Unless you’ve been living under a rock (probably preferable in these uncertain times), you’ll probably know that Unai Emery and Mesut Ozil haven’t been signing off their Whatsapp messages to each other with the ‘face blowing a kiss’ emoji in recent weeks.
For a variety of reasons (sniffles, gammy knee, big boy opponents), the German’s game time has been severely limited since November.
Given he’s also retired from international football, our midfielder is basically spending a lot of time in the gym and then watching box sets at the weekend. All a bit odd given he’s the club’s most highly paid player by some distance.
Does Unai not like Mesut? Has someone at the club decided we need to force him out? Is the decision purely tactical? Or is it something else?
To date, the Spaniard has played a pretty straight bat when asked about the subject by the media, but now he’s hinted at a new reason for why he’s been benching the club’s star player – it’s a motivational tactic.
“At certain times, you have to provoke friction with footballers,” Emery told Sky Sports.
“From that friction, you can get something more out of them, something from inside, a greater sense of ambition or maybe even a complaint – a complaint regarding the team can be positive.
“As a manager, you have to be careful because that friction can break a relationship. But I believe in always looking for more, both individually and collectively, with conversations which are comfortable but also with conversations which are less comfortable.”
He added: “In the end, the main thing with any footballer is that their qualities are used to benefit the team. As a manager, you have to get the maximum out of that player and at the same time make sure that he fits with the rest of the team so that everyone is better.
“We know that we have to put pressure on the players, to push them. So if a player is giving 70 per cent, he gives 80 per cent. Then if he is giving 80 per cent, he gives 90 per cent. There is always another step, another push. Psychology is an aspect which can help to find it.”
If Emery’s recent treatment of Ozil is a tactic to improve him, it’s certainly bold. In the aftermath of the player’s falling out with the German national team set-up, he insisted that the Arsenal family had Ozil’s back.
He appears to have decided that the softly, softly approach wasn’t working and subsequently changed tack. Time will tell whether things are about to improve between the pair. If there isn’t a thawing in the relationship, we have a massive problem on our hands.
Playing psychological games with players can fail spectacularly. A manager can lose the whole team with such tactics. I have felt from the beginning that Emery was a bad appointment. Now I am sure of it.
Allowing payers to coast is the poor choice.
I have never advocated allowing players to coast. I advocate stopping psychological games with players, most especially friction creating psychological games. Other managers such as Klopp bring out the best from their players by other means. Emery should learn from them instead of following the philosophy of Jose Mourinho and his ilk.
Technically speaking a lack of friction would cause something (/someone) to coast! I think it’s important not to confuse provoking some friction in a squad with ‘psychological games’ as you put it, they are not the same thing…
Ozil played his best football under mourinho…
Mourinho treated him like Ars ene did, maybe even better because he built his side in a way that Ozil’s weaknesses wouldn’t be as significant. He was rewarded with 28 goals and 87 assists in 159 games.
Ozil’s chances created for Ronaldo was recently surpassed in February. That means he created, in 3 seasons, more chances than anyone has created for Ronaldo, during his 9 year Madrid career. That includes Kroos, Modric, Isco, Dimaria, Bale and etc.
Ozil’s job on the pitch is to create chances. It is like saying that a defender made more clearances than anybody else. Mourinho did have some problems with him at Real. Ozil said in his book that Mourinho once yelled at him during halftime : Do you think all you have to do on the pitch is to give two good passes ?
Not honestly sure mourinho’s tactical set up is the best defence for Ozil really considering how other top managers seem to have moved beyond him too
Mourinho did not treat Ozil at all like Arsene. You should read Ozil’s biography. It was tough love.
Ozil plays his best football as a number 10. Modern football has evolved beyond having a player who doesn’t score 20+ goals a season only operating in an attacking position. Even goalscorers are required to press, work the channels and operate across the pitch. Ozil is the best creator in world football, but is several years too late. What other team has a player who only operates behind the strikers? I cannot blame Ozil for this but I think as a club we have to decide to buck the trend and try to play with a number 10 or replace… Read more »
They said the same thing about the 442 and how ithad no place in modern football, until Atletico won the league with it. They said you can only thrive with a big man upfront, until Messi showed that you can even play away from the defence as a false nine and thrive. They said a defensive midfielder had to be big, strong, robust and uncompromising, until Sergio Busquets and Kante came along, neither looking like a traditional DM. They said defender had to be tall and strong, until canavaro won the ballon d’or. Many teams might have moved on, but… Read more »
If I could give you 100 thumbs up, I would do so.
Bravo!!
If you create the kind of environment Xhaka needs, he can be a great DM. Same for Mustafi if he doesn’t have to do his slide-and-miss tackles.
Not that I disagree per se, but your examples are somewhat flawed. Only the Atleti example fits the Ozil scenario; a method once thought outdated but shown it can still work in modern football. All the other examples are evolutions of systems, styles and positions once to be a certain way but phased out; big man upfront evolved to messi, bruiser DM evolved to Busquets, burley defender evolved to ball-players, etc. All those arguments actually point towards the other argument; that the idea of a maverick 10 has evolved beyond just wondering round and making chances. Like I said, not… Read more »
442 is a weird example, it has come back in favour with some managers but it fell out of favour because managers couldn’t compete against the most successful teams of that time with the formation. The classic number 10 could be a similar example where, sure, maybe we see it again in future but right now you can’t compete against the top sides and for the biggest trophies with that set up. Everything else you’ve listed is a case of someone like Messi changing the way the game is played more than an existing profile of player becoming redundant. In… Read more »
We’ve played our best football this season as 4-2-3-1 with Ozil as the 10
Our best football, Fulham and Spurs, didn’t have Ozil involved.
