A beloved family member of mine is a Tottenham fan, that is nothing unusual in North London families where club loyalties are divided and of course, we argue about our teams on a regular basis, again, an absolutely normal occurrence.
The reason for telling you that is to show you some background on how conversations between Arsenal and Tottenham fans have changed down the years, especially over Mesut Ozil.
When we first signed the German playmaker the reaction from our bitter local rivals was one of “oh shit” they were scared, literally scared, they saw the signing of Ozil has a huge leap forward for us and one that would keep us dominant over them for years to come.
And Ozil started off beautifully and was instrumental in maintaining our superiority but that has significantly changed.
It is no longer” oh shit” but more “please pick Ozil”
And therein lies the problem.
There was a time that seeing Ozil’s name on the team sheet would frighten the life out of our opponents, nowadays they are literally gutted when he is not selected.
He no longer carries that aura about him, he is seen as somewhat of a liability and no longer a player to be feared.
I am not writing this as a critique of Ozil, I am simply pointing out that he is no longer seen as a player to worry about, not in the same way we would look at Kane being on the Tottenham team sheet or Hazard being picked for Chelsea or Aguero for Man City, Salah for Liverpool and so on.
The fact that we, as Arsenal fans, are bitterly divided over Ozil shows you how far he has fallen, there was once a time when he was universally recognised as a world-class player, we cannot even agree on that anymore nevermind anyone else.
The bottom line is Ozil is no longer viewed as a player to be feared but as just another player and when that happens your value to the club must be questioned.
We simply do not have that “one” player that frightens the opposition, we did have, but not anymore.
Honestly between Ozil and Ramsey, if I could keep one, it would be Ramsey.
Ozil had a magical season with 19 assists nearly breaking Henry’s assist record. But that’s it!
It will be extremely difficult to get rid of Ozil but if we can we Must do it. He is a liability now.
2 assists, lazy, doesn’t defend or try to retrieve the ball
Let’s try to get a more consistent attacking midfielder
Btw Mkhitaryan isn’t much better. Neither is Iwobi
In a recent interview, ozil said he intends to stay for the whole duration of his contract, so he’ll be here for another two years.
Except that NO player ultimately calls the tune IF a club is determined ENOUGH to change things. Most players still labour under the illusion that they have ALL the power. They certainly have SOME power but not remotely as much as some think. I still believe he will be elsewhere come August and firmly hope so too.
The problem with selling Ozil is his contract, if he has decided to stay, how do you force him out especially with the kind of backing he has on social media, if the club try to force him out, his team will spin it and use it against us. Also, there’s no way any club in europe will want him on that kind of wage so he has all the power in this situation.
I think you will be proven wrong and that he will leave. It is general that when a big club much want rid of any particular player, they find a way to move him. There is the human factor which you seem to be ignoring and OZIL IS A SENSITIVE SORT AND IF DELIBERATELY FROZEN BY OUR CLUB I AM CONVINCED HIS SENSIBILITIES WILL FORCE HIM TO ACCEPT THIS. I trust that you are able to read between the lines of what I am anxious not to spell out in print and you will think again. Ways and means my friend; that is how big business works. Prem football IS big business.
Jon, you are usually right about situations like this especially when you predicted wenger leaving but i just think Ozil is so comfortable here that he wouldn’t want to leave. I hope you’re right again as i think we need to have a massive clear out of a lot of underperforming players, not just Ozil.
I think if Ozil was still involved internationally with Germany he could be frozen out and would seek another club at a reduced wage to get game time. I am not so sure that it is going to be that easy to get him out of the club with his current contract is in place.
……Yup, I remember those days and the one time Sunderland Manager once said that he has never seen a player caress the ball with such style the manner Ozil does but now, it’s a different story. He can’t even influence games against small teams talk more of the big teams. Thing is, Ozil’s matter has been discussed time and time again and a large percentage of the fans knows now that he no longer has what to offer Arsenal on the pitch or any big team for that matter
…We have to move on which the club have obviously done but I am sorry to break the hearts of fans that Ozil is going nowhere. He will gladly see out his contract as he will never see another like that again. Honestly, who wouldn’t? So whether he is played or not, he takes home those huge wages. That was Gazidis and Wenger’s gift to his favourite son, he nearly did the same for Ramsey if it wasn’t for Emery.
…We can get Mkhi off but Ozil is staying except something magical happens.
… By the way, Who watched Busquets yesterday? My God! the way the guy turns with the ball; he is so calm on the ball despite pressure and doesn’t panic neither does he lose the ball. If we had a player like that in our team, we would see how Torreira would love even more brilliant similar to Vidal yesterday. If it requires us selling Xhaka to get such a player then I am up for it. Damn it!
