozil in the league until Jan 21, so no point crying over spilled milk. Channel your energy on the wasteful Laca and useless Xhaka and Mustafi.
It is not an assist if those who are assisted are wasteful.
A lot has been said lads but we are in a transition that took liverpool years.to me the problem starts right from the top and the owners are profit oriented not football at large. I have been a gooner since 10yrs and I will be no matter what.
@Loose Cannon- I appreciate you have taken what I have said in the context I have meant. Two assists are very poor if taken as a whole, but there is no doubt that when Arteta re-introduced Ozil into the team on Boxing Day away at Bournemouth we immediately saw an improvement on the way we went forward and attacked. This carried on against Chelsea a few days later and Man Utd on New Year’s Day. Some forget we absolutely pulverised Chelsea that day, but scored only once and it was the defence(sic) that allowed two late goals to beat us.
So as Chelsea are recognised as a far better side than Leicester, why do we set up so negatively as we did yesterday? DC played wide right.Really? What is he going to do from there? Surely he was going to be our focus on playmaking with both Partey and Xhaka behind him? With no Pepe, Bellerin should have been our wide outlet but how many times did that happen?
It says it all that it was Luiz who was our playmaker with his 60 yard balls out to Tierney. All too obvious and predictable.
I’m not saying Ozil would have won the game single handedly, but at least he would have offered us something that is so glaringly missing from our forward play, Auba is too isolated, Saka is left to try and give us movement going forward, which is asking a lot for a young kid no matter how talented he is, and Lacazette is simply NOT a reliable goal scorer.
When I saw us with a Back Four I really thought we would be far more expansive, but that second half performance was as bad as anything Emery ever threw up.
And we have a player on the books who could offer something different yet is sidelined despite being fit and despite training every day with the rest of the first team. And that’s not worrying?
Phil
Absolutely
Why would you spare Ceballos? Isn’t he suppose to be the one doing the creative work with his laissez-faire approach?
Amen to that!
Phil, Ben following The Arsenal for 58 years and obviously by your definition, know nothing about the game.
Then try following more closely PAL- and leave the tinnies alone. That might help
I am virtually a teatotaller, so there is no way my vision or analysis is affected.
Some time ago prior to you having a “holiday” from this site, you invited me to stay with you in London, when I next go there. Previously you and I have agreed on a lot, but it seems because we disagree on Mezut Ozil that invitation I now recinded.
I am finding the personal abuse that these so called discussions are degenerating into, have taken the enjoyment out of Justarsenal.
I’ve decided not to bother any more, as there are more important things in life.
What is it that makes the trolls so intransigent in their own misguided opinions?
I think the lack of creativity last night was apparent,I couldn’t even tell you where Ceballos was playing ,surely he should have been deployed behind Laca .
When you have David Luiz pinging passes bypassing the midfield then that shows we are lacking in midfield ,unless that was Artetas game plan .
I thought bringing in partey would help Xhaka and Ceballos in becoming a bit more creative and maybe pushing forward more ,all I saw was them dropping back everything we attacked ,I honstely can’t remember Ceballos being involved with any attack further up the field .
It was a game we should have won but unfortunately we didn’t .
I won’t bother commenting on Ozil because it’s not going to change the fact that he isnt in the team .
but from the time Ozil en Matteo stopped playing for us, we have just been basing on the performance of our defense entirely, if they don’t create or make killer passes then we don’t score.
Just an convincing wins or losses.
Dani was playing as a right back so was xhaka on the left
Thanks, I felt the same too about Ceballos; where was he. With two DM in place I was hoping to see him push upfront but rather he continued with sideways passing and no penetration. But what do I know 🤷🏾♂️
Nobody can really say if Ozil would’ve made any difference in that team last night. It’s always easy to criticize after the facts. We’ve also had some pedestrian performances with Ozil on the pitch.
It’s like creating an Emi Martinez article anytime Leno makes a mistake.
And btw, I’m as gutted as everyone else about that uninspiring performance at home.
He could’ve made the difference but that’s not the issue.
Issue is, Özil is doing something wrong at closed doors: does he train enough? Does he train well? Does he strolls through training?
When Arteta dropped Pepe, it was because he wasn’t doing enough in training.
I find it strange that 3 different managers, all drop the same player, and what’s in common with all those managers, is that they see what happens in the squad in training and behind closer doors, every day.
Just pure talent doesn’t merit a spot in the squad IMO.
OH and before anyone comes here to blab on about me “attacking” Özil, I’m not attacking. He started it in the media. After that all the fanboys came out attacking the manager and the club. I’m defending the club and the manager.
