The Mesut Ozil saga perfectly encapsulates Arsenal’s problems

Mesut Ozil encapsulates Arsenal’s problems

by ThirdManJW

When I first heard of the Ozil to Arsenal rumours, I was excited like everyone else, although I did brush it off as hearsay. In today’s 24-hour news, and social media culture, 99% of rumours are completely made up anyhow. To my surprise, Arsenal pulled it off. Signing a huge name, for a huge fee, at a great age, from the biggest club in the world, definitely made a statement.
However, the massive fanfare that surrounded the Ozil transfer, only masked what was actually a bizarre transfer. I say this without hindsight… I was angry at the time with our transfer business that summer. Ozil was not a player we needed, and the club completely ignored all the of deficiencies within the squad. It’s not to say I wasn’t excited about Ozil, but the squad was still in a state, so all I could do was pray, and hope, that this big-name player could somehow give the squad a lift. In fairness, he did, but not so much on the pitch. It was more that, as a fanbase, we had greater optimism than we had known for years. Maybe this huge transfer was a sign of us acting like a big club again…as we now know, that was not to be the case.
Arsenal have been dreadful in the transfer market for as long as I care to remember, and the Ozil signing was the perfect example of this. The least of our problems in the summer of 2013 was an attacking midfielder. We already had the likes of Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky on our books, along with two promising youngsters: Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Serge Gnabry. Most importantly, we had Santi, who was only signed a year earlier. He was our best player, one of the best playmakers in the league, and I would argue, a better, and more effective player than Ozil. We desperately needed a CB, DM, and CF, amongst many other positions at the time. Another playmaker should have been at the bottom of our priorities. Despite that, we put all our financial eggs into a position that didn’t even need strengthening…something Arsenal love to do.
Then we have Ozil’s performances, or lack of! Overall, he hasn’t been the great hope we were hoping for, and has been plain awful for about 3 years now. This is where we see the poor decision making at Arsenal at its worst yet again. Firstly, the club doesn’t sell him when we had the chance. We then let him get down to the last 6 months of his contract. Finally, and despite not doing enough to even earn a new contract, the club offers one anyway, and with a massive pay rise, that makes Ozil one of highest earners in the league, and in Europe. Absolutely insane management!
Ozil has no say in his own transfer fee, and wages that Arsenal offered, but one can also look at the man himself, when talking about the club’s other problems. Everything surrounding Ozil, partly him, partly the club, perfectly encapsulates the chronic issues at Arsenal.
  • Strengthening a position that didn’t need strengthening
  • Huge waste of financial resources (Transfer fee, contracts)
  • Missing out on a potentially huge fee by refusing to sell until it was too late, which could have been reinvested into the squad
  • Poor attitude
  • Doesn’t work hard enough
  • Rewarded for not performing (constantly starting until Wenger left, and massive pay rise)
  • Egotistical
  • Trying to shoehorn him into the team, thus affecting the balance, and potential of the team
  • Constant niggling injuries, never seems fully fit
  • Annoying publicity, and protectionism, that comes with a big name, especially when they’re not performing
  • Bringing politics into football
  • Beautiful to watch when in full flow, but rarely happens, and top teams don’t give you the luxury of time
  • Constantly a big letdown in away games, and in games against the top teams
Before his fanbase lays into me, this is not an Ozil-bashing article. I am just using him as an example for the club’s overall failings. So many of our problems I can see at Arsenal, I can see when looking at Ozil.
ThirdManJW

82 Comments

  1. A very realistic assessment of the incompetence which has pervaded our Club for many years.I would liken it to building a house of stone on a bed of shifting sand.Without proper foundations the building will collapse.Thankfully we have not quite reached this stage and under our young Manager , there is now some hope for the future.Wenger and Gazidis have a lot to answer for but the Ozil contract must go down as their most costly error of judgement.

    1. Who deserved a bumper contract between ozil and Sanchez, methinks Sanchez was the best player at Arsernal and maybe in EPL during his time at the Emirates. Why fix what is not broken!Fools at the board offered insane wages to a shirt selling primadona and let Sanchez leave for free and rejected 60m offer from city.Sanchez kept us competing for top4 until he left and his manchester form is immaterial alexis was flying at emirates.wenger and company acted like neanderthals when they knew what Alexis wanted they exchanged him with an overpaid man utd flop who had to be loaned and is no longer needed.Lets the club be bold and tell this macenary he’s no longer in our plans.

