Arsene Wenger has hailed the performances of Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott after the duo followed up their goalscoring exploits at Brighton with a goal each in the 5-0 win over Aston Villa today.
The German also got an assist with a sumptuous touch for Olivier Giroud, and all this despite playing on the left where everybody knows he’s BLOODY USELESS MATE.
Speaking after the game, the Arsenal manager said where Ozil plays isn’t important and backed him to improve even further in the weeks to come.
“It’s always, ‘where does he play? On the left, in the middle?’, said Wenger. “I think he still lacks a little bit of competitive edge on sharpness but the quality of his game is exceptional and he’s getting back now.
“He worked very, very hard physically and he’s now ready to play again.”
As for Walcott, Wenger touched on his sharp striking instincts despite this being his first Premier League start in 13 months.
“I still feel he can score a goal in every game,” he said. “In his overall game I still think he needs some more sharpness and more contact.
“He’s a very intelligent player and the quality of Theo’s game is about the quality of his movement, the quality of his receptions, where he gets the ball. He knows where to be dangerous and when he’s in front of goal he can score.
“I was quite surprised because in the first half he was through but then Jores Okore caught up with him and I think that once he’s through, you know that nobody can catch him. Okore must be very quick!”
Wunderbar!
Wünderbar 😉
Well done Beagleboy – great input!
Theozil. Great partnership.
Clean sheet, 3 points 5 goals scored by 5 different Gunners. There’s a massive statement of intent and two fingers to all the morons who were calling us a one man team. Just how good will we be with Alexis back??
Happy gunner me 🙂
Time to play with 12 men! No one deserved to make way for him today.
Voting for 13 here, Rozza definitely deserves his place, too
Ozil’s flick was sumptuous indeed! Move of the Match!
Too bad Giroud’s run with the ball to score the goal wasn’t the same beauty as Ozil’s flick, he looked like a lumpy giraffe being run down by cheetahs (but to his credit he did score). Would have been a goal replayed for a long time had Sanchez, Welbeck, Walcott or Chamberlin gracefully been on the end of it :-).
Thumbs down. Giroud scored it with a class finish then set up Özil for the second. He deserves only credit for his contributions during this streak.
The from behind replay should make it clear to anyone that Giroud, who’s not one to belt it from distance, does all that intentionally. From the very moment Giroud recieves the ball (oh that flick, that run!) he wants to clip it over Guzan, and needs the American to come off his line for the opportunity to arise. Thusly, I believe, he feigns the fumble, lures the keeper out and finishes superbly. Cool as you like, is our Frenchman.
the ole rope-a-dope with the ball! Love it!
Big match next weekend – Walcott out, Sanchez in? Walcott as an impact sub?
Where does Welbeck fit in when he’s healthy? Great problems to have!
“Feigned the fumble” really??
My goodness what sort of fanboyism is this??
Ozil had another similar lateral flick pass in the last game.
For those undecided about Ozil, note the fact no one, and I literally mean no one else has the instinct to make such audacious plays.
The thought of a fully fit Ozil lighting up midfield with Santi and feeding balls through to Giroud, Sanchez, Welbeck, Walcott or the Ox is just staggering…
Ozil is the closest thing we’ll get to having Bergkamp back.
I missed the game due to work but definitely worth the watching the Highlights I’ll pretend its a live match…
that Magnificent Match Plus SouthamptoN Loosing Already Made My Week.
That Team Of Ours Should Smash The Spuds To Little Pathetic Bits! COYG!!
10 goals without reply in our last 3 PL games. 9 pts and a rapidly improving GD that could be crucial at the end of the season.
A repeat at WHL please boys.
I do not we will get 9 points out of WHL. But 10 goals? Definitely.
