Arsene Wenger has called on Mesut Ozil’s detractors to analyse the German international’s performances with a ‘cool head’ as he again stressed his record signing is the subject of unfair criticism.
The 25-year-old endured a verbal kicking from some quarters of the media at the tail end of last season and was the subject of intense scrutiny throughout the World Cup despite playing an important role in his country’s success.
Thrust into the first XI at Everton following an extended summer break, Ozil’s four appearances have again been deemed underpar both in the press box and on the terraces, a state of affairs that has led many to question whether he should be deployed as a traditional number 10 rather than on the flank.
“People always have this kind of attitude about him,” Wenger said ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game with Borussia Dortmund, a game that last year saw Ozil assist Aaron Ramsey for the Gunners winner.
“He worked hard against Manchester City and he played quite well. You see a good Ozil when you watch the game again. Then you realise his timing, his quality of the pass and something you can be frustrated during the game but you must not overreact.
“When you watch the game in a cool manner, you see what a good player he is. I have so many offensive players. I give him freedom to play outside and inside and he likes that. It is not easy but Ozil is a team player and he takes it very well.”
Last week Ozil spoke openly about his positional preference maintaining that he remains one of the game’s best playing behind a main striker.
“I’m one of the best players in the world in that number 10 position. Fans, coaches, players and everyone knows that my best position is playmaker. It’s different playing on the left.
“When I was in Madrid, I often played on the right. I enjoyed that because I’m left-footed and I was able to cut inside to give assists and get shots on target. On the left, it’s more difficult.”
“He worked hard against Manchester City and he played quite well”
Sorry Arsene, I have to disagree.
Well I think he played ok, merely. his obvious problem that got me screaming was on a stray pass that was intercepted and was very very obvious. Now that was infuriating. But other than that… was ok really.
At the end of the game you could feel around the 70′ mark that he was pushing hard, even going as far as to stumble akwardly on some legs here and there. He was trying very hard and was physically finished at that point. But he was trying.
No problem for me here.
And he had no pre-season. He’ll take time to get fit, settle into a new position, new system and new teammates, and his form will hopefully pick up. No point overreacting now, trust the manager and trust Özil’s quality.
That stray pass was the only point where I was like dafuq! I’ve rarely actually seen him misplace a pass so blatantly. Other than that and his two rushed shots on goal, didn’t really think he played particularly poorly. He wasn’t a standout, but by no means a bad performance.
Like someone said in an article last year.. Ozil’s game is where the camera isn’t..not everyone sees it.. though he is not showing what he is really capable of, I enjoy his game. And i like to stay positive..
All of that is fine. But remember football is a sport and most people in the world aren’t PhDs. You know a good performance when you see one. We can be all scientific and all about it but the point is he is “obviously” been below par lately. Really hope his game improves
Got to agree with you sadly. I got a new season ticket this year and it’s front row not far down from the away dugout (Pellegrini was about 10 feet away, it was just in front of the BT sport set up so managed to shake hands with Wrighty – result!). So this was the closest I’ve been able to see and track Ozil throughout a game, esp as he was on the wing a lot. And he just seems massively off the pace of the game. Quite a few times he seemed surprised that he was tackled, took too… Read more »
I think it’s obvious that Mandy Grace is wearing a chastity belt and Ozil can’t survive without a little bit of muff
I think why everyone thinks he’s lazy, is because of the way he looks on the ball. Ozil plays in a really nonchalant manner, he looks lethargic when he’s on the ball, and he has always done it At Madrid he was the same, difference was he had Ronaldo & Di Maria haring around, so he could be as lethargic as he wanted, he always had them as outlets. His form at Arsenal dipped last season as soon as Theo & Ramsey got injured, the two players that he was able to utilize in the same manner, he did Ronaldo… Read more »
The commentary against the City match was awful. They spoke more about speculation, hostile negativity towards Arsenal, and undue praise for city the entire match. It was cringing to hear, whilst they talking over and missing a great match. They praised City for disrupting our play with fouling. How do you condone and praise persistent fouling. That’s not fucking football. Then on Ozil, the commentator starts highlighting his impact. Instead of praising Alexis for his absolutely incredible fight and defending up top, he asks, “why can’t Ozil do that”. Well why can’t any footballer other than Alexis on the pitch… Read more »
