Morning all.
I read an article in the Guardian by Amy Lawrence. Good too I thought as she compares the Ian Wright and Bruce Rioch situation back in 1996 with now ongoing feud between Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery. One can hardly disagree with idea that something is clearly wrong between the two. But in my opinion, the comparison made between 1996 and now couldn’t be further away from being similar, if that makes sense. Ian Wright was a great player, a goal scorer, a fighter, an Arsenal man. Wrighty was a footballer who wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He got to where he was the hard way having come so close to giving up on his ambition all together. To lose him back then because of a disagreement with Rioch would have been a disaster.
Mesut Ozil however was born with a wonderful left foot, an incredibly gifted footballer who before signing for Arsenal, had performed on some of the biggest footballing stages. The arrival of Luka Modric at Real Madrid meant Ozil was no longer number one in his position.
Özil was quoted as saying:
’At the weekend, I was certain I would stay at Real Madrid but afterwards I realised I did not have the faith from the coach or the bosses. I am a player who needs this faith and that is what I have felt from Arsenal, which is why I have joined. I would have come here for free, that wouldn’t have been a problem.’
‘When I spoke to Arsène Wenger on the phone, he was full of respect, and as a player, I need that.
Ozil clearly needs an arm around his shoulder, to be told how good and important he is, to be feel wanted and loved which is fine if being handled that way brings out the best him. That’s what football management is all about, knowing your players, knowing what makes them tick but there comes a time when the love runs out if a player simply isn’t performing. Mesut Ozil hasn’t been performing particularly well since his wonderful spell prior to signing his new £350k a week contract. Not for Arsene Wenger after that big deal was secured, nor Unai Emery. Ozil is clearly not ‘feeling the love.’ Not even the privilege of wearing the captains armband has done any good.
As Amy Lawrence said and just as many of us have too, whatever is going on between Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery needs to be resolved because if as reported, the Turk born German did hurl abuse towards his manager after being substituted for Willock in the Europa Cup Final, this club ain’t big enough for the both of them. And it ain’t Emery leaving, I’m sure. (I know, Sparks 1974)
See you in the comments guys…..
Great post Rico.
As for Mesul Ozil nd Unai Emry, as much as I dont think Emry is the right coach for us I have to say that Ozil left Arsenal in all But name 2 years ago. So he has failed to perform for two managers in that time which leads me to believe that he is the problem here not Unai.
We need to get rid of him in the summer if at all possible as having a player like him at the club will poison it from the inside.
Morning Rico. Personally I’d like to see the back of both of them.
Morning Rico and thanks.
Maybe with all that hair cut off Elneny might be able to see better and play better !
As for Dick and Ozil situation I have a great compromise ………………make Mesut player manager with Xhaka and Mustafi as his assistants !
🙂
Unfortunately he’s our Winston Bogard. He’s not going to walk out in £350k PW so unless we give him a free or loan and pay a big chunk of his wages, we’re stuck with a unhappy player.
Good morning Rico and all.
I don’t know where that report about Ozil abusing (verbally) Emery in Baku came from but BT Sport and it’s myriad pundits missed or it would have had immediate worldwide coverage.
Ozil has to go. Emery deserves another season, let’s get of his back and give him a chance to show what he can do.
Thanks TT. I don’t think Emery is our long term solution, especially with so many youngsters coming through and needing managing. I don’t see him as that kind of manager. Right now, I don’t understand the Guendouzi signing at all, not when there’s Willock and Smith Rowe at a similar age and could have been introduced to the team last season.
The club has stated that all players with 2 years left on their contracts either have to be sold or sign a new contract…. ( Ozil has 2 years left on his contract )SO if they cannot sell Ozil because of his wage … something else has to be done
What do you guys think about this?
We offer him a new FOUR year deal on £200K per week from now.
( I doubt he would accept that )
BUT would you want him to accept that offer?
