Morning all.
I know many Arsenal fans will disagree but I truly believe letting Mesut Ozil go next month would be a good idea regardless of how little we’d get for him. Sell him for £5 million, it wouldn’t bother me one bit. Wenger and Gazidis shafted the club when they agreed his reported £350,000 a week contract, two people who pleaded poverty at any opportunity which presented itself. The money Ozil earns a week could finance three new players wages with money left over. Throw in the money paid to Ramsey and Mkhitaryan and we’re talking five, maybe even six. I know we’d have to pay a transfer fee on top but that’s the name of the game. It certainly is for Arsenal and Unai Emery because there comes a point when he’ll have to say enough is enough, this group of players aren’t capable of doing more than they are and now they need help. That’s the same for any manager who new in his job, sort the wheat from the chaff and then build.
We’re well over the ‘new manager honeymoon period.’ The players we have are what they are and who’ll they’ll ever be in my opinion. They’ve had six months under the Spaniard and those who haven’t bought into the Unai Emery way, aren’t going to. I doubt Unai Emery will care who he axes from the club, he’s showing that by the way he and the club are letting Ramsey leave. He doesn’t care who he substitutes or leaves out of the squad entirely either. I truly believe that everything he does, he believes is for the good of the team regardless of what name is on the back of a shirt. I doubt he wants to see is a player who he entrusted with the captains armband sulking when he’s substituted, throw his gloves to the ground and then snub him as he skulked off to sit on the bench. By behaving in such a way, Mesut Ozil was thinking about Mesut Ozil and not his teammates. Aubameyang did something similar earlier in the season, he’s not done it since though and as much as Emery played it down in the media, I bet he had a word in the players ear.
Pin total contrast to the above little tantrums, in other matches this season we’ve seen players in the dugout, some not even in the squad, being vocal and supporting of their mates. Lichtsteiner is the one who stands out for me, the wise mature one but then at the opposite rung of the ladder, AMN’s and Guendouzi have joined in. Literally for AMN’s against the Totts in the league. Both are young and still learning but they don’t shirk their duties on or off the pitch. Ok, they make mistakes during a game but they don’t sit on the ground feeling sorry for themselves after being tackled, no, they’re up and trying to get the ball back. That’s the kind of player I think Emery wants.
That’s the kind the kind of players the team/squad needs and in the main, that’s the type of player we have. In my opinion anyway but I also believe we have a number of players who either aren’t able to give more to the team, or simply can’t be bothered to.
Arsenal don’t need them.
Good morning Rico, I have to say that I was delighted when we signed Ozil, pure class. Right up to the moment he signed that contract renewal I thought he was worth every penny of the transfer fee and wages. Sadly the ludicrous amount that Wenger/Gazidis agreed to pay him seemed to go to his head and he sunk into the belief that he need do little more than turn up for games to justify those enormous wages.
Much as I hate to see a player with his skills leave the club, it has become obvious that he just doesn’t fit in any more, his work ethic, or lack of it, means he is a burden to the rest of the team. It’s time to cut our losses and cut him loose
It’s not so much that the manager’s honeymoon is over as that the squad has been found out and it’s fragility exposed. The Premier League is an unforgiving place and once your’e exposed as having a weakness every team will drive a coach and horses through your defences. It doesn’t matter if they are a top or bottom team they are all capable .
From the start of the season our defence has been suspect , we all knew it and so did all the other teams. The manager has shuffled things around to try to confuse . He’s had 3 at the back or a back 4 and even a back 5 , however effectively the players as a collective are carrying some others . Certain ones have come in and looked good Sokratis and Holding in the middle Bellerin and Monreal wide would be ok but we have lost two and one has just recovered and our central replacements Mustafi and Koscielny look way off the pace and Kolasinac looks to be half the guy from when we obtained him .
Then behind them we started with Cech who became suspect as he was unable to trust those in front and then leno who came in looked brighter but is now making errors possibly due to trying too hard to cover spaces that should not be there.
We all knew that the manager had a job of work on and now the amount of it is being exposed. Probably we need 4 or 5 new players and we need to shed some of the ones that are not fitting into his scheme. Now is not the time to rock the boat , if we trust the man it is more than ever time to give him the chance to change things round . In the meantime he has to use what he has available and we have to wait and see how it unfolds.