Arteta has his flaws but casting out Özil is not one of them. He’s seen him every day so I trust MA to do the judgement.
Except that Emery brought Ozil back at the end.
Just ask yourself why.
Desperation!?
I do understand what you are saying but at the moment he’s still getting paid that makes him part and parcel of the team and honesty speaking right now we need him and arteta must put aside what ever issues he has against the guy and play him
Or three different managers have the same board who is against ozil.
Maxis, that’s exactly the point,we will never know won’t we?people are not saying MO is the solution but at least give it a try now that we have a more compact,solid team, play Ozil,replace Xhaka with Elneny,tell him to just focus on defending and at all times protecting our back 4 to compensate for Ozil then if it doesn’t fair enough let’s try something else!
Maxis
As a ‘generality’, in certain home games Ozil is more likely to break down defences, than Ceballos or Xhaka. Can you accept that or do you believe that the midfield of Xhaka, Partey and Ceballos will function as our creative hub. C’mon.
This is absolutely correct. I also believe that Mikel Arteta is actually shooting himself in the leg. Look at our strikers they are burnout in game 6 why? They run themselves out both to defend and create their own chances. They absolutely look clueless bar Saka.
I will strongly recommend that Mikel continue the 343 system instead of trying the 442. We do not have the creativity to play the latter. Let is remain the counter attacking team until we can find a genuine creative midfielder
Enough of Ozil now, as we cannot do anything about it until at least January.
Yes, nothing we can do for now. We can only give our support and hope that the players feel the need to perform at a high level that will.win them games. They are on the pitch we are in the virtual stands 😎
I don’t really think creativity was the issue last night.
We created lots of chances yesterday in the first half but our attackers were clearly wasteful.
Having 11 attempts doesn’t scream lack of creativity.
Even if Ozil was included, the problem wouldn’t have solved by his creativity. We could have De Bruyne and Prime Ozil and we’d still look poor as long as our attackers keep on being wasteful..
Saka, who was always kick at taking shots in the box rather than being calm. Lacazette, well we all know already. Auba, who should’ve done better, he also headed a perfect cross wide.
I think us as fans belittle other teams too much and expect us to win every game and when it doesn’t happen we start creating excuses about lack of this and lack of that instead of somety just giving credit where it’s due.
Credits to Leicesty, they pulled on us what we pulled on City and Liverpool during the FA cup.
They were set up solidly defensively, stayed back and looked for a moment of error. When they got it, it was converted.
So fair play to them for executing their manager’s plan.
The Arsenal boys on the other hand were to wasteful. It has been like that for a series of games now.
It’s looking like we need to address our attackers more instead of saying it’s lack of creativity all the time.
Losing to Liverpool wasn’t lack of creativity, losing yesterday wasn’t lack of creativity.
Though in all honesty, we could do with more creativity.
Now I see why Papa Wenger would always stock up on technical creative midfielders a lot.
He never lacked any when it comes to techniques and creativity, yet let’s not forget we complained about it
I don’t agree Eddie, ok we created some opportunities in first half but what did we create in second half? Our football was slow and lethargic giving chance to Lecister players to get behind the ball. Even though Lecister had less attacks but it seemed more likely they will score then us bec their transition was quick. Our creativity has been an issue under MA which has been pretty evident since start of the season (you can check the stats). How can you say we were creative against Liverpool when we never had the ball and barely created two chances, not taking those two chances of which one was offisde does not mean we were creative. Having 11 shots on goal does not mean we created 11 chances. I agree with you our forwards have been wasteful but then their is no forward in world who will convert all chances all the time. We never had a clear cut chance like Lecister did for vardy. Don’t know what is wrong with MA that he has to change and chop upfront every match, is he trying to be different. First city then UEFA cup and now against Lecister why play the players out of their position.
Don’t play the not all forward score every time card. This is like what? The third game already this season for Lacazette?
The 6th for Auba that he’s gone completely Ghost mode? All in just 7 games.
Quick questions, out of those 11 attempts in the first half, only one was from outside the box, the attempt Aubameyang made that got deflected by David Luiz. A whole lot of other chances wasted were from crosses and inside the box. So here’s my question out of those 11 attempts, if our attackers had scored 3 or 2 goals.
Would this be a discussion today?
I’ve seen Martinelli score that header Lacazette missed three times under 2 months!!! Bro that kid scored that same header 3 times when he broke into the team..
So this is not just about creativity.
Like I said, I do admit we need more creativity, but I can’t keep beating the Ozil story. It’s tiring. Ozil’s not in the squad, I’ve moved forward. The only reason I ain’t losing sleep about Ozil not being there is he hasn’t done much for the past 3 years to convince me either.
