Unai Emery has confirmed that Mesut Ozil will be in tomorrow’s squad to face Burnley having missed Wednesday’s game with Sp*rs for ‘tactical reasons’.
The decision to exclude the German from the Carabao Cup quarter-final has led to intense speculation about his future at the club with rumours circulating that the Gunners are open to selling or loaning the player when the transfer window opens in a couple of weeks.
Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, in the meantime, Emery has tried to dampen such talk.
“Yes [he’s included in the squad],” answered the Spaniard in his pre-game press conference.
“I want every player with a good mentality to help us. He can give us his quality and his characteristics. We need Mesut Ozil.”
“Every player wants to play and help the team when we need them. The frustration is the same for everybody when they haven’t played a match.
“I have told him what we need from him. He has the commitment to help us and the quality and the characteristics to help us when the team need him on the pitch.
“Tomorrow he is in the 18 players in the squad.”
Hope he plays an absolute blinder tomorrow and proves Emery wrong
That wouldn’t necessarily prove Emery wrong. But it would prove a few others wrong.
I’m just hoping to move past this. Ideally with both Emery and Ozil here and both the better for it.
It was so nice to be free of the negativity for so long. It returns ridiculously quickly. It’s just silly. And by silly, I mean fucking stupid.
A good performance from Ozil tomorrow wouldn’t prove anyone wrong, we all know on his day he’s unstoppable, what would prove ppl wrong would be him producing 10 7/10 performances in a row, with the odd 7.5 or 8/10 for good measure.
The reality is Ozil has been rubbish since last February, and the performance against Leicester (which was extremely enjoyable to watch) is the exception, he’s been dropping 5/10 and 6/10 for far too long, and needs to buck up his ideas? Or ship out?
I’m 100% with Emery on this one.
Well said. The mark of a top player win consistently making their presence felt. I’d love to be wrong, but can’t see him really making the difference if I’m honest.
I’m going to have to disagree with you. Truth is we don’t have anyone in the squad with his ability. Can you honestly say Mhki and Iwobi, our two other players we rely on for creativity, are any better? We need to get back into the champions league and we need Ozil for that. There are aspects to his play I don’t like, but on the whole I’d say he still has quality. Without him we wouldn’t have beaten Leicester. How many more will we drop without him?
Ship him out?? With his wages who would even take him for free?
I get what your saying and it has been great to have gotten rid of the spite but unfortunately some will always be haters. Having said that I do think the Ozil situation is nothing new and its not surprising that a new coach who needs consistent good performances would look at the ROI that Ozil offers and question it, any good coach would
How do you know what Emery thinks about Ozil. I haven’t read anything till now in which he has said anything bad about Ozil.
If he plays a blinder it would prove emery right- right to drop him. Emery will be delighted if he responds well
That’s pretty much what I thought as well.
he shows up for the odd game, him playing great would be great for us, but it wouldn’t really prove anything. We know he’s more than capable of dominating a game at least with the ball when he feels like it. He’s just way too inconsistent to justify his salary and from the sounds of things, he’s not great off the field too. Compare him to someone like Xhaka who will play any role asked by the coach. You get the feeling that Xhaka would play in net if asked by Emery. Not saying Xhaka is a better player than… Read more »
I get your pint but Xhaka should not be the barometer
Why not? Xhaka has steadily improved his game and is now far more vital than Ozil
You are so funny. You forget too often who held the lead in assists in Europe for years. I think it is easy to forget because he does not score goals but assists them. Dropping Ozil is equivalent to dropping Kane in my opinion.
lol
I think until he gets rid of the silly mistakes, I just don’t completely trust him.
Exactly why not. He was referring to the right attitude which clearly Xhaka has.
Agree with the attitude part but I fell like he always has a mistake in him. Not quite in the same way but a bit like Mustafi
No, let me get these ones
Oh, get one for me while you’re at it.
If anything that would show emery he was right to drop him and provoke a reaction
playing a blinder once in a blue moon is no good at all,and as for proving everybody wrong, well its to late for thay
All this talk of him leaving and being dropped, might as well increase his performances! I love Özil, I really really do, everything from the way he seem as an individual and as a footballer, but he is now kinda playing for his football life and football reputation.. If its true that we are considering parting ways with Mesut then He needs to perform if he wants to attract other clubs that we would like to join.. And better performances can only be good for the gunners..
that he* would like to join
Hopefully ‘tactical reasons’ is the rock bottom moment and we see the manager and our most talented player move forward in concert. Ultimately we all want Arsenal to succeed and these two could be the bedrock of that success if they can find a way to build a harmonious relationship.