Well-said.
I agree with you and maybe shouldn’t have suggested these things are set in stone. However our current playing staff are not equipped (in their best positions) to play how Emery wants. So where do we go from here? Players can exist in a loose framework and roles change and adapt but a combination of our League position and the fact we are no longer an elite team means we cannot afford a luxury player like Ozil if he cannot adapt. 442 worked because they didn’t play as rigid as the 90s and Messi worked because he is significantly better… Read more »
spot on, a great post buddy!
Ozil is a wimp. No tactics or formations can make up for that.
I think it depends on our ambitions. If all the top sides have moved beyond a number 10 we can either emulate them or hope that by continuing with a system that has seen them move further away from us we can somehow bridge the gap…
All of the top sides have moved beyond a number 10 only if you (a) define a number 10 in the most narrow and unhistorical way possible and (b) you then don’t count Man City, Barca, Juventus, PSG, and Madrid as top sides.
The main point you make is right: adapt you game to use the strengths of your best players. But it is not true that no one plays with a number 10–that is, a midfielder who is an attacker rather than box to box or holding, who generally plays in the centre of the pitch rather than the wings (or drifts to the centre even if he starts out wide), who tries to play between the opponent’s midfielders and their defenders, and whose most important asset is his passing and creation of scoring opportunities for others rather than scoring himself. That… Read more »
Odd selection, as almost all of them DON’T play like Ozil. Neither Modric or Silva play like that (anymore); they both play as a hybrid-8/10, ala Alli, KDB, etc.
The only high profile player that’s closest to Ozil would be Pogba, and in all honesty, even then he’s more box to box and scores more goals.
You have missed the point: If you define a number 10 in the narrowest possible way, then no one uses one any more. If you define it according to the skills that Ozil brings to a side, and include the limitations those skills impose on your tactics if you play to take advantage of them, then the top teams in Europe use a 10. Does Silva play just like Ozil? Of course not–but he plays the same role as Ozil. Another important point that should be obvious: the role depends in part on who else is in the team. Silva… Read more »
Football tends to run in cycles between attack dominant teams and defense dominant teams, it’s not as simple as modern football doesn’t accommodate Ozil or players like him. Look at Mahrez, Neymar, twigs that should get snapped in a tackle. It’s up to the coach to find a system that accommodates the players he has. Not disregard the players for the system.
In a team full of stars that got challenged in maybe 4 games per season.
how does Klopp improve players who won’t give 100% ??
ok then what did Emery say about kola he when gave manu a free goal last month??
Evidently Emery is trying different approaches with different players.
And I’d rather blame him on his on-field tactics, because he was right when he said we should be able to beat the like Westham without Ozil.
He just gets rid a la Mama Sakho, Benteke, Balotelli…
We should do the same. We’ve seen everything there is to see from the lot. If only we had the resources to make an overhaul… 🙁
what are these “means” you talk about?
Its easy to say Klopp’s work is a success cause theyre top pf the league now, but not many were saying this when he arrived or for his first few years. Klopp would not have succeeded if he was appointed at Arsenal with the board we have.
didn’t klopp try the same thing with sturridge without any success? another very talented player with questionable motivation. i think it’s unfair to compare klopp to emery at this stage as he has had the time to reshape his squad and get the players in that he knows he can work with. this all goes back to the preposterous decision to award ozil that contact. it was blindingly obvious at the start of last season we should have taken the 80-100m we could have for both sanchez and ozil and used that money to rebuild. the club has been poorly… Read more »
All the thumbs up in the world Andy. Could have put Wilshere in there too for another 15-20M. Mismanagement at Arsenal over last few years has been staggering
sure dave. and i would probably have kept the ox and built a team around him, although that would have been a big risk. i like emery’s style. folks that are on here crying about spiky management clearly know very little about how top level sports works behind the scenes. it’s a hyper competitive super pressurised environment and very few folks can handle it. that’s why the guys at the top get paid such huge bucks. ozil is clearly and never has been one of those guys. i defended ozil for a long time because i love watching him play… Read more »
Hard to imagine this comment being downvoted when Wenger was manager. Funny how sentiment can blow like the wind.
The friction seems to be taking a while to manifest seeing as this charade has been going on since November…
Exactly. Time to get him back on the field and see if this jedi mind trick has worked.
I can see it from Emery’s point of view. I think on a few occasions this season Ozil has let him down when he needed him most. I’m thinking woefully ineffectual displays at Palace, Wolves and Southampton away where instead of keeping the ball he tried a needless dummy in his own half and they scored directly from it. That even boiled my blood and it must have been a breatking point between them. Since then he was hooked at half time against Brighton and has not featured since. Two of the best performances this season – Fulham and Spuds,… Read more »
Not speaking in total about Emery, but this particular philosophy is shared by just about every bad boss out there. To me, it shows a lack of creativity as a motivator and a reactionary view of “how the world works.” Dare to imagine that people can be properly motivated by something other than discomfort.