Morning Cicero, you and me both re signing Ozil and his contract.
How things change though, pre contract extension he showed a bit of character but as soon as he’d signed it, back to his old self.
What a waste of a great talent but I guess his bank account is healthy…
Morning Rico and all. I have been thinking along similar lines this week. I am waiting to see players improving as they should do under a top manager. What I see is players going off the boil unfortunately and I see no real game-changers out there at the moment.
That’s kind of what I meant Potter. Those who had more to give have shown it was the previous regime who couldn’t work with them, others though are showing that they are where they are in their career and it’s highly unlikely they’ll ever improve. I don’t count the young in that.
As you say, that’s what this season is all about and over the next few transfer windows we should see a very different team unfold. Personnel wise..
Morning Adam. I don’t think injuries have helped our cause but yes, one or two have certainly dipped in performance. Iwobi is the one who stands out for me.
Not only that rico, he’s taking up someone’s seat in the stand as well, must be our highest paid supporter lol.
Ha ha Micko…
Think of Bruno Fernandes (Sporting) played alongside Torreira at Sampdoria. It will be expensive (I wrote here to fetch it early in the season. It is much more expensive). Ozil, in my opinion, has not been with Arsenal for a long time and I’m pretty sure he’s not seen in the group and Equip is better off without him. I doubt the same thing happens like Ramsey.
I think it has to take on more prominence and could be the “key” from now on, even at the end of the contract. I have the idea that because it was “marginalized”, it weakened it and made it “want to change the air”. If it renewed (still going on time), and made a rest of a good time (which I think is possible) could be valued, and leave at the end of the season (?) By a million. Sometimes the solutions lie within and not outside.
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The problem still remains that we can’t just decide to sell Ozil, someone has to offer to buy him and he has to agree to the move. No-one is going to pay a 30 year old the money we are paying him, so why should he move?
A load deal where we still pay some of his wages might work, but we are still paying out money for nothing.
I think we’re stuck with him.
Brian
Sorry, I meant LOAN deal
Brian
I agree however the question on that is whether his presence is unsettling the rest of the squad.. Paying him to get out of the dressing room might be beneficial in the long run.
On the other hand he may be a popular member of the squad and everyone is happy for him to stay.
Has he ever really Jm?
Brian, perhaps if Emery makes it clear that he’s not the future for Arsenal, he’ll think about taking a pay cut.
Hi Rico, I think you’re clutching at straws, but its all we’re left with. My straw is that Arsene will take over a big team and thinks Ozil will fit in.
Brian
Hi Brian, maybe but it’s an option.
It’s interesting to note, that both Liverpool and Man U commented after signing Oxlade Chamberlain and Alexis that both players had to do a lot of work on their fitness.
Fitness is a large part of what Emery has had to work on since he came to Arsenal and everyone has seemingly bought into that – except one notable person…
Afternoon Gooners
Afternoon Rico btw.
As for Ozil, the whole saga bores me, I cannot remember being as disappointed overall in a player that I wanted Arsenal sign as I feel about Ozil.
I was sad about Jack leaving although it was the right decision, I was sad to see Alexis leave despite it being the only option left after the transfer to Man City was so badly handled and I’ve enjoyed his problems at United, but I won’t be sad to see the back of Ozil…
Look at Hazard at Chelsea, a player who makes the difference, a player who can win a game on his own, compare him with Ozil and what he gives us for a similar salary?
We aren’t in a position to be able to carry anyone at this stage of the teams development.
And certainly not a player on such a stellar wage.
Some fans will not agree, but I’m an Arsenal fan, not an Ozil fan.
yes he is. Maybe 23 years old.
The highest paid player has to be the Club’s main reference. The unbalanced player, who appears in difficult moments, who “carries” the team, which is expected to solve, for who has to go the ball when you do not know what to do with it.
Hazard is everything and much more. Ozil does not.
We are currently in the midst of a severe injury crisis, a crisis where we need every player to do his bit, just as we have seen with Granit Xhaka, who has put his game 2nd and has played at left back and centre back in order to help the manager and the team.
Almost everyone, even Ramsey has stepped up to the plate – all except one player…
Will Emery pick him for the game vs Burnley and if he did how would Ozil measure up?
But if Ozil is omitted then that’s quite a condemnation in my opinion.