Morning Adam. I thought you might say that. If for one minute there was a chance our board would go big and better, I’d be all for Emery going, but I guess I’ve just accepted he’s staying. That’s down to Kroenke and the rest…
Chrispy, the club can move him on if they put their mind to it, I’m sure.
Morning Cicero. If he signs the kind of players we need and moves on those we don’t, his second season could be a lot better. Also, Chelsea will have yet another new manager to get used to who is hopefully another flop, plus no transfers in his summer, Utd and OGS could go horribly wrong so who knows.. lol
No!!
Why on earth would Arsenal want to do that Sohara? That idea is ridiculous, no offence meant.
Get rid of the bloke, even if it means paying half his wages, better still just let him go for a tenner and get his stinky attitude out of the club.
Rico. I can only assume that they saw something extra special in Guendouzi and though he was a good investment.
Rico. I can’t see that the club will “Go big” at this time. If Emery has been bought in as a stop-gap in preparation for a more progressive manager who they can back financially then I can understand that strategy. But, no top manager would have come up with what he did over the last couple of months. It was absolutely appalling.
Adam, I like him as a player although raw, but when money is tight, I wouldn’t have thought he’d have been a priority. The investment bit makes sense.
Rico. As you know Rico, I don’t. Nothing like what we have needed for years and still do. He got worse as the season progressed. If he’s worth big money…..
Adam, I’ve always believed Emery was the stop gap, the guy to change the mentality within the squad and all that and to a degree he has, or rather seemed to until the last month or two.
Iwobi has definitely improved but still has a way to go and Holding, Bellerin too imo which shows something I guess but I still believe we’ve got too many old dogs who really can’t be taught new tricks.
All the time Ozil is sulking his way around the squad, it’s not going to help anyone. Look at what happened when Alexis breezed in, his strong work ethic was soon picked up on by the likes of Ox etc, it must be just as easy to pick up bad habits too.
I’m just more forgiving Adam… 😉
Like the Arsenal board then Rico. 😁
Need rid of Ozil. He doesn’t contribute enough to warrant the £350k he earns and considering he’s on the tail on of his peak, we really need to see if china or the USA will take a punt on him.
Elnemy needs going too. He is the master of breaking up play. Unfortunately for us, it’s our play that he breaks up with his passing back to the defenders when on the edge of the opposition penalty box.
😂Adam.
Welcome Dylan. Agree, both can go and take half a dozen others with them too.
The idea was ridiculous..but for Ozil not the club.
If no one wants him…suggestions have been to pay half of his wages…so we are paying £200K and have no player .
IF he accepted the new contract ( he wouldn’t) we would be paying £200K but still have Ozil who is still an OK player and in 2 years time we have much more chance of selling or loaning him as he will be on a lower wage .
It was a hypothetical question to see if you would think that a good compromise move for us.
But it was only Hypothetical and not a serious suggestion
Being serious………..has there ever been a time over the period of Wenger and Dick where we have had to get rid of so many players ?…………theres` always been deadwood since man invented fire, but this time we seem to have more than half a squad of them and with no money(in comparison to wealthy teams ) to do much about it.
We will be shite for many years imo and I cant see any light at the end of the tunnel and thats why I prefer to take a gamble on the youth can they seriously be worse than some of the below average players we have ?
LC. No-one could ever accuse Wenger of not accumulating very average players during the last few seasons. He became a master at spotting them.
Still a no Sohara, we need his attitude gone as well as the money.
Rico. That pic of Ozil says it all really.
Man with £100 million in the bank feels tired and somewhat unloved.
Lc, 90% of these players are Wenger’s, Three of Emery’s have done well I think..
I accept that Rico, I just hope they can find a way out of this dilemma.
