If that is where loyalty gets you then I may have to rethink my actions! (Opinion)
The way that Arsenal, the board, Arteta, or whoever it is has treated Mesut Ozil since project restart has in my eyes been absolutely disgraceful!
This article will no doubt cause controversy among those small minorities of fans who do not support Mesut Ozil, but every player deserves support from those that love them, especially if they have not done anything to deserve the hate.
Mesut Ozil is on a list of NOT MANY players who have remained loyal as ever to Arsenal, by signing a contract extension and committing his long-term future to the club even though they were failing to win big trophies at the time. Unlike some players, who in the past have moved on because they did not “agree with the philosophy” or “weren’t offered enough money.”
However, Ozil stuck it out because he loved the club that much and by doing so, this is the thanks he gets, to be excluded from the Premier League and Europa League squads, practically ending his eight years at the club in the most disgustingly appalling way ever if this does continue!
Aubameyang has recently committed his long-term future to the club and has signed a contract extension where he has become, if reports are to be believed, the highest earner at the club in front of Ozil. But will he be getting the same treatment as Mesut Ozil in years to come where he is left out of the squad, being isolated and treated as if he is nothing? OF COURSE HE WONT BE!
Whatever the issue is with Ozil it is clearly an off the field matter and as far as I am aware, over the years of being a football fan, off the pitch incidents should never be a reason for a player to be left out, unless it is in extreme circumstances, which in this case, I don’t believe it is.
Refusing to take a pay cut in order to look after yourself and thinking of your family and yourself for the future, especially after being misinformed about where the pay cut money would be going, was not a crime when I last checked. Yet Ozil is being made out to be a criminal for being one of a NUMBER of players to refuse a pay cut over the lockdown period.
And given the words written by Ozil in his recent social media post it is hard to understand just what the reason really is as the player himself is struggling to understand the behaviour of the club that he has remained ever so loyal to over the years:
So if he fails to understand it, what hope do the fans who have forever stuck by him and always will stick by him, have, to understand just why such a successful, loyal and talented player has been treated the way he has.
Fans call out for loyalty from players and after receiving the loyalty from Ozil himself, it has backfired on the German playmaker and as a result, he has been subjected to negative responses and reactions from the club and certain fans over the years.
No matter what happens to Mesut Ozil, how his time at the club ends, where he moves on to and what he goes on to do, he will always have me responding to his loyalty by sticking by him and supporting him from the side-lines!
Shenel Osman
He loved the club like you claimed, then y did he demand for such humongous sum. He is not even playing like someone collecting d said sum. Besides he is not d only player left out. Why is he blaming everyone but himself
As “humongous” as his wages are, the financial outlay for the club over a 5yr period is around £85m or thereabout. Compare that with Pepe with a financial outlay of close to £110m. Though most of the Pepe money went to Lille, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s more of a financial burden to the club.
I’ll be watching Willian and Auba over the next 3 years to see how much they justify their new contracts. If the last 4 matches is anything to go by, then we’re in for interesting times.
Your last paragraph does beg the question but a blip is a blip…. for now and I hope that’s all it is
The one point I would be grateful if you could clear up for me is did you include the Pepe transfer fee in your calculation as I think you didn’t add the Ozil fee in the £85m?
Yes, the Pepe transfer fee was included and No, the Ozil transfer fee wasn’t included (for obvious reasons).
When Ozil first joined the club, he was on £150k weekly wages. Unfortunately, the club allowed that contract to fully run out its course. At that point the club had the option of letting Ozil go on a free while they cough up a transfer fee for a similar player plus wages. The club probably reckoned that it was cheaper to pay Ozil £350k than spend on a new player with its attendant adaptation risk.
So, yes once again, my comment only considered Ozil last contract when he was a free agent.
Excellent
By the way your other post below was a thoughtful insight
Maxis: Great analysis. You and I know it is not about the money. Even if you take Ozil’s salary for the rest of the season, it won’t amount to 10% of the cost of a descent signee.
I wish someone was as disrespectful to me and still pay me £350,000 per week just to turn up for training! Ozil has been spoken to and told he wasn’t part of arsenals plans going forward, he has been kept fully in the picture at every juncture!! He could have taken one of the many offers made to him and left our club with his head held high! Instead he chose to stay, even though he knew he wouldn’t play, and keep taking his huge wage, even though we all know if we are honest, he hasn’t produced for at least three years anywhere near his best, and when he has played well, it’s never been against the top clubs! As a team, we’ve been a soft touch for years, a team the pundits always thought of as weak and spineless when it came to the big games, and a lot of that has been aimed at mesut! Well, we aren’t a soft touch anymore, and we don’t need mesut anymore, that’s football for you!! As for treating him with disrespect, grow up, it’s him who’s disrespected us in my opinion!!
