Sead Kolasinac says he wouldn’t have made the run that resulted in a deft assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opening goal against Burnley were it not for the vision of Mesut Ozil.
Galloping from the edge of the box to the byline in the 14th minute, the Bosnian wing-back was found by the German’s exquisite diagonal pass giving him the opportunity to deftly clip the ball back to the penalty spot for Auba to do the rest.
As pre-assists go, it was quite delightful. After the match, Kolasinac was quick to praise Ozil.
“It was unbelievable,” he told Arsenal.com. “We all know Mesut’s qualities and I only actually made that run because I saw that he had the ball.
“Not many players would have been able to play that pass. He can, and when I saw him get on the ball, I knew he was going to find me. It was a brilliant pass from him.”
Having missed games with a back problem and been left out against Bournemouth and Sp*rs for tactical reasons, there was a lot of speculation ahead of the 3-1 win over the Clarets about Ozil’s long-term future at the club.
Despite signing a new long-term deal in January, it’s been suggested that the midfielder could make way for new signings that better fit Unai Emery’s playing style.
Having played down such rumours on Friday, Emery made Ozil captain at the weekend and was rewarded by a decent showing that also included an assist for Alex Iwobi. While not a skipper in the traditionally vocal sense of the word, Kolasinac it’s his team mate’s quality that inspires.
“Mesut’s not the sort of player who will scream at you in public just to show the people on the outside that he tries to push us on,” he explained.
“He’ll speak in the dressing room, he’ll go to every player individually.
“With his quality, he brings a lot to this team. He’s very important for us as a captain and as a player.
“[Unfair criticism] is the case when you’re a big star, like Mesut is. Of course there are always negative headlines but, as a team, we don’t pay attention to them and Mesut doesn’t either. That’s what’s most important. We’re all behind Mesut – all the staff, all the players.
“If negative things are written, then that’s just what happens. In life, not everything is positive – sometimes there are negatives written about you too, and he’s had that. But with his performance [on Saturday] he’s quietened a few critics.”
“He’ll speak in the dressing room, he’ll go to every player individually”.
Sure it’s a bit taciturn but it’s cool and very effective. I’d take that as long as it motivates others, as opposed to most pundits / dickheads wanting to see him shouting, pointing fingers and running around like a headless chicken.
Keep proving the wankers wrong and Arsenal will reap the rewards. Personally, I love Ozil. I even think I’m a bit like him in that I am not performative. I just want him to return to the assist machine he was in his first season. We didn’t even have a great attack like we do now. He should be getting 25 assists with Auba and Laca in front of him. As for his defensive work rate. I’d be perfectly fine if we won matches like Spurs did last night. Who needs a clean sheet if you score 5+ goals?
At the end of the season our GD will kill us if we don’t improve defensively…but I get your general point.
Yes I too am seriously concerned about the goal difference and the fact that we rarely lead at half time.
That’s fine. But doesn’t work well when we have a defensive crisis forcing our midfielders to go into defence Personally, I don’t mind if we sell Ozil as long as we get someone to replace him. I don’t think we’d get anyone with Ozils level of vision. But if he can make it up with aggressiveness and high intensity ball winning back football along with a creative edge, I don’t mind. Someone like the old Mkhi of Dortmund…. Either that, or bring in someone like Nabil Fekir. That being said, we often forget that winger position we could really use… Read more »
When a coach lets a player like Mesut out of the squad, it means the player wasn’t doing something right. To be frank, it was also genuine news for the media. They invented nothing on this one. Kola came out to support a teammate who was being criticized. Players do that all the time. A playermaker made a great pre-assist and Arsenal fans go about he is a genius this and that. Worshipping a player the manager is unsatisfied with shows we have given up being a champion league club.
What?
It’s Xmas so I will leave it…
Can everyone please say “Christmas”? “Xmas” is so lazy. Thank you in advance.
What of those that say “hbd” while wishing someone a happy birthday?
Ozil is another lever
Actually we type Xmas to remove the religious factor and just enjoy a gift-giving holiday.