I don’t think though we can get rid of ALL the players that have been suggested on here, getting in over half a team in one window hardly ever works, we need to bed new players in slowly , four being the maximum I should think. We should also give some of our Youth players a chance . It will take Emery several years to get in players that he wants that can play his system. I think Klopp handled it in the right way , building his team slowly so he has a team now that are HIS players
Next year will be a very hard year for us as all the teams around us are getting stronger , we have to try to stay with the top six. Chelsea have a ban and Man U are in the same situation as us but with more money to spend…So we have to aim to beat Man U & Chelsea and get back into that top 4
Why not Sohara? Use the youngsters in some positions, and to fill squad players. Sign a few experienced quality players too and go from there.
Agree Adam, the blokes nearly asleep…
we waste more time, talking about and about Ozil. Too much importance is attached to him. An importance and a relief that he does not have in the team. Just in theory. Like we were watching Ozil from 6 years ago.
Zero chance of selling Ozil for actual money,we won’t even be able to give him away.Possible he might be loaned out with Arsenal paying 150/200k of wages.Thanks Arsene,Ivan,the whole board,what a mess.
I see Eriksson wants to try something new,how about winning a trophy ?
Afternoon Gooners
Afternoon Rico, I’m a bit surprised that your post didn’t smoke out more Ozil apologists, still it’s good to talk even if it’s too much for JM…
We all know the salary but I wonder how much of the £350k is made up of basic and how much is a signing on fee spread over the length of his contract?
It’s only an issue for Ozil because of his lacklustre form, as it was never a problem with Sol Campbell, or even Theo Walcott to quite the same degree.
Apparently Ozil has a £24m buy out clause in his contract, not that we have to stick to it, but Arsenal would look weak if he left for virtually bugger all and football is all about perceptions.
So what the feck do we do with this Gazides created mess.
Sell him to Milan maybe?
Maybe the only way if we can’t sell him, is to loan him and pay a percentage of his wages, probably the signing on fee bit, which could be about £150k I guess.
It would be sickening but can you imagine the smell around the club if he’s still at Arsenal next season, he would be like a running sore…
Inter were interested last January and I did hear that Arsenal tried to move him onto Juventus last January, but I don’t know the veracity of that.
He knows his time is running out, but he doesn’t care, he’s the kind of player who’ll slag everybody off when he eventually leaves.
Arsenal have categorically stated that Aubameyang isn’t for sale, which makes sense, you don’t want interested parties to think you want rid or they’ll bid low. If the Chinese come in with a bid in excess of £70m then I reckon we’ll sell PEA, again it’s a case of not only buying well but learning how to sell well and at a decent price.
Under Wenger both Koscielny and Monreal would have got free transfers, not now, both could leave and both will generate a fee, even if it’s £5m or so.
Ospina hasn’t gone, Napoli tried to get him on the cheap, so the option is there for Arsenal to keep him for one more year as our reserve goalkeeeper, if we can fit him into the 25 man squad and keep Martinez happy?
What iritates me is how we reached this impass…
2 years ago Ozil was worth £40m plus, last season maybe £30m. Now we struggle to give him away.
Ozil hasn’t got significantly worse as a player, but he has been badly managed and surrounded by less than capable players. Emerys desire to play one way which is directly opposite to Ozils style and the boards lack of funds to put a team around him.
We are now at a stage where we have to choose between Emery or Ozil. Frankly neither have much credit with me, but either way its going to cost us millions to get rid of either of them when better management selection would have avoided it.
Personally I want wholesale changes, including Ozil gone.
Emery gets to stay (just) but i dont trust him to not waste money on players. They need to fit in with the long term plan and style, not Emery’s short term desire to stay.
Afternoon Kev. Thanks.
Great comment too, especially about how the club have made sure we’ll sell players for a fee. Even Elneny and Xhaka we’re tied down to new deals.
At least something is going well….
Perhaps there aren’t any Ozil apologists around anymore….
Hobart, Ozil has Aubameyang and Lacazette around him, the three together should be a really potent force. On paper at least.
According to The Times (£), Freddie Ljungberg will join Unai Emery’s first team coaching staff this summer.
