Mesut Ozil says that although Arsene Wenger is one of the main reasons he joined Arsenal back in 2013, the future of the manager will not dictate his own.
The 28 year old is heading towards the final 12 months of his current deal, and although new terms have been offered nothing has been signed yet.
Speaking to BILD, Ozil insisted that while talks had taken place, no decision had been made yet and that uncertainty over Wenger’s intentions will not play a part.
“Everything is open,” he said. “We had talks with Arsenal. Right now I’m concentrating on the current season.
“Arsene Wenger was one of the main reasons I joined Arsenal. But I know that sometimes things go very fast in football and that you can never plan something.
“This is why it would be wrong to say that my future depends on my coach.”
And he says it’s still his ambition to win big prizes with the Gunners.
“I want to win the Champions League one day, preferably with Arsenal,” he said. “I have one more year on my contract here.”
The German has been going through a difficult period in his Arsenal career. Having scored 9 times by early December, he hasn’t found the net since, and has suffered a significant loss of form and confidence.
If Arsenal are to finish the season well, they will need him to recapture some of that early season promise.
I personally feel Wenger has decided to stay but is waiting for the right moment to announce it. Good performances against West Brom and city at home should do it. It seems as though he’s determined to prove everyone wrong, and rightly so. COYG.
I disagree with you. I don’t think he has made up his mind yet. Things have flared up too much this season, in my opinion. He genuinely looks upset these days (especially during that liverpool game). But hey, we never know with this Arsenal board.
My ideal situation is that we beat Spurs in the FA cup final, finish above them and Wenger ends his tenure on a high. Then it’s time for a rebuilding.
I believe both of you are half right. Arsene has made up his mind to stay, but rightly? I’m not sure. Ideally I’d like him to win the FA Cup and leave on a high(he definitely deserves that), but I don’t see either the win or him leaving. The kroenke ownership has proven with other sports teams that they don’t give a crap about fans. No amount of protesting will stop him from atleast staying for another year. There will be many excuses. Creating a replacement structure needs time keeping in mind the long term interests of the club, he… Read more »
Good point, Well written mate
I came on here 4 years ago and stated that Kroenke doesn’t give a toss about the fans.
I used his hockey team as an example.
That same hockey team that won several titles and was the most exciting team in the league is now the worst team in the league.
They are 20 points worse than the next worse team.
Kroenke doesn’t care about winning.
Premiere Leageue Clubs owned by americans are stuttering, arsenal, manu, liverpool. Is it because american owners do not really get the football culture in Europe?
Americans buying British soccer teams are doing it solely as business investments. Winning is a purely secondary concern to them -they simply don’t have the same goals of a Chelsea or man city owner
he also said he wouldn’t move the Rams from St. Louis (NFL). His word means absolutely nothing. So maybe that means he actually wants to win something…haha…
You do realize that the Rams were Los Angeles’ team before the widow of the owner moved them in ’94. LA has not had a team since.
I think that if they do keep him for another year with a plan to begin restructure during that year, they should let the fans know that he will be stepping down at the end of the season, so we know what is happening with the club and so we know exactly what’s going on. I think being left in the dark is the worst thing and it is the least they can do.
I always said to myself I would judge Wenger properly when he spends some money, and he has done that over the last couple of windows but still nothing has changed. So I think he has to go. I’m not jumping on the bandwagon that he is a ‘fraud’ or that he’s shit. I don’t agree with any of that. I think he is still a top manager, but I think over the last 10 years he has become really watered down. He is a shawdow of his former self. And I just don’t think he is ruthless enough to… Read more »
Sanogo was a gamble. Just like how Man U AND Chelski paid Radamel Falcao 250k a week to do jack shit,
I agree with everything you said, but I honestly do feel that he’s made his mind up to stay, and unless things get a lot worse (like we lose to a big team in the FA cup, and underperform in the remainder of our big games) then he’ll probably stay on. The thing is, when normal people face severe criticism that makes them second guess themselves and question whether it’s worth it. Arsene on the other hand as well all know sees this as a challenge. Having watched the guy for all these years, I find him very predictable and… Read more »
Don’t leave out beating Maureen and his Manure on the 6th of May and finishing above them also. Basically I might not feel thrilled because of our failure to win the BPL, but I will feel better if we can beat Manchester City, Tottenham, and Manchester United between now and the end of the year, and of course the FACT Cup.
That’s the FA CUP. Damn auto correct.
And rightly so….fu## off.
What basis is there to be optimistic about the WBA and Citeh games? We have continually struggled against the top teams and so I see a draw at best vs Citeh. And WBA are no pushover given our current form, the issues within the club and their typical resilience. Sorry to be so negative, but just being realistic.
Ozil was much improved yesterday, but had plenty of time and space.
I wonder if our midfield are doing enough to take the pressure off him at times so he can get his head up more.
Probably through a lack of confidence, we seem to really slow down play in the middle which makes it difficult for the likes of Ozil to find the space to be effective
Part that too. With Cazorla behind him, they were diciding the pressure from opposing teams, not allowing for such effective high press. When only one of then is available, they need to press one main target.
