Morning all.
〽️⚽️ #M1Ö #YaGunnersYa pic.twitter.com/hF7abGklOT
— Mesut Özil (@M10) October 21, 2020
Mikel Arteta was asked about Ozil’s statement during his press conference yesterday evening. A full transcript can be read on Arsenal.com but here’s a snippet:
Everybody is free to express their feelings. What can I say from my side? It’s just a football decision that my conscience is very calm about because I was very fair with him. My level of communication with him has been really high, we know what to expect from each other. When I believe that he could contribute to the team to be better, which is why I was hired to this football club – to become the manager, to win football matches, competitions and create and build a project for the short, medium and long-term. He has had the opportunity like everybody else. I’m sad that I had to leave three players off this list, which is never pleasant, but I just have to say that I tried to look everybody in the eye and be comfortable with it. With Mesut, I had this feeling because I have been very straightforward since I arrived at this club.
Whichever way one looks at this, it’s not good. Arsenal aren’t looking good but why? If Mesut Ozil wasn’t earning £350k a week, no one would bat an eyelid. The reality is, this kind of thing happens often but because it’s Arsenal and Ozil, it’s big news. If Mikel Arteta selected our German number 10 and he dropped numerous lacklustre performances, the very same media folk would be all over Ozil and Arteta for that matter. It’s Arteta’s job to make the decisions he believes is right for the squad, the team and for the football. It’s his job on the line.
I’m sure it’s not a nice feeling for Mesut, or Sokratis for that matter but I strongly suspect both players knew this was coming. They had the summer to find another club but neither did. Footballers, with their bullish agents are in control of their own destiny these days. Mesut certainly was when his contract neared it’s end. Had Arsenal not offered him £350k a week, would he have been quite so loyal?
Hopefully this will all die down in a few days/weeks time because the last thing Mikel Arteta needs is some kind of squad rebellion because of it.
We’ve a fixture this evening, a trip to Austria to face Rapid Vienna, one of the country’s most successful clubs who sit second in their league. The club has 32 league titles to brag about which would suggest that competition in the Austrian championship isn’t that strong. In the four league fixtures which have taken place this season, they’ve scored ten goals whilst conceding just the three. That’s about all I know about this evening’s opposition and I have Wiki to thank for that.
Arsenal have three players out injured tonight, Rob Holding, Dani Ceballos and Willian but Shkodran Mustafi is back. Pablo Mari should be back in the next ten days which considering Holding is out for three weeks, is good news. As far as the team selection goes though, Arteta was giving nothing away other than to suggest Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe and Joe Willock have all benefitted from playing for the under 23’s.
Anyway, enjoy the game. I think a few fans are allowed into the stadium so that’ll be strange for our players after playing for so long without them. Not that there’ll be any cheering Arsenal on.
See you in the comments guys.
Mesut Ozil should never have joined Arsenal.
Whilst he is renowned for his technical skills and creativity; due to his agility, finesse and versatility as an attacking midfielder he needs to be playing alongside team mates who can provide cover for his lack of defensive work. At Arsenal there just wasn’t and, to an extent, still isn’t that cover.
He did build a very successful partnership with Alexis Sanchez, providing numerous assists for the little Chilean striker, which helped towards two FA Cup final wins. When Sanchez left, for Man. U. Ozil was left without an outlet for his assists.
Neither Arteta nor Emery before him have been able to find a system that allows them to play Ozil in a team that suffers from, frequently, shambolic defending and little punch in midfield.
The infamous wage granted by Wenger/Gazidis ensures that few clubs in the World could afford such a luxury player even if they had the squad to support his style of play.
Ozil can now play only in U23 games and unless Arsenal cancel his contract and pay his wages up to the end of June that is where he will stay.
Morning Rico et al.
The Ozil omission runs a little beyond the realms of football, I think. If SSN is to be believed Ozil has been supporting the Muslim community in China, the Uigars, with more than cash and letters of support. I think he managed to upset the ‘Party’ to such an extent the he was responsible for the Chinese cancelling their tv deal with the Premier league. Pretty weighty stuff, eh? Quite why his political interventions should so upset the politburo I really have no idea, but the outcome I think is that he will not be seen again playing in the English league. There may also have been a sponsorship deal connected to the Arsenal that may have come into play too.