I don’t think we know exactly how he meant it. I doubt he’s saying ”i tear them down until they try to prove me wrong” its more ”i will tell the inconvenient truth to your face, and not ignore the elephants in the room” for instance put a tackle in and work hard Ozil…. We cant win when you get dispossessed and flail your arms in the air because you didn’t get a free kick from a strong shoulder barge while their player has all the time in the world to look up, posture and then spread a ball into… Read more »
He didn’t say it’s the only way to motivate, he said at certain times it can be useful. Ozil’s had the arm around shoulder for some three years and, decent stats notwithstanding, hasn’t proven himself the player to build an attack around in the way Bergkamp or even Fabregas were. He’s somehow nevertheless got himself quite a raise, even by the mental current standards of the game. Expectations will follow. I think Emery will die on this hill, but I think it’s a worthwhile one to die on. If he does go, it will say far more about the state… Read more »
My post didn’t mention Özil, just the philosophy. Of course friction can get “results,” but so do many odious forms of leadership—it doesn’t make them a net positive, though.
Elliot?
Still not what Emery said though, especially if you read the full interview. He even made the point you have to remember players are, first of all, human beings and you have to treat people with respect. There’s nothing wrong with a boss who is frank and honest but gets results, it’s much better than a relaxed working environment where there’s no pressure from above
No player ever coasted when Tony was skipper , he would never allow it. We need a true leader on the park with the captains armband on to sort this type of shit out. Ask Dennis Bergkamp.
Oh for chrissake, you remind me of those commentators who say “in my day, that would have been a good tackle,” as someone like Ryan Shawcross slides in studs-first. Somehow, even after Adams was gone, Bergkamp played okay. Some would even say he played pretty well.
i don’t think managing a group of millionaire men lends itself to typical workplace motivation. Money doesn’t motivate them – they have too much non financial incentives don’t motivate them because they can afford anything the club can Praise doesn’t motivate them because they have so much money they can afford an agent who gives them all the praise they need Promotion (to captain) doesnt work because they already have a pecking order that you determined with the pay structure that you deployed career progression – seeing arsenal as a stepping stone may motivate performances … but not when you… Read more »
I would agree, but Emery’s experience and success suggests that he knows what he’s doing.
Ozil acted like a passenger long before Emery came on board. As Andrew said, Emery probably tried the patient supportive tack and it didn’t work.
My thinking is that the club are backing Emery. I couldn’t see him going on a suicide mission on this without hearing from Raul.
The best thing that could happen is that Ozil would step up and be a mature professional and do what the boss tells him to do.
Come on..nearly everyone needs a kick up the arse sometime
Emery, please play Ozil on Saturday. I beg you, I beg you!! Just once!
Okay, but if he is anonymous again in a big game, will the Ozil fans pipe down?
Better than not playing him and dealing in what-ifs
Except we’ve seen it 1000 times before
haven’t – we have seen it 500 times before – the other 500 times he was class
Depends. If everyone else is shit too and we have very little posession of the ball, then no.
with all the crying over him not playing, I expect nothing less than match-winnig performances week-in week-out.
his salary’s worth.
I don’t understand this logic at all. No, he isn’t supposed to be producing match-winning performances right now. Even if he plays just a little better than the next best alternative (enter the player you feel should play), he deserves his spot. His salary doesn’t matter because we have him in the club already. Whether he plays or not, he gets the money. So, why not see past it.
Yes. Like it or not, the contract was signed last year and is sunk cost on the balance sheet. All this talk comparing him to other players on other teams is moot. His contribution to our performance needs to be compared to the perceived contribution of the alternate players available. Looking at it this way, with the injuries we have, and the others available, friction or not, I don’t understand why he is not on the bench at least.
You mean like he was in fa cup final against Chelsea. So many John Terry’s on this forum
Not really. He needs game time. Assuming Ozil does play and is subbed in the middle of the second half or so, would you judge him on 60-70 minutes of football after several weeks of not playing? Would you do the same for every other Arsenal player?
Ozil vs Kante? My money is on the Chelsea man
Playing your best players can improve your team and results*
Playing Ozil away from home can be… frustrating
Who are the best players?
Not Iwobi
A player with the talent that he has must be consistent and emery has too get that out of him being 30 years old its now or never and if this is wat it takes then so be it or else go play in china
It’s been abundantly clear for a very long time that Ozil is finished as a player, the sooner we get him off the wage bill and permanently out of the club the better, you can’t give hunger and desire to someone, they’ve either got it? Or they haven’t? I’ve never seen reports about Ozil being unhappy about being out of the team, it’s always that he likes where he lives and doesn’t want to move, which says to me he’s lost any personal pride or ambition in his line of work, he’s had a fantastic career, but it would be… Read more »
Quite a few baseless assumptions there.
Seem to know A lot about ozil don’t ya?
But don’t know he wants to retire in Turkey?
(also his current contract is better than anything he will get anywhere so why would he leave?)
The problem is to know with whom you can do it and with whom you cannot do it. Each person is different and reacts differently to that kind of treatment. But for now it seems more disrupting than anything else…
To be fair, Ozil played his best football under Jose Mourinho. I think, arguably, Wenger’s soft touch has seen Ozil decline in the last couple of seasons and at least fail to be consistent
His best football arguably was@ werder Bremen
From the looks of it, it sounds like he has been talking to Ozil and that is good. Comfortable conversations or otherwise as long as there is honest communication there is a chance for revival in the the relationship. But, we have to take into account Ozil is 30 and we can’t build the team around him now he has to support and facilitate the younger newer players to shine. If this tactic is what gets Ozil there so be it. If it doesn’t we are missing a great couple of seasons that he could have contributed to but collectively… Read more »
Emery is a con artist.
Get a grip, Christ
That’s uncalled for Joe.
Cant believe a comment like this gets more upvotes than downvotes…. Really shows how fickle some of us become, when results arent going our way.