I must say, your username may be the most creative I’ve seen on Arseblog!
Huh?
?
Im a big ozil fan but i just dont see him getting many games given the intensity we seem to play with now. I think emery thinks that other players in the squad give more to the team in terms of application and intensity than mesut offers us quality with any regularity. If he wasnt on 350k a week i think he would have probably been told he’ll be getting moved on by now. Shame really considering the fanfare when he signed!
I hope you are wrong, but fear you are right.
Really hoping he gets his shit together and starts turning out performances we know he’s cacapable of on a regular basis.
We won’t get his shit together. He has been a lazy player his whole career, what helped him get going early on is that he is/was uberly talented. I mentioned to my brother, who’s also a Gooner, that Ozil is a guy that is really talented at football, but the love doesn’t match the talent.
He won’t*^^
This whole Ozil thing has really been exagerated. Personally i dont believe there is any hate between Emery and Ozil. Different managers have different approaches to how they believe they get the most out of their best players. Maybe Emery believes this will bring out the best in Ozil?
This season, any controversy or issues about players are meaningless. Especially if the player was here before Emery.
This coach has shown fans, and the squad, that we can achieve wins with or without star players like Laca, Auba, Ramsey or Ozil. That’s a better foundation than being over-reliant on individual performances.
Really hope tomorrow can go some way to help put this Ozil uncertainty to rest. The thing that’s irked me about this whole story is how it’s really come out of nowhere. People point to ‘poor form’, but the fact is he’s barely even had consistent minutes since about October. He hasn’t had the match time to build up any kind of form (good or bad). Others point to the him not fitting the Emery ‘system’. Well the last time he was involved in a big game was Liverpool at home he had absolutely no problem fitting into the system… Read more »
Emery’s preferred way of playing, though the formations have differed depending on the opponents (or home/away, perhaps) seems to be: playing out from the back, especially to holding midfielders; fullbacks/wingbacks providing the width in attack; the “outside” forwards regularly moving in towards the centre. It is true this does not include a playmaker whose starting position is central (a number 10), but it is absurd to think that Ozil cannot be successful–and make the team successful–in this system.
On Instagram Özil talks about training week and good mood. Perfect to shut up some mouths. Love it!
Ahhh the Ozil PR machine
Did I miss something? I can’t say the quotes provided in this article sound like Ozil has a future at the club, just that he is in the squad!!!
It’s the unspoken line after “I’ve told him what I want”
No, he said it explicitly. See here:
https://twitter.com/MattiasKaren
Emery is setting the tone that he is boss and that the players need to earn their right to play. While the team still needs some changes to personnel, the squad turnover n over the past 18 months while still winning some modicum of games is truly remarkable. Out -wilshere, walcott, coq, ox, giroud, sanchez, BFG, Ospina; In torreirra, soktratis, Mhikti, Auba, Laca, Lichtsteiner, Guendo, Dino, Leno, Sead. Massive improvement. Game by game – still a struggle, but the personnel and competitive overhaul is well on its way! The team knows that the spot on the roster is not guaranteed,… Read more »
And of course, all the changes off the pitch as well. I know we would want to win all games, but to manage through such change with 4 losses on the season so far is a very good sign about the direction of the club.
The naysayers and the over-reactors should chill out.
I’d be surprised if any Wenger players remain in 2 seasons with the exception of bellerin and laca
Emeritocracy indeed! I love him for that.
How Mesut Ozil was successful player at Real Madrid and why can’t he be the successful player for Arsenal. I think he can be successful player for Arsenal if Emery manages to fit him into Arsenal playing style.
Whatever the problem is with team or the players Ozil will be scapegoat all the time when team has not performed well. He is a perfect CAM player who creates lots of chances but the problem is not Mesut Ozil in my opinion, the problem with Arsenal is our players in wings and defense.
As he was the most creative player in the Premier League in his first 5 years with us and helped us win 3 FA Cups I am not sure as to why you think he hasn’t been a successful player for us.
let me educate you, in spain the pace is slower, which suites his style of play, but in the prem the pace is faster, which doesn,t suite his style of play, that is why he has so many bad games for us, and that’s why he doesn,t suite emery,s style of play, which is why he doesn,t get picked so much, emery has given ozil chances to improve but he cant, so I hope that has helped you and a lot of others to understand the situation
not sure if I like Afan’s level of condescension on this site. Brilliantly executed, but also a smug arrogant approach to a fellow gooner who happens to have a different POV. Would prefer Afan directs that his special set of education skills to the Spuds fans around the world, and be a bit more friendly to readers of this site, we are a special bunch here – gifts to the world.