I used to be a strong supporter of Ozil. But I’m smart enough to know it’s legal for players to decline, so I don’t attack them for it.
Maybe the team could’ve been set up in another way with Ceballos as the no 10 instead.
Maybe, just maybe that would sort the creativity issue, but the way everyone’s sounding today would make you think Leicester didn’t defend solidly as a team and did nothing.
They did exactly the same thing we did to City in the FA cup.
City despite all their attempts in that game, would you say they lacked creativity with everything they threw at us?
Credits to Leicester City here for coming with a plan and executing it. They won fair and square, our attackers should be the one facing the heat not the midfielder or defense
Eddie so you don’t think that the fact that Tierney and Luis are our most creative players not a problem and Luis who went off injured at the 47th still ended up on top,no creativity from the midfield is our problem, we’ve been found out,2 games in row now that teams have played with low blocks against us, giving us more possession to hit us on the break,they know that once they nullify our threats from our full backs(crosses)we have no other plans, we’ve sadly become a one trick poney team.
Of course it’s a problem, but that’s from the coach’s tactics itself.
Who has insisted on having the wingbacks and flanks as the main side of attack?
It’s the manager, it all started as part of the 3-4-3 formation, but now they’re so used to it that every time our midfielders get the ball, they hardly try forward passes.
Every forward pass goes to the flanks, if you’re yet to notice it, in the Utd and upcoming games try to notice it.
Maybe it would be better if the coach insists everyone needs to be creative and ask the midfielders not to depend on the flanks a lot?
Have you noticed, whenever we get the ball, we start finding Saka/Aubameyang/Tierney who play and likes hugging the left flank, same with Willian and Pepe who can’t do anything on the right.
The only player who attempts forward passes of all kind is David Luiz. Xhaka does once in a while, but that’s it. Rest of the teams quickly move the ball to the flanks.
Ozil is not in the squad, question should be how can we use our midfielders best now?
Eddie I have noticed it that’s why I brought Luis and Tierney up and you have perfectly analyzed our midfield creative problems I have to say and you are also right the Ozil discussion is a non starter since he is not in the squad and we should concentrate on finding other solutions!👍
Eddie
?????. What were you watching? To go out without any defined creativity in the team is actually not playing football?
I have been saying this from start dropping ozil was not based on him not performing or being part of MA plan it was forced on MA by board bec of club politics. I just do not understand, we are paying ozil and he is not leaving till end of this season then why not use him in games where we lack creativity even that means we give small cameo from bench. Fans quoting his stats are such hypocrites bec when it comes to their favourite player or if you show them ozil’s complete stats in Arsenal shirt they change their statement to say oh stats for show everything. Club needs to be clever here and play Ozil to unlock defence bec unlike UE the team has improved and we have better support cast for ozil to do that…use him and then let him go in summer, why make it into an ego problem. By the way to all Ozil haters if you were looking at stats then look at last two stats of Partey as well, they are not that great and if you judge by stats then he is not the saviour that ppl paint him to be. I Partey and he is a great buy no doubt but some times you need to look beyond stats to see the impact of player, Partey is an example. If stats was to go by then Willian aka Messi signing made no sense. Fact is ozil is and remains our main creative player till other players like Saka come of age so we should put our who aside and use what we have to achieve result.
Dan you are right. If anybody with a creative hair on their body can describe a midfield of Ceballos, Xhaka and Thomas as a creative trio, or could use the word creative as an adjective to describe them, they would be of dubious mental health. I am NOT an Ozil supporter but I do have some moderate ability to see realty. The hierarchical decision to punish Mesut Ozil, is punishing the team, the supporters, and is the real Karma (cause and effect) for the ignorant method of dealing with the situation. If we would have had Partey, Ceballos or Xhaka and Ozil we may have 3 or 1 point today. It is clear that the 3 or 4 points Ozil could get us in certain home games would be the difference between Champions League and Europa League. Have I got faith in our hierarchy…No. Have I got faith in Arteta. I did but I am wondering…. he is obstinate and a control freak. To bin Ozil is like ‘biting your nose to spite your face’. Madness.
Stats are the method of quantizing footballers. They assume players are Robots. Creativity incorporate dance, zen, the moment, vision and many other adjectives that are QUALITATIVE. Quantity is shown by stats, quality is shown by the immeasurable.
Difficult to argue with the article.