        1. So5Sanchez was flying at The Arsenal then why would you want to sell him?
          Furthermore why would you sell him to City?
          Wasn’t /Hasn’t the club been pilloried for selling it’s best players to our rivals?
          The club did everything it could to persuade Sanchez to stay, blame the player for making sure he left, by causing unrest in the squad and playing in a way that ensured he was let go.
          It’s funny how Sanchez is regarded as a role model and his antics against our club are forgotten – of course it matters what happened when he left – United are having to loan this dud out, pay his reported £500,000 a week, to an injury prone player…. TMJW could have told you this was going to happen, so can I in hindsight.

      1. If he Ozil is not pulling his weight and not doing the training that the manager wants and expects is he not in Breach of his contract?

  2. Thank you TMJW. I do like the energy and commitment in the team ever since he is out (either for tactical or injury reasons) and the way we are playing at the moment. Should he recover, I would prefer he stays away from the first team. Ship him to Turkey (or wherever he wants or if he ever wants to play professional football again) for free and pay the balance of his wages and get a sick note out. If not use him a s ball boy on match days, I have no problem, he can help in wasting time to collect the ball.This will be a morale booster and a statement of intent. Forget the shirt sales, football matters for real football fans.

      1. How about Arsenal paying the difference. That would not amount to 18 million. If so we can start a crowd funding page to collect money to pay him. This would embarrass him and send a strong signal to future players who wish to behave in the similar manner.
        All is not lost for anyone, if he can change his attitude and start working hard and performing, no one would have any problem with him. Maybe he needs to see a sports psychologist or a psychiatrist and sort it out.
        Until then 18 million for one goal.Fraud!

      2. Yes, it does and when we multiply that sum by the FIVE years that he has not even tried to earn it(his first season being his only successful one) we find that the club has wasted £91 million on his useless wages. We should invoice GAZIDIS FOR THAT AMOUNT AND DEMAND HE PAYS IT PERSONALLY. MA has undoubtedly made the only possible decision, which is to ostrasize this fraud from the matchday squad and thus keep him from being a passenger in the team.

  3. at the moment he is basically getting payed for doing nothing so sell him or pay up his contract and let him go.

  4. **ADMIN COMMENT – You are banned for that disgusting comment. We don’t want keyboard warriors here that were never taught any manners…**

    1. Its like being the leader of the Opposition in politics. You can denounce anything without coming up with something sensible yourself

    2. Freedom of expression is an universal Right everywhere in the world,I see fans using abusive language and swearing at arsenal fc FB page and comments are not deleted,Why are members of this site being harrased!

      1. Indeed Freedom of expression is a universal right. Personal abuse is another thing altogether. I know you are new here but you will find that I am very strict on personal abuse. We are all Arsenal fans and can share differing opinions, but not abuse someone for holding a different opinion.

        You’ll get used to it…

        1. But we can personally abuse these players because they are not here to defend themselves and earn millions.

      2. You told me to respect men in one of your posts if I remember rightly. That was pretty close to harassment!

          1. There is actually no need to be a smart so and so with me. I do my utmost to respond to others in a way that I would like to be responded to myself. It does not bother me continuously but you just felt you had the right to demean me then and you have tried to do so again. So let’s just get on with being normal about things.

  5. Ozils contract is fraudulent,as such stop paying him wages let him seek legal redress say he fakes injuries and is not committed to help the club,You have nothing to lose even if you’re found to have breached the contract as ozil is out of the team.The court Will terminate the contract and Ozil will be ashamed deny him wages and the fraud will be gone to wherever.

    1. Ozil has proven over many years that he is immune from feeling “shame”. Other than that I agree with all your post.

  6. Özil is a world class player but he is a team player and not an individual player. Arsenal haven’t played better than when he’s been there since Arteta took over the team. With him we never lost a match we have to stop spitting on the player. I’m not defending Özil but the values ​​that made Arsenal a legendary club. When we want to part with a player we do it elegantly and we part on good terms. Özil refused to lower his wages and this is the one and only reason why Aretat has not used it since the restart. Özil can bring again and again to this team but if we no longer want him we must assume our choices, pay him his due to part with him elegantly.

    1. Seconded.
      The only thing I don’t like about Ozil is his body language and those unnecessary complaints when his teammates make mistakes.