Disgusting and classless from arsenal and arteta, on top of his boring park the bus defensive style of play. The arsenal I fell in love with 20 yrs back is dying
Another bloody Ozïl article but I must answer this one.
Shenel, you obviously have not seen or read Arteta’s statement in reply to Ozil’s comments made on social media. Arteta is clear the decision has been made by him and him alone, without any pressure from his staff, the board or the owner. He states it has nothing to do with Ozil’s views or any comments made to the media but is purely on footballing matters. He basically said Ozil hasn’t shown in training that he is up for the fight and has like so many other players at other clubs been left out of the team because he is not currently good enough. As much as I like Ozil and have supported him in the past, it’s time people like you Shenel got real and stop playing the loyalty card. Ozil should show his loyalty by proving he is good enough to be selected rather than loyalty to his pay and recent £8 million “loyalty” bonus. Ozil has played his last game for Arsenal and everyone needs to move on. We have an important game tonight we should be discussing rather than him.
You are spot on brother. SAF did it with Japp Stam, spurs did same to Danny Rose. Nobody batted an eye lid. Why is Sokratis not complaining too?
Good to see a reformed member of his fan club back on Planet Earth with the other realists , even though it took a long time. But welcome back anyway, Declan!
It took a lot of therapy, drugs and electric shock treatment Jon.
Was that therapy issued by jon fox himself, Declan?
Could not agree more Declan apart from the fact that Arteta blamed himself for being unable to get the best from Ozil rather than Ozil not trying
As for loyalty- show me loyalty in this day and age – from clubs or players
SueP,
Exactly! Have your seen Pep’s comments regarding Aguero? He said he has to show he deserves a new contract!
You would expect a club like City, considering what Aguero has done to be more loyal?
Football is about now not yesterday.
All top teams and top managers always have that one player.
Pep deemed Yaya Toure not good enough to the surprise of many, he was benching Aguero for not pressing initially.
Chelsea were ruthless with Willian
Spurs with Danny Rose
Conte was ruthless with Costa despite being a vital cog in his title win.
Van Gaal said Welbeck is not good enough for him
Was Barcelona loyal to Suarez? I could go on and on. Some wives won’t even be loyal to their husbands if things go south talk more of a football club or a player.
That said, despite what Arteta has said about dropping Ozil for footballing reasons, I strongly believe that he is annoyed because Ozil rejected the pay cut despite him stepping in to talk to the players, that singular reason is why Ozil will never play for Arsenal again because to be fair to Ozil, he is not that bad to be left out of the squad completely.
This whole Ozil situation has all of us wondering. So many unanswered questions about who, what and why?
I wish we could all agree that no one here is really in any position to judge either party. Be it Arsenal F.C or Ozil. Let’s imagine that Kronke himself was the instigator against Ozil because he wanted to save more money. And, Gonnersaurus was just a publicity stunt gone wrong?! Why else would you treat your mascot that way, after all? The club have also made a big bunch of redundancies. No other club. Just Arsenal. Even the Spuds with a new massive stadium bill didn’t need to sack their mascot and fire a bunch of employees. Does this all sound a bit whacky to any one else?
Maybe this is the Arsenal propaganda machine at work? To get the fans on board and support the “Ozil out” movement. Maybe Arsenal are so desperate to move him out to save money because FFP is that precarious and the club are now over the limit? I do sense some desperation within the club. That is for sure. MAybe MA himself is in a precarious position and under a lot of pressure from above?
Fact is, Ozil has always been 100% Arsenal. Yes, he’s also been top earner. But, why freeze out your only play maker? If Ozil had a chance to play now we may even see a new man? I don’t know. Do any of us know? I just don’t feel any of us really know the actual truth!
@GunneRay it sure does sound disgustingly whacky to me.
We.were led.to believe it was all about money for Ozil but it’s now very clear that that was a big fat lie. I regret ever sharing that view and I apologize to Ozil.
Mikel Arteta is not being honest here. It’s not exclusively his decision to leave Ozil out. He’s just trying to cover up by taking responsibility.
It doesn’t make ANY sense at all. Arsenal currently have no player as creative as Ozil. Even if they pettily claim that he is not good enough for the first team (which is a blatant lie by the way), I’m 2000% sure that Ozil would easily walk into our Team B.
We were going for Aouar when we have a more experienced, more mature creative genius who has proven himself in the Premier league. It makes no sense whatsoever! None.
Someday the truth about all this will out.
Its a shame we got someone so golden and more loyal than Cesc Fabregas, yet we repay him this way.
I can’t believe Arsenal would be so classless in this matter. I AM SO ASHAMED.
I have always been a supporter and fan of Mesut. At the same time, I believe Ozil must have been pampered by Arsene Wenger regime at the club.