Sadly Arsenal is a very boring team to watch these days and I have a feeling we are just heading into mediocre level. It feels like many players are being played in wrong system and you have to question the willingness of some of them to fight. What worries me is that Arteta is always saying we created a lot and should have won etc, I must be watching some other game than he does. I think it is time to try Ozil again and to be honest I cannot wait until Martinelli comes back, he is a fighter and really wants to win. Then the biggest enigma is that Artete is playing Mustafi ahead of Saliba????? Mustafi is a league 2 player at best and everyone knows it
The admin have said it all👍👍 Some people will still oppose the fact well said though🤷♀️🤷♀️
If your theory of upstairs wishes to not play Mesut is true (I am in a belief it is) then this makes me sympathize with Mikel.
Here’s Mikel seeing that his team is struggling creatively, he has probably the best creative player in the league, but the orders are not to play him. The board is essentially making his job harder, sacrificing Champions League football and a chance for the title and all that for what exactly? To massage their ego? To save few millions? What about the millions of Champions League? So it is the ego then.
Mikel neither deserved nor qualified for this job. But he got it. And he has shown that he is capable of doing it. But since he was given this big job without qualifications and experience he has to do what they tell him to do. It’s part of the deal.
He really could do without all the negativity from the board, the fans and the media in the near future if he has to return us to our rightfully place on the top.
Mesut has been dropped against the wishes of majority of the fans. It’s done there is no need to cry over it anymore. Let’s hope he return on January but in the meantime we have to keep on supporting the team (something which Mesut is doing).
Let’s give him time, the season has barely started there is still time for him to turn things around. What the team is going through now is part of experience. He will find his formula eventually and we will go on the winning run.
No HH . Ozil was NOT dropped against the wishes of the majority of the fans . Quite the contrary. OZIL HAS ONLY A FEW UNREALISTIC, OUT OF TOUCH, living in the past fans now. Those fans regularly tell us that he won the world cup (all on his own apparently!!) but conveniently “forget” to mention that it was many years ago and talk as if that OZIL was still here today. Realists know differently.
I wish to raise a different point for your general consideration, as you are a thinking chap, as I well know. And it is this; in life it is good for all of us, myself included, to regularly question oneself as to what one thinks is right or wrong about all that we believe. Politically too!
This applies to all in life but specifically on football, I have often questioned myself about whether I TRULY believe what I regularly write about OZIL. The answer is that I do.
As a mature man, this is good policy in all areas of life, as it helps us stay true to what we see as real truth. Or to find that truth in case we were wrong before! I recommend it to you for your consideration.
Back on OZIL and whatever any of US thinks, the simple truth is that he is not now in the squad and cannot legally play PREM FOOTBALL, no matter what anyone wants or does not want.
It is a done deal and all discussions now are too late and therefore academic, The pro OZIL fans have lost their fight for him to come back and he legally cannot do so. Any further discussion is only letting off steam and can have no bearing on what is already decided and done. He is now, to all intents and purposes an ex- Arsenal player, even though still being paid for training. It is in fact a fait accompli!
Worth thinking about, really thinking about, I’d suggest. A wise person knows when to accept defeat. After all there are many things far more important than football and you at least are still young and have your whole life before you, so best to move on!
I really agree with you, Mr. Fox. What we have now is the defensive solidity phase. Slowly we will get to the midfield chemistry, dominance, and the forwards clicking phase. Our recruitment has not been ideal in the last 5 years or so and the current man in charge, MA needs at least 2 years to make a great team. This would only happen if hard decisions like leaving MO and SP are taken. And to those saying we should not have dropped Ozil, please tell me where we are supposed to play him, even now in a 4-3-3? I will wait.
You say the majority are against Mesut how do you know that? Point me to where I can find that figure unless it is pure fiction. If you want me to believe that fiction it is only fair that you believe mine too.
You are right Mesut has been dropped but people have right to question if the decision was the right one based on our results. It’s their right to have opinions and views. They are Arsenal fans also not only you.
You (and few others) have shown a strong dislike of Mesut citing pure football reasons, using his exclusion from the team and Mikel as a shield to justify your verbal abuses and false accusations against him. You for example call him lazy. You call a person lazy whose job is completely the opposite of laziness. If he was lazy he would never have reached where he is now. That takes talent, intelligence, hard work, commitment and dedication.
Why single out Mesut? Is it because of his salary? What about Pepe? Kolasinac? Sokratis? Ceballos? Lacazette? They are not paid packets of peanuts. Their performances does not justify their payments too.
“This applies to all in life but specifically on football, I have often questioned myself about whether I TRULY believe what I regularly write about OZIL. The answer is that I do.”- Can I suggest perhaps you should ask yourself what is it about Mesut that trigger such a strong feeling of dislike from you? Surely it’s not for purely football reasons. If it was you should have even stronger feeling of dislike for Pepe seeing how much he cost us, how much he is pocketing every week and how he repays it on the pitch.
