Morning all.
Even though I’m glad this Mesut Ozil saga is close to coming to an end, or at least it seems that way, I do wonder why things went so badly wrong for him and Arsenal. Footballers with his level of ability and skill are rare, footballers with his seeming disinterest in making the most of them are also rare.
Mesut went from being a regular in Arsene Wenger’s first team, unless his back was playing up of course, to a slow road to omission. Initially from the team under Unai Emery to all squads under Mikel Arteta. Both managers who demand a high level of work off the ball, tried him but gave up on him.
I kind of agree with Martin Keown in that it is a great shame that Ozil’s Arsenal career is coming to an end the way it is. He should be saying his goodbyes to a packed stadium and mass applause. Fans thanking for a great eight years at the club and bearing no grudge as he moves on.
Had the club signed him and built the team/squad around him, things might very well have been different, perhaps if he’d have given a bit more for 90 minutes a week, things might have been different but neither happened and now he’ll slope off to Turkey where he’ll hopefully get to play football again. The game he was born to be good at, with a gift so many other people in life wish they were blessed with. Good luck Mesut.
For Arsenal, we carry on. Sport has continued its successful return and the Premier league has continued to be at the forefront of this. We can now look ahead to many other exciting events in 2021, such as the Grand national, which unfortunately was cancelled in 2020. Fans can visit grandnational.org.uk, which covers all you need to know on the event.
Back to Arsenal, after this summer, a few players will have moved on. Mustafi, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Ceballos and probably Luiz too, hopefully Luiz too. Plus there are other players who aren’t going to be in Mikel Arteta’s plans. Unless Pepe can turn his form around, Willian too, I can’t see the point in keeping them. Nelson, Willock and AMN must be wondering where they fit in too. Behind them is another group of younger players who possibly feel the same. ‘If Willian and Pepe get to play, why can’t I’ would be thought if I were Nelson or AMN. Both are at an age where regular football must surely be their priority.
Oh well, footballers, managers too, come and go but Arsenal will carry on as it always has and always will.
See you in the comments.
Hi Rico and all. If Ozil does leave I hope both he and the club can both move on and not start saying rubbish about each other, now the media are claiming that Arteta doesn’t get on with Laca
Good Morning Rico and everyone.
Mourinho and Ancelotti also had problems with him at RM. Even though his skill and awareness were so rare – Ronaldo scored so many goals from his passes. Ronaldo was angry that Mesut had been sold and rightly so because the way Ozil saw the game few players can. Ozil’s brain is similar to that of a coach seeing the game from the touchline. Its a pity his attitude was not up to that level. Mourinho clashed many times with him as he never works hard. Ancelotti did not stand in his way when AW wanted him. He just nodded with glee at being given so much money for a 24 year old which could have been invested elsewhere. Real did not miss him much did they.
Yes footballers come and go. But only few leave with their status as a legend. Not much go and leave a hint of sadness that DB10, TH14, TA06 left on us fans. Arsenal will always be Arsenal.
The media say so many things Geoff. Its up to each and everyone of us not to click on the articles on NN. If I dont like the look of the title and also the source usually I dont click on it. Most articles are just inventions and/or regurgitations which bloggers want click happy fools to read.
Every player will not get on much with every coach. Simply because they are different persons with different perspectives. If I had a team of 11 players and I they get on happily with me I will be worried. I prefer to be surrounded with people who speak their own rather than smile and pretend that all is well.
Morning all.
Ozil remains as talented as almost any Arsenal player I’ve seen.
Branded a lazy player, he invariably covered more kilometres than any player on the pitch week in, week out so that’s a myth that just isn’t true.
As much as he was criticised by fans for not defending, I always laughed at the hypocrisy as nobody every criticised defenders for not creating goals, as somehow that’s different..
I’m glad he’s gone, but I’m also filthy that his talent was often wasted by our club.
Ozil had a magic 3 years at Real Madrid feeding Ronaldo , Benzema and Higuain he then was good for us feeding Alexis in a free role but then it stopped . His usefulness to the club slowed as the tactics changed . We introduced Aubameyang but frequently they were standing on each others toes as they both drifted to the same parts of the pitch.
Emery and Arteta wrestled with our porous defence and wanted more from the midfield players and that did not suit his game and with his foil gone he started to struggle and eventually found himself discarded.
Shame in many ways , when he signed I got a similar buzz to the one I got when we unveiled Bergkamp but he never got on the same plain ( if you can excuse that ). Ozil is just one in a long line of cock up deals done by a group of knee jerk negotiators. We now have Aubameyang and Willian to sort out , in my opinion they both need selling and a course needs to be set and we need to work within it.