We have heard stories of Ozil being left out of training because of very flimsy excuse. We have also seen on several occasions the way Ozil applied himself in games. The lack of desire despite being paid that amount of money is quite worrisome.
Ozil actually burned the bridge when he refused to take that pay cut and that singular action has come back to haunt him. This is the consequence of his action. You cannot continue to claim to be part of a group when you don’t believe in the ideals of the group. Can you imagine how the other players must have felt when he took that decision?
“Can you imagine how the other players must have felt when he took that decision?”
Actually yes I can. After the firing of 50 people plus the mascot they must have felt stupid and played. Who wouldn’t?
This article does not reflect on Arteta’s excellent management record so far and indeed Ozil’s performances in recent times. In fact it is purely written by the an Ozil fan who wants to stir things up when what should be happening is getting behind the team. Ignore the Ozil management team and his backbiting, so they do not get any oxygen. COYG
Arteta is a lackey. He knows our midfield is a joke. Even 30 minutes of Ozil on the field would created different results, especially v. Liverpool and ManC. Surely Ozil would have contributed more than Ceballos and William together.
Gunnersa,
I am honestly trying to be mild but you are a foolish liar.
Are people being forgetful or just stupid?
Ozil even at his best was never ever consistent from day ONE!
Have you forgotten how he disappears in every big game to the point where we all bashed Wenger for always refusing to sub him?
How many f**king excuses have been made?
Ozil started MOST OF, if not all our humiliating defeats away to Liverpool, City just name it, he would even lose the ball and attempt a lazy tackle and watch as we concede from his errors.
I keep asking why Cazorla was an instant hit with us, why didn’t he divide opinion like Ozil?
Cazorla joined when we had no Song, No RVP, Nasri but his quality shone through..Ozil depends on EVERYTHING and EVERYONE to even run!
I will just keep numb about this Arteta idea of dropping Ozil as he has made it very clear to us via his press conference that he takes the responsibility of dropping him and that it’s for footballing matters….if and I maintain if by any means we lack creativity in our play this season as we have bin under him so far since he has bin appointed….I will come really hard on him with criticism….as far as am concerned he hasn’t improved the team …. Winning an fa cup with a Burnley kind of approach only works once in 10 years….. Case in point Wigan winning the fa cup…. Even Wigan played good football when they did…. That fa cup won’t do it for me….I keep saying this….we finished 8th last season …. Again i repeat 8th I say with over 20 games in the premier league for him…so guys supporting this cutting the nose to spite the face decision can get it across well….he better just finished in top 4 playing well…. Can’t even imagine us getting knocked out of the Europa league last season by Olympiacos under him as well at home after winning the first leg…. And you just want us to think everything is okay coz we won the fa cup and some friendly trophy….let’s just sit back and see what he does with this team as far as am concerned not as bad as he has made them look while playing on the pitch….he better come up with the results or all blames lies on him….
@dammy what’s your brand of champagne?
Smiles….@tams I don’t take alcohol ….I wouldn’t know if all champagne have alcohol though…. But thanks for the offer bro….we just can’t be using double standards when judging….the same way we Emery is the same way we going to judge Arteta…
Oh I forgot Ozil did not play the Olympiakos game and that’s why we lost.
Common man
@bobs I never said Ozil didn’t play in the game….am not part of those who blame Ozil for everything going wrong with the team or not… okay bro…. For me it’s all on Arteta….if you decide to cut the only creativity link (midfield wise) you have in the team out for any reason whatsoever when you know there’s no replacement then you should be ready to bear the criticism that comes with it… Am just saying he is not immune to criticism coz he won some fa cup in an underwhelming season league wise…he should be ready for it if things don’t go our way….I pray it does coz the media are never gonna give him a breather if we can’t get over the line in home games against teams sitting so deep….I hope you know that….
Go look up the difference between the team that won at Olympiacos and the team that lost at home to Olympiacos. Ozil played in one, he didn’t play in one. That in itself anhilates all your points above
Arsenal is not a charity organization. If Ozil want to earn his wages, he needs to work for it. Imagine if it was your business, you can’t allow anyone to earn a salary with lacklustre performance
@Top Gunner: Well, we are acting like a charity organization by paying salary for no work at all. Even when Ozil wants to earn his wages, Arsenal is saying “don’t bother, we’ll pay you to do nothing”.
Shenel, You inhabit a different planet from me. I am firmly grounded on Planet Earth. Where you are, God alone knows!