”
A wise person knows when to accept defeat” – It was never a competition Jon, just different people having different opinions.
👏👏
Jon- how about all this utter bullshit realism and other bollocks you spew out, why don’t you actually give us an opinion on FOOTBALL. You know? The game that has us all here to begin with.
You came out with the fact some ( most and me included) wrongly phrase and write our posts. So that makes you feel better does it? I’m pleased. I doubt very very much you have succeeded in life as I have, but that’s another issue.
So, it’s a football blog. FFS TALK FOOTBALL. Where are Arsenal going wrong? Who else should be playing? What is wrong with our tactics? FOOTBALL PAL
Jon is the only one in my entire life that will call the same person wise and foolish, realist and idealist or fickle, proper fan or fickle fan depending on when you have similar opinions to his or against his. So don’t get too incensed about what he think is right or wrong.
Factually incorrect and untrue. If you can prove to me that any thing you claim I have said, but in both directions, is true, which you cannot do, since it has not happened, then I will publicly apologise to you. But false claims are in fact LIES, MOBELLA! AND YOU ARELYING!
Firstly. I am sick to death of ozil. He needs to move on and the fans who want him to play need to move on. It aint happening. I couldn’t care less about why the club don’t want him to play.
Imo he has just as much to hide or has done something just as bad as the club if not why is he not making more of a fuss about not playing. Common he has so many fans who will back him and all he can say is I will fight. If it was me I would be making the biggest hoo ha to force my way into the team. Every loss I would be pointing out why I should play. It just doesn’t add up for me one either side.
Now back to the real issues
1. Lacca is poor he is not a false 9 guy and he is not a out n out striker. Please arteta stop giving him chances. Be ruthless.
2. Pepe – should be playing simple as he needs to adjust and play his best always but look at players like TH. They took time and eventually become the best in the world. He also needs to be played in which leads me onto thr middle 3
3. Right so I beleive you cannot play partey and xaka without a hard working no10 who is true quality. Cebellos aint it. I dunno where he plays or what he does tbh. I dont really like him 😕. I would rather see ESR and willock infront of partey. These guys may not be the finished product but they have energy and can carry the ball. I think they are both already at cebellos level and will surpas
Willian – yes he was injured but I think he can be a no10 option. He is lost certainly not a CF however and I far prefer pepe or nelson on the wing.
Saka – please keep him on the left
Auba – should be our ST
Yes I am aware I went from numbers to names lol.
Shortboygooner
The Ozil affair is a very relevant affair. It’s impossible to ignore it. Like it or not, he is better than Xhaka who is slow of body and slow of mind and Ozil is still employed/paid by the club. He is a World Cup winner. Even though he is not the figure he was….can anybody say that now we have Thomas, that Xhaka should play in front of Ozil. Xhaka is employed by the ARSENAL/NHS to cure supporters insomnia.
Please can someone tell all these Ozil deluded fans to back out of this unending dream of Ozil. No one can move on in life while daily brooding and living in the past failures or losses. Whether genuinely or reluctantly, let us assume Ozil is lost, what is the way forward? That is how life is meant to be lived. Forget what you have lost, count your losses, learn from it rather thatn living the losses. Tired and fed up with Ozil, Ozil, Ozil Emi, Emi, Emi issues whenever we lose a game. O
Other teams are not on the field of play to watch your players, it is a game where all the teams are struggling and fighting to gain points. Give credit to where credit is due when you lose or draw. A win is always as a result of the opponent’s mistake. You learn from your mistakes and move on based on the resource AT HAND not on FUTURE or LOST resources. Ozil and Emi are assumed lost resources, hence ignore those loses and plan with what you have.
Yes, that was an excellent post. I liked Emi, but what is the point of saying, ‘what if?’ He has moved on and so should I. In the case of Ozil, he will still be the subject of interest due to the fact that he is still employed by the club, and until the transfer window opens again, the what ifs and what onlys will continue.
Sean its absolutely NOT relevant as no action can be taken on the matter… he physically cannot play for us now that has not in the squad. It’s done.
” Pepe – should be playing simple as he needs to adjust and play his best always but look at players like TH. They took time and eventually become the best in the world.”
Some people just don’t see what is right in front of them do they? This excuse is getting ridiculous..
Ahii guys be honest to your self, i am a gunner fan for now 15 years and i never wanted to post anything on that Side. But this Arsenal i fell in Love with ist gone. The class ist gone, the Özil desicions also shows how this Club is acting classless. Özil IS our best player when it comes to creativity and If you dont see this you dont have any clue of Football… Just my opinion. Dont know how people can say that ceballos is good ?! This guy is shitty as hell and nowhere near özils Talent.