I believe the audience of ARSEBLOG has significantly risen in last year or so but unfortunately progress is only in numbers and not in quality of comments.
I have been following ASREBLOG for almost 10 years and was always glad that it had real, football-caring, a bit crazy but ultimately loyal fans that love the club.
This Emery-Out bullshit after 20-something games and after 22 years of Wenger, just adds on to the growing sense that this too has become platform for instant, never played a minute but know it all ilks.
I feel your sentiment, but let’s hope we’re not that far down the hole yet!
I think it’s like the social media outlets. Ignore the extreme outliers, or click your opinion, and move on. If it’s really unacceptable, blogs and the crew do an excellent job of even handed mediation.
Absolutely. But I think it’s great that everyone can have a voice and the Blog to be inclusive. We all know who posts what is sincere and what is BS. And it beats yelling at the dog about the Gunners!
Excellent, thanks for that, my thoughts exactly.
This comment section is starting to resemble something akin to the daily mail online
Sounds like he’s ready to welcome Mesut back into the fold for Saturday.
Ozil will have to take his chance and shine for us. Now that Kante plays a bit higher up the pitch for Chelsea, I think it will be another goalfest, hopefully we come out on top
Oh now he plays that Mislintat.
*with
I can see such tactics working for a young player in his early twenties, but not for an established, World cup winner, highest-earner player in his final big contract at the age of 30.
Well said m’lord, especially when Mesut has had to endure the most difficult and upsetting summer of his career, been insulted and ripped to shreds by all and sundry, and felt that he had to leave the national team that he loves. To behave the way that Unai has is not psychology, it’s pure amateurish cuntery.
I do blame the management mostly. If they hadn’t put him on such high wages, then at least the coach would have the option to put him for a transfer or play him in games.
I agree. The money is in the way of the whole situation both opinion-wise, and in club financial facts. That much money is out of line for any player, anywhere, and that includes Ozil. Especially since it so distorts the overall wage balance. They had a very difficult decision – fans were toxic, Alexis was heading out, the play was a wreck. It would have been an extremely brave call to hold a wage line with Ozil due to the backlash of losing both of the most highly rated players, and what that would mean in trying to attract new… Read more »
It would be difficult to believe the experience for him at the WC was not going to leave some marks. Not only all the scapegoating, but just the way they played and were ousted had to have some effect. Then when he comes into Arsenal from the break, all we heard is “we need more from Ozil” right from the get go. Not sure if I am with UE on this one.
He could have reacted with more fight..like fuck it I will show everyone how good I am! Did it for 15 minutes against Leicester and a decent game against Burnley. Thats it, no more..
Ozil is the Emperor’s new clothes
Liverpool at the Emirates?
Not sure. Sounds like he’s given more of the arm around the shoulder treatment to Iwobi and that’s working well for him. I doubt young players need much motivation but Ozil has played for Real Madrid, won la liga, won the World Cup, retired from international football and is hugely well paid so motivation could be more of an issue for him than a player at the start of their career.
That’s not a dig at Ozil either, remember how mertesacker spoke of struggles for motivation after winning the World Cup and towards the end of his career?
If you’re treating a star like a novice, that’s not gonna work. As I was saying above though, I’m giving Emery the benefit of the doubt that with his years of experience and track record of success, he knows what he’s doing. We’ll see. Ozil has long drawn criticism for his attitude and inconsistency, it’s barely worth even mentioning. Remember Keown’s rant last year, there are many examples. Ozil’s played enough this season for us to get a sense that he hasn’t made the most of his playing time: 4 goals and 2 assists in all comps. For 350K a… Read more »
Why would you use friction on a player whose entire country has basically turned him into persona non grata, a player who only has his club as his only football playing option and most importantly, a player who has never had confrontations at the club he has played for and his national team? Doesn’t a player’s personality come into account when deciding how to motivate him/her? Isn’t it paramount to consider the attitude of a player before such tactics can be applied? Not everyone reacts to things the same and this method that blogs likes so much, can end up… Read more »
I get you’re a huge Ozil fan (from all of your comments) but it’s really not clear that somehow Emery has mismanaged him. By all accounts (even Ramsey has publicly said so), the rules simply did not apply to Ozil when Wenger was in charge. If Ozil is acting up b/c he’s been told he’s just another player and he has to follow the same rules everyone else does now that Wenger’s gone, I don’t really have an issue with Emery.