I think Giroud and Walcott are similar in that they both have some weaknesses to their games, the main difference being that Arseblog has a lot more patience with Giroud. After being out for a year I am well pleased with Walcott, Sanchez loses the ball all the time -but he scores goals and creates chances. Walcott usually makes up for his faults by scoring goals, and just before his injury he was looking really sharp. I hope he finally lives up to his potential, and that he signs a new contract. I love that we have the problem of… Read more »
Coq is that world class CDM. He is perfect for the job in that he never leaves the defence and not many teams can catch us on the counter with him on the pitch. If we get another world class CDM, then how do you play two players of that calibre at the same time with the quality midfield we have? One that’s happy to sit on the bench but effective when on is what we need in the summer imo.
Coq-head, There is something called competition for places. This fear of “how do you play this player or that player” is small club mentality. We are Arsenal you expect to fight for your place or get out. Also, we play four competitions, we enter every one of them to win it. If one get injured, tired or out of form we replace class with class, every one will play at least 25 to 30 games if all fit and with our injury record it could be more for some. Happy Gunner these last few weeks, keep it going to the… Read more »
Coquelin has shown his defensive abilities and impact that he has on the game, but at this point is his main area for improvement needed is in the distribution and starting the attack aspect that Arteta is so strong in.
Artera is good with distributing the ball. Having said that, he lacks speed and athleticism, which Coquilen has. There are weaknesses to every player’s game. The difference is that Coquilen is still young and can improve on his distribution. Artera is toward the twilight of his career, if he improves on his speed and athleticism, he’ll be tested for performance enhancing drugs right away.
I don’t want to get carried away with Coqulein on the one hand but on the other, the influence he has had on the team is remarkable.
He has dominated midfield from his first game back and instilled a confidence that was lacking. Like Sanchez upfront his play has inspired and now settled the back four…with Ospina calm in goal we look like a different team.
I think you can also credit the confidence with which both Bellerin and Monreal are surging forward (awesome) with the fact they know the central midfiled/defense is solid
You can, Bayern have Schweinstger Martinez and Alsono who can play that role, real have Khedira, Illmandredi, Pepe can play there too.
Even Southampton have Wanyama and Schneiderlin. Chelsea have Matic and Mikel, city have Fernando and Fernandhino.
Good to have options and some games you have two players there
I say if we can improve and get two for each spot then do it. What happens when we get a sore Coq? We need a secondary Coq!
Did you just call Mikel world class?
Mikel is incredible…Aging a little, but still world class.
Mikel has been at Chelsea for a long time, played under past 5 coaches, and was Duche bag’s go-to before Matic returned. He’s doing something right.
Well, Chelsea never looked like winning the league in the past 4 seasons until he was replaced in the team, but I don’t think it’s very logical to judge someone on that when there are so many other factors. Instead, I take a look at him and see a strong guy who can pass a bit, but his positioning is dodgy and he’s slow (one can cover for the other, lacking both is a problem), plus his discipline isn’t great and he has a tendency to lunge into tackles. That does not add up to world class, it adds up… Read more »
I think every player in the world has weaknesses so it’s not much of a similarity, maybe their weaknesses are more obvious than some.
In reply to the fella above me, if all our players were always fit at the same time then I’d be happy to only have the Coq, but we know that isn’t the case and outside of Coquelin all we have are a few fogies and a 17-year old Pole.
Also, it would be possible to play Coq/Schneiderlin together as we need various partnerships in midfield, not just Rambo+DM.
Today Fabianski was our MoTM.
Nice!
On Saturday, will the Spurs backline have to combat a Theozilexis combo? It’s a very deadly combo that attacks human defences and leaves them floundering. Symptoms include loss of perspective, double vision and shortness of breath. COYG!
Mate, what about the little magician. Santi mustn’t be dropped!
No way! That’s a one-man-riot squad all on his own.
It should be Theozilexisanti.
That is even more deadly…no cure as yet. It “kills” after 90 minutes of infection.
No, just no.
And then Southampton lost…. Perfect Sunday!!
I am not a massive Theo fan but you can’t knock two goals in two games!
Well played Theo and please keep improving in other areas such as ball retention and passing.