I have never known a WC attacking midfielder to be such a pathetic goal threat as Ozil. He barely even creates anymore! Apart from recycling the ball, what else does he do anymore? Even Arteta could recycle the ball well, and we didn’t have to pay him over 300k a week to do so!
Yea ozil of old didn’t have elneny iwobi and Xhaka around him .can you imagine having to play with these kinds of players .we saw when Sanchez was here how well they played together.
Are Torreira, Auba, and Laca no good then?
Do t think you get it .he needs players to get the ball to him and make runs and back him up ,not him having to drop back to pick the ball up and then he’s got no one in front of him.
“It is no longer” oh shit” but more “please pick Ozil” Said literally not a single opposing fan in the history of the sport. I mean, what an utterly shameless thing to lie about.
No opposing fan has ever said to you that they actively want Ozil to be picked because they believe he makes our team worse, not one single person, yet you belittle our player in such a way just to shamelessly try and back up your point. Mate…
And as a magician that you are, you would know that he is lying right?..Mate..
Problem is we don’t have anyone better to play.
Iwobi? Nope
Mhki? Nope
On his day he’s magical, real eye candy watching him play. If he’s lacking the effort or not putting in proper shift it’s the manager’s job to get the player sorted.
Manager can fine the player if he chooses; Ozil likes his big wages so fine him if the effort isn’t there. Benching does little, player still collects massive wages.
I don’t profess to have the answer, only pointing out the obvious that current methods arent2having the desired result.
This article is filled with fair comments but tells us nothing we all don’t already know. Surely the point of ANY article is to stimulate debate, either by being slightly controversial or by imparting news or giving a fresh slant at the very least. For the life of me, I can only regard this article as a time filler or padding. So, Ozil divides opinion. Well who would have thought that! Big deal! What next; rain is wet, perhaps?
To be honest I have always been skeptical of Ozil even when he was at Madrid. There used to be this constant argument / debate back in his Madrid day between Him and Iniesta. I always rated Iniesta instantly. People would go on about Assists this – Assists that but that never impressed me. Iniesta had poor Assist Stats compare to Ozil but I always preferred his overall dominant style. He made things happen on his own, made his teammates play better etc.
I think I was the only Arsenal supporter that was not that excited when we signed him, all because I had watched him for a long time and saw massive flaws in his game. The good players around him always made him look better than he really was. And I kept pointing that out. Take him out of a good all star team and he would just be your average / okay attacking mid like he has been for the majority of his time here at The Arsenal. He does not have that Iniesta, Silva, Cazorla, Cesc, Modric, KDB, Hazard, Sanchez etc independent ability. He is mostly a Dependent type while those other guys are mostly Independent. They make those around them play better while Ozil relies on others to make him look better.
May be I am too myopic in my view. The genius dominant all buzzing midfielders I have grown up watching might have skewed my point of view regarding an attacking midfielder. Or because I was just reeling from our botched up attempts to sign Suarez or Higuain. Close to strengthening a position (Striker) that we were desperate for, to doing a complete Uturn and going for someone that is known for being lazy, anonymous, lethargic, weak mentality etc. I have never come across an a big name player like ozil. Sorry.
I gave him 2 seasons here in order to have a better analysis of his game. But the moment his flaws started being exposed and the likes of “Lamp-post / Donkey Giroud and “Our average squad” became the excuse for his own flaws I knew we were going to have a long bumpy time with him.
Yes mate I could still remember. It was really a misplace of priority because Carzola had just come out of a successful season as an AM, creating and scoring goals. So we needed a prolific striker as Giroud was missing so many chances that season and also a solid DM. But I was surprise when my club went from chasing Suarez all summer to signing Ozil, I’m still wondering what they had in common.
So our opposition and their fans now relish the prospect of Ozil lining up against them, but they are even more delighted when they view the quality of defenders like Mustafi,Socratis, Kocielney,Monreal and Kolasinac.Five to be feared? I think not.Therein lies our main problem, a clutch of dodgy defenders who are exposed week in week out in the EPL.And people slag off Emery who fell heir to them.Leicesters second goal on Sunday was the last straw as far as I was concerned.Socrat is and Kocielney should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.Appalling defending from experienced professionals? No ,Ozil is not my cup of tea, and never had been but he is not the main reason for our recent collapse.
Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan. Iwobi, xhaka, Torreira, guenduozi, Leno, Koscielny, Mustafi, Sokratis, Elneny, Ainsley, kolasinac, nacho, lichtstner, jenkinson. Left right, left right. Backwards. Again left right, left right, middle. Back again left right, left right……. boring boring boring. Then opposition feels comfortable defending and then on the attack. Awww Arsenal are so miserable ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️. Throw all the players out, they are no good. Hurry Unai Emery you will soon have new set of forward and backwards, left and right passing players. Good luck to Us tonight.