The commentary against the City match was awful. They spoke more about speculation, hostile negativity towards Arsenal, and undue praise for city the entire match. It was cringing to hear, whilst they talking over and missing a great match. They praised City for disrupting our play with fouling. How do you condone and praise persistent fouling. That’s not fucking football. Then on Ozil, the commentator starts highlighting his impact. Instead of praising Alexis for his absolutely incredible fight and defending up top, he asks, “why can’t Ozil do that”. Well why can’t any footballer other than Alexis on the pitch… Read more »
Gilberto – the invisible wall Ozil – the invisible Bergkamp he glides, he uses the ball brilliantly, he hurts opponents in ways that nobody else in the squad can however, because he doesn’t scamper around like Alexis, TR7 or the Ox (and they are all the better for their scampering and harrying) people think it’s OK to denigrate his contribution. i find it extraordinary that the same people who were going mental over AW not buying a world class player for loads of money are now going mental because that same player doesn’t run around kicking people like some kind… Read more »
Well said.
Let’s not forget what our very own Tim Payton of the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust said yesterday:
“…swapping Ozil for Lars Bender would make us a far more rounded team.”
This is just a small tidbit of the insane stuff being said about Ozil lately. If our so-called “supporters” try to drive Mesut Ozil out of this club, I think my head might explode.
PERSPECTIVE and FACT.
Agree. It gets to the point that I genuinely feel bad for people who can’t see how brilliant Ozil’s game is. I just hope that this nonsense criticism doesn’t get to him.
People should actually watch the game & make their own conclusion instead of swallowing whatever conjectures & bollocks that the in-game commentators said. It’s always the “Ooh he doesn’t look like he’s into it” whatever. Ugh..
& tbh, I also thought he played quite well against City. He did alright. Still 10x better than Lampard & the le$bian.
My dear friend dont worry, we watch – play – follow football for many many years and thank god we can identify a player when we see one. Ozil has his positives but if he needs schweisteiger and ronaldo then he better realise that a time comes where you have to grind it out wihtout the luxury of having such teammates…… unfortunately arsenal can not afford him a mueller or a kroos or a benzema or a ronaldo…he will have to do it on his own at times. And im also reluctant to give legendary status to a player who… Read more »
Compare and contrast what wenger said about jack chipping a keeper which he knows well with ozil vs neuer last year 1st leg against bayern.
Its about spirit and confidence…his talent and ability are not in question
Noone wants him to kick people. Or chase around like obi mikel…. But ffs do not tell us he is a playmaker. He can not do what pirlo xavi cesc or modric do. Ozil does not dictate the tempo of a match. Nor does he keep hold of ball, teasing opponents and skinning them. And as for being a ten. He can not do what bergkamp zidanne kaka did. He does not score as often. Nor does he take people on. He is good at ‘fakes’ and ‘dummies’ when receiving ball in static position to get the extra space and… Read more »
You realize Özil was the assist king of football when in real Madrid? He notched 36 assists in his final season before joining us. However, to get assists you need people with movement and good finishing skills infront of you. Last season we we’re anvery static team with Walcott injured, no Alexis and Ramsey injured for awhile aswell and to top it off Giroud as our lain striker. All together makikg an insanely static forward line and making Özil set a new record in backwards and sideways passes. The complete opposite of how Real Madrid was set up basically with… Read more »
you talk tactics while im talking about something more basic….inner strength/power/character to be a winner. yes ….. and as walcott has said as have many others ……if you or i had ronaldo to pass to, and alonso covering our back, and di maria pulling defences apart ..we would we registering a high assist number too. so forget about static lines, runners, germany or madrid. we are talking human nature fundamentals …we are talking character… the boy is lightweight mentally and physically. he is not the personality to lead arsenal anywhere..he can only supplement….ramsey, jack rosi, kons have fire in their… Read more »
bergkamp zidanne and kaka also approached football like art /ballet…only they had the character to mix it when required and not allow anyone to beat them in their minds above all. Do you see this attribute in ozil? I dont. I see a player/footballer who gives up easily.