Ok, now let me educate *you*: it’s generally speaking not the cleverest idea to start off any blog comment with “let me educate you,” if you want your interlocutor to be remotely sympathetic to what you have to say. Also ironic that the person putting themselves forward as an “educator” happens to write so poorly…
Leceister – magnificent, then Wolverhampton – he tried but with no great endproduct. After that Emery dropped him, I mean he had to and then it takes time to find back in the squad. Özil showed, the 20 minutes he got, a bad display against southhampton and was scapegoated for the defeat. At least he tried man… On the other hand there was koscelny who couldnt defended any worse and was starting the next game and again he was awful. If Özil doesn’t get any chances I’m sry but then it is how it is. A player on 350k/ week… Read more »
All indications so far are that Ozil, the way he is now, is simply not an “Emery player”. If he’s being left out of the squad for Iwobi, Mhkytarian and Nketiah (no offence to them) for “tactical reasons”, then that speaks volumes about his standing in Emery’s eyes. Question is can he adapt in time to become a crucial part of Emery’s plans, or will the team move on without him?
Just think for a second that Özil could be protected…cause of mental reasons. I’m 100% secure Emery knows what kind of Qualities Özil has. He would never ever keep him out of the squad. There is something behind it.
Hacks will write eye-catching articles to increase readership. Don’t believe everything you read.
I believe this is good news. We certainly need Ozil’s contribution to help our cause. However, lunchtime kickoff can get a little tricky.
I do think that Emery might want to rotate between Ozil, Laca and Auba – keep one on the bench and play the other two, thus not wearing out any one out!!! For example: Leno Bellarin-mustafi-sokratis-monreal Torerria-Xhaxa Miki-ozil-iwobi Auba Or Leno Bellarin-mustafi-sokratis-monreal Torerria-Xhaxa Miki-ozil-iwobi Laca Or Leno Bellarin-mustafi-sokratis-monreal Torerria-Xhaxa miki-laca-iwobi Auba Obviously I would like more competition for Miki, hence a signing for this position would be great, whilst Iwobi will get competition from Nelson upon his return. I think the defence could also do with a quality signing too, certain players are in the twilight of their careers and… Read more »
Well, one thing’s for sure. At least we’ll have some sort of creativity from the midfield in tomorrow’s game
Myth. Lack of creativity is because Xhaka is not where is supposed to be. At CB we lose his normal CM linkage between the defence and forwards.
A thought… I was thinking about what Per said re mental health and what footballers sometimes deal with and how it’s hidden from the public. Is it possible that in the aftermath of the WC and all the focus on Mesut (both football and political) that Emery and the club are dealing with a man who is struggling for other reasons, beyond football? Dunno
It’s entirely possible
Good question. He doesn’t seem to be put together like alot of people are, just from how he reacts to things. Anyway, sure hope he is feeling good enough to go up against Burnley on Saturday, as you know damn well they are going to try and kick us around.
In the scheme of things.., that can not be ruled out. Will be quite unfortunate should that be the case.
To be honest, this has always been my assumption.
I commented this thought once before. Why would Emery say Arsenal needs Özil? Just imagine Emery now continues to claim that the squad needs Özil, that he’s important etc. How would it look like when Arsenal sells him in January or gives him on loan? I would criticize Emery for not being honest! It really could be a mental issue and an protecting service from Arsenal. I hope so cause I’m a big fan of Özil since his early days and just want him to be healthy. But in the end Emery decides if he fits or not. Does he… Read more »
He was dropped due to the piss poor effort he put forth in giving up the goal against southampton. Id rather rid his wage bill and give it to Rambo and another 2 players
Revisionist history. Watch the replay again. He continued trying to chase after both Torreira and Auba.
https://streamja.com/qE6G
Notice the #10 in the red boots chasing hard until it’s passed out to Long?
OK, tell me who that is.
I still have feeling this was all to get Ozil hungrier. Not being the no brainer top pick anymore, and a man with something to prove.
This attitude shift could radically change how any player performs on pitch.
Ozil surely has a place with a defensive double pivot midfield of ours, as the number 10 he was always meant to be with fast forwards like Laca and Auba in front of him instead of Giroud.
It just seems that Arsenal is planning to get rid of Ozil somehow. Between him being “sick”, “bad back”, etc., just seems Emery doesn’t have faith in him. What I can’t understand is if in fact Arsenal wants to get rid of him, why would they also continue to refuse to offer Ramsey a new contract. If Ozil leaves, I think Ramsey would be a good replacement to fill Ozil’s role. I still think Ramsey would be good for the role of the 10 position. Who else do we have right now?
“..The frustration is the same for everybody when they haven’t played a match”