Ok, let me make it clear. I do not mind if Ozil is sold, to facilitate a new philosophy or direction for the club. I don’t think a manager/coach should sacrifice the team for one player. I support Arsenal and I would like to see us thrive, whether it is with Ozil or without. But, in having said that, I am ignorant to the fact that Ozil is an amazing player. Ozil, at average, is better than everyone at the club at creating chances. I think this is Ozil’s worst season with us, and yet he is still our leading… Read more »
I meant not ignorant. And on this whole Ramsey calling Mesut the teachers pet because Mesut was constantly talking to Ars ene and that he had extra days off, is really painting Ozil and Arsene unfairly. Firstly, we all were concerned about how many games Sanchez played non-stop for club and country. I wished he would take some days off, but he wouldn’t. Now, Ozil is the only player in that same period who played the most games overall after Sanchez. Ramsey has never spent a full season without missing a considerable amount of time. So if Mesut gets more… Read more »
Liking Ozil is A-ok – the vast majority of the people on here would love to see him performing at his top week in and week out. Pretending that he’s consistently performing at a world class level since he’s been here and somehow he’s being martyred by Emery, not so much. The fact is Ozil has been wildly inconsistent since he joined Arsenal. He’s gone through a few spurts like fall of 17 before he got the new contract where he was playing up to his potential. But he also goes through long periods of being very average- and that’s… Read more »
You don’t get to be the fastest player to 50 assists in EPL history with spurts. You do not become the second highest creator of chances in Europe over the last 5 years in spurts. I get that he is not everyone’s cup of tea, but nobody said he performs at a world class level on a weekly basis, he’ll not even a monthly basis. Ozil is not some sort of deity. Ozil isn’t even our best player over the last 10 years. He isn’t the end all, be all of Arsenal. But on the inconsistency point, you are all… Read more »
Ozil has lagged Erickson & DeBruyne in assists/chances created and in goals (significantly) the past several years yet makes at least 150k a week more than either of those players. The truly top players in the world are able to consistently perform at a very high level even if they aren’t always putting in world class performances (Modric, Messi, Ronaldo). It would be one thing if Ozil were occasionally putting in the 10 out 10 Leceister game and otherwise performing at 8 or 9 /10 as world class players do, but he’s not. He’s either a 9/10 or a 5/10.… Read more »
If you look at the past several years, Erickson and Debruyne have both significantly outperformed Ozil in terms of goals, assists and chances created despite making over 150k less a week than he does. That difference is a big deal when we’re talking about a self-sustaining business model. The real issue is his inconsistency. The truly top players consistently put up 8 or 9 out of 10 with the occasional Leceister type game (modric, messi, Ronaldo etc.). The issue with Ozil is he’s almost always either a 9 /10 or a 4/5 out of 10. He simply does not have… Read more »
@ Devlin “You don’t get to be the fastest player to 50 assists in EPL history with spurts. You do not become the second highest creator of chances in Europe over the last 5 years in spurts.” No but maybe you do get there by being perhaps the only player at a top team that’s only asked to create chances, take set pieces and literally nothing else (pressing, tracking back, scoring goals). These are also oddly specific stats, surely his performances over the last 2 or 3 years would be more relevant? The strange thing about Ozil is that the… Read more »
And I’ll repeat another part of that conversation. We sucked on every part of the pitch over the two seasons you cite. Do you expect high chance creation numbers if we’re a shambles across the pitch and have no control of the matches? Most of the matches those seasons we didn’t or were playing at the level of mid-table clubs. You can’t separate an individual’s performances from those of the entire squad over the course of a season. Kdb, Alli, and Ericksen played in teams vying for top of the league or solidly in the top three while we were… Read more »
I think those who defend him the way you say, do that because he is a player that does not get credit for what he does. People will defend someone who is scapegoated. If people do not think he is that good, why have such high expectations of him. Blogs constantly talks about Ozil at his best as the player we need, now if he isn’t that good then why is he to blame for our failures? Average Ozil is better than what we have in our side right now. Like I said before, I do not think Ozil is… Read more »
@Devlin
If we supported a club where wages are irrelevant – Man City, United, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. then it really wouldn’t be a big deal that Ozil hasn’t consistently produced at the level his reputation or contract suggests he should be. See Sanchez at Man U.
However we support a club where the owner refuses to put in any money and b/c so much money has been spent badly we simply can’t afford to have our top player be on the 2nd highest contract in the PL and not consistently play like a top player.
You realise Ozil gets laid if he plays or not right? It’s a stupid situation that we are not using him. He at least consistenly plays better than those in the starting 11 right now. Why wouldn’t we play him? It’s on Emery to figure this one out, and a black mark on his record so far that he hasn’t created a situation where we can use Ozil. This is what Emery is paid to do (and very handsomely I would add), to manage the players we have. And we got Mesut Ozil. Play him.
That’s a fun typo… Paid, not laid ?
@ Mpls You may think it’s unfair to single out our two worst seasons in 20 years, but they also happen to be our last two seasons and thus are the most relevant to our current situation. And it is true that KdB, Alli, Eriksen and others have been playing for better and more successful teams (in terms of premier league position) over the last couple of seasons. But the point I was trying to make is that there’s been some incredible hyperbole (and very dodgy statistics) from those seeking to defend Ozil from criticism of his performances. In your… Read more »
@Bob, yes I did realise Ozil’s luck with the ladies didn’t depend on whether he’s playing for Arsenal. It’s actually inversely proportional to how well he’s doing at fortnite 😉
@ Devlin I don’t have a problem with people defending Ozil per se, but please let’s try and be objective about his performances, especially as compared to his peers. We do him or ourselves no good when we claim he’s the bestest, most creative player in the world ever, when he’s not even the best AM in the league (and Emery seems to think he might not even be the best at the club!). Has he been scapegoated? Perhaps at times he has been, same as others who have gotten as much stick if not more. Doesn’t make it right… Read more »
