The issue that has divided Arsenal fans the most has been the elongated absence of Mesut Ozil from the starting line up for most games since Christmas. Many fans have been putting this down to an ongoing dispute between Emery and Ozil but the boss has been saying that he will pick the German when he feels he is totally recovered. That finally happened on Thursday and after the game our defender Sokratis (who has also been on the injury list) has come out to say that Ozil was definitely not feeling at his best.
The Greek defender said after the game: “He played very well. Mesut is a fantastic player and when he is fit he is one of the most important players in the team.
“Of course when something is not going well, everybody is there to criticise but we have to see also what Mesut did in the last years for this team. All the team, all the players are behind him and we need a good Mesut to go [forward] because we know that he is very important for us.
“He was sick, he had some problems but after he came back for training, it was the same situation as me. When I was injured and I came back, it is not that I have to play from the first game in the first 11. Now, he is good. He did well yesterday and I hope in the next games he will go in front like this.
“He enjoys himself and we enjoy that he is with us. But when you are injured, it is difficult. Also, I feel in the first 10 minutes, I felt like a fish out of water yesterday as I was out for one month. Mesut is very important, he is a very good guy and we need him.”
So, it is obvious that the players don’t think that Ozil was feigning injury, and they should know better than anyone. Perhaps there never was a rift with Emery, and the Spaniard was simply waiting for Ozil to prove his fitness in training before picking him?
Could it be (shock horror) that the ñproblems were purely made up by the media?
Sam P
Don’t be fooled by Burnley beating Spurs. It means that we’re an easier opponent for them.
We also beat spurs actually with a bigger margin.
Ooh la la thank you Chris Wood & Ashley Barnes ?
Enjoy that did you Sue ?
Emery is the boss of the players and backed by the club to manage the players, whereas Ozil is just one of the stars at Arsenal
If the players want to skip training or matches deliberately, there would be some fines
Therefore I believe the news are just rumors made up by the media and the fans got incited easily as usual
Gotanidea ?????????
Most of the problem is with the fans–Arsenal fans, I mean. It is compounded by the fact that the British tabloids do not like foreign players… unless they are model citizens. We know now with Trump, etc., that some news papers are owned sympathizers of the far right.
So, with politics out of the way, the other reasons are simply that English football has been about being tough over being skillful. Players that can do both do well in the EPL. Ozil’s skill levels is such that he has no brutal side to his game. That is why he is a superb as a #10. Why waste this talent Unai, so that you can live in past with Seville? Unai, your approach with big player is totally wrong, and besides, it is the big players that made football worth watching.
To use Ozil in other positions besides #10 is a waste of talent.
Emery though thinks the way to catch up to the big spenders is play a full press and possession style. His idea is built on the notion that pressing overcomes lack of great players.
That may have worked to a certain degree in Spain or else where, but not in the EPL. It may also have worked in an era when defensive players were cheap, but obviously not any more. It was successful if you had some mid-league players who then compensated for lack of skill with more “effort”–that is, chasing down the opposition when not in possession, and obviously that will not work now, with every player.
In the EPL Arsenal is about top 6 now. So Arsenal has a mixture of skill and good players. The highly skilled players will not do well under Emery’s vision, while the middling players will improve.
There then is the wall the Emery has hit with Ozil, Ramsay, etc.
To win in the next game Emery has to adapt to a 3331 formation that plays very compact. Keep their better players starved of the ball, and force their attacks to come down the wings, if at all, thus buying time for Arsenal to defend.
Czech is needed for this 3331, as he is superb in organizing the back line. Be physical on the wings to knock the Saints off their stride and also create space for the skill player by bossing the mid-field–running physically at the defensive players, shielding the ball, before being forced to pass, tackle hard, etc.
The attack is world class. Auba in any other top 20 football nation would be a starter and that much better. He is now showing his possession side better. Laca is unfortunate the French team prefers certain other players. Ozil has nothing to prove, even if football unwise Arsenal fans might think ill of him. To this mix, I would add Suarez now and see how he fares in the first half–my sense is that he is going to combine with Ozil like magic if Emery can treat Ozil like the superstar he is and tell Dennis to combine with the German.
……………………….Czech………………………
………Mustafi……….Koz……Sokratis……… [play a bit lower letting Czech organize]
……..Iwobi……Torreira.….Kolasinac…….. [boss mid-field, play narrow, defend inside]
……….Auba…………Ozil……….Suarez…….. [run free, attack, attack, attack… wingers defend]
………………………..Laca……………………….. [poach, look for rebounds, the through pass]
Set them free Unai, bring the inner Wenger in you! I know you have it, just stop maintaining that poor Seville way of doing things. Now you have some of the best attackers in the EPL, just use them better!
Hahahaha. The levels some would go to try to validate their own opinion.
So the British and tge EPL have been under a rock for the past 20 or so years where all we know is bllod and thunder style of football? Smh
Like the EPL has not had the likes of Bergkamp, Henry, Cesc, Ronaldo, Zola, Aguero, Hazard, Pires, Silva, Modric, KDB, Santi, Scholes, Gerard, RVP, Cantona, etc these are the most loved and praised players EPL history.
Like the likes of Ronaldinho, Messi, Iniesta, Zidane, Del Piero, Totti, Figo, Brazilian Ronaldo, Xavi etc have not been idolised by the EPL.
And weren’t all the British public obsessed with Barcelona Tiki Taka football? Haven’t most of the top EPL club been going for techically skilled players from Europe, Brazil since wenger changed the landscape 20 odd years ago?
Stop this rubbish about how the EPL and British public hating highly skilled players.
They just call out and criticise Ozil because he is a lazy, weak personality. Can’t remember any so called skilled player being criticised like Ozil has been since he moved here. May be Babertov as he was such a lazy sod himself but was an amazing talented player.
There is a reason why Ozil divides opinion so much. No so called world class player in the EPL has ever divided opinion like Ozil does. This to me indicates that Ozil is overrated / overhyped. There is no way that after 6 years here a so called world class player still invites the same criticism season after season. There really must be an objective reason why.
the problem is nothing other than ozil fan base
not accepting the obvious
I hope the news Monchi is joining Arsenal is true because that’s what we need now than anything else, we need a wholesale for some players to add more transfer kit and bring quality to help.
June is a bit late though, we should be lining up our targets right now. If it is in June that he’s arriving, then we should make use of Mislintat and let him get most of our players, only problem is that we have to wait til we see if we make CL or Europa. We’re going to miss out on some of the top signings because of this, other teams are talking to the players agents and clubs right now.
Mislintat has already left…
He’s here til end of the season just as Monchi must do the same.
Imagine if this is just a case of Emery going old school in trying to bring the best out of him, also to take him out of any possible comfort zone, even Wenger said how the huge sums of money can do that to some players. Someone on that money would instantly feel like the most important player at the club, how could it not make you feel that way. Maybe Emery felt he had to do this to try and tell Ozil and all the other players – How no-ones place is safe and even academy players will play ahead of you if they show enough improvement. But because of Ozil’s cult following, and due to news outlets stirring things up, we ended up with conspiracy theories. It could be that Emery believes a comfortable playing Ozil is not nearly as good enough as an Ozil with the bit between his teeth.