So i repeat…please stop coming back with comments on talent or ability. He has that in abundance. Its others things we are focusing on.
Cesc had 15 assists at Christmas last year. He played the same amount of games in the second half and ended up with a whopping 16 assists. This has happened three years in a row, do not be surprised to see it happen for a fourth.
While I agree with you about what Ozil brings to the team, I’d argue you can’t justify being the invisible “anyone” if you cost £42million. Wenger didn’t bring him in for him to not have a direct impact on games, though he did play better against City than a lot of people are giving him credit for
I don’t get this ‘don’t criticise Ozil’ business. It’s like some kind of football snobbery…….If you can’t see how good Ozil is then you’re some sort of football retard………..the Emperor’s new clothes.
I don’t think he’s as bad as some say…..but I don’t think he is as good as some say either.
Aye, that’s the way I feel, I feel kinda like a twat for saying it but if the emperor IS actually wearing clothes then it’s those saying he is naked who are just making a scene by notunderstanding reality. I think that does happen, but it’s not like he can’t click a little better with the team so there’s scope for criticism too.
I don’t think it’s constructive criticism that bothers people it’s when when you get twats like the announcer I had the pleasure of sitting through saying we might as well be playing with ten men when Fernandinho swept Ozil’s feet out in the buildup to Jack’s goal (one of many fouls he got away with). It seems like at least five minutes throughout every game the announcers feel the need to blast him as if he didn’t even belong on the field. I don’t know when or why but quite a few people decided at some point to do everything… Read more »
dont be so harsh…ive been blasting him since forever…too lightweight….never liked him. i prefer tens like toti kaka bergkamp zidanne if you catch my drift….not the lightweight kagawa/ozil type without schweinsteigers mullers ronaldos and the likes he does not offer much…unlike say a zizu kaka dennis…. and if he needs us (arsenal) to spend 200 million to bring in the players to fully utilise him…. then whats the point ? I know we can not afford him a ronaldo or messi upfront to make his life easier but he has to start playing with the conviction of a winner and… Read more »
That Gilberto comment is very interesting. The fans weren’t as active on the internet back then as they are now, but I wonder what the reactions would’ve been with twitter and what not? In restrospect, it’s well known that he was a fantastic player, but I suspect he was the kind of player who could’ve gotten a real bashing on twitter.
Which, of course, would’ve been completely wrong. In fact, I still feel we let him go too early, as he was still excellent.
Wrong comparison, You should compare him with players his pedigree like Fab and Di maria who do their jobs while also working hard for the team. Its wrong to defend his work rate compared to the rest.
Are we talking about the same Fabregas? The guy that necessitated us moving to 4-3-3 so he could have two guys behind him doing the work he didn’t?
Ozil doesn’t work like Sanchez but he doesn’t work like Arhsavin either.
Lets just say thank goodness clichy didnt score that goal. Would have been ultimate fire for the media
How about this lineup for tomorrow:
Szczesny
Chambers Mert Kos Monreal
Wilshere Ramsey
Sanchez Ozil Cazorla
Welbeck
Is that too attacking with no Flamini or Arteta?
Yeh may be a tad gung ho. I would add arteta in there for Ozil or Ramsey to give us more balance (and one of them a rest).
Monreal is injured so looks like Bellerin at LB. Would put Arteta or Flamini in with Aaron, move Jack forward and sub Cazorla. Main thing for us is not to lose away to BVB, win is a bonus.
Nope, Gibbs is fit
Ever so slightly off topic: what is a good place to watch the game tomorrow in London?
The Emirates…
Erm… we are playing away…
The Gunners down by the old ground, and other places around there are decent.
Then there’s the Tollington, or a few by Finsbury Park.