    2. Good point, arsenal board gave him the contract with huge pay because they knew what he was adding to the club .so for fans I pity u coz , ozil was capable of becoming arsenal legend .but with the quality of his play , most arsenal players are not his level .so that is why he struggles so much ,.I remember ozil who came in , when we had wilshere at his peak, rosisivky,Sanchez Ramsey .ozil was very fantastic .but now look at arsenal with Nelson , willock, Saka, etc

    3. Exactly my sentiment. I believe Arsenal have more to lose in terms of reputation than Ozi. A top club like Arsenal playing a petty game will not sit down well with potential big name players we may target in the future. The whole Ozil saga underscores our position as a club: is Arsenal a big club, or just a wannabe?

  7. I noted that at Liverpool FC some of the senior executives support the club.

    Whilst Gazidis played football for Oxford, & gained a law degree it didn’t automatically qualify him to understand football , more the business of football.
    Wenger didn’t write his contract extension so the fact that he was kept on is down to the executive level making a mistake or giving the impression that it was down to Wenger when he should move on. Personally, I’m sorry that AW didn’t bow out after the Cup win

    As for allowing contracts to run down and then go into panic mode says much about our owner who unlike Chelsea’s Abramovitch has an understanding of what is required. Whilst football and elite sports are big business they don’t always crossover well under foreign ownership. Perhaps Kroenke is beginning to realise this now. Arsenal are not a franchise

    1. “Arsenal are not a franchise”
      That’s exactly right SueP. I think Kroenke will hopefully wake up from his torpor as the decline continues. That no doubt affects the club value, and revenue stream. One more thing Kroenke must now realize that the EPL is not the NFL. Crap teams get relegated here! And truth be told, without Auba’s goals and some solid display by Leno, we would probably be in the relegation scrap right now. Lots of ifs but the point is we are on a downward spiral. We desperately need passion in the front office.

  8. Sorry for my bad. But I remember vividly how the fans demanded that the board pay him the “dammed” money – anything he wanted.
    Ozil was a very important player (at least at the time) and the fans could not bear losing both him and Sanchez the same window.

      1. Sue, you know it amazes me how people keep changing like the shifting shadows every now and then. I doubt if there was any single fan that wanted Ozil sold at the time apart from the board. Now in retrospect, the board is being blamed for a decision made to please the fans.

        1. No Gily, only a hand few of his supporters / fans / relatives (maybe) wanted him. Fact that Sanchez and Ozil were both ending their contracts, Sanchez was wanted by City first, we said no while Ozil was wanted by no one then and even now. Sanchez was more vocal, Ozil was more of a mastermind. The board should have sent both packing then, sadly the father figure Arsene, did not want to lose Ozil so he hiked his wages in fear that he would have to do extra work in coaching if a new player joined us as his replacement. Sadly Ozil banged the doors shut on Arsene, Unai, Freddie and tried the same with Mikel, but failed badly. Now he is trying to portray the victim role just as he did during Unai’s time.
          A quiet man without conscience has to be feared more than a motormouth.

          1. That’s the biggest load of bollocks I’ve ever read on here .
            “sadly the father figure Arsene, did not want to lose Ozil so he hiked his wages in fear that he would have to do extra work in coaching if a new player joined us as his replacement”.
            Come on don’t make things up for the sake of it .

          2. Loose Cannon, can you just remind everyone who was voted The Arsenal Player of the Year five months before he was offered the new contract – perhaps you weren’t around then, so I’ll enlighten you – the fans voted Mesut Ozil player of the year 2015/16, so your claim of a handful of supporters seems a little out of context with the fact doesn’t it?

    1. And they also wanted the same for Alexis. Give him whatever money, even though he was clearly going downhill already. Alot of people wanted the same for Ramsey, even though he was injured all the time. Now everyone is blaming the board that we gave Ozil such a big contract and we are stuck with him, but at the same time demand that we give Auba whatever contract..

      1. 👍
        Exactly MrL, the same thing happening currently with Auba. Soon the board and the coach will be blamed for giving Auba what he is now demanding (don’t misunderstand me thogh, Auba is good but needs to be sold if he wants to).

        1. But Aubameyang performs and how much will it cost to replace him?
          How many clubs were lined up at the time or now to buy Ozil?

  9. The sooner Ozil leaves the better his situation at the club has become a circus! If he plays for the club again, I will support him like any other player that represents Arsenal, but it’s become tiresome now! He’s not the player he was and it’s best for both parties to move on.