From all reports we have a good crop of players coming through and clubs are looking at us as bargain corner . Our peers are making their plans to get them away from us with compliant agents looking to fill their pockets . We need to set a plan and stick to it.
Ozil will always remain divisive Scott. Whatever way he is perceived. I feel that even among his team he was a divisive person. So while people will always find the easy thing to blame, that is, his seemingly laziness because they can never pinpoint exactly what makes him divisive, the fact remains that he clashed with different managers over the same thing. So its not a case of 1v1. Its a case of 1 against many. And while you are absolutely right in what you said I feel that Arsenal gave him that wage simply because they did not want a 2nd player leaving on a free immediately after Alexis.
The footballing style and tactics have moved on from Ozil’s playing ways.
Ozil will always remain divisive Scott. Whatever way he is perceived. I feel that even among his team he was a divisive person. So while people will always find the easy thing to blame, that is, his seemingly laziness because they can never pinpoint exactly what makes him divisive, the fact remains that he clashed with different managers over the same thing. So its not a case of 1v1. Its a case of 1 against many. And while you are absolutely right in what you said I feel that Arsenal gave him that wage simply because they did not want a 2nd player leaving on a free immediately after Alexis.
The footballing style and tactics have moved on from Ozil’s playing ways.
(Rico please delete previous message awaiting moderation – Thanks)
Hi Devil,
Ozil will often be judged poorly because of his 350k a week.
Imo that’s not fair as it’s irrelevant:
It’s also the clubs fault, not his.
He’s a player who’s style is probably a thing of the past but at his best, he was just beautiful to watch and enjoy.
Hi Rico.. Such a shame it’s ended this way. The tweets I’ve seen from the Fenerbahce faithful – using translate of course 😄 well they’re as excited as we all were 7.5 years ago!!
I wish him well, hope they enjoy him over there and thank him for the memories! Certain games/goals/assists I will never tire of watching!!
Life and AFC go on…. wow that took my mind off my nerves about tomorrow night for a moment or two 😄
Afternoon Rico and all…
He’s not gone yet, but it seems like he soon will be.
My overriding memory of him will be the Europa Cup Final of 2019, it was a final decided by a player who controlled the tempo of the game, a player who teased and tormented the opposition, a final that this player wove into one of his finest hours, a player who enhanced his reputation as one of the best in world football. That player? Eden Hazard…
Meanwhile Mesut Ozil’s performance that day was insignificant, of no consequence, he was a passenger as his team mates attempted to prevent the game spinning out of control and becoming worse than it already was, that is the heaviest defeat suffered by Arsenal in a cup final. It wasn’t all his fault of course but when you’re up against it you look to your big players to do something special and Ozil did what he always does in those circumstances, he bailed out.
He left the pitch in a huff, it’s was after all nothing to do with him was it?
We were losing 4-0 and he wasn’t responsible was he? No…
Well the guy who replaced him, Alex Iwobi, picked up the tempo and scored probably the best goal of the game, Iwobi a guy with a fraction of Ozil’s talent but a lot more desire.
Ozil sulked as he always does when he doesn’t get his own way and no doubt conspired his revenge. Things went south after that for Emery and we know the rest.
There is a cabal of players at Arsenal who I believe work against the club and the manager when they don’t get their own way and I suspect that they’re pretty much the associates of Ozil, his gang and bit by bit the club is getting rid of them and not before time…
One of them has already gone Kev. Kolasinac was his shadow. They even got attacked together. I guess Mustafi and Sokratis are the next. Maybe Auba is also part of Ozil’s gang. Is it really because Auba signed that contract thing or has his performances dropped because Arteta has emarginated his chummies? Lacazette has exploded into life recently.
Many issues and situations happen behind close doors. Of which we are not and never will be aware about. The worst thing Arsenal FC can do now is try to keep on commenting about Ozil and the reasons for his ostracization. They should keep quiet and simply move on. Even if he bad mouths Arsenal.
My overriding memory of him will be the goal he scored against Ludogoretz. I prefer to dwell on that and see him in a positive way even if I perceive him to be a flawed genius
Sue, good to see you back.
Afternoon guys.
Kev, spot on re the Europa Final re Ozil and Iwobi. The same could be said for so many players who we’ve seen come and go. Some have everything you could wish for as far as effort and attitude but they don’t have the level of skill Ozil possesses but honestly, I know which type of player I’d rather see wearing an Arsenal shirt.
Potter, you make a good point but it’s strange how other clubs want our players yet Arteta might not. I really don’t like the idea of selling our own to fund a Pepe, Willian etc etc.