🙂
The Emirates…
I have to admit after the first viewing of the city game, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Ozil’s performance. But now I’ve watched the game 3 times (once slightly drunk), and I believe he played very well. It doesnt help his cause that again the commentator (whoever was alongside Peter Drury) hated on Ozil terribly and unnecessarily…. that influences many people more than they’re aware of.
I think the most infuriating part about that is he’s complaining about Ozil during the Wilshere goal, like “let me continue my rant” against the flow of play.
The other commentator was Danny (The Dumbs Ass) Mills.
Throughout the game he made it very obvious that he does not like Ozil in the least. He even spoke on two separate occasions about how teams he’s played with used rotational fouling and other dirty tactics to put Arsenal off their game. My favorite though was throughout the first half he kept saying we were pushing to far up field and were to naive to city’s counter attack. Then when we sat back at times in the second half so as to counter ourselves he kept saying we needed to push players forward and “gamble a little” if we… Read more »
Wenger loves him and so do I. It’s not by mistake we signed him and won our first trophy in 9 years. He’s always involved. Like v Besiktas at home; he made something of a bad pass from Wilshere and set up the goal.
now that we got pacy attackers there is no excuse for Ozil going missing in the Man City game
Rosciky and Cazorla should start ahead of him. Might be a reason why Mourinho used to never play him for the full 90 minutes!
Özil is a flop. The German Veron, sad but true.
Thanks for breaking it down for everyone. I really feel I’ve learned something from this post.
The guy isn’t the swashbuckling type like Alexis is. Most of the stuff he does isn’t so obvious. Even I’ve been fucked off with him when watching him, but when watching matches again – I know, call me sad – he does shit that ain’t so obvious at first glance.
Probably why he gets criticised.
What Wenger should have told the journo who asked that question, “You’re writing Mesut off so early in the season, just like you did with Wilshere over the summer. Look at him now.”
Was pretty disappointed by Ozil on Saturday, but after rewatching I agree with Wenger- Ozil’s game is misunderstood.
He constantly played quick and accurate passes (81% passing; Wilshere 80%; Alexis 61%) most in the final third and was consistently in dangerous positions to create overloads. He could be better defensively, but once the rest of the team stops taking unnecessary touches and gets on his wavelength (Ramsey and Alexis were especially guilty) and once Walcott is back in the team, Arsenal will make better use of Ozil’s quick play and intelligent movement and get through solid defences more regularly.
I would like to see someone breakdown which of our players turnovers directly led to a City counter attack. I bet Ozil would have one of the best ratios in the team. I think he played one “bad” pass the whole game.
shows how much we miss wolcott. Alexis and him will do all the hardwork on the flanks and ozil will do his magic in the middle,
The team have not looked as unit yet duo to the new players and formation. I am sure down the road we will develop, and ozil will be praised again.
We are used to be cynical that hoping scares us since being crushed has been the outcome for years now.
We lacked that fighting spirit, but after the FA cup, we finally got it!!
Giroud assisted Ramsey for that goal. Blogs
The problem is down to expectations – when you pay £40m plus for a player who was an integral part of one of the best teams in the world, he is expected to hit the ground running as the likes of Diego Costa, sanchez etc have. He’s had a full season now to adapt and we really need to start seeing some world class performances from him.
My honest assessment of Ozil last Saturday (having been at the game) was that he was struggling to have any positive impact on the game. I’m not saying he’s a bad player, more that he is a good player who is currently playing poorly. And the team suffers as a result against the better sides. Dortmund will target him tomorrow
Ozil didn’t assist Ramsey for the winner last season. Giroud got the assist. Ozil had the “hockey assist.”
He wouldnt need defending if he played in his best position. End of.
He would. Plenty of criticism last seaosn despite him always playing in the middle.
It’s funny how us fan reacts. After the game we gave him a 5.5 rating, but now that AW tells us he had a good game, we would give him a 7 rating….
Anyway, IMHO, I might not be used to have “world class” player in the team so everytime I see him touch the ball I expect one of his youtube highlight kind of pass to happen but it doesn’t so I feel very frustrated by him.