    1. You’re right, Kev, it has become a circus… and really doesn’t look good on the club… I like him, as you know, but if we’re not going to play him, we have no other choice than to buy him out!

      1. Don’t get me wrong Sue I was excited as anyone when he signed and my old man was a massive fan of his and he was a Leeds fan but enough is enough, he’s not in the managers plans and we can’t have players who aren’t ready to give 100% every game.. at his age he should be aching to play but it seems he’s just happy to be a passenger at Arsenal! We need leaders Sue 👊 did you see Mourinho yesterday ? 😂

        1. It’s a shame things have turned out like this (for me anyway!) But life goes on… Arsenal goes on…. the transfer window is coming up… 👍
          Only briefly, Kev… I normally turn over when he comes on 😝

          1. Don’t worry Sue we have KT we build around him and what a player that boy is 👊 I think his interviews are hilarious he’s entertainment 😂 I watched villa last night how bad are they ? Almost on the same level as DPD delivery 😂

          2. Yeah just love him and his tesco bag 😃 Yes they were bad…and how much money did they spend last summer on all those players?! (Bar Mings, of course 😉) and we thought our scouts were bad!! Just a matter of time for them now….

          3. Haha yeah he’s not let money change him has he Sue 😛 can’t imagine Auba driving a hatchback or carrying a Sainsbury’s bag 😂😂 I was thinking that yesterday it must have been 130 mil they reminded me of QPR a few years ago every day during the window a new signing came in 😂 haha well Villa have possibly the worse defence in the PL I’m not sure Ming’s is the answer 😉 you’re right Sue and we’ll send them back to the championship because we never lose at villa park it must be 1999 since we last lost there 😀

  10. ThirdManJW, thank you for an excellent article.
    It is unfortunate that such a once very good player has trashed his reputation and legacy as a footballer for money.

  11. Nice article TMJW, as this is not the usual ozil bashing but a concise explanation of something more, something we as fans have never even thought of when brought into perspective. You hit the nail on the head with each point made and this seems to be the best article that has ever criticised ozil and the incompetency of the wenger/gazidis campaign. Where others just bashed him(rightly so), you came from a different angle that stands your article out. Good job.
    SUEP you don’t have to pay attention to that misogynist. I’m sure he thinks the world revolves around him and men, we’re in the 21st century not in the medieval ages, unfortunately his reasoning still seems archaic.

  12. As TMJW says this is not an Ozil knocking article, there doesn’t need to be any follow up on the player himself, just the conclusion regarding why heand others were bought and sold in the first place.

    I’m sure I read an article from you TMJW, part of which you complained about the number of players that the club kept on, despite being injured for long periods.
    Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky? Weren’t these three of the injury prone players you mentioned who should have been sold off, as they were costing the club to much money?

    Sadly, as it happened, Santi followed them as another long term injury, but as I said so many times, it is so easy to be critical in hindsight – just ask man utd fans if they regard Sanchez as the perfect steal, with his injuries, his reported £500k a week and having to subsidize his salary over in Italy – hindsight once again would suggest they didn’t get what they thought they were getting!?!?
    Furthermore, what if he had signed a mega deal with us and then his form dropped, as it did at united, would we be saying what a disastrous contract that was?

    Can we be sure that, if Aubamayang signs a new deal, with his demands met, it will be a success?
    If the reported £280,000 a week for three years is true and he gets injured, laid off for over a year, loses form, has a run in with Arteta…are we then going to say what a terrible decision that was as well?

    I’m not saying that we haven’t made some awful errors in the transfer market…from Lichsteiner, all the way back to Mel Charles (you might not remember him) there have been players who have turned out as bad signings – that covers every single manager/coach we have had as well of course.

    it would be easy to point out incredible success stories, but that isn’t the point of your article, so I will just use Guendouzi as an example – we will make a lot of money if we sell him in the summer, there are many instances of the opposite to your examples as well.

    I certainly think that all the other clubs have seen terrible transfer incidents, but agree that our club can certainly do better – it just seems that the new regime hasn’t learnt any lessons and is making the same mistakes you highlight in your article.

    A good read TMJW, but as I say, hindsight is a wonderful gift, let’s hope that if Auba does get his wish, we don’t have the same discussion during his next three years.

    1. With Ozil, hindsight wasn’t needed though. Nothing against him at all at the time of his signing. It was Wenger and Gazidis’s fault for ignoring all of the squad’s weaknesses, to buy a player not even needed. Ozil had also done nothing to earn a new contract, and whopping pay raise. Again, no hindsight needed.

