Mesut Ozil has urged his Arsenal teammates to keep fighting to try and keep this season alive, despite two cup exits inside a week.
The Gunners crashed out of the FA Cup to Watford and were eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday night in Barcelona, but even though there’s an 11 point gap to leaders Leicester, the German says they must keep going just in case a miracle happens.
That miracle would mean Leicester and Sp*rs having a bit of a collapse, and for Arsenal to completely turn their form around and actually win some games.
Speaking to the official site, he said, “We have to concentrate now and give everything on the pitch. We have to fight.
“I know the teams playing us will fight to take the points against us, so the games will be tough. We have to fight on the pitch and we have to think from game to game, not that we can win eight games in a row and take the points.
“Now it’s not possible to win just our games, so other teams need to lose points as well. The first step is to believe in us.
“We have to work harder than before. We have tough games coming but we have to take the points. If we win the title, we will be very happy because we believe in us.
“If you see the whole season, we’ve played very well. We’ve lost some points because we weren’t concentrated or we didn’t score. Now we have to fight for each game to take the points.”
It is the only attitude to have, but on the evidence of recent games, we could turn water into wine, bash out the loves and fishes, walk on water, and heal the sick, and we’d still lose to the opposition’s first shot on goal.
I saw we got 25 out of 27 points from the equivalent fixtures last year.
No chance of that, given recent form, and also Leicester collapsing, but would be something to hope for.
I’d be delighted to be above Spurs again, as we have been throughout Wenger’s reign.
From a season that should have been so much more, finishing above them is all we have left. That’s what their target was sad we are now the same
Let’s get a win against Everton and go from there. Iwobi, Welbeck, Sanchez, Ozil in attack again please!
He looked 137.8% done when Alexis ignored him at the end of the Barca game for a tap in. Genuinely never saw him so angry..
I think that’s why he fucked off down the tunnel, he was SO pissed off.
Yeah, Sanchez should of passed, we had so many of those situations last night, where right at the crucial moment the wrong decisions were made. Elneny had the first opportunity in the first half he should of hit first time. Danny had that moment against the tax dodger, and if he had just taken that extra touch he would of sold him the dummy and probably got his shot away, or maybe even provoked a rash challenge and got a penalty, instead he opted to shoot first and he blocked it. All in all I genuinely feel a bit let… Read more »
Completely agree.
Also, sorry to be that guy, but it’s should have, not “should of”
No need to worry, he’ll be gone next season and all will be bright again. And maybe some fans sending Nasi, RVP and Fabregas to hell before will stop regretting them now…
Have to say that a midfield of in form coq, fabregas kinda holding, ozil, nasri playin like he was on one side and alexis on the other with RvP upfront would not be bad. Not bad imo.
Talkin bout the form they had at Arsenal you know just to make clear.
Damn yoouuuu traitors!!!
Sometimes I do wonder if RvP was the traitor we all think he is. Sure, going to United was nigh on treachery, but you got to imagine, at the age of 30, Wenger telling him that the squad he was in could win the league. Van P looks around and sees the likes of Theo, young Ramsey, broken Jack and an incoming Giroud and figured, this team wasn’t even as good as the one that had Hleb, Rosicky and Fab and even they didn’t win the league. What chance did they have? Maybe he just reached the conclusion that many… Read more »
If rvp had stayed we would have won the league that year, thats why he falls under the traitor banner.
If what you suggest is true then why did Wenger accept the bid from Man Utd?
Surely winning the league is better than having an extra £25m in the bank?
that’s speculation. He went to United and won the league. We haven’t won the league with this team in this year. So even though I felt we would have won if he had stayed at the time, it was a big risk and he wasn’t willing to take it. It was equally big risk to go to United but there he had at least a manager who was as hungry as ever to win the league.
That’s what Alexis needs to add to his game. I’ve noticed a few times in previous games where he should have passed.