But I’m pretty sure he does not diminish the quality of our play.
no … i will happily give him and the keeper a generous 0/10 till the first learns to play football like a man and the other works on his quick-feet-repositioning for set-pieces.
Youre a funny guy!
but its true…. watch our keeper in that corner…he moves forward ( even though ball is going at penalty spot – no need to come out ) and when he realises that ball is going outwards and is met by demicheli’s head he jumps back….. and of course does not have the strength to keep the ball out. a buffon would simply make two steps to the left and catch it, or throw it over the bar. it was a cheap goal to let in and only a header, not some close range bullet….goalkeeping is about anticipation, positioning and using… Read more »
I’m over the criticism of my boy. Plenty is due but at the same time not…He has attributes and abilities nobody else on the team does, and his body language is unique too. I truly believe if you look back when he was at his best, it was central and hanging high near the striker, he’s got to be higher energy and play with more hunger…but change his role and pull back some of his defensive responsibilities…and we’ll have the ozil we all know and love. Jack, ozil, Ramsey and santi can’t all play together at the same time anymore…rotate… Read more »
I personally feel he is not doing enough for a £45mil signing. He seems to be playing within himself right now. I dont know whether that is fatigue from the World Cup or due to a lack of confidence but Wenger needs to work his magic on Mesut. He said something about improving his body language in games and I believe that needs to certainly be improved. If I was Cazorla I would be pissed about not coming off the bench on Saturday, as right now I feel he offers us more than Ozil, e.g the assist vs Everton.
Wonder if the ozil doubters are entertaining these new Bayern rumours….Let’s give him a break its not his preferred position but he trying…support the team or leave!!!!
you’re as clueless as an empty crossword puzzle.
Just because you love your country doesn’t mean you nod your head and smile when the government goes into a Premier League Season with 5 and a half defenders…..
or….a bad budget or something…..
You all aren’t talking about the obvious. Wenger’s consistently playing the chap out of position when its been obvious all season its not working. Feel free to criticise when he starts in the number 10 position and his game still stinks.
He played on the left side for Germany in the WC. He’s played there many times before. He drifts infield anyway – in fact spent more time on the right than on the left last game. I assure you he didn’t teleport there…it’s almost like he went through…the centre.
Why should anyone watch again the match.. he did absolutely nothing in the whole game .. he was slow sloppy and ineffective in attack and he can’t help the fbs in defence AW should rather give him a rest
The criticism of Mesut Ozil could be Exhibit A in explaining why England are sh#t when it comes to international football. It is basically ‘he doesn’t show enough passion, look at his body language, why doesn’t he run about more and put in more tackles.’ And then one misplaced pass. F#cking hell, are you people serious with this? I expect to hear this kind of crap from Danny Mills, or whoever it was doing the commentary on Saturday. But its really disappointing when I hear this kind of thing repeated and given credence by the writers on Arseblog, who I… Read more »
fuck english footballa and the world cup you say he is a ten right>? ok then….answer me please: 1) Can he do what begrkamp used to do? Can he do what Zidanne used to do? Can he do what kaka did for milan ? I remind you that tens in modern 433 occupy left or right flank ( zidanne and figo at madrid, kaka ta milan, ronaldinho at barca, messi when starting to play for barca) and if youre saying he is a playmaker can he do what pirlo., xavi modric cesc do? do you see him dictating play for… Read more »
He did all that at Real Madrid, so yes he obviously can. Anything else you wanted to know while we’re at it?
the playmaker of madrid was/is modric….never ozil mate. you lose
ozil can only dream of what zidanne kaka and bergkamp do with ball at feet. you lose again
anything else you need t know while were at it?
For some reason I just can’t watch with no sound. About three weeks ago the audio for the commentary went out during a match but the ambient sound was still good. It was the most pleasant 20 minutes of football I’ve ever seen on TV. Why oh why can’t this be an option? I would pay extra for it even.