In any event he seems to have been a very naughty boy the upshot of which has and is impacting on his private and professional life. The story also adds a little flesh to the BFG’s comment about Mesut having some political interests beyond football.
He does seem to involve himself in all manner of ‘missionary’ work, from Gunnersaurus to the Uigars to his support for Turkey and Edouan(?sp). As such soccer has become a bit of a hobby his focus having been diverted from his day job! Given his new interests he should really quit football and find employment with the current Turkish administration. I’m sure his marriage witness will find a nice little earner for him, if he were to move to Istanbul!
Actually, it’s good to have causes but they should never be allowed to interfere with the day job. If they do then decisions have to made and priorities have to be reassessed, possibly these by necessity have to swap places. Good, for a post football career because a new job is already on the cards? ‘International Lobbyist’, for example. Or a Turkish Ambassador, perhaps they should post him to Beijing☹️
Anyhow that’s my take on what’s occurring in Mr Ozil’s life at present. He’s having a kick around with his mates in the morning and then getting to work on the ills of the world in the afternoon, for £350k a week. Good work if you can get it!
A win tonight would be good. The iPad will be busy😎
Arsenal are facing quite an important game tonight against a dangerous opponent as I’ve been told that Austrian football is going through some kind of revival much as the game in Belgium has of late, so a game that I thought previously was a walk in the park could be problematic if we underestimate the opposition – as I did earlier in the week!
Arteta doesn’t need any distractions with this tough assignment pending or constant questioning about a guy who claims to love Arsenal but has tried to damage it with regularity.
Frankly I’m sick of Ozil and his protestations, I’m sick of his PR spin and I’m sick of his troublesome agent, I can’t wait to see the back of them all.
Unfortunately I can see this Ozil nonsense being brought up at almost every press conference up until January at least. The same old tired questions, you can only imagine how Ferguson would deal with it, he’d refuse to answer and then start banning reporters, but Man Utd under that old devil carried a lot more weight than Arsenal.
Morning Rico. Ex-players and managers, both Arsenal and non-Arsenal, plus players making a living talking nonsense on the TV are all going to have their say on the unpleasant situation that has arisen with Ozil. For me, the only person that comes out of it with any real credit is Mikel Arteta. Ozil isn’t an idiot. He must have been able to see the writing on the wall after the (presumably) many conversations he has had with Mikel. He could have moved. There were apparently offers, but he didn’t want to. I won’t surmise the reasons why he chose to say, they seem pretty obvious to me. It must have been clear to him that Mikel wanted a response from him, starting in training and onto the pitch in games. We all know about the ‘non-negotiable’ stories and can only think that an improvement in attitude and work rate plus a willingness to listen are at the very heart of these. AMN and Danny Ceballos are two players that we know had settled for the easy life and yet pulled themselves back into contention. Ainsley seems happier now that he’s an important member of the squad and Danny was offered another year, neither of which would likely have happened without significant change in them. Mesut seems to be content to rack up the bank balance without buying into very much at all. Truth is we sorely need some midfield creativity. He knows that but it isn’t enough to rouse him from easy street. Per Mertesacker intimated that a new wife and fatherhood have become his priorities and that football has taken a back seat. Well, that’s lovely for him isn’t it? I might even have believed that it would have had the opposite effect but it seems not.
I have no idea what’s happening with this Chinese thing except, if he is trying to get Arsenal involved in his personal politics, that isn’t going to work. I could mention the human-rights record of his best man, but won’t. Arsenal have always refused to be drawn into political side-issues. Offering to pay the wages of Gunnersaurus ( a day’s pay for Mesut) will, I think, not have gone down very well at the club. it was a crude effort to embarrass them in the media. If he wanted to do that, then great, but going so public with it was trite and pathetic from my point of view. Perhaps he was badly advised.
And for all those saying how great he is and that he’s the best player at the club I would remind them that time has passed and that you don’t have to deal with it. The strong manager I think we all wanted has arrived and he has, to his credit, owned the situation with Mesut who will no doubt never quite grasp why he has been sidelined. We need to move on though and let Mikel do his job, in his way and see where that takes us. I doubt any of this has been easy for him.
I don’t think Ozil joining Arsenal was the big problem but the new contract was when it was clear the club weren’t able to assemble a squad which suited him.
Morning Wavy, what a poor team of advisors Mesut has surrounded himself with. Make the most of a short career in the game and let politics follow.