Has Ozil been unhappy since Flamini left I wonder?
Afternoon Kev, why am I not surprised about that… Didn’t Emery mention not training for trainings sake? I think that’s what our players were doing before he arrived. Just going through the motions…
“Some fans will not agree, but I’m an Arsenal fan, not an Ozil fan“
Ditto….
I can’t see a future for him at the club , but where do we offload him. ? Spanish papers are saying he’s washed up ,would Gazidis take him to Milan ? , once bitten and all that or most probably Turkey if one of their big clubs want him our agent team have got their work cut out with this one.
I think that we have got to learn to live without him and find a polaymaker from somewhere. It’s no good looking to unsettled players like Isco because Madrid will want too much and the salary will not be far short of Ozil’s , so it’s likely to be someone that we have not heard too much about , young with a good background . Perhaps we can ask Dennis if he has anything at Ajax that fits the bill.
Jm, comparing Ozil to Hazard is a good choice imo. You’re right, they are gulfs apart when it comes to what they give their respective teams.
China if he wants money, or the USA. Turkey if he’s feeling nostalgic…
Mkhitaryan was getting stuck in before being injured against the Totts too.
I can’t see Emery picking him tomorrow. We need a big result and everyone will need to work hard for it.
We’ve got Ozil under contract until what, 2021 isn’t it?
Whose going to pay a fee for him?
China as you say Rico…
But we can loan him out if we need to get him off of our books, we should get a fee for the loan and maybe have to pay some of his salary, but at least it won’t affect us anymore regarding FFP…
I thought the links to Juventus were interesting Rico, considering that his old mate Ronaldo is at Juve.
Hi everyone,
SO disappointing to lose to the neighbours particularly when Mkhitaryan, clean through, early on in the exchange, botched it big time.
My golden era was Henry, Pires, Berkamp and they rarely missed such opportunities.
In business, an employee can be laid off for incompetence, lack of effort etc., yet footballers appear to have watertight contracts that allow full payment for the duration of that contract without their undying commitment to the cause of the club.
Perhaps Ozil should be put up for sale & completely excluded from further matches and, from getting a seat in the stadium.
He’s going to get his ill gotten gains anyway but just deprive him completely of ANY football so he won’t be worth anything to anybody.
I only saw 10 mins of the highlights and was staggered to see both Son and Alli well clear of any of our third rate ‘defenders’. We need a very large elastoplast fix and some defenders with BRAINS.
Spurs may have deserved the win (according to the papers?) BUT, we DID have chances….which were spurned.
We missed Bellerin’s pace and crosses contribution which AMN can’t seem to emulate (am I being too harsh?) and Iwobi doesn’t look he’ll get any better?
C’mon boys a bit more effort and concentration please? Please?
If we can’t beat Burnley I reckon we have a serious problem and some serious changes are required.
Good idea Kev, but loan him to a club that we are NOT likely to meet in the Euro competition?
Damn, the mood has changed quickly.
We are injury riddled.
Down to bare bones atm lol
Maybe our injuries are more to being kicked to pieces during games than to do with poor management that was the favourite cause for years how.
I’m disappointed with Ozil this season, as I always thought he’d find his very best with two pacey and intelligent strikers in front of him-clearly, he hasn’t.
For whatever reason, he’s a shot duck.
It’s interesting that he’s being condemned for throwing things on the ground, looking miserable on the bench-maybe it’s because he is so passionate and frustrated 🙂
Ozil needs to be rid of ASAP and to whoever will take him.
Even if we subsidise his salary!!!
Or the USA Kev, those rumours are out there too but Juve makes sense and as you say, his old mate is there..
If we sell him really cheap, another club and Ozil might reach an agreement.
Jimmy, I think we need additions regardless. Kos isn’t up to it anymore in my opinion, questions are still being asked of Mustafi and as yet, Mavropanos is a player we’ve seen very little of so can’t be judged I’d have thought.
Sokratis is good but our defence needs some serious height in there. I know I’ve already said this but I’d really like to see Medley, especially for games like today.
Scott, I know what you’re alluding to re the gloves thing and yes, I’d agree IF he’d have been chasing the ball down all match,working his socks off and trying to do the things a captain would do.
However, he’d had yet another really lazy and lethargic performance…
New post up now