When a player is left out, yes, that’s news. The cause and all the rest is pure speculation and fiction until real information proves otherwise. None of us knows the reason. Physical injury or ailments? Mental exhaustion and stress? Discipline? Zero confirmation. And it doesn’t matter reason if the rest /break delivers the desired results, and so far it has, for one match anyway. As for the ‘proves nothing until he single handedly puts the top team in the league into submission’ well, go ahead and judge on that, many will regardless of his performance. I’m not ready to give… Read more »
Mesut the star
I used to play with a player like ozil (obviously much shitter) but I was a speedy attacker back then and the comfort and ambition it gives you, knowing he can find your run, is huge. A real asset and complete mindset changer for anyone playing in front of a true visionary playmaker like that.
see people come here and say that Emery needs two to three summers to get the players he wants before he can start challenging for major trophies…forgetting that players like aubameyang, lacazette,ozil and mhkitaryan won’t hang around waiting for that…. In as much as i want Emery to succeed…i know he can’t do it without money but I would obviously advise Emery to start building his team and philosophy around players like holding, mavrapanos, kolasinac, Leno, medley, guendouzi,bellerin,xhaka,torriera,maitland Niles,nwakali,willock,nelson,smith Rowe, nketiah, Saka,xavier amaechi and any other young gems mislintat can bring up to the club….arsenal fans have to be patient… Read more »
In three summers most of those players will need replaced anyway
Are you smoking skittles blaad?.
Blud cluuuut, man chattin hurricanes!
I’ve been impressed with Emery so far and hopefully he can find a way to get Ozil in the team and playing like we know he can. Ozil frustrated at times certainly but he’s also got qualities that few other players in the world have. That pass on Saturday was ridiculous and was the perfect way to negate a wall of Orcish defenders such as Burnley provided at the weekend.
Quite like this guy. He’s offering us so much attacking play even if his defending might not be on point.
As to media speculations, big Christmasy F*CK YOU to all media outlets trying create some sort of bad vibe with the team & Mesut.
Looking forward to have him playing in front of Xhaka & Toreirra with both wing backs back in the squad…
Blogs always playing up on it too. Really got it in for him.
dave, you’re so wrong. there is a lot to critizise about özil and blogs thankfully doesm’t shy away from it, although i do feel he’s become almost too cautious, but can you blame him with all these twats on twitter who think özil’s untouchable
It doesn’t mean you have it in for him because you recognise that when Emery drops your most paid, most talented player due to ‘tactical reasons’ and he frequently gets mysterious back injuries and colds there’s something not quite right going on. Everyone knows he has immense ability and nobody expects him to show it every single week but it’s not unfair to say he has been below bar in terms of the consistency of performances (as have many, I know!) the past few seasons. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a little more from him given he’s on… Read more »
Please can’t we talk about Ozil without mentioning his salary.
But it’s relevant. If he was on 35k a week nobody would expect the world class performances we know he’s capable of (or give him any stick for not doing them)
That high a wage obviously leads to a level of expectation and rightly so
It’s not about the salary, it’s about him being good enough or not.
Right. That also falls under the use of the preface, ” I love the guy”, but I’m going to slate his ass right here nonetheless.
Don’t think Obi wan Iwobi is on a particularly high salary. That doesn’t stop people from giving him stick, does it… He gets it because we can see his potential and not getting enough output.
I think it’s the same with Özil. Everyone can see the obvious talent but the application isn’t there on a consistent basis. Hence the frustration.
It’s not relevant to me. I don’t give a fuck about his salary. We all know most of the players gone for really high wages in the last few years don’t have an in-proportion impact. Football money has gone to shit, so I don’t care. I want to see some quality football. Over his time with us he has provided beautiful football for me. There are maybe two players in the world who deliver 90% of the time or more. The rest is agents and contracts. Not my business. As for the insinuations and speculation about why he was left… Read more »
We all want to see quality football isn’t that the point? Yeah he is capable of amazing performances but not with enough regularity (most of the team are guilty of this) though I said above nobody expects it every week but more than once every 6 weeks would be good. As for psychological abuse lol c’mon man I agree he’s got quite a bit of stick, some just some unjust, but defending him to the hilt and going on like he can do no wrong is just as crazy as what some of the media halfwits say. And I don’t… Read more »
The man clearly has a back problem. But Arsenal Medical team and the German medical team have both ruled him out on occasion due to the back trouble. Simple logic tells you, both medical teams would not connive to deprive both teams of a key player. They have different objectives and the ONLY thing that binds both is that they need their players fit and would handle them with caution to ensure that is the case. I have played with a bad toe, it was fucking hell, can’t imagine what it must be like to play with pain in your… Read more »
Never have I seen anyone come anywhere near saying he can do no wrong. I’ve commented on poor performances. We know his game is not top in all categories – not a single player’s is. But this is all way out of whack. Calling what he gets ‘stick’ plays it down to the point of being insulting to him. It’s way beyond that. Ask a psychologist or specialist in mental and emotional abuse what they would consider the treatment he has gotten. It would be an eye opener. And yeah, if he’s coping with that, and living and playing with… Read more »
Fair play. Merry Christmas. All I’m saying is some people defend him to the hilt and act as if he can do no wrong. You say you comment on poor performances but that’s literally what I’m doing, and colouring it with the fact he can do better
The manager said he was left out of the matchday squad because of tactical reasons. I picked the best players for the tactics I wanted to use, he said.