The sad / funny / true thing of it is when he does he is actually quite good at it. He’s had some amazing assists this season with early crosses, chipped balls over the line, and cutbacks. He’s way over compensating right now and trying to force it. So is Ramsey. So is (was) Ox. Kos (and many others to be fair) have hit it on the head. It’s in the head. Welbeck’s goals have been natural reaction strikes as have most of the others. But most of them are trying to force it in or take the hide off… Read more »
Alexis Killed what was our most potent attacking front four for weeks constantly taking too many touches, and being dispossessed in dangerous areas, while we have players flying forward…He is our most devastating player but not at this moment…Should be swapped fro Campbell.
Yeah it would be a big call but alexis needs a benchin’. He’d be great attacking a tired defence off the bench
Pressures off. Get a run together and see how we end up. Leicester and Spurs will drop points no doubt, have to make damn sure we don’t. Need to also do something about our injury situation for next season. It’s a chronic problem which seems to have no solution. Sure some are just a case of being unlucky, but our situation is beyond all that. If we had Wilshere, Rosicky, Ox, Welbz, Alexis available this whole season, probably would’ve won the title by now. Makes me feel that regardless of who we buy, we’ll always be lacking as squad depth… Read more »
Thanks to our ‘supporters’ the pressure isn’t off in the slightest. Get ready for the boo boys to be out in full strength for these final games.
I’ve made this exact point many times. The boo boys will make sure we drop most of our points at home.
Bang on! It’s all those nasty horrible fans fault for daring to think we should be a hell of a lot better than we are
Greg my son… here’s a word of wisdom looking down the long tunnel of 47 years of supporting our club: It’s EASY to cheer when we win… It’s EASY to love the striker who never misses a chance, never has a moment’s doubt or a blip of confidence… It’s EASY to admire the defender who always seems to be in the perfect position… But when that’s all happening, they don’t really need your cheers or your admiration or your love – they’re flying on adrenalin and the sweet elixir of being as good as they can be. But on those… Read more »
Thank you. You’ve put into words what I’ve thought but never penned down in ages. Let’s get behind the boys. None of them want to lose. The effort is there for all to see. When I look at Ozil in the leftback position breaking up an attack, Giroud chasing hopeless long balls, putting pressure on the goalkeeper, Alexis Sanchez trying to beat a defender who has just put him on the deck, or Joel Campbell hunting down an opponent who has dispossessed him, I don’t quite know how people can find it within themselves to boo them. I really can’t.… Read more »
My friend, your post is very dramatic & emotional, but the concept is outdated – the world has moved on! Professional footballers need more than just mere support (think of a number of players that have left arsenal when we were cheering them still & those that have negotiated for more money). Also, I didn’t see supporters booing in the past seasons and how many times have we won the league? This is not the first time we have dropped points & fought for 4th place from a possible 1st. So supporters aren’t responsible for this – stop shifting blames.… Read more »
Man, you are some orator. You sure know how to use words! This is a quora grade comment. Now i feel like singing to cheer on all arsenal players every waking moment, even when i am under the duvet with my missus and when i am on the loo. COYG!!!!
He’s gone.
And he’d be right to go.
He’ll stay provided he gets assurances
remember what van persie said about that when he left us?
Nope. I don’t.
Don’t think he’ll just up sticks… but I’ll tell what would speed his departure: myopic senseless Arse-holes booing him when he has a bad day. Want Ozil (or anyone else, for that matter) to leave? Keep on deriding them – no-one will stick around long for that! I have my own criticisms of Wenger (not many, but some definite ones) and of the lack of leadership that too often has been evident in adversity on the pitch. But booing during a match, when all any player wants and needs is encouragement, will NEVER achieve anything… I’d like to suggest that… Read more »
Not sure if there are many positives from the Barca game. We folded again. That’s a 5 against to one aggregate. Simply not strong enough. But the worse thing is the league table since we are actually behind Spurs and the Fixes at 11 points. NOne of whom have spent more than us on players so we don’t need to hear the typical Arsene must spend bollocks And we meekly went out to Watford in the FA cup. We seem to be mentally feeble. I thought we should have gone for broke against Barca. Would have like to see Meterscielny… Read more »
Santori your comments are always interesting to read. It’s a deluded arrogance that only a few truly have. Well done sir.
arsenal………..please don’t make me change my name
Arsenal, please dont make him change his name..