Wow, the plot thickens. Some research (googling) reveals that Danny Mills is loathed by many fans and clubs. His comments in the match were despotic, the football on show was too world class for him to comprehend, which bordened him, and ultimately led to him ranting about incidents that he isolated. What a complete prick. We need to launch a campaign to get him off the air. I could do with one of those Spanish commentators that shout GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLALALALALLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! Need some passion from these cunts. Not criticism. Who the fuck sits in a chair and criticizes a beautiful match for… Read more »
Remember that film where the camera followed Zidane around for an entire match and looked at nothing else. People need to do that with Ozil. Watch him and nothing else for an entire match (it’s actually harder than you think!), and then you’ll get him. I’ve done it a couple of times. He flits around, touch here, touch there, offload, move into space, touch again, little dribble, the defenders get bored and switch off, he spots it and slips into a little gap… BAM! Assist. Goal.
How many assists does he have you piece of fuck? You make it sound like he has been touching here and there and then, bang – goals galore. He is a flop – end of!
@Cygan your level of disrespect to a fellow Arsenal fan is quite appalling. Calling someone a piece of fuck ? I’m sure you wouldn’t have the balls to say that to someone’s face.
Have some respect check yourself.
maybe he has had enough of all you psychic people who see things which arent there.
maybe he is fed up listening to “best no.10 in the world” when he aint fit to lace tottis’ boots and lets not go onto other more exotic names please
I know people equate it to ‘trust me, I’m smarter than you’, which is going to get a few egos out of whack and inflame a few tempers but maybe if a guy who knows more about football than all of us combined says he played pretty well, maybe he wasn’t so bad?
oh i see …..so the easy option…hide behind wenger’s words.
wenger has tons of credit with arsenal and can say what he wants, whenever he wants…besides he has to keep his players in good spirits and go for the silver linings
who are you ? or the other people above?
Cygan if your’e gonna talk like that to fellow Gooners you should fuck right off yourself and find somewhere else to annoy people.
The reality is I know he’s committed to the team and he’s going to come through this. I really just wish we’d rotate him and Jack at no. 10 …again we have depth not being used, give podolski or campbell a run on the left.We could use a different flavor in the attack from time to time
Absent. Never doubt his ability, but everyone who says he played well are kidding themselves. Everyone’s allowed a bad day and that is exactly how I saw his performance. I want to see him in the 10 role. Welbeck’s pace with Alexis running through is genuinely scintillating. C’mon Arsene put him in the middle. I get that it’s hard Santi has been playing well there, but it’s pretty simple really Ozil would be better than Santi. He would create more and feed better balls. I really think these issues stem from the lack of a real Left sided winger. Forever… Read more »
People will possibly repeatedly press the Dislike button, but that’s their choice and I won’t take offence. I’m now convinced that our record signing can not handle the level that the Premier League requires and I think he knows it too. Last season he struggled and we all blamed Giroud. This season we’ve got Sanchez and Welbeck and he still is still struggling to make the level. Maybe he’s not the player we all thought?
careful now…you are flirting with hardcore arsenal fan aggression from all those who would rather listen to jose mourinho than trust their own eyes…….
“best ten in the world”
lets raise
“best ten ever in the history of the game for all times forever and ever”
I call him the oil… in the engine, keeps it running and the moves flowing with the touches and passes. I am a fan but ….no. BUT he needs to be in the middle to be more dangerous!!!! and maybe more happy???
Prove the critics wrong ozil.
We are in a very difficult situation. All pundits and even fans have put a lot of pressure on Jack Wilshere and how “he needs to have a good season” that we had to change from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 for him to get matches and Ozil was pushed out to the left. At first I thought it was a bad decision changing the formation for one player. But Wilshere was great against City and proved me wrong. I think Wenger has to be a little bit more flexible. We won the midfield battle against City because of the formation however… Read more »
I would say that it would help if Wenger supported Özil by playing him in the right position.
JAM is vital for our Arsenal bread Jack, Aaron and Mesut are 3 unique players in the arsenal team for a number of reasons. For one, they tend to be the subject of most discussions and consternation. Whether we win, lose, or draw, they are oftentimes identified as the source of our fortunes, misfortunes or both. Perhaps this is because, they are perceived as the players that occupy key positions within the team and thereby have the pivotal role of influencing both the performance of the team and ultimately the outcome of a match. That this is so, to an… Read more »
Best comment ever imho. Brilliant stuff!