Alexis Sanchez accepted pay cut and moved out of ManU to go and enjoy football again when he sensed that ManU doesnt need him. Ozil refused pay cut. He refused to leave even when the club doesnt need him. Only to sit around collecting 350k weekly. All teams in the Premier League are changing to pressing game which doesnt fit Ozil. The young players are fighting for shirts so we dont need luxury players or we will be relegated. Ozil talks of loyalty of the club who just paid him 8m loyalty bonus. Where is his loyalty when he is always working against the Board. The Board sack Gunnersaraus, he says it is wrong he will pay because he is over paid. He refused pay cut when others agreed. He went into politics acussing China for treatment of moslems. This affected finances of the club and he refused pay cut for his actions. Above all he is not good again on the field, a waste off the ball. I am praying for his contract to end quickly.
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First off, you have absolutely no idea what the reasons are behind Ozil’s omission from the squads. Your opinion is based on what is being spewed out by the media outlets and we all know they care more about whatever agenda they are pushing, not facts.
Secondly, you say “Off the pitch incidents should never be a reason for a player to be left out”. Well, lets look at his on-field (premier league) contributions recently:
2017/18 (his last half-decent season) – 26 appearances, 4 goals, 8 assists.
2018/19 – 24 appearances, 5 goals, 2 assists
2019/20 – 18 appearances, 1 goal, 2 assists.
In the last 3 years of earning MASSIVE wages, he has contributed 10 goals and 12 assists.
Yes, He has a big social media presence and uses it to speak out against injustices against humanity (good on him – nobody is hating on him for that). I’m not saying that his political views and social media politics are not the reason he has been frozen out. But lets stop pretending that it is the only reason he will no longer play for the club. He is clearly a player on the decline and doesn’t have it in him to produce what we need at the top level.
He doesn’t fit the system as he is a liability without the ball and we have young talents coming through who have a future at the club, so why leave them out for the sake of playing an aging player who is well past his best? So many fans asking for the club to ‘get rid of the deadwood’, well, whether you like ozil or not, he is part of that deadwood.
To some extent I understand the decision of the board. If playing him will have massive financial implications on the club, such as the “reported” loss of revenue from the Chinese market, and he is not producing the quality we are paying him for, then why play him? Give other players who have a future a chance to stand up and make a name for themselves in that creative role which we are lacking at the moment (E.g – Saka, Smith-Rowe).
On a side note – this ozil situation will continue to be a topic that splits the fan-base. But that debate is not going to change the fact that he is NOT part of the team going forward. I for one trust Arteta and his vision for this TEAM and therefore respect their decision as being for the best interests of the team. Ozil is not bigger than the club and I choose to support the players that are going to contribute to the club going forward.
BRAVO and well said, you fellow realist. As with many others, you and I have noticed how many former Ozil fan club members are now desperately trying to row back on their former obsession with him, in the light of events and also since MA’ s public statement that he was only dropped from the squad for footballing reasons.
Of course the ones who still love him above the club and who are without any hope of being cured are still spouting their nonsense on this site,. But they are a fast declining breed and that at least is good to see.
What is clearer each passing day, is that when he finally leaves he will be- as I FORECAST A LONG TIME AGO -the single most loathed and despised ex player to ever leave our club.
More despised than such as Cole, Adebayor, RvP, Nasri etc. It is happening more as each day passes. I welcome all reformed Ozil obsessives back to Planet Earth to rejoin those realists who still and always will live here.
You don’t half rabbit on jon! 🤣
Bravo, well written @Spur Burger. The thing about assists is that it is dependent on another player to score or miss. However, being creative is all dependent on you. Ozil is by far our most creative player, even after not playing for the last seven months. Arsenal creates more scoring chances when he’s involved.
Ancellotti doesn’t ask James Rodriguez to defend because he knows how to get the best of him as an offensive creator. Just watch how Everton is setup. James hardly comes back beyond the center circle. My point is that teams bring in players to fulfill certain roles. They can be judged on those roles not on ancillary performances. We judge Aubameyang on his ability to strike and score more than on his ability to track back.
I agree with you on Ozil not being bigger than the club, but let’s not give a dog a bad name just so we can hang it.
If he so wanted to play them perhaps he should put the effort in. It seems that he only plays when he wants, other times he has a bad back!
He had the opportunity to move on in the last few weeks but decided to sit on his backside and get a million every three weeks.
As for claiming that it is linked to his views on the treatment of the Moslem refugees? I didn’t notice him taking a similar stand against Saudi Arabia’s treatment of people in their country..
Support those who want to play for the Club and not those who’s only concern is themselves.
Arteta might be doing his press. C with a knife on his neck. Doing what most coaches will do. Taking the blame of the club mess.
still have my doubt if benching mesut is purely based on football reasons.
ozil was playing his best football before the pandemic since signing that contract, now he cant even make the team while willock( cant remember him having 3 good consecutive games) have game time over ozil.
kinda disappointed with the board tho
I am just happy Arsenal, under Arteta is becoming more and more ruthless, that is the way to go if we wanna compete at the top.
