Unai Emery says he’s ready to make Mesut Ozil happy again, and that he wants to work with the German international in a ‘new way’.
The Arsenal playmaker has suffered a difficult time of late, being scapegoated for Germany’s dismal World Cup showing, and he’ll return to London after his holidays to a very different club from the one he left.
The Spaniard is pushing the players very hard in training, with double sessions as he prepares for his first season in charge, but he also knows that in order to make progress next season, Ozil’s vision and creativity will be crucial.
Speaking ahead of today’s pre-season friendly with Boreham Wood, the new boss said, “For us Mesut is a very important player.
“We want to help him to be well, fine with us. The national team didn’t get the results they wanted but today he is on holiday and I want him to relax good and I want, when he comes back with us, to start with a good mentality.
“I want to work with him with a new way and with an ambition to continue with this quality and help with this quality, getting better with the team.
“I think last year was a difficult year for all, not only for Mesut. I think it is for the team. They finished sixth in the Premier League – not the position we want.”
Ozil is expected to return in time for the trip to Singapore where Arsenal will play two games against PSG and Atletico Madrid.
its a waste of your time, he has his mind on other things, see him and buy 2 new midfielders instead.
wish we could, but no one will buy him
I could at least see a vague justification for McEvoy’s comment, but yours is just specious man. Maybe we wouldn’t sell Ozil for profit, but pretty much every major club would take him if an opportunity presented itself. He’s an asset, and this is undeniably true.
Before you even sell Ozil we need to cull dead wood.
Jenkinson, Campbell still floating around, Elneny arguably around only because he is content with spending large spells of time on the bench.
Perez is interesting. If we should not find value in market for one more player (attacking asset), I wonder if Emery will keep him and try and squeeze something out of the Spaniard.
Interesting he wants to work with OZIL in another way… What if it doesn’t work can we then please sell him?
Whether Mesut plays as a true n°10 or as a kind of wide/roaming attacker in a front 3, I hope that with a solid midfield base and some new instruction that he can really kick on this season. He truly has the spectacular inside of him and a full season of Auba and Laca making runs for him really should be sweet to see.
And Miki!
quoting from one of tim stillman we need both ramsey and ozil . but its a bit complicated to accomodate both of them . the best possible way to accomodate both of them is to push ramsey to more attacking role and ozil to wide right in 4231 formation. but for that ozil has to track back more.
Not the case anymore, with our new additions! Torreira solves that problem to some extent.
Mhki – Lacazette – Auba Ozil Torreira – Ramsey I think this makes a lot of sense. Ramsey is best in the center of the park, and Ozil is probably too–with Torreira, both are freer to play their individual games as he’s likely going to be a more aggressive defender than Xhaka, and also possibly a gifted deep-playmaker. Xhaka suits us when the opponents sit deep, but I would imagine Torreira is the better option against a high-pressing team. They’re definitely going to be used tactically depending on the opposition, given Emery’s record, as far as I can tell, but… Read more »
Torreira will play as a DM which will allow Xhaka to play in his true role
Honestly, I think we’re making the wrong assumption here. Everyone is just assuming he will use Ozil further forward as that’s what Wenger did and what previous generation managers did/would do, but if we’ve seen anything from the modern pressing managers (and Emery is one of them) it’s that there’s a very good chance he’s going to coach Ozil and convert him into a CM (think Pep and De Bruyne, Poch and Erikson, Klopp and Wijlnadium or whatever, etc). We know Ozil isn’t fond of the defensive side, but is that not down to managers who use a philosophy of… Read more »
If we play to win ball high up the pitch with a press, Ozil is perfect at picking the killer pass for our strikers.
The question is can Ozil press?
Mesut has done this in the past from the front alongside Alex is, I seem to remember when we beat them 3-0 they were all pressing the Mancs with high intensity.. The problem we have was the team didn’t maintain that during the rest of the season meaning that Alex is and Ozil pressed high, the rest of the team stood off, causing our team to be lopsided and unbalanced. Hopefully now we should all be drilled to continue the high intensity press, freeing up Ozil to play that killer pass to our prolific forwards. So excited for the season… Read more »
Given that he left us for that other lot, I would rather forget all about him.
I’d love it if you referred to him as Alex was and not Alex is.
The number of times I saw our front players close down the last few seasons only to watch the player they’re closing on easily pass to 2-3 wide open options was maddening. Then they quite justifiably give up on the press. Alexis, Giroud, Ozil, Laca, they all tried many times to close and press but half the squad wasn’t so it’s wasted effort. Ozil knows when it’s senseless. He’s not a go-in-strong tackler, never will be, get over it. He still closes down far more than people give him credit for, and with a full squad clearly instructed it might… Read more »
Agreed . Pressing is about winning the ball, but it’s more about forcing certain passes, and not many people know how to do that better than Ozil. Efficiency is his game.