      To compare Sanchez and Ozil deals is beyond laughable. Ozil was clearly finished at the time of his insane contract extension, whilst Man Utd signed our best player, and one of the best players in the league at that time. Both players have obviously flopped hard since, but only one of those deals was terrible from day one.

      If you’re saying that Auba could get injured after re-signing, then why sign anyone then? Every deal there is a risk, and that must be evaluated. Hardly any risk with Auba, he’s almost never injured, super fit, and still absolutely deadly on the pitch. Ozils contract extension was the biggest risk I have seen any club ever make!

      As I also pointed in a recent article, all clubs make mistakes, but none as apocalyptic, and as with such consistency as what Arsenal do.

      You talk about the incredible success stories, then what are they? Iwobi and Oxlade deals are the only decent sales we’ve done in years. And even Oxlade was yet another that was allowed to run his contract down.

      1. But he was needed, at least that was the board, owner , manager and, at the time, the overwhelming view of the fans.

        I didn’t realise that you were highlighting one player, as you said this was not about Ozil in particular, but that doesn’t matter anyway.

        If Sanchez was this brilliant player, why did he flop so badly at United?
        Was it the fact that he and Ozil worked so well together, or could it be the fact that he and Ozil were coached better?

        So no hindsight was needed regarding Sanchez…once again I would siggest you put that to the United fans and board, they will most certainly have a different viewpoint to you.

        Ozil was clearly finished? Hindsight once again TMJW, as you completely ignore, in order to strengthen your point, the overwhelming view that was held at the time of his contract extension.
        We were told to show we were a “big club” and “not a selling club” and “give him whatever he wants to keep him here” as the spectre of losing our second world class player (at that time) drew ever nearer…it is quite easy to go back and read what was being said THEN.

        On to Aubamayang and his demands (which of course Ozil never did demand, it was negotiated) of a reported £280,000 a week and a three year contract – you glibly pass over this by saying “why sign anyone then?” and “it’s always a risk signing anyone”—PRECISLEY unless, of course, one has this hindsight that you are using today regarding Ozil and which I am countering with Sanchez.

        Wasn’t it a risk to sign Tierney, considering his injuries both before and after? In hindsight no, but it could have been.
        Wasn’t it a risk to sign Guendouzi, considering his run ins with his manager? In hindsight it was and we know see that quite clearly.

        Let’s look at your claim about strengthening other areas, because we had Ramsey ( someone you wanted sold because of his injuries), Rosicky ( someone you wanted sold because of his injuries), Wilshere (someone you wanted sold because of his injuries) and we had just signed the brilliant Cazorla ( who you wanted sold because of his injuries)….so if we had followed your claims that we should have sold players who had a history of injuries, buying Ozil, who at that time, did not have injury problems, seems a rather clever piece of business – in hindsight of course.

        The Ox? well, how long has he been out injured while at Liverpool? In hindsight wasn’t it a good move, following your reasoning, to get rid of a player who was injury prone anyway?
        Gnarby? If you check your facts, he was offered a new contract, but declined it – are you suggesting we should have offered him anything he wanted to keep him at the club? In hindsight, that would/could have been justified, but we din’t know that at the time…you might have done I guess, so what would you have offered to keep him?

        As for the strengthening side of your argument, there is no question we should have invested more, so why did we buy Cazorla, Sanchez, Aubamayang, Lacazette oh and Ozil of course?
        Let me ask you this, considering the amount we have invested in defensive players under the new regime, why is it the old guard of Bellerin, Mustafi, Xhaka, Holding, Kolasinac who are being used as the mainstay of our defence…along with Tierney, Suares and, hopefully, Salibas?

        In hindsight, those players weren’t/aren’t as dross as they were made out to be it seems, which brings me nicely back to your well written article TMJW – hindsight is the most powerful tool to put forward as part of an argument…so should we give in to Aubamayang’s demands, or should we let him go for nothing? It’s a Sanchez or Ozil connundrem isn’t it?

        1. Given Auba a new contract now is what the club should be doing and every fan will agree to that ,but the problem will be like we have seen with Ozil is if he’s given 300k a week and then slacks off we will get the same bashing of him that we now get with Ozil .
          Hindsight is a wonderful thing,but we all know that fans will turn on him and forget what they said in the 1st place if it turns sour .
          Me personally would give what Auba wants but I’m not going to moan when the goals dry up ,you most take risks ,sometimes they work out,I just don’t see how people hold such grudges when they don’t .
          Always remember it’s our owners money ,an owner who 99% of the fans can’t stand .