I love what Arteta has done here and I fully support.
Ozil’s wonderful 5 assists in two years can easily be replicated by ESR if he is given the chance.
The vast majority of people are NEVER truly loyal. It all depends on what they can get from you now or what they believe they can get from you in the future. And this goes for the Club, Players and Fans.
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Once fans find a player that they believe is valuable to the club, they’ll then pretend to love the player. The player then pretends to be loyal to the club. Once that same player or any other player is perceived as not being valuable anymore, they immediately start hating, abusing and ridiculing the player.
Most fans have a position that is founded on prejudice, deceit and selfishness. Their position is not based on principles or values. Why was Fabregas called a mercenary when he took a paycut to join Barca but Sanchez is now being celebrated for doing same to join Inter? Every context depends on how it suits their prejudice or agenda.
Why did Arsenal refuse to let Alexis go to City when the player made it clear he wanted to leave? Why has Palace still stuck to Zaha even though the player is desperate to leave? Football clubs and its fans are as much mercenaries as the players. Everything depends on the situation and how much each party stands to gain or lose. Clubs look after their financial and footballing self interest. Same goes for the players.
But I get, people think CLUB over PLAYER is a virtue. They think throwing around the phrase “OUR CLUB” in every comment makes their bias any more noble. A player can be thrown under the bus in the interest of the club. Anything else mean you’re not a “true fan”. Luckily there are some fans who understand that there’s life outside football and certain values do not suddenly become less important simply because you’re a Fan.
thank you very much for probably the best comment I have ever read and will read on here!
i can only agree with you.. Hypocrisy and selfishness is something that’s common in clubs, fans and players.. Sol Campbell is a wonderful human being for the most Arsenal fans but A. Cole, Nasri, Clichy and Adebayor are despicable human beings? The difference is only the standpoint.. not their characters or their values
What a brilliant post Maxis! Another angle, completely spot on!
@Maxis I wish I could buy you a drink. I’d love to.
The vast majority of modern fans have a very short memory. Very very appallingly short and this is not good for the players nor the managers as they are the ones more likely to bear the brunt of that forgetfulness.
Once something new and exciting comes along , these fans jump on the bus with reckless abandon quick to forget whatever existed before the new came along.
There was a period when fans kept raving o about Unai Emery going unbeaten for around 20 games and the likelihood of an invincible season.. Well, a few defeats down the line and we all know the rest of the story.
I must say its a real shame to know that even Arsenal fans at long last have now become glory hunters, the very thing we criticized when it suited us.
The Club’s board have understoodd this and are making sure to avoid being on that receiving end of the brunt. The players need to find a way.to do the same. And when they do, we can kiss loyalty goodbye.
The funny thing in this is that the fans don’t know they are the ones who will end up getting hurt the most when players have learned..
A very big shout out to the Adebayors, the Fabregases, the Nasris, the vanPersies and the Sanchez’s who understood this very early.
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Maxis you’re right to some extent
But football don’t work that way…
Do you know why clubs sticks to players no matter what?
Because they are giving there all to the team. Or can you give me an example of player any club are trying to stick with when they are not the vocal point of the club?
Do you guys believe Ozil will be in this situation if he was producing like Auba?
Do you think Auba will have the upper hand on his contract if he’s producing like Ozil?
Has a player, give your all on the field and see if the club won’t be fighting to keep you.
Remember Alex Song was even performing than Ozil but he was let go without fighting for him to stay. That’s football.
And about the Fan, you can’t blame them cos when you give them your best, they will continue supporting you.
If you stop taking care of your son, will your wife be happy with you? You can’t call that Hypocrite bcuz she support you when you take care of him and not support you when you don’t.
A spot on rebuff to Maxis comment. I love this. Especially that analogy
One comment to rule them all. Bravo!
“Every context depends on how it suits their prejudice or agenda.”- Truer words have seldom been spoken, especially in here.
Well said my friend. The notion that if you like Ozil you are against the club is archaic at best.
Ctitisism if directed properlu and objectively can be liberating. Unfortunately no one seems to like it whether well intensioned or not.
We also forget that the reason we “watch” football is to see these players perform and entertain. Someone suggested to watch Ozil2020 on you tube and curious enough I did.
I can’t say that this was not entertaining and Arsenal is not better off without this type of player. Quite the opposite .
I had hoped to be quiet on this subject. But this article draws me out. Look, Ozil is done and dusted. His current manager says he couldn’t get the best out of him…and he is not alone. A trail of former managers would say the same of Ozil. I think his best currency was spent at Real. Arsenal just got a whiff of it – tail end of a dying Ozil career. Let’s move on
Like any manager Arteta has a duty to deliver against his objectives, if he does not deliver then it will be his job on the line. Being loyal is simply not enough in any job, you have to deliver and be effective.