The Swede rejoined Arsenal last summer following a short spell at Bundesliga side Wolfsburg and has impressed as head of the under-23s. Under his mentorship, the young Gunners came second in Premier League 2 last season.
It looks as though Freddie will be an addition to the first team set-up rather than a replacement. Steve Bould, despite reports to the contrary, is set to retain his position, or one very similar, while Spanish duo Juan Carlos Carcedo and Pablo Villanueva are also staying put.
Earlier today The Times reported that Freddie Ljungberg was to be promoted to the first team coaching staff ahead of the new season.
The Swede has been in charge of the U23s this season, presiding over an excellent crop of young players, some of whom will be hoping they’re given a chance to impress at first team level.
The connection to Freddie might well work in their favour as the club look to focus on how Academy players can be more frequently integrated, but of course it leaves a gap and a job that needs to be filled.
According to Charles Watts at Goal, the man to do that is Steve Bould who has been part of Unai Emery’s first team coaching staff this season.
The 56 year old has often been criticised for the team’s defensive instability, despite the fact he has never been responsible for that side of the team, and performs broader coaching duties than simply drilling a back four/back three/whatever.
Bould began his career as a coach at youth levels, and was promoted to Arsene Wenger’s assistant when Pat Rice retired. When the former boss left, he was retained to provide some continuity and to give Emery a presence on the training ground who knew the players as the Spaniard built his own relationships and judgements of them.
The report says he’ll work closely with Per Mertesacker with regard to player development and progression, and with some real talent emerging from the Academy, strong connections between the first team and youth set-ups make a lot of sense.
It’s a move that makes sense, and it also feels as if the Ljungberg promotion is something of a succession plan, giving him first team coaching experience but without him being too closely tied to Emery if and when a change needs to be made to the role of Head Coach.
Interesting developments.
From Arseblog
I’m not surprised by that Kev.
Does kind of make me think that a lot is getting sorted out behind the scenes, ready for the return to the CL perhaps.
Rico the sort of players Ozil needs are a combination of mobile ball players and mobile finishers. The ball players to move the ball around to create space and the finishers to get into space for the final ball.
Lacazette and Aubameyang duplicate one job, but the other role is filled by Iwobi and Mkhitaryan, neither whom are that great. If we had a Sanchez, Pires, Rosicky, even Hleb would be better.
On the original point I realised I missed a defence of Emery, in that I wonder whether he has 1 main way of playing and realised he didn’t have the players to play it. He’s then been winging it, but can hopefully add his building blocks.
Hobart, I appreciate that but he still has two strikers to find but he’s just not doing it… he’s doing nothing really…
I think every manager needs his own style of players, Emery was left a lot of average players and an unbalanced squad imo..
The Chinese don’t want Ozil?
And the totts?
Keep on tottering, JM!
ARSENAL MONITOR CHALOV
Arsenal are one of a number of top clubs monitoring young Russian striker Fedor Chalov, Sky Sports News understands.
Monaco and Sevilla are also keen on the 21-year old who was top scorer in the Russian Premier League last season, scoring 15 times in 30 appearances.
The CSKA centre forward scored against Arsenal in last season’s Europa League quarter-final second leg. Previously, he’d hit the headlines after scoring the opening goal as CSKA humbled then European champions Real Madrid 3-0 at the Bernabeu.
Before turning 21 in April he was called up to the national team, making his debut against Belgium in March in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier. He has three years left on his present contract.
Afternoon Rico/Gooners
Blimey Rico, considering that we’ve only got a reported £40m to spend we seem to be in for about 30 odd players, how on earth are we going to pay for it all and fit them into a 25 man squad, I’m very confused, yet again? 😄
Afternoon Kev. 😂
Does make you laugh eh…
I see Utd have got their transfer window going. Every other club pretty quiet so far though. The anticipation is mind blowing… lol
I can feel big Arsenal signing in my water Rico….