I like JAM..
Seriously great post mate. I don’t think Wenger has ever played the 3 of them in the middle together. Would be interesting to see if it could work.
Think it’s high time that we as fans get behind Ozil. He is clearly going through a frustrating period, even so he consistently delivers a threat. We can leave the Ozil bashing to our rivals… In the meantime a bit of patience and some positivity is required…
True.
You would think my fellow Arsenal supporters would have learnt from Ramsey, Wilshere & have a little patience with Ozil. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
The cream will rise to the top, mark my words.
What’s hilarious is that some people were on Ramsey’s back again after one mediocre match. One match! That is simply absurd.
Ozils pure class . Would rather see him in a more central position though. Lucky were all used to managing top players . Everyone’s an expert these days. ( I blame social media myself :-))
Ozil is a good player. But I thought we were buying a great player this time last year. I have adjusted my thinking. He is not worth £42 million in all honesty and I think we would struggle to sell him for the same fee. But he is a good player so don’t knock him. The price tag is not his fault. Regrettably, Diego Costa looks like he is worth £42 million. It is depressing that the Chavs have him eating out of Fabregas’ hand. About as depressing as having six first team squad defenders, two of whom are injured… Read more »
Seven.
Bellerin is ready to play a role as backup RB imo.
Still one short though, so not brilliant.
Özil will never run as much as a Jack, Aaron or Alexis; but I was there and had a full perspective of the match. In my opinion his use of the ball on Saturday was short of his own high standards. I’m desperate for him and anyone in an AFC shirt to be a success! I hate these ‘told you he was crap’ so-called-fans! Yes he had an off-day but encourage him if you’re at the game as that will have a more positive effect than slagging him or anyone else off!
Watching the game afterwards does nothing for our point total. There should be no doubt Ozil can deliver. But right now, he is doing anything but.
If you want to get the best out of Ozil AW should learn from LVG how he played Mata against QPR.
Unfortunately AW is not good managing games during the game and his decisions with substitutions proves it well.
By puttig Di MAria next to him and asking him to do the work? Sounds good.
NB: I love Mata but he has been pretty poor this season, and wasn’t exactly brilliant against QPR.
Looks like I pissed Cygan off! Never rated him anyway 🙂
A) no one wants him to run around kicking people or running around like a nutter. Just for him to do his defensive duty which is tracking the full back (when playing out wide) . Not sure what the people who are complaining about his work in the attacking half are complaining about to be honest as I thought he was good but not great.
B)Secondly all those who say class is permanent, I present one Fernando Torres.
#findramblingpete
We tend to judge this poor guy based on the millions that was deducted in the club’s account when he was on his way here. Let’s be we can say he’s below par due to the hefty price tag and enormous expectations bur when compared with an average midfielder, you know how good he is.
Can Ozil’s defenders please accept that his critics do NOT want him to run around more and shout. Such a patronising line that. What many fans simply want him to do is have more of an effect on games offensively. He cost 42mn and looked a world beater before we signed him. At the moment he looks quite average. Don’t understand either how his performances are somehow above average the more times you watch the same game. Sounds like gooners trying too hard to defend a player we all desperately want to succeed….
exactly, I don’t think you have to watch a game twice to see what other world class players are doing for their team, Ex FAB, DI Maria, Silva…
You’d think.
Would anyone have played Bergkamp on the wing?!?! Get him in the middle or sell him. Walcott and the Ox are better picks in our system.
After watching Di maria debut i completely disagree with Arsene on Ozil. Di Maria and Ozil are aguably at the same skill level but the difference between them is that Di maria gives hundred percent and plays like he is hungry while ozil doesn’t seem to have that extra rush of blood to improve his game. It wrong for wenger to say he had a good game when he was arguably the poorest player on the field after ramsey. I hope his sub par peformances are related with his fitness or injuries cuz if he is hundred percent healthy and… Read more »
What about Lampard? Or that french guy who retired from his national team?