Imo, his move to offer our mascots wages did little other than undermine the club.
Morning Adam. I think we’re on the same page again 😂
Seems that way Rico. 😃
Kev, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear Mikel tell reporters etc that questions relating to Ozil will not be answered. Rafa did the same at Liverpool. Stick to football related questions only.
Like you, I don’t see tonight’s fixture being easy. Fans back in the stadium will be good.
Happens once in a while Adam. 😉
Funny how none of the media are questioning the club’s ‘treatment’ of Sokratis but I guess he’s not such a big player on a big salary.
Out of the two of them, I feel more sadness for Sokratis.
Afternoon Rico and All
I find it unreal that people
who you would think know
the ins and outs of The Arsenal
could see what Micky’s trying to
do not sure if some of them think
it’s 10 a side
WTF are there looking at.
Tonights Team
Leno Luize Gabtiel Kolasinac
Cedric Elneny Partey Saka
Pepe Lacazette Nketia
Evening Fred, Rick, all.
Strong team..
So awful!!!
It is Jm.
Well that was like drawing teeth . We won despite Leno’s best efforts . Arteta has got to sort this playing out stuff , we have been waiting for a hiccup it’s been on the cards and tonight we got it .
Martinez or Leno?
Mmm?
I’d settled for a bore draw at half time. I was wrong with thar too!
Still I watched a lot of paint dry at the same time. I actually did some multi tasking.
Leno was awful. Whoever thought he was Arsenal’s best keeper is bonkers.
Terrible performance until Bellerin and Aubameyang came on. Our attacking game lacked imagination, movement, pace and precision.
Partey was such a pleasure to watch though..
I wonder what the decision would have been if a German club had come in with an acceptable bid for Leno during the summer?
The team needed strengthening, Arteta wanted Gabriel and one of either Aouar or Partey and he got two out of three, but because he couldn’t sell Torrieira or Guendouzi or maybe Lacazette he had to raise funds by selling Martinez, I’m sure if we’d had the means to sign the players we wanted without selling Martinez that Arteta would have kept him, but it is what it is…
Excuse the pun but we can just about count the keepers on one hand .Gabriel , Saka , Tierney, Partey, Auba and maybe Bellerin the rest are ok but effectively meh .
We will probably never get a team of superstars like we had a few years ago but the sparsity of the squad was laid bare for all to see.
Kev. Spot on re Leno.
The guy was coming off a major injury, so really, it was always against the odds a club would make an offer for him at that point in time?
No guarantees could be made to Martinez so he wanted out and nobody can blame him, but I do wish people would take all factors into account before criticising the club.
Whoever said it was a case of Leno being deemed the better keeper?
Arteta hasn’t said it.
Nobody at the club has.
Martinez was a victim of circumstances and nobody is to blame for it except the arsehole who cleaned Leno up.
Honestly, I think if Emi had been told he’d start the season in goal, he’d still be with us now..
Actions speak louder than words Scott.
Not the greatest of games but a win is a win.
The Leno situation is a real problem. His confidence is shot, he goes into panic mode when under pressure. He needs a rest period to recover, but we don’t have a ready made stand in so we are going to learn to live with it.
The bright spot was Thomas Partey, a terrific performance, ball winning, breaking up attacks, accurate passing and great awareness allied to instinctive positioning. What’s more there is a burgeoning partnership forming between him and Elneny.
Off topic, with the pay for view fee being set at £14.95 a game it’s interesting to see that with Spain in lockdown La Liga tv is offering Real Madrid v Barcelona at 6 Euros.
It was interesting to see Jake Humphrey’s of BT Sport offering Ozil a job as a pundit for next Thursdays Europa games after seeing him Tweeting on Twitter.
Now I wonder how tempting that would be for Herr Ozil..?
Rico, true but again I ask how were we going to sell Leno with the injury cloud over him, and how could Martinez be guaranteed a starting spot?
People are praising Partey, but would we have got him without selling Martinez?
Surely these situations aren’t as easy as we think.
Scott, imo, and as Mikel himself always says, work hard, play well and players will play on match day. How, after the performances Martinez put in after replacing Leno, could he be dropped so quickly?
A sweeping statement perhaps but I’m absolutely convinced we wouldn’t have won the FA Cup without Emi in goal and we wouldn’t be in Europa either.
Staggering Potter, the greed of the FA..
New post up now