Ozil certainly isn’t a favourite of mine, his best form has been with Cazorla playing behind him, Santi had the ability to beat the press and get the ball forward early, it’s the reason why Ozil’s stats were so much better playing with Santi behind him, and our win percentage was also ridiculously high. Did we really give Ozil £350,000 p/w contract to ask him to press as part of a system? When his strengths are suited to other areas? Reading various Emery interviews, it seems that playing regularly with a front two isn’t his preferred option, but did say… Read more »
sell lacazette, he is our best striker, and as for ozil, as I said before, no one can afford to buy him because of his high wages, so we are stuck with him
and who will you play exactly when Auba is injured eh?
Perez? Welbeck? not exactly prolific options.
Perez is not bad at all, but he’s a bit Podolski’ish in that he needs other players to enable him. Anyways, I’d rather just do 3 CM’s and Ozil, Lac and Mikt as front three when Aub is out.
I don’t understand an Arsenal fan willing to sell Ozil. Have you watched us play without him? Watch the games on mute and listen to the stupid pundits after games and you’ll think they were talking about a different game. We need his creativity in games and the idea that he’s lazy is the biggest lie in football.
that’s the point, he doesn,t create anything, he doesn,t do anything
The anti-Ozil thing is very weird. There are countless players who have cost a similar amount or more that didn’t do annnnything in the PL. Di Maria, Morata, Pogba to name just a few. Also, he was getting the blame for the Germans going out, the game I watched he put 3-4 incredible crosses and passes that should have been a goal. Not his fault the players missed. Ozil certainly isn’t the up your jumper kind, but there really isn’t many players in the world who can do the things he can. In the right system, he can be very… Read more »
I’m going to pull out a Wengerism here and say that if you don’t like Mesut Ozil at his best, you don’t like football. Ozil, despite Arsenal being rather poor last season, still did what he does best, which is create fantastic chances for his teammates — game after game after game, he created at least a handful of direct scoring chances. And he’s done that for years now, for Arsenal and for Germany, whether as a #10 in a 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-1-2, or as a “wide” man in 4-3-3. The failings have been the fault of the team, not… Read more »
Typical Rich. Wants to sell our most creative player and one of the best strikers in Europe.
Well said. Emery’s know style does not include 2 strikers, as most fans hope for. I get annoyed by how many posts demanding Auba, Laca, Ozil, Miki, Xhaka, Ramesy, Torreiera.. all play in the same XL. Which is never going to happen.
And you hear people suggesting diamond formation to accommodate them all and you wonder when has Emery ever used the outdated diamond. or Any top coach for that matter!
Here’s a prolonged interview with Emery explaining his philosophy:
http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2018/unai-emery-what-am-i-missing-making-my-masterpieces-real-masterpieces-and-making-them-my-own/
in a word, NO
It could be interesting to see Mesut in a more central role, instead of being placed high on the pitch, he will be back helping the team transition from defence to offense. Alot of similar players to Ozil have taken that path, in their later footballing years.
I’d say he’s not strong enough, but Pirlo wasn’t known for his strength, nor was santi but he certainly was (to my mind anyway) a bit more robust and difficult to bully off the ball than Özil.
Whatever the case I think given the transfers made so far its fairly safe to say that playing Ozil from deep is not Emry’s plan.
I think Ozil could make the switch from 10 to CM but the question is would he want to? Iniesta, Modric, David Silva and KdB have all made similar moves and succeeded. It’s also makes sense for Ozil because it will allow him to concentrate on creating for others and worry less about scoring himself.
Whenever I hear from him, there are hints of demand and no nonsense attitude that he expect from his players. So far, all these changes, I like. A lot.
That will be interesting. As for scapegoating, once you get the tag in England it sticks for life. I thought Lovren was good for Liverpool in their champions league run and the second half of the season. He’s looked class at the world cup too but whatever. His name means something else entirely in England.
Same as Ozil. That loss against the Koreans was more to do with his teammates failing to finish what he created. I haven’t seen a single player create all those chances in a single game this tournament
And the opposite is true for Sterling. Somehow he is a below average player but is a media darling.
That’s abaolutely not true. Sterling is a young homegrown player who has hit 20 g+a in a season for 3 years in a row, who last year kept Bernardo Silva out the city side and who Guardiola refused to let go of even if it meant missing out of his prime target, Alexis. Despite all this, he is regularly criticised by the media for any negative result while others are let off Scot free, such as Kane who missed a sitter to put England 2-0 up Vs Croatia and who disappeared after the second game of the group stage who… Read more »
Whatever you think of Sterling’s ability, and I think he’s a decent player personally, the idea that he’s a media darling is simply preposterous.
Ozil is an introverted person.
He can’t thrive under excess stimuli. That stimulus maybe excess attention, excess game pressure, excess fan pressure, excess physical pressure etc.
And that’s the truth of an introverted personality. They are at their best when they are alone or with their most loved people or in their most comfortable environments.
