Unai Emery has revealed that Mesut Ozil trained alone today as he tries to recover from the back spasm that has seen him miss Arsenal’s last two games.
The German made the bench for the trip to Bournemouth last week but has not been in the matchday squads for the trip to Kiev and yesterday’s 4-2 win over Sp*rs.
Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Wednesday and it remains to be seen whether our most high-profile star will travel with the group.
“Today he was working alone, I don’t know if he’s OK for Wednesday,” Emery said on Monday.
“I said yesterday he’s had backache since last Tuesday. He couldn’t play in Kiev or yesterday. At the moment, I don’t know if he can play in Manchester.”
Whether Ozil has a back problem or not has been debated on the terraces and in the newspapers for 24 hours now.
That this latest issue comes so soon after Emery’s decision not to play him at Bournemouth and that the Arsenal medical team didn’t mention Ozil in their fitness bulletin on Friday has definitely exacerbated speculation that there’s been a falling out between player and coach.
The Spaniard’s short, sharp post-game comments about not knowing if his player was at the Emirates yesterday further added fuel to the fire.
Arsenal will definitely be without Granit Xhaka on Wednesday as his booking against Sp*rs tipped him over the yellow card threshold for this section of the season.
When you ask 10 players to hold up high pressure, only one player can ruin the work for everybody else. If you cheat on the task the better teams will sniff out the cheater and punish – sometimes with a goal.
Attitude is another thing. The attitude was great yesterday and everybody was up to the fight. I think Özil is not that kind of player, he has other tremendous attributes, and if a player doesn´t fit the style of play – he doesn´t play – when the manager is brave enough.
First of all football is a results business. If your decisions are backed by results then you are a genius and in all the 3 recent games Ozil has missed Arsenal have won. So Unai has no case to answer. Secondly I am on the Unai train and while I really like Ozil, if Unai feels Ozil doesn’t cut it, then Ozil doesnt cut it. I fully back Unai in this. Unai is making a statement that if you don’t deliver you dont make the team. This should help Ozil toughen up and get back in the team. In the… Read more »
No, he has back spasms
Not against Bournemouth. didn’t say he was injured.
Ozil did it against Liverpool and had a very good game along with rest of team. Don’t buy into narrative.
People seem to ignore how good Özil was against Liverpool. Even Blogs mentioned about it.
It is just not always obvious to the eye – especially when watching it for the first time. A replay just clears it up.
Maybe Emery has an issue with Ozil, maybe he doesn’t. If he does, I hope he sorts it out sooner rather than alter. What’s more annoying is that the perception that Ozil has some sort of attitude problem seems to be sticking with the armchair managers despite evidence to the contrary.
*later
And vs Leicester too. Where we came back from a goal down to win it at home. So..this whole thing about Ozil not capable of playing a bit daft.
Was it Chelsea at home and United at home where we blitzed both of them in the first 30 minutes? I believe Özil was a part of that. I think if the pressing is done cohesively, by everyone, he can do it too. It’s just when it’s not done as well, when only he and the striker press that he (understandably) gets frustrated. He’s always got good running and sprint stats so it’s probably more to do with frustration about the system. How he reacts/-ed to that nobody knows for sure…except for the team. However, I would really appreciate some… Read more »
You mean we won matches before we got this new manager? Seems like from the media reports we’ve never won before. I love our new manager. And this team, although I don’t want Ramsey to leave. But if Wenger was manager right now and we were 4th, tied on points with spurs, media and some fans would be chanting for Wenger to leave. We had the second best home record last season. Something was obviously off on the road. And, yes, with all the pressure on the players it was time for Wenger to go. But ozil isna great player.… Read more »
Dunno what’s going down but a lot of people dismissing back pain online, perfectly legitamite reason to miss a game. Genuinely writing this mid physio for my own clapped out spine.
Some years ago, I had what can be described as back “spasms,” though I usually said “my back has gone out.” At its worst, I needed to take slow careful steps to avoid sudden intense pain, etc. etc. Obviously, Ozil is a younger, super-fit athlete, with a team of physios and the best advice, but everything I have read about his condition makes me think the problem is completely physical.
