Will Mesut Ozil’s charm offensive appease Arsenal fans?

There has not been much talk about the actual football during the international break, and with Mesut Ozil now out of contention with the mis-firing German team, it looks like the Arsenal midfielder is taking the opportunity to launch a charm offensive to try and get the Arsenal fans back on his side, after many criticisms over his massive wage packet compared to his performances.

The PR exercise began last week, when his agent Dr Erkut Sogut said that Ozil always wanted to remain in north London. “We had some really big offers from Asia, there were some crazy offers. But for Mesut, money was by no means the biggest factor,” Sogut said. “Money is definitely one important thing to consider, but people must remember that footballing ability is just one aspect of a contract negotiation. The commercial impact of a footballer is crucial nowadays.

“His market is worldwide. The club makes money out of these players as well, but it came down to what was in his heart.

“We were free to sign with other clubs and in the end Mesut loves the club. I put everything to him and he just said, ‘This is my home, I want to be here’.”

So he is saying that the new contract had nothing to do with money, and Ozil makes so much for the club commercially that it was sensible for him to have his wages doubled. In fact he may have done us a favour, whether he plays well or not!

Now Ozil himself has spoken to Arsenal.com about how much the fans love him, and how much he loves the fans. “When I first arrived here I was very excited and a little bit nervous as well.” he said. “It was always a new chapter and at the end of the day I was very happy to play for such a big club like Arsenal and meet all my team-mates.

“When I first arrived at the training ground, outside there were so many people. They were waiting for me. It was very special and it was a very good moment for me. The feeling was amazing, even the first game at the Emirates was so special for me. All the fans supported me until now and I’m really grateful and appreciative of that.

“I just heard that the club hadn’t won this trophy [the Emirates FA Cup] for many years so it was very special for me and for my team because it was our first title. It was important to continue this work and as a player you work for titles.

“If you win at the end of the season, you’re happy because you really have worked for that and you want to reach your goals. At the end of the day we were happy with the team. It was special, not just for us, but for the fans as well.

“We keep trying to win trophies to make us and the fans happy.”

Ozil is not famed for giving interviews and normally likes to stay out of the spotlight (until forced into the open by Germany this summer) so it is unusual for him to open up. Do you think he has been advised to try and up his popularity rating, which could be on the wane lately? Will this new openness make the fans love him just a little bit more?

Darren N

18 Comments

  1. In a nutshell, Ozil’s wage was significantly increased mainly because of his commercial value and not just his performances on the pitch. This buttresses the fact that we aim to make money before winning trophies. It’s why popular players won’t be sold no matter how poor they become as long as they are selling shirts. It’s why we would continue to have subpar players because we won’t spend adequately to replace them. To win the league again, we need a miracle from emery and the recruitment team in putting together a team capable.

    1. You’re right and all, I said the same when defending his wage. Lately though, I was thinking about the fans who put Ozil’s name on their shirt. If he wasn’t here, I reckon they would just choose another name. He’ll have fans in Turkey who buy Arsenal shirts because of him, and maybe Germany, but how many fans are going to be like that. I don’t know any fan who follows a player and not a club, or follows a player outside of his favorite club. He is Arsenal’s most popular player, no doubt, but I don’t think they (fans) would drop Arsenal and follow Mesut to wherever he went next. Not too many at all would be like that, and if they were, well then good riddance because god knows what they’d be saying during all the debate and stuff on-line. And whoever we bring in, if he is good enough to replace Ozil, well then he will have his own admirers too. Not sure how they add this stuff up, commercial worth, like I said, they’d likely just put another name on the shirt. Myself, I never put names on the back of any shirt I ever owned, if I did it would likely be my name.

      1. Just thinking, maybe it is the young kids who are pretending to be Mesut after seeing him doing something special, and those kids choosing to follow AFC because of it. Those youngsters are out there. You can’t even add up how much that is worth commercially speaking, it differs for everyone. I know AFC got many new fans from Bergkamp, then Wenger and the French army got us the biggest worldwide social media following for a prem club. So maybe it is something to do with gaining new fans.