@ loose_cannon Some fair points (nice spot with the big chance stats). I think many people would agree that Ozil only really hit his best form for Arsenal in 2015-16, and hasn’t quite produced the results we might have hoped for since then. That said, it’s worth putting the numbers you list in broader context. Consider the overall key pass p/game and total chances created stats for 2016-17 and 2017-18 (which you suggest, reasonably enough, are seasons when Ozil has arguably underperformed relative to other key creative players at top 6 clubs): 2016-17 (KPs p/game top 5) 1. Eriksen 3.1… Read more »
The flip side of this is all the other players you listed either score significantly more goals (virtually everyone on this list does) and except hazard all of have had much more defensive duties than Ozil – particularly under Wenger
@ atom & loose_cannon Fair points – especially about defensive responsibilities. Ozil’s overall EPL goals record doesn’t compare too badly to most of those players, though (Hazard & Alli aside, obviously): Ozil 30 in 155 apps (0.19 p/game) Eriksen 45 in 195 apps (0.23 p/game) De Bruyne 38 in 154 apps (0.24 p/game) Silva 54 in 267 apps (0.2 p/game) Anyway. I don’t disagree much with the overall assessment – my point is more that the quality & output gap between Ozil & those other players isn’t quite as big as is sometimes suggested (well, as long as you’re not… Read more »
@The_Golden_Wrigglesworth That’s a really good analysis as well, though I tend to shy away from using key passes because, as per Opta, it’s just a pass, cross or set piece that leads to a shot. Big chances created created is generally a greater indicator of quality, but of course no stat is perfect. The big chances created per game is interesting but again, it doesn’t show Ozil “smoking” other top players in the league, he’s in the mix but he’s not way out in front. And without wanting to move the goalposts too much, part of the original conversation I… Read more »
@loose_cannon I’m with you in that Ozil really has been a player in decline the past few years and a lot of the support around him just tries to pretend that’s not the case. The difficult issue now that we’ve tied ourselves to him for better or worse via that contract is whether the team is better off with him in it (yes when he’s playing well) or if what we give up in terms of defensive/ goals isn’t worth the cost. That seems to be Emery’s conclusion when playing bigger teams. While I really hope Ozil finds a way… Read more »
@loose-cannon You continue to take condescending shots at people about ‘incredible hyperbole’ or ‘very dodgy statistics’ yet want to cherry pick the stats that suit you and pan the ones that don’t fit your narrative. And you also show your bias in refusing to actually acknowledge the context of the last two seasons. Wrigglesworth’s nice work above illustrates another very key part of Ozil’s game, and we all know it. So in Arsenal’s worst league showings in 20 years, he still was at the top of the charts for Key Passes, and top ten Big Chances and Assists every time.… Read more »
One last thing.
I’ve clearly acknowledged Ozil has not been on his best form, and that he may very well not fit Emery’s system (whatever that turns out to be).
So don’t try to attribute any of your barbed ‘thinks he’s he bestest mostest’ condescension to me.
I’m just sick and tired of an ‘extremely vocal subset’ of this support cutting into their players year upon year.
@Mpls This is the last I’ll say on this here. I didn’t mean to cause any offence and if I have done so, I’m sorry. And you may not want me to attribute some of the hyperbole around Ozil to you but it was your “interesting” comment that made me want to do some digging in the first place. The truth is there has been much hyperbole and exaggeration when it comes to Ozil’s performances from people trying to defend them on here. I urge you to look more critically about what his defenders have been saying about him here,… Read more »
Did I claim your stats are false? Not once. And you say it yourself – in your opinion the ones you’ve used are the “most relevant” – choosing two. From the years that are “most relevant” – our worst in the last 20 years. Your opinions. The narrower the set of stats, the less of the picture you understand. You totally pan a key stat in creative play – Key Passes. And you totally pan the condition of our team over those Most Relevant seasons. The most relevant feature of those seasons is we were shit across the whole pitch.… Read more »
This is an interesting piece of conversation with all kinds of stats. In my mind, there are just 4 questions I need to ask myself? 1. Do Alli, Eriksen, D Silva or Hazard play for us or can we get them? A. No 2. Can we move Ozil out to some other team? A. No, because of his wages. 3. Are Ozil’s attacking stats better than the rest of our attackers? A. In most instances, yes but maybe he can try to score more 4. Can Ozil play better than he has been playing? A. Of course yes. But what… Read more »
THIS
Pure speculation and pretty unfair to Emery.
The Ozil situation has reached the point of truly absurd as every comment from Emery is now read as relating specifically to Ozil or he’s constantly being asked about him. Emery really doesn’t have the Mourihno type history with star names – he got along with pretty much all of PSG except Neymar who constantly went over his head. Keep in mind PSG is chock full of big name players, pretty much any of whom would instantly be the biggest star at Arsenal (Mbappe, DiMaria, Draxler, Veratti, Silva, etc.). It really appears to be a case of Sanhelli,Sven and Ivan… Read more »
There might be some issues, but Bloggs is setting an agenda of uncertainty by constantly referencing unproven stuff and continuous little digs. Do you honestly think Adidas signed a huge contract with us because they wanted someone like Guendouzi as the poster boy? Mesut has millions of followers for a reason, he gives us moments of joy and is a good person, and it’s getting to the point where he’s damned whatever he does. I f he doesn’t start it’s because he’s faking an injury or throwing a tantrum, if he starts and we win then it’s because the opposition… Read more »
I like Ozil but I see a player who is wildly inconsistent and who really doesn’t necessarily fit in at the top level of European club football due to the way the game has evolved. And one who is on such a high contract that it’s impacting our ability to sign other players. I’m also not crazy about the Ozil crowd spinning this narrative that somehow emery is the new Mourinho and is intentionally picking on him. Just doesn’t fit with his history
If fits in with everything in his history. Unai Emery is not a psychologist, he’s read a few books, thinks he knows it all, and has a long history of alienating intelligent and creative players.