Definitely. I had a back spasm about three months ago and still haven’t fully recovered. I had to hold my arms up like a T-rex when I walked (funny for everyone else to watch!) because my torso couldn’t support the weight of my arms hanging off it and walk in teeny little shuffle steps – it was *incredibly* painful. Also, the Dr told me that once you get a back spasm, you’re likely to re-aggravate it in the future, so it does make sense that this keeps coming up.
Your arms weight the same whether they’re bent or not
Angle, torque
I’m perfectly happy for this to be a non injury issue. I’ve got the utmost respect for Wenger but players were having way too comfortable life in the last couple of his years, while Wenger remained faithful and took almost all the bullets.
It’s absolutely fine if Emery is forcing the players to give their best. I don’t think it’s anything egoistic between Emery and Ozil (unlike the shit storm in Manchester). If Emery is trying to get the best out of his team and his stars, can’t wait for an Ozil who meets those expectations.
Exactly this. Not only is chronic back pain debilitating when it happens (it can bed you for several days), it’s also very difficult to operate on (the spine) and can put doubts in your mind as you can never tell what will set off the pain.
Sounds like he does have a back issue if he is training alone.
Plus he did celebrate our win https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1069267445419073536
so it may well be true that he is injured and still wanting the team to win even if he isn’t playing.
Blogs really wants to believe Ozil has an attitude. I don’t even know if an attitude suits him because he is our highest paid player and star, but Its getting a bit over board now. The only things Blogs believes are the negative things about Mesut. I mean, we all know his flaws, but attitude has never been one of those. He came back early to take part in the hard sessions his teammates were raving about, how has that gone out of the window. He had the worst World Cup experience of our players, the worst pre-season on a… Read more »
Except no one is saying ozil is feigning injury.
In this and the earlier post about Emery’s initial comments, Arseblog (or Arseblog news hound) is doing everything but clearly saying it. Doesn’t take a PhD to figure out what is being snidely and ever-so-subtly implied.
I’ve got a theory about all this. Gunnerblog has spoken dismissively about Ozil’s twitter “fanboys” before, but Andrew and James are as guilty of being head over heels for their favourites–particularly Bellerin and Ramsey–as anyone else. Since at least the summer, Ramsey and Ozil have often been portrayed by media/fans as being in some kind of competition with each other to earn Emery’s trust and a future at Arsenal. The club ultimately decided to cut Ramsey loose, and by implication supported Ozil as a central figure in the squad, at least in the short term (whether or not this is… Read more »
What? The narrative is emery didn’t think ozil is physical enough for the game so instead of benching him and invite controversies, he said that ozil got the usual backache. No one is implying that ozil doesn’t want to be benched or playing the way emery want so he feigned injury. Or maybe he actually got injured. Back spasm sounds to serious to be faked. If they want to do it, the usual illness would do. But I guess that’s way to obvious.
Actually they constantly imply that Ozil doesn’t want to be benched and that he doesn’t want to play the way Emery wants. They constantly say how happy they are if Ozil is being kept out for those reasons, without discussing the alternative scenario that our best player has back problems. I thought Ozil having back problems would be treated like Welbeck’s injury, in that the discussion will be about how we will cope without him, what he brings to the table when fit, looking at alternatives to him and wishing him well. The narrative of Ozil being given time off… Read more »
Totally agree. There is a bias towards reporting about Ramsey and Bellerin on arseblog like nowhere else. Ramsey may be a good/great player, but he has been injured for far too many times to be reliable. Ramsey has been holding the club to ransom. When Özil & Sanchez did it, they were branded mercenaries. Ramsey on the other hand “is well within his rights to look for better options”. The club stood by Ramsey during his injury crisis (and just as well, they should). What has Ramsey done to justify his elevated wage demands?
You lost me at `hello’
There is a myth that Emery chooses hardworking players more than ones with attributes. If that was true we would have seen Welbeck and Ramsey start more games than Mkhi and Xhaka. Again on Ozil the assumption is only being made because when Emery was asked “was mesut in the stadium?” He said he didnt know and nothing stopped Ozil from not being at the stadium during the match.
Back spasms!
Ask people who have experienced those if moving around is an option, and you will find that his absence is not a big surprise. It’s not even a big deal that he wasn’t there, what difference does that make? His teammates know whether he is supporting them or not.
Erm, both Xhaka and Mkhi are hardwaorkers. Pick another example.