Arteta will have coached Ozil and worked hard to get Ozil to the standard that he has set, Wenger was quite clear that Ozil was a player he had to make allowances for. Ozil is a very gifted player and has great vision and there are times when we are crying out for that creativity. Though when he does play he offers that creativity, though gaps appear when we are against the wall.
It is a team game and Arteta as he says feels that he has failed with Ozil, as he could not coach him to deliver to the levels Arteta demands. I know from my own work, if you cannot coach an employee and they do not want to change, it does not work no matter how loyal they claim to be. The same can be said for employees who say they are giving 110%, if they are not effective and do not deliver to the minimum levels you expect, something is wrong, and something has to give.
Ozil will have been aware that things are not right along with others who have moved on or are not in the squad. If he did not, then he was not tuned in to what Arteta demanded. Arsenal made it clear to players who they are open to moving on. Arteta did not force Ozil to stay.
Arteta on the flipside has improved the team and they are being coached well and taking it onboard and the team is delivering. As fans we can have an opinion, though its Arteta’s decision as it’s his job that ultimately could be at risk.
That was first class
Agree. The bottom line is that Ozil was told he was free to leave. It’s been obvious for a while he was not in the plans and was unlikely to make the squad list. Nobody forced him to stay. If he wants to collect his money, 100% okay. It’s in your contract. But feigning disloyalty or a lack of communication is just dishonest. And Arsenal I’m sure have their secret reasons for letting Ozil go. Hard to say they are being dishonest when they are just saying nothing. But we know for sure these two sides are just playing games. In the end, Ozil is getting paid, but not playing. A situation he knew about.
Its really disappointing to discover that some Arsenal fans put the interests of Ozil over their club. Ozil is employed by Arsenal, and he’ll never be bigger than Arsenal
Fans on both sides of this debate need to google “confirmation bias.”
Ozil is neither the useless, greedy player some believe or the scorned, loyal world class player that others believe. But if we look hard enough we can find the evidence that appears to confirm one side or the other.
In the wise words of Princess Isla, let it go, let go, turn around and close the door.
That song is in my head now, thanks Trudeau 😄 I totally agree with you though!!!
Sorry to say this here…
Ken
You asked Jon in one article how he know a true Arsenal fan apart from you, Phil or Sue.
My answer to you is, by there comment you shall know them.
You, Sue, Phil, Dan, HH etc has never go above your heads by saying, Arsenal will be 8th, 6th just because Ozil was not in the squad.
I’m even baffled to see a fan saying, now that Ozil is not in the squad that we should prepare for a massacre. Is that a trait of real Arsenal fan.
Have never see You, Phil, Sue etc talk about Arsenal that way.
Some even want us to lose just because Ozil was not in the squad, one even said, we will regret it as if we just signed Ozil.
Ozil was in this same squad who went out of top 4, so I don’t get it when he said, we will regret it.
Some are even using Auba situation to compare Ozil, which shows, if Auba is not producing now, they will go after him just to prove Ozil right.
Some are even looking for Arteta’s downfall.
I saw a comment on Ozil’s YouTube video on his birthday saying, Arteta is going down and will be sacked for leaving out Ozil. I don’t call that a club fan, I call him a player fan.
Those are the things which differentiate you from other Ozil fan.
Ronaldo has many fans in Madrid and it was difficult to know his fans from real Madrid fans until Ronaldo left, his fans left Madrid with him, i know about 5 of them who now support Juve and partially support Madrid, so i know what im saying. This same scenario is happening right now.
Why am I not surprise, it happened during Iwobi saga, when last do you see TH14 comment here?
That’s how it works.
If you wanna support a player, support without taking a go at the club or wishing the coach to get sack.
And another thing, you said…
As much as others may not like it, that is loyalty to a legal contract – if you can explain it.
Then I say a loyalty from Arsenal to a player is to pay up his wages.
I believe there is no compulsory play inside a players contracts.
Which means both Ozil and Arsenal are been loyal to the contract signed.
So can you explain why Ozil is questioning the club about Loyalty then?
Well said Sir!
We can support a player and still support the club. I am a huge Ronaldo fan and also support Madrid as my second club. I also like MO. That doesnt mean I ditch Arsenal or Madrid to show my support to the player.🙂🙂
👍👍 Sid and Bobs!
👍👍
Icw, I think Bob’s comment was aimed at you and Mohsan and a few others. I’ve seen some of your comments in the past. Sid only confirmed it. You’re hiding behind a thumbs up.
Well said bob. Players come and go but our Arsenal will always be there. I like Christiano also and I hate Real Madrid and Barcelona with passion.