Obviously Emery got the tactics wrong coz we lost the game. Ozil should have been in the team
What about the 4-2 lol
Really? If you think that wverything’s Fine and dandy behind the scenes you must be pretty naive. There’s something not right there, probably having some roots in the summer’s issues with the German squad, and just generally with Emery being less tolerant of him than Wenger was. Either way, he’s been taught a lesson this season and it’s up to him whether he learns it or not. Fingers crossed all round that it sinks in, whatever the specifics may be…
I never said there’s nothing happening behind the scenes & its far from ‘dandy’. It was more aimed at media jumping into conclusions without any real facts.
Personally I think there’s something more to it than just back injuries or tactical decisions. I honestly think Mesut might have some mental health issues, I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but something is just not clicking in.
Although, we’ve got a really smart & clever manager with huge interests in psychology, pedagogy & group management which leaves me thinking that if something is wrong with Mesut…. He is in good hands.
Just before the Spurs game, after listening to Emery, I knew we would not use Ozil. He mentioned something about how physical he wanted the team to be in that game as the reason he had not fielded Ozil. I recall I said Spurs were shit but they were good shit at the time. Most people disagreed with me but it was right there in all our faces. That was your tactical reason and why anyone seems to think it’s anything more than that is beyond me. I believe Ozil and Emery are working on his physicality. Contrary to popular… Read more »
I compare Mesut to Silva ( Man City) over a season, even three seasons and see a big difference. One dominates games, wins important games for his team, scores a bunch of goals and dribbles. The other makes one great assist in each game and has a big name. I want Arsenal to perform like Liverpool has been doing without having Mesut. Giving easy praises then seeing us continue playing Europa League in Khazasthan is no dream of mine.
If Silva plays bad no one will say a thing. Why? Because other players will step up – Aguero, Sane, Sterling, De Bruyne, Mahrez… The same was with Iniesta at Barcelona. We don’t have many game changers. In most cases for us Ozil is the one. Only Messi and Ronaldo can do that constantly tho.
Long story short. If Ozil were playing at City or Barcelona no one would be saying he is inconsistent because there would always be other players to step up. It is easier to “perform” in a team full of world class players.
Ozil on Saturday was classic Wenger era – wait until things are desperate and then put in a performance. If he could make 7 out of the next 10 games something special, that should be the target.
Sadly it feels like the Liverpool game will pass him by, but I live in hope.
Good words, Kola. Nice to hear about dressing room solidarity. Ozil is a great player and can do the job Emery needs for us. Ignore negative, biased motd, football London, and Sky nerds, we are arsenal family.
Kola has been a beast in the last few games. Most memorable image of the year has got to be our Bosnian tank leading the team to the corner flag and holding it aloft in triumph against the spud.
Kola the ENFORCER!
I wish Arsenal fans were a family. However there are many Arsenal fans who derive pleasure from negativity and regularly sow negativity through the media.
Sincerely a beautiful Christmas Wish!
I like the way people who were initially written off are making significant contributions to the team.
Should give the Corporal a boost if anything.
Love Ozil. I think he is class and he genuinely wants to succeed here. If the team is functioning well then Ozil has big part to play.