I always said that he warrants the wage, if we look at it as a signing in January. Here is a player who has put up his stats. He went to a team that had gone 9 years with no trophy and won 3 FA Cups and 3 Community shields. He has a considerable following globally for his football ability, and not modelling or social life. He is a consummate professional and he has been backed by Mourinho and Leow. If we gave him 350k p/w and it seems like a lot, it really isn’t. If we allocate 150k to… Read more »
What’s Ozil resale value? Negative as we are going to have to subsidize his wages if we want him to leave. You would get most of your money back if not more on the other players. We’re also self sustaining which Liverpool etc aren’t
Why sell Ozil? Why not build from his signing and try to improve with him in the side? Why is everyone so intent on selling such a good player?
I mean if we were playing without him and creating chances, while our attack looked fluid and we could transition well, then sell him. But right now when what he is good at is one of the things we are missing, the other being defensive organization, why sell? To buy a worser creative player to replace a better creative player?
The market for him was pretty weak to begin with. If you notice even on a free he wasn’t being linked with any top clubs other than Man U. Unlike Ramsey you weren’t hearing noises of Madrid, Barcelona, PSG etc. On his current contract he’s totally unsellable unless China would take him.
Rumours are one thing and concrete interest is another. Ozil is not a Ramsey type of player, Ozil is bigger in talent, stats and prestige. Going out in public to register your interest is a bad move for top clubs because it can raise expectations from fans and also the price from the seller. People forget how we signed him and also how Real signed him. No mention was ever really made of Ozil when he moved from Werder or Real, and now you’re suprised nothing came up at Arsenal? Ramsey is only being publicly clamoured for because the club… Read more »
Ozil has gams where he is world class but lacks the consistency you find in the truly top players. The modrics, hazards, messis, ronaldos of the world consistently produce 8 or 9/10 with the occasional Leceister type game. For the majority of his Arsenal career, Ozil has either been a 4/5 out of 10 or a 9/10 out of 10. If you look at the past several years, Erickson and DeBruyne have significantly outperformed Ozil in terms of goals, assists and chances created despite making 150-200k less a week than he does. Both also have more defensive responsibilities than Ozil… Read more »
Saying Ramsey’s agent is behind the rumours is comical and desperate when even Juve’s sporting director basically admitted that they’re after him. https://arseblog.news/2019/01/juventus-its-our-duty-to-track-ramsey/ As for Ozil, it’s clear why no one came in for him. Every top team now expects more from their creative players, either scoring goals and/or doing more defensively and/or positional flexibility. He’s also 30 (no resale value) on a massive wage and has a now flaky appearance record. Rumours of diva behaviour won’t help either. To focus on his creative record (which hasn’t been all that for the last couple of seasons btw) is to miss… Read more »
Of course the Juventus sporting director did, but who else? I did say rumours of all these sides, not the one side that has finally gotten him.
So who else came out and expressed an interest the way the Juventus sporting director did?
Juventus are the only ones that have gone public with their interest (he’s also been heavily linked with PSG, Bayern and Liverpool) but you’d think that the endorsement of the perennial Italian champions and CL semi-finalists would be enough 😉
the thing is…does the team quickly transition from defence to attack without ozil? does the team play fluid attacking football without him? do they create as many chances? do they find key passes only ozil can find in the entire team? etc etc we have played some of our best football so far with him on the pitch. most/all of our disastrous showings so far has been when he’s not on the pitch. let’s not be too fooled by emery into thinking that ozil does not pull his weight. this hard running style got us destroyed at anfield. same style… Read more »
By far our best game came without him – sp@rs. Not even close
We performed better against Sp*rs last season with him playing incredibly.
Your claim that Emery didn’t fall out with other players at PSG is outright false. Read the chaps at GFFN who claimed just the opposite the other day.
I just don’t know what to think any more ?
I support Emery (because well, he’s our manager), but I remember how happy I was when Ozil signed his new contract. So, if they can’t co-exist, it’s clear to me who I’d rather see go. Now, I know that might not be the most sensible and logical solution; it’s just what my gut tells me. All in all, I’ve been underwhelmed by the impact Emery’s had. Let’s hope the Ozil situation gets resolved quick and we turn over a new leaf.
i agree
He makes sense. you can’t allow a player giving 70% of his effort a free reign. but according to arsenal fans not playing Ozil, the player who is constantly performing to his potential, and not who somehow did not save us from 6th and 5th places last 2 season, yes him is root cause for everything and why emery needs to go. it’s not like this punch of ballers have ever failed before, and it’s emery’s fault for not making them all better than their true level. And because we all know they are not the best 6th squad in… Read more »
long story short, Emery made mistakes, but this squad is not good enough regardless. AND what’s worse is that our true problem are being shadowed by this feud over a player not worth the fuss, and won’t change our reality even if he played every week, of course at 70%.
The funniest thing to me is that Ozil has always been a liability in big games away against the top 6 but now people are crying out for him to start against chelsea. Even Wenger dropped Ozil for the chelsea game last season in favour of welbeck and Iwobi and was praised for our increased competitiveness and those two doing so much good work off the ball
AlWAYS, it makes me angry reading your comment. Look at how özil is treated. Im 100% sure he trains hard to impress ervery game. But he is not the type most of Arsenal fans want him to be. özil was always a liability in big away games. Bullshit! If the player is not given a chance to prove himself….