It would be fair to say that our top creative player yesterday was Luiz. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the long diagonal ball to Tierney was our most potent threat, but…the long diagonal ball to Tierney was our most potent threat. It worked well enough most of the time and created corners from which we actually scored a ruled out goal, but we do need some variety of the Ozil type, but unfortunately we have no one else in the squad who can perform anywhere near that level and it’s obvious now that he’ll never play for Arsenal again, so until we get a creative hub (notice: I don’t mention Cebellos here) I suppose we’ll keep lumping the ball over the top to either wing.
I did see against Rapid that Partey has a decent through pass and can carry the ball, that Gabriel does play out to the left accurately enough most of the time and El Neny moved the ball forwards quickly & accurately but a genuine two footed creative number eight must be high on the list of requirements.
A 100% correct article. If we support Ozil as loyal Arsenal fans for decades, we are dubbed as Ozil supporters. Yesterday there was no player in the playing XI or in the sub bench who could have done what Ozil could have done. Time after time I have said on this forum that the exclusion of Ozil was for purely non footballing reasons. I also agree with Eddie that only Ozil being included in our squad would have not solved our problem because our attackers were way off mark. There was total lack of cohesion amongst our players but Ozil would have atleast given us a different dimension which we currently do not possess. The opposition has by now figured out MA’s tactics and are waiting for us to make a mistake. The only solution to this is by changing tactics and personnel. Do not play Xhaka, play Elneny, ESR or Willock and why on earth is saliba not playing, our defenders need rest and recovery time. MA should make wholesale changes to his plans before top 4 is out of sight.
I feel very sorry for Arteta because I like him so much as a coach. Now he’s quickly becoming a politician ( football ). He’s now falling into the same trap that destroyed Emery, and it’s quickly showing.
If you condemn an innocent person and cover it up with propaganda or outright lies, do not expect to escape without repercussions. Emery played that game and failed to outlive Ozil. I hope Arteta learns from that.
Fact is, we needed to sign Partey and a creative midfielder during the transfer window and only managed Partey. Mainly due to the fact that no one wanted any of the players we wanted to sell. Subsequently, we had to sell to buy and sold a fantastic keep (Martinez) who, I believe is much more stable and better in most ways to Leno. The problem is, a squad is only as strong as its weakest link and we have a few too many of them. We have no creative midfielder. Our crossing is too poor to attack from the wings. Our attacking options are limited because the owners will not release money for the “right” players we really need. Let’s face it, Pepe at £72m? I don’t know one Arsenal fan that saw that coming! He wasn’t even needed at the time. We needed defenders! I can think of much better ways of spending £72m!!! And yet we are still stuck with Xhaka, Elneny and Ceballos? Mustafi is still in the squad as is Kolasinac? Ozil not even in the squad at a cool £1.5m per month?
This club has been so badly run (on and off the pitch) it’s almost laughable to the point I could cry!
I’m not surprised we lose the way we do when, the example being set from above is so damn unbelievable. It also confuses me how someone like Auba can sign a contract with a club that have shown a lack of class, ambition and sense!
Nothing I am saying is based on yesterday’s result alone. I have been completely shocked and amazed by the “schoolboy errors” this club have made over the years (on and off the pitch) that I just don’t identify with this modern Arsenal, compared with Arsenal pre Highbury? For all the reasons to build a new stadium, I can’t help but wonder what it was all for when the team we have now is so dysfunctional?
I’m not sure what MA is/has been told to do with the squad but I do feel he’s not getting a grip of things as soon as I would like. However, I will give the guy some time (until the end of the season) before I pass judgement on his progress. But, if the stats don’t start changing and points climbing, he could be in a crisis sooner than later!
My pessimistic sight is that we will not see any offensice football from Arsenal this season. The midfielders are very uncertain with the ball and gives most of the time away to opponents if they try to cut pass a ball.
Someone has to roll the ball to the forwards, someone with creativity. Unluckly that possibilty might not come before January transfer window och put back Özil. But by then, Özil will be lack of experience and confidince due to lack of play time and will not contribute much
Question
Has top league football ever been played more slowly. It seems our players have taken slooow the game dooown pills. What instructions is Arteta giving the team? Confusing because we were the slowest team over the whole weekend.
They dont have a glue where and when to pass the ball. Its easy to say and see, but the likes of auba, laca etc. aren’t the players which can carry a game. They are players which you have to feet. Oh i miss these santi’s and ramsey’s in the middle of the field, who can Take on one or two palyers and still have the ball with much freedom in front. We dont have any Like them… Maybe partey, but than you have to give him this freedom and tactics to do Like this( sorry for my english Guys:D )
The Ozil creativity myth as always from his disciples.