Your last 2 paragraphs are very insightful.
The guys had one good season, and Arsenal made him the highest paid player in their history, and have given him 8 years, yet their loyalty gets questioned?
Even Mustafi created more goal scoring opportunities than Ozil last season haha!
Maybe not? Fact is he was the highest chance creator ahead of Ceballos. Are you talking about assists or clear goal scoring oppurtunities?
Chances created, Ozil lead the way, but he was really low down on the list in regards to big chances created. Mustafi created more big chances.
That’s what I always felt, and the stats confirmed it, because apart from his through ball away at West Ham, I can’t think of any clear cut opportunities created by Ozil.
Type ozil 2020 in Youtube and you will discover how wrong your statement is. You have the right to like or dislike Ozil but honesty leads to credibility.
For me, the earlier Ozil leaves our club. the better. All this loyalty crap just doesn’t cut it with me. It’s not as if there was a European giant out there willing to take him at his demands and he chose to stay at Arsenal
The man is a businessman-politician, not a footballer.He deliberately ran down his contract in 2017; capitalized on the club’s vulnerability with the Alexis’ situation and got himself a massive contract from a panicky Wenger and board. Now he is holding very tight to his contract. Football can go to hell!
There are real footballers in situations similar to his who decided for football rather than money and other sundry considerations – Alexis Sanchez, James Rodriguez; Gareth Bale – have all gone elsewhere to try and revive their careers. And these are all in Ozil’s age band.
And his utterances and actions have not even started to help matters. Blabbing about “nobody can force me out of Arsenal”; or offering to pay wages of rationalized staff and such stuff .
It’s my opinion that other players the club would have wanted to ship out have copied form him and clung to the “I have a contract” chorus and refused to leave.
He is a bad influence.
No player is above the club.
👍 Well said CorporateMan.
Admin Pat your thoughts and argument is very clearly stated and understood by me. A club of Arsenal s stature have lost huge respect with their treatment of Ozil. He remained with the club when he could have forced a move to Trophy winning clubs both inside and outside of the Premier League. Anyone who feels this player who donates huge sums of money to people less fortunate is motivated by money is quite honestly being dense. If there is an opinion here that Ozil is less effective than Pepe and Willian at this point in time is watching a different game. Top players will in the future worry about how they all be treated by this club or Arteta . And mark my words when Arteta s star starts to dim some of these very cheerleaders of his will be the first to attack and insult him like they did to Wenger or Ozil or any other scapegoat. Wenger said Arsenal would lose their values and boy was Le Prof accurate
Jeez!!!
This is getting more interesting
I think some Ozil fans need to just shut up with this excuses cos you guys are getting me confused.
Some say, it was because Ozil said something about China.(wasn’t that in December and I believed he played till March)
Some say, it was because Arteta was jealous of him when they both play together.
Some say, it was because he doesn’t want to take a pay cut.
Which exactly do you want us to believe.
I think the best thing is to support him without bringing up an excuse on why he wasn’t use.
Arteta was asked in his interview that, Ozil played in all his game before lockdown but didn’t play after and why?
Arteta replied…
When I came to Arsenal, he wasn’t use and I plan on helping him get up again but when the result is not interesting, I have to change my way of play to make sure we are more compact at the back and more reason I drop him.
As much as I want more clarification on why he was suddenly drop(I’m not convinced yet that Ozil can’t do something in this current squad with Partey here) I think I will trust Arteta judgement till he proves he’s not worthy.
And I want Arteta to be successful, so I think I won’t be able to judge him then.
Some wonderful responses to this article some of which should be entered for a new Booker prize based on War and Peace.Where do we let off steam when Ozil finally departs.Love him or hate him, I can’t wait to read his Autobiograhy which will surely materialise in the not too distant future.it’s sure to be a best seller.
Grandad, his manager will ghost write his “autobiography” just like he carries out the rest of his PR, composes his public media tweets etc.
Honestly, a lot of noise, but the treatment is not different from any other club. Once you are no longer useful, you are told to move on. If you want to sit, that is your choice. It’s the nature of the sport. Ozil is right that there is no loyalty. It’s all conditional going both ways. Pay a player this much and they will stay. You think Messi is loyal to Barcelona? If they ever offered him a crap deal he wouldve left years ago. The minute Suarez was no longer good, he was gone. That’s football and it shouldn’t shock anyone, it shouldn’t shock Ozil, it shouldn’t shock Arsenal, and it really shouldn’t shock fans.
You are an idiot. He stayed because of his £350k salary not because he loves the club. He has been a disaster the last few years and has got exactly what his performances deserved. And now he has convinced gullible idiots like you that he deserves better.
Andrew, whether you agree or disagree with a fellow fan,s point of view, you demean this site by calling someone an idiot.