Introverts can never be the go-getters that the world craves for. And Ozil clearly is one.
Yeah because he was shit at Real Madrid and when he played a MoTM performance in the World Cup final. No pressure there!
Oh so from all that I wrote, you basically picked what you wanted to read! At Madrid and with Germany, he is not the centre of attention and the pressure is less coz it’s spread all over the squad and those squads are superior than Arsenal!
How can someone who is playing in the single biggest game in world football put in a MoTM performance if what you say is true? It simply defies your logic.
61 of Germany’s last 91 goals were a direct result of Mesut’s creativity. And he created 6 clear cut opportunities in Germany’s last World Cup game, none of which were taken. I would suggest that is a decent contribution in a side that was woefully under par.
That’s what bro. Coz he is not under pressure as severe as it is in the PL at Arsenal!
Now if you think being the main man at a club like Arsenal in the highly demanding premier league is less of a pressure job than playing for German team which is full of stars only maybe 12-15 times in a year, then let’s agree to disagree.
Every player on the pitch at the circus that is Real Madrid is under constant pressure. They’ve got the most critical and spoiled fanbase in the world.
Also you do not get to be a top football professional if you are not a go-getter. He maybe more reserved than a lot of footballers but he has to be driven by the same determination to succeed. If he was a true introvert he would never have made it in front of his first crowd let alone 10’s of millions of people worldwide. He would have been frozen with fear during the World Cup final not able to rise above everyone else to earn the MoTM award.
Oh so his greatness earned him so many offers from top clubs all over Europe as well as Germany that it was impossible for him to decide what to choose and ultimately stayed put at Arsenal!
The top clubs clearly know what ozil is truly capable of.
Hang on, and I mean this as a genuine question, do you have a link that says that Ozil was MotM in the 2014 WC final? BBC gave it to Boateng in their player ratings. This is what they had to say about Ozil:
“The Arsenal player has not had a vintage tournament and moved inside when Andre Schurrle was introduced. Made numerous tidy contributions without being really able to impose himself and was later substituted.”
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/28286068
I don’t think you all know what an introvert is. Being an introvert doesn’t make you a bad footballer just like being an extrovert doesn’t make you a good footballer.
ha, I wonder what ozil thinks of that, also I wonder if he would have signed a new contract if he new that wenger was going
As always the work Ozil does off the ball goes unnoticed by many fans. He works much harder than people give him credit for. It is purely his personality and body language that gives people the impression he doesn’t work. Anyone who thinks selling Ozil would be a good thing is deluded!! I’m pretty sure last season his miles per game stats were right up there with our best runners.
@Drew, yes, Ozil’s stats were up there with the best. He averaged 11/13 miles per game.. Lazy, really? Deluded blind ‘fans’..
left midfield?
Mesut has had a horrible time with the media here and in Germany. I’m hoping that a new team set-up with Emery in charge will free him up to be the best that he can be, and that’s very good indeed. I don’t for one minute believe he’s lazy or doesn’t care, and he also had a back injury at the end of last season that saw him playing when he wasn’t fully fit for Arsenal and his national team, not surprising really, with everyone on his back. This season is a new start, and I’m hoping he’s back fit… Read more »
@Vonnie, its good to hear positive comments and observations about one of the best players in Europe. Ozil needs certain players around him to do what he does best, obviously he can not do it all alone, he is a team player after all, unlike Sanchez.
Enough with the negativity and scapegoating give the man a break. This may well prove to be his best season yet.. Come on Mesut and COYG, exciting times ahead..
I’d like to see a kind of 433 with Lacazette playing “false 9”, dropping back to combine the way Griezmann does for France and Atletico (remember that they wanted him at a time when Griezmann was said to be leaving). Laca has the strength and ability to play centrally. He may lack a little bit of pace, but in this system Auba could threaten to run in behind from the left. With Miki providing width and guile midway out on the right, this should give enough balance to combine well with a mobile and quick-passing mid 3 of, say, Ozil,… Read more »
Like the “kick up the arse” new way. Truth be told Ozil has been working hard but his natural tendency is to drop his shoulder when things don’t go well. Then again, if he can’t muster enough gumption to dig the team out of the hole, we have both Ramsey and Mhkitaryan who can be good in similar position. Where we are lacking IMO is a fast and tricky winger to complement Aubameyang and exploit the quick release ability of Xhaka (and Torreira), much like how Belgium were a wound spring ready to break at speed before ponderous old Ingelund… Read more »
Early days yet as far as how Emery will line up the squad. I feel at the moment with current assets we are more a 4 – 4 – 2 with a daimond four in midfield which morphs into a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-3-2 when need be. It was what Wenger was working on but without the right asset at the base of midfield (Now we have Torreira) This fluid formation allows us to quickly change things around whether dropping one of the strikers out to a wide position and pushing the midfield up to form more control or to put… Read more »
Why is the tune of the backstreet boys “i want it that way” playing in my head when i read the headline of the article?