Ozil that has struggled to make more than 2 assists for the last 2 seasons?
The Ozil that has struggled to make more than 5 asissts in the last 4 seasons.
The Ozil that has only ever got more than 10 assists once in his 8 seasons here?
Ozil has never got more than 9 assists bar one half season.
He has had more than 7 seasons to prove himself. Has been given chance after chance and always average or poor.
But but ozil is the creative hub.
Smh
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Can I ask who’s doing better ?
The guys in the team are doing better than him that is why they are in the team. If his overall output was better than anyone in the team right now then he would be in the team. Isn’t it?
Again, the likes of pepe, Saka, laca, Auba, willian, willock etc have the same or better stats than Ozil but on top of that they try to offer other aspects to the team. What your cult hero ozil does is stink out the place then run to his social media to play victim, blame each and everything apart from himself. Ozil’s output on the pitch does not compensate for the negativity and cons he brings.
Not worth it.
That is why Madrid got rid.
Germany got rid.
Emery dropped him.
Ljumberg dropped him.
Arteta dropped him,
And Arsenal as a club seem to have gotten enough of his nonexistent performances that come with all this poor attitude and victimhood and distractions on his social media.
Has had more than 7 years at Arsenal to prove that he can be a crucial player for us. Was cuddled by wenger. Given chance after chance by Emery, Ljumberg and Arteta. But as always stinking out the place and blame everyone but himself.
The majority of our fanbase seem to have had enough of him.
3 out 4 of our recent managers have all had the same problem with him.
Arsenal football club have had enough of him.
Just a few of you his staunch apologists seem to not want to accept the reality that that’s it for your cult hero. Better to accept reality than continuing to be in denial.
Even the (AKB’s) that group I was once apart of has to let Wenger go. It was time to accept that Wenger of 1996-2004 was done. I accepted in 2014/15 that wenger was finished.
You Ozil people should do the same.
Thank you very much.
😊
How are they doing better ?
Lost 3 out of 6 games
Lost 7 games post lockdown
Can I ask kindly that we stick to the facts. Myth 1. He is not as good as people claim. Ozil and Santi are the 2 most creative players we have had in the last decade. Ozil has 177 assist in his career and 102 goals. Over 50 of these assist were done at Arsenal and these have come at a ratio of 5 key plays before a forward scores one. What the hell more can you ask from him? Myth 2: he does not work hard on the pitch. This one is very funny as he has always run the middle to top distance in every game he starts. I remember some pundit said this and Wrighty asked for his distance covered and he had the second highest behind Ramsay. Please get the facts.
Yes the good old lazy tag which some immature fans like to call him ,but they don’t deal in facts they deal in “I’m always right opinions “.
Lazy? Here is what Henty, arguably our best player ever, said about Ozil.
It seems like he has time all the time. It’s like he is playing in his garden with no one around him.
Lukaku on Ozil:
He is always at the right place at the right time.
Conclusion: The great ones in any sport make it look easy.
Dan, have you ever wondered abut Arsenal in deep reflection. It is a weird club. They never build a complete team. Let us look at the last 15 years. Phase 1: we were focused on building a stadium so we sold everything that we could scratch – but the genius manager kept us in Champion’s league. The owners loved Arsene for this. Phase 2: rebuilding after the stadium is done/stable. We bought Santi, Ozil, Giroud – a wicked attack for cheap – but poor backline and fragile spine. Phase 3: build the spine. This fell through as Xhaka was not as imagined. Phase 4: get rid of Arsene as cheap players are failing. Disaster occurred with “Good Eebing”. Now we are building a spine but drop the creative players. My conclusion: we are mental! The reality is that we normally get a return on investment. Arsenal fans be like: wait for another miracle. Arsene had done it, MA can do it. But very few look at the elephant in the room: the Owners and the board simply do not invest enough – and are as mental as the fans in hoping for a lopsided team to win massive games; one in which the main forward is moving to the left, then to the right, then to the centre, then midfield. Poor Bamma! In summary: these owners and board who have benefitted from Arsene’s genius and the fans that support this philosophy will sit and await another miracle from over performing MA. He will get found out as lopsided teams are predictable. Park the bus on them – then make strong changes. With no creative player they will keep trying and tire. We have seen Wenger do this to teams. Now it is the second tool to be used against us. We know #1. Kick them around. Now we have a bit of a spine so kick them and wait them out combined. That is why we lost the game yesterday.