Mind you I have just had a big mug of tea… 😁
Steve Bould actually did a very good job before he worked with Wenger, as a youth coach, I think his team won the FAYC…
In fact if I recall he was initially reluctant to move up to the 1st team and Wenger had to assure him that he wouldn’t become Mr Cone Man like Pat Rice and that he’d have some input.
Not sure how that worked out tbh?
So maybe Bould is happier working with the younger players, less stress, whilst Freddie is obviously ambitious and sees the switch as an opportunity to recover from his disastrous spell at Wolfsburg?
I’m sure that Bould and Mertesaker can dovetail well with the Academy.
😂 Kev, me too re the tea..
Bould was certainly restricted under Wenger, especially after the comments about our improved defending. I’m sure of it. Same with Keown back in 06. A wise man would have treated them both quite differently.
Morning all.
If Bould was restricted under Wenger, why hasn’t our defence improved, unless Emery has done the same thing?
He either can’t coach, or both have had him as a coach and not utilised him which makes no sense.
Why have the guy there?
Ingerland? Like watching Wenger/Emery’s Arsenal………only worse, much, much worse!
Shocking.
I feel I’ve just wasted an hour of my life.(only watched second half and et. And I’m on holiday too.
‘Kin hell, I’ll stick to cricket for the next couple of months!
On holiday too and I don’t think anyone was too surprised or upset about England going out. Shame that following our supporters behaviour my planned trip to the Douro Valley May have to be put back
Re Bould Scott, I think he only stayed with the first team setup for continuity as Emery brought his own coaching staff with him. Him changing roles so soon seems like that was the case.
England were woeful at the back, funny really…
Morning all.
Morning guys.
You could be right, Rico.
Strange situation.
Not really though Scott, Emery nor his coaches spoke brilliant English..
https://shewore.com/2019/06/07/analysis-the-state-of-arsenals-squad/
Worth a read so we can understand the 25 and what we have, who we need and who needs to be moved on to make room…
13 of those Kev, I’d sell…
Having read that, what a complicated set of rules. Makes our squad look even more unbalanced in terms of where the players come from as well as positionally.
We certainly need to sell more than just one or two if we are to improve, unless the club are heading down the youth route.
Afternoon Rico and all.
Looking through that squad list hardly screams “Trophies” to me.
Afternoon Adam, shouts ‘sale’ to me….
Who would you keep Rico?
For stability and promise Kev, Sokratis, Torreira, Holding, Bellerin, Guendouzi, Lacazette, Auba, Leno, Martinez, AMN, Nelson and most of the academy players coming through until they’ve at least played in next season’s cup competitions.
Saying that Kev, anyone can go for the right price imo.
Hello Potter! Do you go to the Douro Valley?
Rico. Has to happen.
For sure it does Adam, we need changes and it’s clear to do so, we have to sell.
England were shit because they played in Spud colours, dont get the wearing of Spud colours when our flag is red and white.
JM .I haven’t been but it’s on my mind however the way the ingerland supporters behave makes me ashamed to go to places that they have desecrated
Only in Porto city I think.
Cazorla returned to the Spanish national team, 3 and a half years later, and spread class.
Real Madrid have agreed to pay £150 million for Hazard. They should be investigated under FFP, how can spending that much on buying a player, plus his wages, not break the rules?
Ozil married his fiancee on Friday in Istanbul, his best man was Turkish president Recep Erdogan. Photos available on BBC Sport website.
Make that BBC News website.
Not a good choice by Mesut, I think. Imo, of course.
Wavy, I believe Ozil has a home in Turkey, no doubt he will go to live there on retiring and probably go into politics.
Why has my last comment gone into moderation? Is it because I included the “P” word?
Now my question why my previous comment had gone into moderation, has also gone into moderation.
……..and my gravatar has disappeared.
Hah! My fault, I somehow added a 2 to my email address. Sorry Rico.
Morning all.
Tsk tsk Cicero… 😆
New post up now