Arsenal, please don’t make me change my profile pic..
Ozil will leave Arsenal before Wenger does.
GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN MESUT!
I know a lot of people say “Be careful what you wish for.” But we’re not exactly trying to sign someone in Moyes’s or LVG’s class. I honestly think there are good coaches out there….Simeone and Blanc just to name two.
Hopefully we get one of those.
Try jumping for a header mate. That would be a start.
I’m amazed at the fact a few players admit to a lack of concentration in games. Do they not have clear instructions as to their offensive and defensive responsibilities? These are professional players, if they aren’t following the script why are they playing?
no they dont have instructions :/
http://arsenalbanter.com/fabregas-i-didnt-learn-any-tactics-at-arsenal/2437
Beacause Wenger is in charge..
I love Ozil so much I will cry if we lose him.
Your name could come true f he leaves ?
Meaning?
Jeez this team just needs strikers… We’ve got Mesut Ozil. Possibly the best chance maker anywhere and definitely in the Premier League. We make so many chances. We need someone for Welbeck to compete with. Giroud makes a decent and motivated sub. Like Iwobi on left and Sanchez right.
If only people were saying we needed a striker in the summer before the season started.
Oh yeah I forgot, everyone in whole world was saying it.
This is one of the reasons why Arsene’s time is up.
I think the problem is that Özil’s presense turn any nearby water to Wine. So all the water bottles are Essentially Wine bottles which would explain why we keep missing a 8x25feet target even from point blank range.
The real fight will be convincing him and Alexis to sign a new contract with us.
Couldn’t be bothered about Alexis to be honest, he’s not really very good. He came from Barca and runs around a lot, which seems to have convinced a lot of fans, but he’s not a team player, loses the ball all the time because he’s trying to be the hero, and I think he’s overrated.
Alexis overrated? I can understand being upset with his form, but I think that’s taking it a step too far. If you think he’s overrated then the list of footballers who are better than him is quite small, and the list of footballers who are both better than him and would want to sign for Arsenal this summer is even smaller.
I can’t believe i actually just read overrated and Alexis in the same sentence. Somebody wake me up i must be having a nightmare..
From what I’ve seen, I get the feeling Sanchez is quite a selfish player. He always wants to score the Hollywood goal. Whereas Ozil looks much like a team player and always looking for an assist. We must keep them both at the club. We can only do that by top quality players. Get the cheque book out Wenger and do the business.
I’m tired of always hearing that the quality wasn’t available, or we are in the market. In this day and age money speaks loudest. The quality is always available for the right price. Arsene even said that he was interested in Martial, but didn’t think Monaco would sell. Guess what… someone made a bid and Monaco sold. This summer we have to identify the players, make the parent club aware that we want them, tell them to name their price, and then negotiate. That’s how business is done. As opposed to “hey you know that Aubameyang guy that you have?”,… Read more »
i love alexis for his desire and determination. but he has become kind of a one-trick-pony. he always tries to turn to the right in order to shoot with his favourite foot. that makes him pretty predictable, more and more defenders are aware of that. i’ve never seen him using his left foot. there are several players in this team who could teach him some versatility.
Lets buy a striker this summer…….oh yeah, I forgot, haha, we’re the Arsenal!
Come on arsenal. Let’s get a great result Saturday. Stick it up Michael Owen and all those doubting cunts.
Jokin apart, look at our finishing, we look like a host of Gervinhos in front of goal.
Özil is an excellent player and he would be complete if he added goals to his game. But stop putting him on a pedestal, like some needy virgin schoolboy with his first hot girlfriend. No one is bigger than this club. Özil is paid to do his job and this season, contrary to the two before, he’s playing at the level expected of him. Unfortunately, right now, he’s the only one in this team deserving his wages.
Mesut is world class and we’re lucky to have him. He’s at the peak of his career and deserves to be winning things, if he can’t do it with us he will do it elsewhere. I don’t want that to happen, but if we don’t strengthen this team and start playing like a cohesive unit Mesut will go, and if that happens we will have confirmed that we have no ambition at this club.
If he truly wanted to win things he would not have signed with Arsenal.