Also, I think there is a really good player in Kola. Just needs to keep fit and improve his concentration. He has been a real threat on the left recently
I’m going to play the heel here. Turning in a decent performance at home against those cloggers Burnley barely even begins to scratch away at my doubts surrounding Ozil.
I agree that Özil needs to perform better against the big teams, but don’t you think his value is apparent when his passing is so accurate that he can single-handedly unlock teams with 11 behind the ball? There have been times in the last few years we have dropped points against sides like Burnley/Brighton/etc because we lacked that exact brilliance when Özil is sick/dinged up.
Coming into this game there were credible doubts around Ozil. I don’t need to rehash that. And I’m not so fickle that one performance against Burnley can alleviate those doubts. I’m happy for those of you who are, but I’m not joining in with this “oh our lord and saviour Ozil has silenced the critics” parade. It’s reactionary to the point of being farcical. Ozil’s Arsenal career as a whole has been marred by spells of ineffectual and underwhelming performances, this season has been no different.To think a game against Burnley is a pivotal moment from which he’ll buck that… Read more »
thank you, goonero. i didn’t even feel like it was a great game for özil in total. he had two very fine moments, and he’s capable of things others aren’t, but no one ever doubted he’s capable of these things. i’d still much rather keep ramsey
That moment of genius could easily have been against one of the “so called” top teams.
Eh? And so what? What kind of nonsense is this? It was against Burnley. That is what happened. He didn’t do it against a top 6 team. Are we going to start praising players for who they could potentially play well against now?
I keep thinking of this: I feel Ozil, Kolasinac and Ramsey can accomplish what Messi and Alba do on a regular basis for Barca. Mesut with the long, bending diagonal pass, Sead with the run to put it back in the box, and Ramsey with the lung-bursting, delayed run into the box to finish off. Done! Thank me later.
Haha
Well said Kola! The team knows the value of Mesut Ozil.
As for Unai Emery, he must now stop messing around with players like Ozil and Xhaka and start using them in their ideal positions. Otherwise such players and their team mates – who know Ozil and Xhaka much better than Emery does – are sure to start seeing Emery as an overbearing, power mad fool.
Good to hear there’s friendly vibes in the dressing room. Having some issues with the coach is one thing, and they can work them out hopefully. I’m relieved it doesn’t seem to have gone beyond that.
Sign Zaha …. he is really a good player me thinks
We don’t need diving cheats
He was unplayable against ManC
He is almost always unplayable, really bullies defenders, that is one player we need.
Ozil is more sensitive a person. But still his footballing style really is for certain systems and that usually means a squad of uber talented players to get the most out of him. Unfortunately that is true of all players.
Let’s face it. At present it would take serious investment over multiple transfer windows. By which time he will be into last year or two of his contract.
So for the moment we just have to see if we can play him to suit the opposition who defend deep and lack an edge in attack.
A real waste of money on wages which could be better spent elsewhere for a player who can’t play every game.
Had we not wasted money on players the manager obviously didn’t want in previous windows like Gabriel, Park, Perez and even Sead.
With the right signings it may have worked a bit better. And perhaps we wouldn’t have sold Gnabry either, as he would have had more game time on lower wages than Perez.
It feels like someone player Football Management with transfers and just looked at absolute stats without considering whether it was square peg, round holes.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how Raul Sanhelli sorts this situation
I really like Kolasinac. I hope we can get some more good miles out of Monreal because those two on the left play some fun football.
And get well soon Holding!
For people who expect Ozil to be flying in with tackles, that’s never going to happen. That is not him and it will never be him. Tacklers come a dime a dozen. Players who can find passes like him don’t come too often, enjoy watching him in an arsenal shirt while you can.
I enjoy his game and I hope he spends the rest of his prime years at Arsenal.
Well sead..
I can’t believe we are still discussing one good pass which would have been irrelevant and already forgotten had Kolasinac’s cross and Auba’s finish not been as good.
Ozil is a good player, far too inconsistent for my liking, but I get the feeling some people here are Ozil fans first and Arsenal fans second. Ozil is not above The Arsenal and good for Emery that is making him understand that.
Thats the thing isnt it, if you look at chances created he is always one of the highest if not the highest, Arsenal just constantly miss, Aubamayeng has been missing some of the easiest chances, we really should have blown chelsea away at the beginning of the season but surprise surprise we missed like 3 sitters.