          1. @Dan kit

            As I keep saying over and over, every deal is a risk. As I also keep saying, what had Ozil done to even earn a new contract and massive pay raise? Auba has been the best striker in the league since arriving, and never injured. He has 100% earned a new contract and pay raise. On both signing Ozil, and giving him a new contract, no hindsight was needed.

        2. No he wasn’t needed Ken. That’s my point! Board, owner, and manager got that badly wrong, and it’s hard to see how, if a squad assessment was performed. Clearly it wasn’t. Wenger had an obsession with attacking midfielders. Do you honestly think a quality CB, or DM, or CF wouldn’t have benefited the team better? In regards to fans, of course the fans were excited, even I was. But for those like myself who think realistically, we knew Ozil wouldn’t fix our problems.

          Injuries played a major role in Sanchez flopping at Utd, and sometimes a move just doesn’t work out for top players. Salah flopped at Chelsea, and KDB had to leave Chelsea to come to life. Hleb to Barca, Torres to Chelsea, and so on.

          As I keep saying though, what happened AFTER these contracts were dished out is irrelevant, because no one can predict the future. I am talking about why these huge contracts were offered in the first place. What was the thought process?

          For those non fanboys, Ozil WAS finished years ago. Only one good season, and dreadful last few years. If Ozil was still a top talent, I find it bizarre that foreign clubs could have signed him on a free, yet no one did! English clubs would have only had to wait 6 months to get him on free, yet no movement. Why would a so called world class player on a free, have no one interested in him?

          In regards to injured players, well Santi was not suffering at the time of Ozil’s arrival. That happened years later, so I don’t understand how you could even use that as an example? In regards to our other injured attacking midfielders, I am not sure how many of them were injured at the time of signing Ozil, but my point still stands. They were still on our books, thus available at some point.

          Yes the Ox deal was actually a great deal…for once. We got a great fee for an injury prone player, with only 12 months left on his contract, who had never really done anything at Arsenal.
          No hindsight needed, that was a great deal for us from day one.

          Of course we did invest, but hardly ever in the right areas. Even Auba didn’t make sense when we had just spent 50 million only 6 months earlier on a striker. When we needed a DM, CB, RB, etc.

          From reading your comment Ken, you seem to have got the wrong end of the stick as you keep going on about hindsight. The crutch of what I have been talking about in these comments and my article, is that the club’s decision making is so bad, that no hindsight is needed. The decisions don’t make any sense from day one.

          Luiz is another fantastic example. The very second he signed, I said he would flop, because the decision to sign him made zero sense. Yes, we did need an experienced CB, but a good one! Luiz has proven time and time again, at club, and international level that he isn’t a great CB. How was a poor, aging CB, going to improve our terrible defense? As we now know, and very unsurprisingly, Luiz has flopped quite hard, yet the club give him a contract extension! Are you beginning to see what I mean about no hindsight needed? Just forget about hindsight, and ask yourself if certain make any sense from day one?

          Re-signing Ozil was at the maximum risk level, so it’s easy to understand why he’s been terrible since his contract extension. You need to think of the different levels of risk, and forget hindsight.

          1. But your analysis of Ozil not deserving a new contract, as he has done nothing to earn it, falls flat on its face if you actually think about the facts.
            Four months previously, he was voted player of the year by the fans – that was why the club and the fans wanted to keep him…. by the way, he beat Cazorla to this award and yet you say he was finished?!?!
            You can keep on saying it didn’t make sense, that you knew it wouldn’t work, that you didn’t need hindsight etc etc but the truth is, nobody knows what will happen in the future – something you actually admit too, when I asked about Aubamwyang and his demands.
            So, if our club is so bad with contracts etc tell me what you would do regarding Auba – probably will be player of the year, loved by the fans and demanding a reported three year contract and £280,000 a week – how do you predict this one TMJW?
            Then, in hindsight, we can see if the club and/or you actually got this one right.

          2. I haven’t got the wrong end of the stick at all, this is just another Ozil knocking article from you, even though you said it wasn’t.
            Our player of the year, when he signed that new contract, was still world class, not anymore, of course, as we all can see, in hindsight.