My take is he wants to win things while playing regularly and being respected (as he was not at Real) and we were supposedly on the up. I don’t think he will, but If he actually were to leave after this season I might agree and see that as the canary in the coal mine. That he had learned something. RVP and the others were different. I still hold a distaste for most of them but the shackles were not off. But now true ambition and direction is staring at the cold hard light of day. Le Boss and the… Read more »
Unfortunately its seems most fans think Wenger is bigger than this club.
Leicester will wobble; that I am certain.
Spurs will drop points I am sure.
Will we capitalize?
Goodison Park will tell.
If we win that one, this team can go on a run.
Why are you doing this to yourself?
Poetry, man. Poetry.
Optimism is the way to go…always.
Costs nothing but keeps the blood flowing
At what point does optimism turn into delusion?
I’ve accepted that we can’t win the league so I’ll be cheering on Leicester to stop the spuds winning it.
Optimism turns to delusion if you are still expecting a miracle when we are 7 points behind with 2 matches to go.
At this point, I have followed football long enough tp know that we are still in it.
It’s up to you to throw in the towel as you’ve done and it’s up to me to keep believing till the end – bitter or sweet.
Let’s make it straight forward arsenal team is that good it can challenge all the clubs in the world but injuries are the issues for arsenal my superstition is that arsenal club my favourite club is cursed through injuries
Ozil talking about ‘giving everything on the pitch’. It was very frustrating to see him walking around the pitch last night, sulking, whilst the rest of the team didn’t stop running for the full 90mins. Sure, Ozil is head and shoulders above the rest of the team in terms of quality, but frankly, his attitude stinks. I could see he was trying to make things happen but when we didn’t have the ball, his efforts to defend were pathetic. That is inexcusable, especially against a team like Barcelona, where it would take probably 15 players before you could stop them… Read more »
How dare you say bad things about the mighty mesut, you’ll get lynched around here.
TBH I rather have a not so great run and end the season on a low note. This way the club will at least have some pressure to buy during the summer, rather than go “o look we had a streak, came in 2nd which means our strikers are perfect and we don’t need to buy”.
Am seeing a lot of comments on here about how our team would be amazing if we still had Nasri, Fabregas and Van Persie. How stupid are some people? Selling those players enabled us to put that money in the bank and pay off more of our stadium debt, whilst also allowing us to find replacements of sort. It’s absolutely ridiculous that we’re complaining about selling these players, we would never be able to afford to buy Ozil or even Sanchez had we not made those difficult decisions. Some ‘fans’ Really need to get a grip. Yeah sure the team… Read more »
Where? lol. its not there…
You’re talking a load of tripe mate.
How have you worked out that the cost of building a new stadium will cripple Chelsea? Maybe you have forgotten that they are bank rolled by a billionaire Russian gangster? Stadium expenditure does not count towards FFP calculations, even if UEFA were to enforce it.
I love watching this player. I really hope he does not ask for a transfer for the remainder of his time at our club.
I agree Sanchez is trying to do too much, but taķe a walk in his Nike Predators for a moment.
None of his team mates can hit an adjacent startled elephant.
The team is wilting under its own inability to score; players have too much pressure on them, take too many touches, dont shoot, we commit too many forward in pressure that rarely ends with goals which allows teams we play greater certainty in attack.
Where exactly would Ozil go? I mean arsenal would look for at least 55million for him so that leaves only a handful of clubs able to get him. He’s too lazy for Barcelona,Madrid wouldn’t take him back, can’t see bayern paying that much for him,too lazy for pep at city so that leaves psg or maybe juventus.
Look there are reasons he was lt go by Madrid and ended up with us, he’s a technically brilliant player but he doesn’t score enough, never dominates a game and is a coward, so I doubt he’ll be off anywhere
you don’t watch much football do you? His assist stats would be phenomenal if he went to Barca
I watch plenty, Barcelona won’t be looking for Ozil
why the fock would barcelona need ozil, as good as he is?
haha
I don’t think it would happen, but Iniesta won’t be around forever.
But they’re crawling with so much talent it would just be taking the piss.