Honestly the situation is quite sad for Ozil. His constant battles with the club these past few months have done nothing but divide the fans.
And many people speak as if they are club insiders saying that he was left out for footballing reasons. How sure are we that Ozil is left out of footballing reasons just because he has not played since lockdown? I mean haven’t we playing a different system since lockdown? Many people were clamouring for defensive solidity when we were letting in goals by the dozen. Now when we have that they want us to revert to being offensive? I know we can balance both out, but the thing is, a process takes time and it’s success is backed by results. Our current system is just like a chemical experiment in order to find a better chemical (catalyst, medicine etc). Arteta is still experimenting in my opinion, and he will take longer than others because it is his first job as a manager. He will learn on the job. And to people saying he doesn’t trust youngsters, again, didn’t he play Martinelli against Chelsea, Guendouzi inspite of his attitude issues? I think Saliba’s case is a little different and MA is trying to handle it sensitively. The boy just lost his mom, how can he throw him to the deep end? Aren’t we preaching family values in some articles and then bashing MA on his treatment of William which seems to be exactly what a family member would do?
And also there are people, who now downgrade Ozil just because he isn’t playing now. I mean how can you say that he is our worst buy, lazy, leech etc etc when he has recorded around 70 odd assists for our club and was until recently, the fastest player to reach 50 assists in the prem? The guy was a monster wherever he went from 2009 to 2017. He was left out of Madrid but didn’t he win the La liga with them? If you remove Ozil from that Madrid side I doubt they would have won that, and I say that as someone who also supports Madrid? Why do you think CR7 changed his playstyle gradually from the time Ozil left? It was to become more productive. Earlier he was a constant fixture in the left side of the attack, gradually he played more as a striker. Injuries affected his decision too but this was also a factor. Also wasn’t Ozil good for the Germans in 2014 world cup? Wasn’t Ozil 3-4 assists away from Henry’s record after only half of the games played in 2015-2016 before Giroud went into that rough patch which also cost us the title? That was, I guess his peak and after that the performance levels dropped. Multiple issues like loss of form, Wenger exit, frustration with Unai etc meant he became kind of obstinate. But to say that he is the worst player our club has ever signed and he is not hardworking is funny. If someone who isnt hardworking can even win or post half of Ozil’s numbers then that guy must be an incarnate of luck. The guy is hardworking. His body language and playing style may not be everybody’s cup of tea. I see James in Everton’s team. The guy plays like Ozil played 1-2 years back. He doesn’t track back all the time and his heatmap suggests he mostly occupies the forward areas of the pitch. It is Carlo who has brought the best out of him. It is sad that our new system doesn’t favour Ozil but that’s life. Not everything goes.
The best thing for all fans would be to unite and say goodbye to MO and thank him for the memories, as he has given us quite a few.
COYG!
Sid
An optimist Arsenal fan
Sorry non footballing reasons*
Excellent, Sid 🙂👍👏
@ sid
Can you imagine if Carlo can get this much out of Everton what he could have done with our group now?
But we opted out for a control freak with ideas of Pep in his head but no execution. I am not buying yet into this Arteta revolution and the early signs are yes good organization but it will take playin some football to get 4 places up let alone challenge.
I hope he proves me wrong .
All we can do is wait and watch, my friend.🙂
Well said Sid. At the end of the day neither Arsenal nor Ozil have emerged as winners.
I ll state two things here (i am ofcourse also in agreement to everything else stated by others as to why Ozil was left out, no need to repeat them), because this debate is getting tiring: 1. Besides the huge amount of money he earns through his contract, he actually also gets a huge amount of money for playing in matches. So the question as to why he is not playing can be answered with: NOT ONLY DOES HE OFFER NOTHING, he will also get absurd appearance fees, goal bonuses and even UNUSED SUBSTITUTE fees if he is on the bench..Two different sources (one of them is Football Manager, which has a pretty accurate database) state the sums as: €28000 appearance fee, €39000 goal bonus €19500 unused substitute fee. You also remember the recent fiasco with the loyalty bonus that was paid to him. 2. We have a new coach, some new players, this is a period of adjustment. Did we want a new playmaker during the summer transfer window? Yes. Do we need a still new playmaker? Of course. Does it make sense to you, in this transitional period to have Ozil as the sole creative midfielder, thus spend a year of forming the team around a player that will most certainly leave next summer (which will only deprive valuable game time from one of the players that will stay and are most likely developing, such as Saka)? My answer is no and i would assume most of you would agree with that. Am just asking you to start taking into consideration what you believe our club gains by having him in our plans or not, rather than what you THINK are the reasons why he is left out. And please base your opinion on facts (and your eyesight when he torments us by strolling on the pitch) rather than your assumption that he is still the player he used to be.