    2. Mel Charles , KEN? NOT REMOTELY UP TO HIS BROTHERS STANDARDS BUT FAR BETTTER THAN BEING UNFAIRLY COMPARED TO LICHSTEINER, I SAY. There have indeed been many other duds across the years but I would not have thought of using MC as a good example. He was distinctly moderate but not exactly useless. Gus Caesar comes to mind as a better example of uselessness. And many, many others too before MC.
      The irony is that only around ten percent on here will have a clue about whom we are speaking! Youngsters today are not interested in the long gone years of our club and their knowledge of all that went before their own time is often pathetically poor.

      1. True enough Jon, but some of these bad buys were also great characters.
        Terry Mancini used to have me in stitches when he went up for corners – you just couldn’t miss his wonderful bald head shining so brightly under the Highbury floodlights.

        Over the years, we’ve had “good uns and bad uns”, but our club has always come through – just as it will when the current band of players have gone.

        If fans think we have problems today, what went on back then, would freak them out completely!!!

        By the way Jon, Phil sends you his regards, he’s well as is his family and itching to get back to The Emirates.

      2. Lots of niggling injuries, goes missing most times we played a top team, and let’s not even mention away games shall we Ken! And look, I was completely proven right! I said the contract was insane as Ozil was on the decline, and look how poor he has been since signing that deal. Dread to think how much each assist has cost us haha!

        1. Comparing Ozil’s performances to Auba’s is beyond farcical!

          Ozil’s new contract was high risk, and Auba’s will be low risk.

          1. You haven’t even attempted to explain why a player who was voted player of the year just four months previously, was a high risk – how could it have been da high risk, when the player was deemed the best we had?.
            There is no possible way in the world you could now what would happen, even though you keep giving yourself this wonderful level of knowledge – so why didn’t you forsee that UE was going to be the biggest flop since Bruce Rioch, or that Lichsteiner was going to bomb out?
            You trumpeted the arrival of both of these signings and you fell flat on your face – in hindsight, you admit you were wrong and that is all your article is based on, hindsight, with regard to Ozil.
            As far as the broader points you made, when falsely saying this was not about Ozil, I would say you have valid points, but to forget that the man you are determined to demonise has been named player of the year just four months previously, makes your claims absolutely without any foundation whatsoever.

          2. You also keep avoiding my question. If Ozil was so good, why did no one want him on a free? A world class player at peak age for free, and no one interested…I wonder why?

          3. TMJW, your insight is second to none – when did our club put him up for sale and for free as well?
            Why do you keep asking me questions you have given the correct answer to anyway?
            No one would even contemplate paying that kind of obscene salary… although Abaumayang seems to be demanding close on £300,000 a week.
            Why was Ozils contract any different to the one being suggested for Auba?
            At the time of the new contract, our player of the year, was injury free – just check the games he played in per season.

  13. This Ozil bashing and analysing is the most over used and abused material on this site. I have supported Arsenal for close to 40 years and its never been in this Club’s culture or tradition to sow hate at their players or officials. This new tradition and culture is driven by bitter and empty fans . This player or any other doesn’t deserve to be the centre of every frustration and dissatisfaction with Arsenal performance. Ozil achieved huge honours at an early age which made him a very attractive acquisition to Arsenal . Sometimes all I sense from these articles and opinion pieces is outright populism.

    1. Gunner SA, how right you are – one minute we are being told we should have got rid of this player or that player because they were injury prone and then the next minute, the same person, cites these players as a reason we didn’t need Ozil.

      I actually thought TMJW made some valid points regarding our transfer policy over the years, but it turned out it was an excuse to have another pop at a player he just cannot leave alone.

      Anyone can sit down and pontificate about what should and shouldn’t have been done after the event and with the benefit of hindsight, but it seems some of our fans are so clairvoyant, they knew all the answers before the event even happened.

      Every single club in the world has made mistakes with transfer decisions, yet we are being told that we are the worst of the lot – it would take a lot of research to prove that one way or the other, but let’s just make the claim anyway.
      What on earth fans like this get out of “supporting” our club, I have no idea.
      As you say, bitter and empty fans, who just need to fuel the doom and gloom pages – MO isn’t in MA’s plans at present, kronkie is paying his salary, he’ll be gone in twelve months (it seems), so what is their problem?!?!

      Dan kit, you see my friend, it is all a matter of opinion regarding players.
      You say give Aubamayang whatever he wants and I understand your reasons why.
      For me, I would never give that kind of contract to any player, having watched another player who, when he signed his new contract that was offered him, was named The Arsenal Player of the Year just five months earlier in 2015/16, but has been villified ever since and is blamed for everything that goes wrong at our club.