Happy and quick recovery, Mesut! This is what a fan generally says to one of his players when he is injured. Or if he puts in question the truth of the club’s announcements to the fans, he accuses his club to lie. And it’s not being a fan.
Maybe he has Contagious the illness?
Excuse my bad grammar, I just thought maybe he needed private training to manage his injury and maybe has flu (thus don’t want to contaminate other players? He seems to be prone to illness. In my opinion he might be very important to unlocking the bus on Wednesday.
The media love to stir up controversy.
Quite frankly its getting boring now.
I know the press love to stir, however, what is telling is that neither player nor manager has denied rumours of a rift. The player hasn’t confirmed he has an issue with his back either. It’s a bit suspect.
People are making a big deal about this. Unai puts team selection base on scenario and tactical considerations rather than personnel. That said there’s something to be said when Ramsey who is one foot out of the door is preferred to Ozil. Maybe Ozil is having back issues. In any case any sentiment or frustration from being left out of the start for last two matches can (and likely will) be channeled positively by the gaffer to get Ozil psyched for the forthcoming United clash. OTOH much again is dependent on how Unai sees United and its weaknesses or strengths.… Read more »
Ozil and Rambo are different players (Capt Obvious I know) and if Unai wanted someone making runs at the TH backline to put pressure on them, Rambo is your guy. Although not in the same universe as Ozil when it comes to passing, they layoff to Auba for his 2nd was as good a pass as youll see and credit to Rambo and Unai for the way this turned out. We need Ozil if we want to be competitive, but the way this unfolded should make every fan relieved that Unai is learning what he has in his tool belt… Read more »
Ozil is finished, we’ll move him on at the earliest opportunity.
He’s not suited to the way Emery wants us to play, and his performances since February don’t justify him starting.
He deserves the benefit of the doubt regarding his back injury, as there’s no evidence to the contrary, but even if he was fit? I don’t think he’d have started yesterday or at Old Trafford on Wed.
I sympathize with Ozil, because I also have a lot of lower back problems (nothing crazy, but I have unusually tight muscles in my lower back that require me to stretch every morning), and every couple of months I have to take a couple of days to a week off due to my back. I play football and tennis 3-4 times a week, which isn’t too strenuous, so I can’t imagine how much pain Ozil must be in if he has anything similar since he practices and trains so hard every day. I love how he plays with elegance and… Read more »
I’ve had back spasms in the past which were so severe I couldn’t stand up straight and even trying was unbearably agonizing. So, this could be a totally legitimate situation (though if it is stress-induced, it wouldn’t bode well). That said, Emery’s “explanation” (or lack thereof) seemed to suggest there’s more to this than we know. I’ve decided to enjoy the fact that the team seems to be doing well without Özil and wait until we know more about his situation before calling for him to be sold!
Reading the comments here there seems to be a lot of bending over backwards (har har) to accommodate Herr Ozil, and intolerance of a range of opinions. Back problems are real, no question. So it’s completely reasonable to believe Ozil’s injured. But do you think Emery would be that dismissive of a legitimate injury? When Ozil’s on, he’s easy to love. He’s given us glory and how could you not love Good Ozil. I do think he comes in for a lot of criticism because of his inconsistency, his enormous paycheck, and the perception that he’s not very professional, and… Read more »
Also, how can a back spasm be so debilitating that it prevents him from attending the game, but 12 hours later, is training all fine and dandy by himself at Colney (and the back injury was no reported by the medical team)?
Not sure how people can deny this is a bit fishy.
If ozils back problems are so serious and repeated how on earth did we agree to give him such a crazy contract. I simply don’t buy into it. And as much as I love what Ozil is able to do, not even the most stubborn fan can argue that consistency has been a trademark of him in quite some time now. He is by far our most expensive player and until we have a PSG kind of economy (never gonna happen under current ownership) we simply can’t afford our star not to deliver good consistent performances.
Click bait.
I love ozil. I think he deserves his contract. While he may not be the kind of player who could do it in some tough away games I would still keep him because he’s got world class attributes that can take this team to next level. Also, I love Mkhitaryan. He may not have scored or assisted as much as we expected from him but, he makes the team tik when he plays and that’s what matters. Let’s remember he scored the first goal of the season against Chelsea.. He also scored against united last year. He was part of… Read more »