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I totally agree with Dan smith…. how can Nelson, Mustafi and many more be in that team and ozil is left out one of the top most assist to goal and full of creativity be left out.. there is more to arsenal team that people dont know about… if it for football reason ozil should not be sidelined and not included in that team it embarrassing to see the likes of Nelson and other fringe players… arsenal lack creativity and we need ozil cos in this whole wide world they are fewer player better than ozil in that… a have a good striker now but no body to make the final third I believe our coach is loosing it… bring back ozil we have players who can protect ozil nOw let him play and get the best out of him like we use to have…. he’s just been treated bad that the way I see it
Come on guys. Ozil screwed himself by being critical of the Chinese so called re-education camps. With the Chinese threatening to boycott all Arsenal games if Ozil played his axing is a no brainer. Arsenal as with all clubs benefits hugely from Sky Sports financial support and so join the dots and …………..mmm.
But what can we do about it now? Ozil cant play in the squad for at least 2-3 months from now. So rather than only looking at that fact can we see the positives of the match yesterday?
I was very sad with the result but what I did notice was that we played decent football in the first half. We were sufficiently creative, both from the obvious outlets in David(Pennywise the 🤡) and from the midfield. If we look at a football match, what is the frequency with which most creative players fare with the ball if they are opposed by a resolute defense? 2-3, maybe 4 good passes and through balls? Well, I saw Xhaka ping two great passes for Lacazette, one being a great through ball which should have been converted. Instead of directing our ire at MA for lack of midfield creativity, I think we should demand more output and creativity from the forwards. Saka was someone who tried all game until he was subbed off, but he was also a little impatient and rushed his chances. If we are presented with 11 chances in a half, we should at least take around 2-3 of them, as most of them were convertible. It’s time we question our efficiency as well as creativity, and Ozil, in spite of all his chances created, can’t even spoon feed our two senior-most strikers as they are going through a horrible patch.
Totally agree with you Dan, i sincerely believe that leaving Ozil was a decision from Kroenke .. and not for footballing reason.
he will do everything and anything to save his money …
Spot on Dan
Defund The Media
Absolutely true…but then without a single creative outlet, Arteta has just snookered himself. It’s one of the most bizarre decisions in our history and I can remember more history than most. This whole affair smells of Kroenke. I wonder if Kroenke would own up to having put a veto on Ozil, so that we can take the pressure off Arteta. It’s about telling us the truth.
Dan, I concur with you. To me, refusing to play Ozil has nothing to do with his ineffectiveness during training. Lots of his teammates have already said so. I think Ozils exclusion has everything to do with Politics. Looking at our game against Leicester, we had 3 passengers viz Ceballos, Lacazette and Xhaka. Yet, Arteta did not deem it necessary to substitute them early in the 2nd half. Arteta does not seem to have a Plan B in any of our games. He plays people in wrong positions at times. In our midfield we have lost 2 of our best players in Gundhuzi and Torreira. With them in the game, I could see action in the midfield. No more. Arteta I sists on playing from the back. What a disaster when the players cannot do this effectively.
We should on Thursday play Runarson in the goal and Saliba in the defence. I hope Runarson will give us confidence that he can step in if needed and I am 100% sure that Sali can show us he is world class. If possible maybe Ozil could step in also 🙂 but I guess that is not possible
The central problem has been the economic philosophy of the owners. It has been so for a long time. The fans can divide themselves into pro-Ozil and anti-Ozil camp like they did with Wenger. These things do not affect the price of rice. I am convinced that Wenger received no protection from the hustlers who benefitted from the drama because the economic environment had changed. He built their stadium, used a mix of academy kids and cheap creative talents and stayed in the CL until others learnt the trick and drove up the market. He started to complain. I remember well his first open statement about needing cash to invest. Soon he fell out of favour. Ozil and ‘good ebing’ genuinely had issues. But this has not been the case with MA. I studied their body language and they were good. Ozil has what is called an honest body. If he thinks you are crap his body says it. He clearly thought that ‘Good ebing’ was a misfit, but Ozil was happy for MA. The the Chinese-Ozil clash. Ozil played on but the Chinese kept the pressure on. Then we had the break. It is fair to assume that the Chinese (now the biggest economy in the world) won. The break gave everyone a chance to evaluate the money to be lost or gained. Ozil and his honest humanitarian self – out. This leaves a very uncertain future as Arsenal will not invest fast or heavy enough to produce a winning team. This system produces a good second-class team that can win FA’s and community shields – but not survive a whole season, which is the true test of investment and support. Sorry, but no magic is coming. We need to face the reality. Ozil and the other side shows are not the core of our problems.