Midgunner,, he and the team only looked good yesterday was because it was lincon city, if we were playing a prem team it be different storey
Yeah I accept the opposition allowed him to play to an extent.
Given our midfield problems, I’d like to see us try a midfield three at some point. I think it could suit the likes of Ramsey and Ox and provide a better platform for Ozil as part of a front three.
It’s an experiment I guess, but I think it’s worth a try if it unlocks Ozil’s potential and tightens us up in midfield. It might also fill in some of the gaps left by Bellerin and Gibbs when they bomb forward.
Exactly this.
I think most fans are now very keen to see a change at the club. That change starts with a fresh manager with fresh ideas. Personally I’m keen on Max Allegri coming in. He supposedly is very keen to take over. I hope we don’t miss out again as we did with pep, klopp, pochettino etc.
Surely Wenger is clever enough to understand it isn’t just this season that’s worn our patience out.
“He supposedly is very keen to take over.” – What have you been reading?
The English press, Italian press, Spanish press. Wenger staying? What have you been smoking?
You’d be crazy to not want to take over Arsenal. Fantastic following (of mostly entitled bastards though), great history, decent squad, no crazy hairtrigger oligarch/sheik in control, city of London…
Sure Allegri wants it. But is he the right guy?
So you believe all the media lies. Don’t be so naive. There is no indication that any approach has been made to any other manager and Allegri has made no statement of his intent to leaving Juventus
And Juve are soon to be 6 times champs of Italy and much more competitive in Europe than us. Allegri is a good shout but not at all clear he’d come.
Juve have announced spalletti as his replacement though
Allegri needs to win the Champions League with Juventus or they will not extend his contract. They have won enough leagues so they will look to bigger trophies and if he cannot bring them that, they will find someone else. He would be a good replacement for Arsene Wenger, let’s see what happens in Europe with Juventus first.
For me ozil has under performed even though his goal tally is better I want/expect him to control a game he never does especially against the bigger teams. If he went it wouldn’t bother me but Sanchez is a different story that guy needs to stay
He isn’t going to unless Wenger goes
Welcome to reality
We need them both!
The thing is we’ve just not given Ozil the platform to influence big games this season. Our entire set up has gone to shit almost every time we come up against anybody half decent. Ozil’s not Hazard or Suarez. He’s not going to pick the ball up and win a game by himself, his game relies on intelligent movement around him so he can dictate play effectively. Because of a flimsy midfield and a tepid approach to tough opposition this year, he’s had absolutely fuck all to work with. Sure, Ozil himself is capable of better than we’ve seen in… Read more »
How does management explain a midfield player standing by and failing to engage in a chase, a challenge or a duel of any kind? How does management explain the most expensive and highest paid player in our team virtually disappearing once we are denied space and pressed hard, which is like all the time these days? How does management explain laziness? That he mentioned Mourinho calling him lazy at Madrid in his book tells me he might even think it a compliment. I am of the opinion that he is at the core of the lethargy that has bedeviled our… Read more »
Well, I guess people are entitled to their simplistic, ill-considered opinions.
Most the time it’s Sanchez who wants the ball to him no matter who is where on the pitch. That guys just bullies Iwobi and the likes of him. Sanchez does a lot and prolly that justifies his hog-all approach but the team need other forwards to stand up to him and try doing more as a unit.
Ozil’s playing style this season has been interesting for me. He is more up front, his role is similar to a false-9. It gives him less chance to do things that he does the best, which is his sublime accurate passing. So I am a bit concerned. But, all the big oppositions usually press him aggresively so he only has such a small time to pass the ball. Cazorla is the guy who usually runs closer to Ozil and picks up the ball, therefore it really is Cazorla who controls the tempo of our games. When Cazorla is injured, Ozil… Read more »
I hope he reads this and sees the thumbs up.
Be honest, we all want Ozil in the team when he is on his game no?
Yeah I get you…let’s spend £50m and buy a cazorla type player so that a £43m ozil can be effective Pls lets stop making excuses for ozil…I watched ozil getting bumped off the ball by Fabregas repeatedly!..Fabregas!..he is hardly the most physical player in the EPL.. When we have the ball against the minnows in the EPL he is a world class player …but when it comes to the crunch games against the elites where it takes more than just your skill to win…he fails miserably.. I have seen almost 4yrs of ozil to know he is not the next… Read more »
Football is a team game. You don’t expect to replace Ozil with a £65m player like Griezman for example and hope that he carries the game single-handedly.
This team needs a midfielder who is good at dribbling and attracting the oppositions. We have Santi Cazorla, and Ox showed a bit of that potential too this season. I am looking at players with playing style similar to Dembele from Bayern Munich and Sadio Mane from Liverpool.
Yes, fabregas owned Özil especially during our home game against Chelsea!
Maybe Sanchez is having a bad influence on the team with his attitude. Sanchez is displaying same attitude as Nistelroy did at Man U and was let go by Ferguson. I remembered Nistelroy left on bench for a big champions league game for his attitude towards others players.
Ruud then inspired a fucked up Real to a title under Cappello against Rjikaard’s mighty Barca. I don’t think Sanchez is a bad egg at all. If he is getting airs, he just needs to be challenged on the pitch. Ramsey should earn his right to square up to him by doing as much as Sanchez does.