        1. Gunning
          4
          It

          That’s what I have on the back of mine, although been a while as I preached about not spending if not happy… Kinda had to practice what I preached XD

          Now Gazidis has gone I might just open up my wallet again ^.^

  2. Mesut Ozil is without the biggest waste of space to ever where the Arsenal shirt, lazy player, if only he put as much effort on the pitch as he does his silly pointless little video clips he makes.

  3. What would REALLY make us fans love him is IF – and a big IF too – he even began working consistently hard, like other players have to do, on the pitch. Instead of so often hiding in WALCOTT STYLE. HE IS TALENTED BUT HIS WORDS DO NOT MATCH HIS DEEDS.

  4. Fantastic player. Does a lot of work that goes unnoticed because he keeps many of his passes simple to try and bring other players into the game and also has the vision and ability to play that explosive pass that can open up defences. His weakness is that he is dependent on players around him because he plays off them and if they are off it appears he is off because attacking moves breakdown and he becomes isolated in the game.

    1. Also people don’t realise. The way Torriera positions himself straight after passing it, he keeps moving around to an area he thinks is good, in the case of opponents winning the ball and breaking. One of our legends highlighted it a couple weeks back, he’s constantly switched on, just watching for danger.

      Mesut, he does the attacking version of that, he’s moving from position to position, slightly/slyly, but watching for the opponents to lose the ball and for Arsenal to break away.

      Emery is asking for something different though, Ozil’s games v Liv and Palace he has been working hard. Most of his career, he’s been positioning himself for when his team wins the ball. Allot of fans didn’t seem to be aware of it though, I only noticed it a year or so back when it was highlighted.

      When we’re expected to win, I think Ozil will be told to play the game he is most comfortable with. And when we’re away or facing a tough challenge, I think he will be told to play the way he played v pool and Palace.

      1. B.O.T. your posts make very good sense and I agree completely.
        The “problem” is that if Ozil isn’t seen running around like a headless chicke, shooting from impossible angles or making crunching tackles, he’s seen as being lazy and uncommitted.
        A very narrow view when analyising a player, his abilities and his commitment to the team / club.
        Unai is playing him in the position that he is best at and the team is reaping the rewards.
        By the way, is it my imagination or does everything that ANY one of our players say to the media end up being twisted from apositive to a negative?

  5. I hope he stays with us until he retires!
    I like him, he’s a good guy. Does a lot of charity work for children…
    He works hard, I’d rather have him in the team than not…. only thing I would say is he needs to be more ruthless in front of goal! And yes I have his name on my top ?

    1. I fully agree about being more ruthless in front of goal, I think he is working on that as he looks more likely to take a shot this season, already got 3 EPL goals and 1 UEL goal, I think.

      Eriksen from the spuds has 0 goals.

      Lukaku has scored 1 more and he is UTDs CF who cost more than Ozil XD

      In some ways Ozil reminds me of Bergkamp, not the feisty part of DB10 but the intelligence and ball skill, if he scored more and become a game changer when our backs are against the wall then it would be easier to liken him to Bergkamp.

      1. Midkemma, I have also thought along the Bergkamp line, but I have concluded that the physical side of Dennis can ever be reciprocated by Ozil simply because of his size.
        However,Ozil is Ozil and Dennis was Dennis, just feel very luck that both represented Arsenal in their own way.

  6. Dennis Bergkamp, in my opinion was the best all round footballer I saw play for Arsenal.
    I too would like Ozil to be more selfish and drive for goal himself, rather than looking for the pass, as his goal threat will give defenders something additional to think about. I agree with Midkemma that Emery seems to be working on this with Ozil and the goal scoring statistics compaired to Erikson and Lukaku are interesting food for thought for his detractors.
    As far as following players from club to club, it will be interesting to ser how many so called Arsenal fans follow Arsene Wenger to his new club.

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