I was watching a compilation of our goals this season on YouTube and at the start of the season Ozil was involved in a lot of them (not necessarily assisting but definitely in terms of build up play) and he was scoring too. There’s only a few where he had a complete stinker (like the Southampton sub appearance) – even in the Brighton game he got subbed at half time but it was his flick that got the ball to Laca to assist Auba. Although people have high expectations because of his wage, he wasn’t having a particularly poor season… Read more »
And remember too the first several games of the season he was mostly shunted out to the right and seeing vet little of the ball.
lol. Since we have no player like Messi or something, who can dribble past entire defenses, then chances are most of our players are involved in goals.
which is not a good standard of measure the influence of a player.
stick to his stat, just throw it around out of context like all do.
ozil can change a game with one pass…he is a better finisher than iwobi. more composure too. iwobi runs hard but all in all lacks what mesut has in abundance. pure class and quality. if i was ozil n iwobi was keeping me out…i would be mad at the coach too.
OK Yoda, time to get Skywalker back on the pitch.
Let’s just hope these mind games have affected Ozil and Unai unleashes him against Chelsea then Ozil rules the field to get Arsenal back on track on winning ways!
Come on the Arsenal!!! COYG!
Yes, that’s EXACTLY the right strategy to get Ozil psyched up to play a brilliant game against Chelsea!
Really? How many of us have enjoyed going to work more and improved our performance because our manager created a bit of “friction”? Ok, coming back from an injury, away to West Ham, I am going to start you on the bench might be considered creating a bit of friction. But leaving you out of the squad and my bench is Ramsey, Torreira, Bellerin, Cech, Lichtsteiner, Monreal & Nketiah is nothing short of either vindictiveness or sheer bloody mindedness and does no favours for anyone or the club. I have said it on here before but I have a nasty… Read more »
I’d say if a player comes back from injury he goes on the bench to start with. Maybe Ozil refused the bench…
If any player who refuses to be on the bench, it should be let known because such a player is not committed to the club itself, let alone the manager. Let the fans know because by his behaviour, he will be neglecting us as fans who make it possible for him/her to play at the Arsenal. Such a player is not worth protecting because once you put your ego or personal issues above your duty as a player to the club and the fans, you can never be trusted to ever do so in the future. If Ozil is upset… Read more »
This whole refusing to be on the bench and refusing to do what the club wants argument seems to be a bit unrealistic. Arsenal has a contract with Ozil that certainly has some stipulations about attending games and being available to play. One would think any player would be in breach of the contract(and no payable) if they just did whatever they wanted in the face of club demands. If the contract does not include that type of language(???), then we are even dumber than I thought.
And maybe he didn’t.
He didnt. If not, he would have been fined already and Emery will be the first to announce it. He wants to play. But this manager with a BIG EGO is not picking him even for the bench. What can he do? The club cant find him (and that has happened so far) because he didnt breach any contract matters.
Get this slimy tool out asap before he wrecks this club. There is no place in Arsenal for boneheaded medieval coaching. #EmeryOut
Toxic fans.
You deserve Wenger back to finish the job of destroying AFC, and with it the interest of most of the fanbase in watch their club.
#FICKLE
Monkey G, firstly congratulations on getting your hashtag spelt correctly this time. Calling our new coach a “slimy tool” is just so poor imo.
Well, for me, as a French guy who has seen Emery at Paris, this is a familiar pattern. The guy is a “professor”, he wants to teach players with a lot of naive ideas about human being. It is so romantic the fact he considers that in a team all the players have the same value. This is the guy who tried to tell us that Neymar is just a player like the others. Who benched Thiago Silva, the club captain and most respected player in the dressing room at Madrid. The pattern is Emery failed at Paris not because… Read more »
There is a ton of second-guessing and hand-waving “assessments” (if I describe the knuckle-headed blathering, below, most charitably) of Emery’s comments about man management. So this: “But could there be a broader strategy at play? Emery, a keen student of psychology who even co-authored a book on the subject, Mentalidad Ganadora (Winning Mentality), during his time in charge of Valencia, clenches his fists and rubs his knuckles together. ‘At certain times, you have to provoke friction with footballers,’ he says.” From the actual Sky article, here: https://www.skysports.com/unaiemery?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral So to all the arm chair psychologists on here (Blogs, that includes you,… Read more »
Amen to all that.
We need competition in every position. At the moment, we are in need of a couple of players for the wide positions : In a nominal 4-2-3-1 ………………………….Auba/Laca………………………………. Iwobi/(?)………………Ozil/Ramsey……………Mhki/(Nelson) ……………..Granit/Elneny….Torreira/Guendouzi……………. Kola/Monreal………………………………………..Bellerin/AMN …………Koscielny/(Holding)…..Sokratis/Mustafi……………. ………………………….Leno/Cech………………………………. This discounts younger Academy hopefuls (Nketiah, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Willock, Bielik) and Mavropanos (who is probably better off on a strong loan to expedite development) Come summer, Koscielny will step down and Lichsteiner. We should sell Elneny for an upgrade (if of course we find a taker for Elneny). Nelson hopefully back in from loan. One of Ramsey, Ozil or Mhki also should be sold. Cech I feel… Read more »
I’ve been depressed about the unceremonious removal of “the art” from the way we play. But if he can get the most out of Ozil this way then so be it. Bring it to Chelsea at the weekend please! Give the new manager time, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It took Arsène seven years to get the Invincible season.
Today in the daily L’Equipe. Thiago Silva speaking of Tuchel, and the differences with Emery without naming him. “Neymar is better this year. Did he understand the message?” Of course. He understood as everybody did because he’s told directly. You should not tell behind his back “you have to do this”, and then in front of the player you don’t say anything. No, no… Being respectful is talking directly to the player, and the coach does that very, very well. He’s really strong on the technical part but moreover on the management to deal with those who don’t play. He… Read more »
Dumbest thing I’ve heard
We had a massive problem on our hands the moment Ozil was given that contract