So, 6 points off City, 11 off Chelsea. Chelsea actually don’t have a great squad, and have been shown to struggle when they lose some first teamers. If Hazard gets injured….
League titles have been won from further back.
Let’s just win our games. Everything else will take care of themselves
Great name mate, i always remember the commentator shouting this against chelsea years ago at highbury whem henry scored after a few minutes!!
I have learned to never say never. Stranger things have happened.
Remember Liverpool last year? Anything can happen if we just keep playing like we are, defensively astute and clinical on the counter.
Theo is the best finisher we have at the moment. Yes he’s still a little rusty, but with poldi gone we’ll need him to convert the chances created by santi, ozil and alexis
I lost the count how many times Ozil and Theo interchanged the flanks.
I think the new system suit both of them really well. They both like to cut inside but Walcott tends to occupy the CF position from the flanks, whereas Ozil takes up the number 10. Combining that with the freedom to switch flanks must make their movement impossible to track.
I backed us to win 3 0 today……stupid sexy arsenal
Pentastic performance from the lads! COYG!
Dortmund are still rock bottom of the German league, at the halfway point in their season. At their best, they’re a great team to watch, and quite likeable compared to some of their Bundesliga compatriots. So, do we wish them a recovery, or do we succumb to schadenfreude and hope they get relegated so we can pick up some of their stars for cheap? Sven Bender? Reus, anyone?
#YaGunnersYa….Oh jaa… A worthy replacement for #aha if you ask me
So you got Santi Ozil Sanchez Walcott, assuming Giroud remains the man up front, you know got to drop someone from the above four, who will it be ? Won’t be Sanchez if he’s back, won’t be Santi…. So guess it will be Walcott…. Such a shame
We solved Ozil + Cazorla combo.. This is our next mystery to solve.
Now Even sanchez has to to win his way back in to the squad
Rosicky loves to play in the north london derby. There surely must be made space for him. I’d suggest he play at the expense of Aaron Ramsey. Maybe sub him off for Rambo at 78.
I think people miss the importance of a more defensively astute Ramsey. We need that more that Welsh Jesus mode. He didn’t have a spectacular game yesterday, but he did his job for the team. Made the right interceptions, ran back to cover the defence along with Le Coq and went forward at the right times to support the attack. Cazorla and Rosicky are two others who can do the same job but they have better output further up the pitch. Besides, Ramsey’s fitness level is far superior to most people in our team.
Not bad for a one man team…wait, where was Alexis?
😉
Some quarters would have you think Walcott and Ozil are rubbish.. Same quarters that had us on Santi being over the hill, Per too slow and Flamini not physical enough. Beautiful dink by Ozil, simply magic. If Walcott keeps improving, He will be plundering plenty of goals, absolutely loved the way he cut in for his goal. Now we need to get Ramsey going. Who was it on ESPN who said we needed strikers cos we were short up front now? I know its that pillock John Cross who fancies himself an Arsenal fan but hasn’t got a clue about… Read more »
VK, that’s a must idea. Tomas will deliver the goods.
FIFA has suspended Arsenal for 2 years ! This follows a 5 -0 defeat over Aston Villa and other extra ordinary wins. The FIFA disciplinary committee feels Arsenal haschanged its style of play without notice and this is bringing confusion in the FA and the football fraternity the world over. Arsenal has also been fined £50 000.00 for scoring goals outside the traditional 1 meter distance from the goal. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Man Utd have welcomed the suspension as it will ensure fairness and maintain peace in the FA…
Though I too would love for this to happen, it’s probably important that we need a tireless runner like Ramsey. Rosicky’s creative impact can also be provided by Santi and Ozil, but Ramsey’s running in the midfield probably can’t be emulated by any other player for now.
Rosicky is no less tireless runner than Ramsey. I’d say he is a timeless runner!
Just Win the Next Game.
Rosicky over Ramsey….anytime & any game!!