But then you probably know that by now. Lol
Afternoon Rico/all
I’m just relieved the Ozil saga is over, it’s been bad for Arsenal. It’s made Arsenal a laughing stock, paying millions to someone not even part of the squad. The media need no excuse for a negative Arsenal story. There are players at other clubs frozen out, admittedly on a fraction of an Ozil, Phil Jones at Man Utd is one, Danny Rose of Spurs too, I’m sure there are others.
Rico, apologies if you’ve already discussed this, but did you see McGuinness scored his first career goal yesterday, for Ipswich against Burton.. Great header!! Really like the look of him…
Right now in France it’s Saliba v Koscielny…
Afternoon Limey, it’s his salary causing the stir, no one really mentions Sokratis. Saying that, at least the latter always put a shirt in for the team.
I didn’t see that Sue. Only seen him play briefly but he looks like he could be a good player. Mind you, I thought that about Medley too.
It seems that the terms of agreement between Ozil and the club are that he gets paid £5million lump sum. Arsenal gain £3 million since if he sat out till the remainder of his contract he would have made £8 million. Its a pity that Mustafi seems to stay put otherwise with him and Kolasinac gone Arsenal would have made a hefty amount of savings on their wages together.
There’s time for Mustafi to leave yet, even though Arteta says he’s staying.
We have a bright future, Rico…courtesy of Hale End 😉
Well, Koscielny came out on top, winning 3-0… and our women drew 1-1…. against Reading, Rico!!
What do you want from Pool v Mancs? I’d love a draw…
I think so too Sue if they’re given the chance. Can’t believe Reading nicked a point.
A draw between Utd and Liverpool would be best I guess.. A few red cards would be good. Lol
😆 Rico 👍
I would love to see the Mancs vs dippers end in a draw. tbh…..I would love everyone around us to draw all games. As that means everyone loses points. Especially if we win. At least a draw is much better than losing. We have lost 8 up till now……imagine if we dug deep and had drawn them all. we would be on 32 points
Just had a phone call from our GP surgery, we both have appointments tomorrow morning for our first Covid vaccinations and for our second in twelve weeks time.
Light at the end of the tunnel.🎷
Excellent Cicero.
SS’s reports that Ozil said he goodbyes to the squad today, flying to Turkey this evening. 👋👋
On a separate note, this was released 42 years ago today. I love its lyrics as much as I did back then
I bet you’re a Mama Mia fan Devil. 😆
I think I’d rather watch Mamma Mia than the scousers and the mancs 🤪
Sue, I was lucky enough to miss the first half, if it wasn’t dark outside I would go and watch the grass grow rather than watch this load of old tosh.
If Ozil has flown off to Turkey…finally removing the albatross from the club, perhaps the media will turn to Spuds where Mourinho has a similar situation with Deli AllI and Bale too. Neither player can get on the pitch and Mourinho has no intention of using them. Levy can’t be happy with either situation.
Ha ha Sue, glad I swerved it.
🤣 Cicero..
Should’ve known it wouldn’t live up to the hype Sky gave it! They’d been drooling for about the last month!! All I know is that’s 90 minutes I’ll never get back. I suppose one good thing is though at least Klopp didn’t smile, so my eyesight is fine 😉
If that was the best entertainment the Premier League can supply I suggest football should be shut down until the fans can be ‘re-admitted to the games.
No fans = no atmosphere= no urgency= boring, boring football.
There was something else lacking in that game……red cards. The referee was too bored to draw them out of his pocket. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
😆 Devil
https://mobile.twitter.com/charles_watts/status/1350883939490156546
Excellent news Sue. Mesut is ‘punching’ isn’t he… 😂
All the Mesut Ozil apologists are waffling on about how much better off he’ll be in Turkey, playing for a top club (Fenerbahce) in the Champions League whilst Arsenal continue to stagnate…
Fenerbahce haven’t played Champions League football since 2009… 😄
Are you sure they don’t mean how much better off Arsenal will be Kev? Lol
That’s funny re Fenerbahce…lol
🤣 He sure is, Rico.. that tickled me!
So Crystal Palace are so good defensively, they shipped 11 goals – without reply, against Liverpool and Man City..A Liverpool fan at work is scathing about Roy Hodgson.
Just had a phone call from our GP surgery, we both have appointments tomorrow morning for our first Covid vaccinations and for our second in twelve weeks time.
Light at the end of the tunnel.
Without being indelicate where do you stand on the list and where are you being sent . I know an over 80 being asked to go to the Castle Mall from Catfield ,
City look to be coming good at the right time. I’m glad as I dislike them less than the others around the top.
Palace aren’t good imo, we just lacked the ability to get in behind them, or finish our chances.
Good to hear Potter, there is as you say, light at the end of the tunnel.
New post up now
Not me yet Rico ,I was asking Cicero as he lives about 3/4 hour from me in this forgotten bump on the side of England
Ah, that’s no so good then Potter…