“I want to win the Champions League one day, preferably with Arsenal,”
Well say what you like about the current unity of the squad, at the very least they can still have a laugh now and again.
First of all : wenger out !
Then talk about other things
Depends if we have champions league next season then I suppose.
Let them stay
Whatever people say about Ozil’s form, its imperative that we tie him down to a new deal. He is world class for most parts of the season and we cant afford to lose both him and Alexis at the same time! We cant go through the rebuilding process once again since the cesc-nasr-rvp era.
The Daily Star version of this story quotes Ozil as saying, “…it would be wrong to say my future depends only on the trainer”. The Arseblog News version says, “…it would be wrong to say that my future depends on my coach”.
How much of this is owed to translation, and how much is down to Arseblog doing its best to keep an optimistic spin on things?
The word ‘only’ can make a lot of difference 😉
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you mate. 🙂
I don’t think we should criticize individual players. All of our squad is good enough but they just need to be playing 15% better. How to make that happen is the difficult bit, but it won’t happen without our full support imo.
Here’s Ozil during an interview in January when he said he was very happy and wanted to stay at Arsenal: “The club knows that I am here most of all because of Arsène Wenger. He is the one who signed me and he is the one whose trust I have. The club also knows that I want to be clear what the manager is going to [in the future].” It’s only 3 months later, and look at how his tone has changed. Arsenal’s leadership needs to get a grip on this situation because the sharks are swirling around the club… Read more »
I love this player because he makes football beautiful with some of his touches. However, if our shit board can not throw obscene amounts of money to keep both Ozil and Alexis, then I prefer all the dosh going to Alexis to try and convince him to stay.
I think he is probably waiting to see what offers he gets. Sanchez too.
Who is going to want to buy them, who is better than us, and has a space in their squad?
Paris has money money money. Owners are rightly going to add more offense. Wait and see
They may add Wenger too?
Not sure they are really a step up. Also they have di Maria and Draxler, Cavani, Matuidi etc
Could happen i guess
Any player would be a bit crazy to sign at the moment without knowing who the manager is going to be. I absolutely love Mesut and want him to stay, but I also want him to win things because he’s worth it, and none of us know what will be going on next season. I don’t expect Mesut or Alexis to sign any time soon, it will depend on what pans out in the next few months. Also it’s no good keeping them unless you’re going to add more world class players around them, they’re winners, and the rest of… Read more »
Not yet convinced of Wenger’s departure, but hope the recent protest get the board on their toes hopefully they’ll notice fan dissatisfaction, and they’ll maybe allocate sufficient funds to sign quality players instead of quantity as Arsene always does. I think Wenger with a better and commited squad he’ll do better, y’all know Wenger at Barca,PSG or Madrid he’d win cups but I than sometimes ask myself, whose to blame for the current crop of players? Wenger obviously but Wenger has so much trust in this players and they repeatedly let him down nonetheless of the score line Arsenal just… Read more »
IF both Ozil AND Alexis leave this summer, there may be some advantage toward retain g Wenger one more season for his market acumen, particularly if any managerial candidates available for succession this summer isn’t as experienced. It will give the club to rebuild for a potential successor a year down. The market can be tricky and Wenger is one of the best operators. Which is why it is Nonsense to say Wenger has to go. Why? Unless he cannot fulfill his minimum high standard, the team is still very competitive. The last thing we want to do is reinvent… Read more »
Seems to me that he is now saying even if aw stays I’m going
If only he was half as good as he and some on here think he is
Nothing goes for nothing, from when the winning of trophy mentality changed to grooming of kids, Arsene lost his quality, give away quality players without quality replacement keeps us all wondering if this is the reason why we ve being supporting this club… Arsene stays no trophy re we not used to it? For how long shoukd we endure… if Leicester could win a league in England. Change is a permanent thing, let’s change and see what it ll hold of us, 20years of management let somebody else come and try let us see how it goes… if the refuse… Read more »
Özil has to stay. We don’t have anyone like him and I can’t think of a viable replacement. Alexis would be replaceable as long as the club flex the old financial muscle, but I don’t want him to go either. I wonder if fans of other clubs worry about player contracts this much.
Yeah, I agree, Ozil and Sanchez have to stay at the club. We can’t easily replace them and instead should be adding better players to the squad in the summer. I do find it odd though, that even when the fans are aware of the fans protest, he remains adamant of his future at Arsenal. I would suggest that these fans take it a step further and not attend two home games, just two, which would definitely send a message to the board, because they care about revenue not protests. I don’t think it would have a disastrous effect on… Read more »
Özil has to stay! Otherwise who would the fans boo? Instead they can boo Özil when he came on on saturday surely reproaching him the games against Liverpool and Bayern where he didn’t play.
I see lots of clubs sniffing around and being linked with Sanchez but not many around Ozil, maybe that tells us he’s not quite as good as some arsenal fans believe he is. Would Madrid,Barcelona,Bayern,Juventus,PSG,City be interested in taking him? Time will tell
Yes to all