      Here we have TMJW telling everyone he didn’t need hindsight to tell us all what a terrible decision it was to award him a new contract (forget the salary) as he was finished and had done nothing to deserve said new contract…yet he forgets what happened just five months previously, let’s refresh his memory, he was voted player of the year…in hindsight what a marvellous achievement for a player who, it seems, was finished.
      So all those Gooners who voted him Player of the Year, got it completely wrong, as did the club, the manager and the owner, four months later, when he was awarded said contract.

      How they must wish they had the insight TMJW had when that contract was awarded.

      Let’s see what TMJW has to say about this and the questions I asked – please don’t say I’m spinning things, as all I’m doing is quoting your words and facts from our official handbook.

      1. But that’s the difference Ken between me and another so called fans is ,that I don’t hold a grudge (Wenger being the prime example)you move on ,sometimes it works another times it doesn’t,same in all walks of life .
        If Auba wants whatever ,I say pay him ,I’m not going to moan about it 12 months down the line if it doesn’t work ,that’s life .
        We payed what Ozil wanted it hasn’t quite worked out with him ,but ffs don’t pretend that you knew it wouldn’t from the outset .
        @ken I respect what you say in your posts because like me you don’t seem to hold a grudge nut move on 👍

        1. Dan kit, as you say, what is the point in looking backwards and holding grudges to the extent that all you ever see are the negatives?

          If kronkie is prepared to offer Aubamayang what he is asking for, then I’m happy because we have a world class player for three years – just as everyone was happy when he did the same with Ozil.
          All I hope is that Auba doesn’t fail, god help him if he does!!!

          Like you, I give my opinions, some agree with me and some don’t and we usually move on, as we should be doing with MA.
          I loved AW and what he achieved for our club, but he has been gone for three years now, UE has also gone, let’s just look at what our new coach and his players can do- my glass is ALWAYS half full and it seems yours is also.
          Mind you, I did enjoy our little disagreements, but the respect was always there, no matter what.

  14. Gunner SA some of us are not great fans of Ozil but we do not hate him in the slightest.Being critical of the competence of players and Club Executives does not infer hatred but more frustration for bad decision making on and off the pitch.I do not blame Ozil in the slightest for accepting the terms of the contract offered by Arsenal, but I feel entirely justified in highlighting the errors of judgement made by Wenger and Gazidis in what has proved to be a disaster, both financially and in terms of value for money on the pitch.

    1. Grandad , hate is a strong word which I TRY TO AVOID USING, BUT I do loathe the lack of moral compass shown over around five years already by Ozil.

      A MAN WITH ANY HONOUR AND SELF RESPECT WOULD BUST A GUT TO PROVE HIMSELF WORTHY OF THAT OBSCENE AND DAMAGING CONTRACT. BUT HE HAS NO OBVIOUS SHAME AND FOR THAT I DO LOATHE HIM. I loathe all talented people who are too lazy and too superior to work hard.

      THIS APPLIES TO WHICHEVER WALK OF LIFE THEY INHABIT, NOT SIMPLY FOOTBALL.

      1. Of course Jon, it is your opinion that he isn’t busting a gut to prove himself – up and until the coronavirus stopped football in it’s tracks, Mikel Arteta certainly saw and believed he was proving himself worthy of selection for every game in the premiership.

        Since we started back, Mikel has decided not to play him and has said, quite openly, that he has an injury.
        As I believe that official statement, the conspiracy theory that he is being punished for asking where his salary cut was going, has no basis, just as your theory that he has no honour or self respect has no basis either, wouldn’t you agree?

        Now, as you and I have both said many times, MA is a man of integrity and honesty, doesn’t this accusation you make about Ozil seem misplaced at the very least?
        Or should both your theory and that of being left out due to his refusal to take a wage cut overide what the club is officially saying?

        Of course I agree about the grotesque and obscene salary, so I assume that, like me, you would tell Aubamayang to take his demands for (it is reported) a three year £280,000 a week contract and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine?

        By the way, the meaning of loathing, as taken from the dictionary, is “to feel strong hatred for someone/thing – so let’s not pussyfoot around here, there are fans who hate one of our own players, just wanted to clarify the meaning of the words used.

        Victoria Concordia Crescit seems a little way off somehow.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors