Saturday, December 14, 2024

Emery explains absence of Sokratis and Ozil

This morning, Arsenal’s medical team confirmed that both Sokratis and Mesut Ozil had returned to full fitness after recovering from an ankle problem and illness respectively, however, neither player has been included in the squad to face BATE Borisov on Thursday.

Why? Apparently, neither man has been in training long enough to warrant inclusion on the long trip to Minsk and back.

Asked about the absence of both players and Aaron Ramsey, who has a minor knee problem, Emery told his pre-game press conference:

“The players we didn’t bring in the squad were because Aaron Ramsey did not train with us and Sokratis only started training yesterday and today – I don’t think it’s enough.

“Mesut is the same,” he added. “Aubameyang, after he was sick, trained on Monday, yesterday and today, and I think he’s OK for the match.”

The temperature in Minsk is apparently hovering around freezing, which for this Arsenal team, who braved ridiculously cold conditions in Ukraine when they faced Vorskla, should not be a problem. Asked about the conditions, the boss said, “We played against Vorskla in Kiev when it was below zero snowing.

“It’s not an excuse for us, the weather or the pitch. We play 90 minutes that are the same for them and for us.”

Full squad

Cech
Leno
Elneny
Koscielny
Mkhitaryan
Lacazette
Torreira
Lichtsteiner
Aubameyang
Maitland-Niles
Iwobi
Monreal
Mustafi
Suarez
Guendouzi
Kolasinac
Xhaka
Nketiah

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Swissi

Now it is clear for me….even if özil trains, Emery does not include him for matchday. Now it is obvious he trained not long enough to be part of his magestic quality squad. He isnt good enough i think, for the likes of emery & Co.
Pathetic

Dan

He is being pushed out to clear the wage bill. He isn’t going to leave voluntarily so this is the method they’re going with. We could certainly use $350k a month to get two decent players instead of one underperforming (since a couple of years) player.

Alan90

Yeah it’s emerys Masterplan …but it stinks. He got His contract and ffs he has to Play him. At least give him a Chance…

Dobby

He did give him a chance, he made quite a point of giving him a chance. Except for one half against Leicester Ozil hasn’t really performed this season. We have good enough players to cope against Bate Borisov without Ozil, you’d think.

PFo

False. No one can honestly believe he’s been given nearly as much a chance as the vast majority of the other players in the squad, in spite of being more talented and having more experience at the elite level than almost all of them. Consider: plenty of them weren’t exactly pulling up any trees in the autumn (almost none of our players were in impressive form, despite the long unbeaten run), yet Ozil is the guy that, a mere three games after the most impressive individual performance from any Arsenal player all year (because that’s what his Leicester performance was),… Read more »

Laca-Sead

That’s the thing, you would expect more from Ozil. No need to write a pamphlet. The team performs better without the Wizard. His reputation clearly is smokescreen, his performances are underwhelming.

Mpls

Are you trying to say that when he’s on the pitch it causes the other players to not perform? If that’s the logic then it must be a two-way street, right? If the rest of the team plays poorly or the tactics are off that would be a big contributing factor if he doesn’t play at his peak, right? Side note, the wage we all agree is out of scale has nothing to do with a player suddenly having superhuman powers. We can’t say without bias that the team performs better without him, Or, honestly, with him at this point,… Read more »

DyGooner

And who has? You single ozil out as if he plays worst than the lot, yes when he’s on he’s a cut above the rest but when he’s not having his majestic day he’s on par with some guys who I see start week in and week out!

Gooner Sam

Look at players who are paid 350k a week and tell me he’s worth it and not this season when hrs hardly played but across the rest of his Arsenal career. He is a luxury player who worked well with Galacticos but not us. We can’t afford (both monetary and tactically), to carry any player and that is what we are doing thanks to Gazidas. Need to get rid and start a fresh ASAP.

Gunnermite

Clueless coach and board. Will leaving him out stop them from paying his wages? Why not play him so arsenal can accrue something from selling him in the summer. Just like their handling of Ramsey’s situation, they are just causing financial loss to the club in their so called attempt to free up space to bring in players Emery’s trusted players.

Dusko

The point Emery or AFC for that matter that Ozil has played everywhere, won many trophies and at this stage of his career he is happy to collect his 350k cheque and wait until the contract runs out so he can retire in Turkey as he previously announced. Any Turkish club can take him in 2 years time regardless if he plays or not in the mean time. If this is Emerys plan than this smells like Neymars situation in PSG.

Tasmanian Jesus

Its £350k a week, actually.

Caligunner

Dan

You know just because you clear out his wage doesn’t mean you can replace it with 1-3 players unless you get the transfer funds to match.

If you aren’t going to use him to showcase him and what he can do his value keeps going down every week as we head towards the summer.

If he stays in Europe. Where could he play realistically? How many clubs can afford the combination of his wages and transfer fee?

Dan

Agreed, that is why I think they are making his life miserable so that he himself thinks its better to leave than collect $350k. Notice his PR in overdrive to show him as the God and saviour of Arsenal, it’s all part of the back and forth between him and the club to put public pressure on each other.

Caligunner

Dan His life isn’t miserable though. He makes 350k week and living in a major metro city. This isn’t some 25yo that’s in the prime of his career. He’s at the end of his prime. Why would he walk away from that contract to make Arsenal’s managements life better when they are the pricks making this happen. If I were him I would enjoy the next 2 years training and living the good life. Than after the 2 years pick a place to finish out my career with all the mileage saved on his legs there will be some left… Read more »

Teddy

Ozil is still arsenal best player

Laca-Sead

Had a good laugh. Thanks I needed it!

Joe

That eould be 350k a week… not a month

Tas_Gunner

Blame Gazidis.
Even Wenger was amazed at the deal Ozil was given.I get that losing both Alexis and him would’ve been bad but that was pure nonsense deal.Made it hard for even Ozil tbf (not saying he minds being paid 350k but every action being measured by the wage shouldn’t be fun to him).If you are his fan pray that he leaves in the summer.Best for him as I still think he can produce couple of class season somewhere else.Its done for him here.And even changing Emery won’t make a difference.

Santori

You can also blame Raul and Mslintat. They have no strategic plan

DB's first touch

and just are you evaluating Mslintat’s strategic plan, given he barely stayed more than a year at the club…kind of hard to evaluate his mid to long term vision, and on the short term he brought us Torreira and Guendouzi.

Tas_Gunner

Didn’t know Sven and Raul was involved in the Ozil deal What are you smoking????????

Goonerink

I just don’t understand, surely making him play out of his skin for the wage is better? Put him in the shop window so to speak.

Ozil isn’t sitting around doing nothing, he is sourcing more sporsorship or investment opportunities.

Anyone have the answer as to why being immature and ignoring him is better than telling him to his face and asking him to prove his worth or they will look to sell him.

Tired

Do you think Emery isn’t trying to force him to play out of his skin? I would say the evidence points to the opposite. He has always said that players will be chosen on merit. For a world class player that and being dropped should be motivation enough (see aguero).

HelderHughes

Bet Ozil is gutted, this is just his sort of fixture.

*Looks in vain for the sarcasm button on his keyboard*

Tas_Gunner

He isn’t PLAYING him tho!!!

Teddy

Arsenal best….at least give him a chance

PFo

“I would say the evidence points to the opposite. He has always said that players will be chosen on merit.” Lol, it’s almost as if what Emery says shouldn’t be taken as our only evidence for what’s actually going on…. On the contrary, I’d suggest there’s almost ZERO evidence that he’s trying to “force him to play out of his skin”. If treating Ozil the way he’s done since the Bournemouth game is his way of motivating a player, he needs to reconsider his man management skills. I’d say it’s pretty obvious he just doesn’t like the player–because his idea… Read more »

A P

A man’s actions speak more than his words. We have seen Emery being incapable of handling big name players in his teams.

So much for his acclaimed dossier on players he brought to the interview. Probably all statistics from FM.

SavedByTheBellerin

You’re assuming the decision is entirely down to Emery. For all we know, Ozil is being equally stubborn about the entire situation and is looking for assurances or special treatment before he is willing to play. And lets not forget that Big Stan is also looking to cut costs so if Ozil earns extra money every time he plays then it’s very possible that someone above Emery is making the decision to leave him out.

Dobby

I honestly think Ozil is just struggling to adapt with the way football is changing, especially in the premier league. He’s a brilliant player but perhaps a slower league would suit him at this stage in his career. I’m not convinced we can challenge with Ozil at 10 these days and maybe we need a system and players that suits our future stars like Torreira and Guendouzi rather than keep catering to Ozil

Futsboller

The sad thing is, Emery hasn’t catered to Ozil at all and though I know we need the adjectives “hard-working” and “gritty” associated with our game, they are unfortunately coming at the expensive of our once high-tempo and attacking style of football. It is Emery’s job to make the best of the players he has at his disposal, and I can’t honestly say he is doing that with Ramsey and Ozil. I admire a coach’s responsibility and dedication to play the hardest working players, but part of his job is ensuring he gets everyone to buy in, including the stars… Read more »

chopper4001

I firmly believe that an attack of Aubu, Laca and Ozil would be glorious, IF it was played regularly. Playing Ozil in bits and pieces does nothing for his form. Give those three proper time up front and it would be a force to be reckoned with.

Sadly at this point of the season we probably can’t give Ozil time to regain his form. And that’s on the management, whether we’re trying to shift him on or not.

Willyp

I always had in the back of my mind Ozil would be edged out with Emery arrival as he always stated he would build the team around Ramsey. However he has now shipped one off to Juve and the former is being hung out to dry. Fuck knows what’s going on with this club, it has to be something more than the manager has control of ffs

loose_cannon

“Put Ozil on City or United or behind Liverpool’s front three…” But that’s the thing. He’s not a Pep player. He’s not a Klopp player. He wouldn’t get into either of their front 3s. He doesn’t do enough off the ball, attacking or defending, to play in their systems. And I’m not even sure they’d play him at United either; Lingard’s pace, workrate and energy seem to have displaced Sanchez and Mata even though he’s less technically talented. Now that may be an unpopular opinion but Ozil was almost out of contract a year ago and none of them, or… Read more »

Futsboller

I think any coach at a top club would love to have a player of Ozil’s quality and abilities at his disposal. Ozil doesn’t really belong in a front three; he belongs just behind them or just behind 2 strikers. I guess in that sense, considering how married Klopp is to his 4-3-3, Ozil does not fit in so neatly (which is also why Coutinho was sold and LFC actually improved), but if Fabinho and Keita/Wijnaldum could lock down the midfield with Ozil just in front, I think he could be devastating looking up for Mane, Firmino, and Salah. Ozil… Read more »

Tony Adams Nose

It’s quite clear to me that the Ozil situation is as much to do with him as it is the manager. He did not perform consistently when he was playing him and what I mean by consistently is put in a shift. I don’t believe Emery even considers how much Ozil is getting paid, that’s just newspaper click bait. I watched Man City put Chelsea to the sword and even at four nil up De Bruyne, Sterling, Silva and Gundogan never stopped chasing back and winning the ball. This commitment is just not there with Ozil and City are the… Read more »

PFo

Klopp played 4-2-3-1 at Dortmund plenty. And Ozil can absolutely play well in a front 3 in a 4-3-3, he’s just not at his best wide in a 4-2-3-1, which is different since you typically are expected to hold your wide position more. 3 men attacks in a 4-3-3 are often very fluid; a front three of (say) Alexis/Miki, Laca/Auba, and Ozil could have been great last year and this year, but for some reason neither Wenger nor Emery fancies that formation (though Wenger did have some joy with Alexis, Laca, and Ozil in the 3-4-3, before abandoning it, perhaps… Read more »

PFo

Just because the current trends in football are tending towards one direction, doesn’t make those trends correct. It always surprises me how many people make this obvious logical error. Inevitably when trends shift it’s because a manager somewhere has refused to obey what’s fashionable, and instead shows others that there are alternatives to the way “everyone knows” you have to play in the modern game. Plenty of top class teams could still find a use for a number 10 like Ozil, and even if the 10 position is somewhat out of favor at the moment, it will come back into… Read more »

loose_cannon

@Futsboller Liverpool do occasionally play a 4-2-3-1 but it’s Firmino that goes at 10 and I’m sure Klopp appreciates his tenacity and potential scoring touch as much as his creativity. And Ozil may benefit from the other City players pressing, but would City benefit themselves? Ask yourself, just who exactly does he displace in that team at full strength? As for making key passes for Rashford and Marital, United have Pogba for that and you’d be really hard pressed to find many (if any) United fans that would swap him for Ozil. And I’m not saying Ozil would have left… Read more »

Futsboller

I see what you’re saying, but coaches that recognize the brilliance that Ozil possesses know how to use that to their advantage. Ozil at his best would get into any team that plays offensive, attacking, free-flowing football, because he delivers a ball-playing tenacity that every team desires in their opponent’s half — in other words, he would displace anyone (comparing Ozil to how he plays at Arsenal right now and how Pogba or DeBruyne or Firmino play in their respective environments doesn’t compute as Ozil might look completely different there). Ozil is a top athlete like everyone else in the… Read more »

A Different George

He’s not a Pep player? Because only defensive-minded attackers like David Silva, Raheem Sterling, and Rihad Mahrez can play for City? Or those tracking-back titans of Bayern, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery? (I refrain from including Messi who, arguably, is so much better than everyone that it is irrelevant that the last time he attempted a tackle was in 2012, which was only a year after the last time he tracked back.)

Laca-Sead

Why all this romanticism around a player who clearly never performed to the level we were hoping for? Cannot we stop this culture of mediocrity and let go of Ozil the myth?
Ramsey – Gone
Ozil – Almost gone
Let’s build a team around real ball players such as Guendouzi and Torreira.

A Different George

I like Torreira and Guendouzi, but what would a team built around their qualities, as “real ball players” look like? West Brom.

A Different George

4-2-3-1 with Torreira and Xhaka behind him, Auba and someone else outside (hell, if you refuse to play Ramsey too, use Denis Suarez–who apparently is ready to play for us with much less training than Ozil or Sokratis and can play either side as well as keep goal and give therapeutic massage) and Lacazette in front of him. At least at home, at least against sides like Huddersfield.

Teddy

Emery is known for having issues with his stars

Laca-Sead

We needed an elf to offer a fresh perspective! Interesting point on the changing nature of the game.

SharpasFc

Well said. This is how I feel about the Ozil situation. My dislike for Ivan knows no bounds. The worm landed the club in this position and then hotfooted it or whatever worms do, to Milan. He would have done the same with Ramsey but thank goodness Raul said NO! It’s not going to be pretty the next few months and if you are an Ozil fan you probably need to look away. I genuinely hope that his agent has the sense to start looking for another club for him to go to. Ozil isn’t a victim as a lot… Read more »

Billymac

Arsenal are going backwards with Emery. Most of the flair is going out of the team. Hanging on for dear life against Huddersfield says it all.

A Different George

In some ways, Huddersfield was the low point of the season. Even if we had scored a late third, and they had not scored, it would have been a grim, lifeless display. Outplayed by a side that cannot score (five goals at home all season before Kalasinac’s OG). This may be the way Sevilla got into the Europa League places, but it was without flair, or inspiration, or joy.

Bob's Mexican Cousin

They should man up and play him. The contract implies a service being given for a fee; not playing him as a tactic betrays idiocy in handing him that contract to start and cowardice in not having the courage to stand by their actions.

Frog

Face it fellas, we have a shit manager. The club got it wrong when Arsene left.

henry

No, he isn’t!

Laca-Sead

Ozil who?

karl

It takes something like 17,000 fans season tickets to pay for a player that does little or nothing. Whatever the issue, the club need to address it quickly.

He certainly doesn’t do it for Emery and play 30+ player is of less importance than a new manager, so move him on if at all possible.

The_Kolkata_Gooner

LOL

Sue

FFS will Ozil ever play for us again?????

Tas_Gunner

Think the board has more to do with this.Whatever someone thinks of Ozil I’m sure none will say Ozil isn’t capable of even making the squad.
Ruthlessness is our new trait.Not that I’m complaining..just feel a bit sad about the whole thing.

Ya gooner

Ruthless or cutting our nose to spite our face? If we’d dealt with this better it would have given us a better chance at top 4, which would ease the pressure of his wage. I see it more as the club hedging their bets on us finishing 5th or 6th

Sue

? Ya gooner

Sue

Yes get rid of the dead wood by all means, but I don’t class Ozil as that. I guess the way things are going, we’ll be lucky to see him play more than 3 times before the season ends. I wish they had the cojones to come out with it & say they want shot of him! This whole thing stinks & I’m really not impressed

Elmo

They pretty much have, if you believe the reports. Arsenal have apparently been shopping him around Europe trying to drum up business. I would have thought letting him play would be the best way to garner interest but it seems a departure is more important than bringing cash in. Plus we’ve witnessed his lack of in-game urgency and desire, unlike Ramsey.

Mpls

“Reports” aren’t worth the non-existent paper they’re not printed on. I agree with Sue that the club is making a mess of this. All I want at this point is for the club to man up and clearly state what they’re doing. Leaving it to the media circus business is just trash. If they want him out, Have a meeting with the player, tell him. Invite him to put himself in the shop window, and make it clearly known he’s available. But the fact is, regardless of whether he stays or goes the club is paying for this asset. USE… Read more »

Billymac

It doesn’t reflect well on Emery if he is allowing the board to dictate whether he plays one of Arsenal’s best players or not. If that IS the case, Arsenal are in big trouble.

Levi

Özil playing is not a problem, the issue is whether Emry will ever play him in his “Squad “.

TeddyT

We have 2 CBs in the entire squad ffs

Rawgooner

If you include Mustafi, that is.

ElTorros

Ozil must be —— Emery’s wife ….

A P

Guendouzi must have…Emery’s dick pics?

Tas_Gunner

1-0 and clean sheet incoming!!! ???? #WewillConquerMightyBATE #COYG

Granit kaka

Poor Jenks… Cant even get in the squad against such opposition instead of our 24 years young Lichtsteiner. ?

Santori

He is poor alright.

Can’t even give him away.

Sue

Lichtsteiner is the last person I want to see tomorrow night

Tim Miller

He was ok (ok, not good) in the EL so far

Sue

I haven’t been at all impressed by him, Tim

Even if the plan is to sell Ozil in the summer, wouldn’t it be better to play him and hopefully get some good performance s from him? Setting on bench or in the stands only devalues his potential sale price. A bloody mess – thought Arsenal were better than this?

Ya gooner

The people managing this club have been clowning around for over 10 years, they just don’t have wenger to hide behind any more

Red-Sky

Wenger was the coach, head of recruitment, salary setter and director of everything football at the club. That is well know and documented. I don’t think anyone needs to hide from things that weren’y there responsibilities.
The new structure was made to not make the same mistakes of the Wenger era, where one person held too much power and many duties… and failed at them all.

A P

And this new structure is working out wonderfully eh?

Willyp

Failed at them all? Maybe a couple in his later reign but you take the biscuit, Wenger is the most successful and greatest manager this club has ever had. End of

Santori

The plan should have been to extend Ramsey at Ozil’s expense or bargain Ozil down considerably

We did the same mistake with the Ox and Gnabry.

Caligunner

I wrote something similar above.

If you want him out at least play him and showcase that he can still play. Every week this goes on the value keeps going down. That will only hurt negotiations with other clubs. What do we know? Lol smh

Tim Miller

But what – and who – is Arsenal now? Fully owned by a guy who does not care that much if we win something or not, and isn’t even making a big effort to hide the fact. Raoul who “was at Barcelona” (and let me tell you, he certainly wasn’t there alone, Barca is a big machine). Unai who might be a manager with potential but who – and I don’t mean to be harsh, it’s just what it is – has failed at his first big appointment (PSG, and please do not re-list the trophys he’s won there, they… Read more »

Bring back David Hillier

It started going downhill when Dein left. 12 years on we are owned by a billionaire nobody who doesn’t give a monkeys. We are the new Everton.

Dan

Sadly you are correct, we are a lot closer to Everton than to Liverpool. It would have been loud and clear to everyone if we weren’t veiled in the delusion of past glory.

SharpasFc

If we aren’t going to appreciate a manager who has actually won trophies we might as well just go and get Poch!

Dan

I think the issue is Arsenal need the wage bill trimmed more so than Emery not liking Özil. Also, the problem isn’t so much that people wont buy him because of his class and talent but because of his wages and his age (to a lesser extent). If the club plays him he’s happy to collect his $350k and not want to leave at all. By not playing him the club is trying to squeeze him out of sheer frustration, we need to clear up our wage bill for incoming players that fit better to Enery’s needs. It’s not Özils… Read more »

Tony Adams Nose

So hopefully?

Tasmanian Jesus

Emery is no fan of excuses.
Now he’s at Arsenal, he will learn eventually, Im sure.

Dat guy

We finally have a player who can play as cdm and Ramsey is out, but we still can’t find a way to at least get ozil on the bench. Not a fan of emery so far if I’m being honest

Bob

It’s so fucking stupid. Til summer he is already paid for. Play him. Maybe you can sell him for more later, or at least find a buyer. Not going to happen if you don’t fucking play the club’s playmaker! Such mismanagement, we’re screaming for creativity and at the same til ignoring one of the most creative players in the world because he’s paid too much. Maybe someone needs to mention to Emery that Ozil still gets paid when he’s not picked ?

Mpls

Emery, I know you’re listening. I have a request. If you’re going to play 3 at the back, please give us a 3-5-2 with Mkhi in the AM. PLEASE?

Mpls

Apparently most people would prefer we have an overrun 2 man midfield again.

Shrugs

Tim Miller

This stuff would fly if he’d just come back from injury, like Sokratis. Mesut was ill for a couple of days, so what? He’s back in training, he should be good to play. It’s hard for me not to let this stuff affect my view of Unai. There’s a slight chance that it is the club dictating that he leaves Ozil out, and it is the only scenario in which Unai can be excused. Other than that, the fact are facts: Unai applied for the Arsenal job knowing Ozil was our star player (for better or for forse) and that… Read more »

Santori

You use Ozil to his greater advantage namely attacking vision. I think the more salient issue is that while Ozil will defend, he has never been the most convicted in his tackling. He seems to lack competition belief when going into 50-50s Thereby considering our midfield has been less than solid, it may be a considerable liability at this stage with the team struggling for a sense of fluency to play him. You only have to go beyond simply trying to blame Mustafi or Granit to accept that even the popular Torreira has had a bad patch. Against Soton, BHA… Read more »

btw

all posts lead to Mustafi and Torriera at some point…its tiresome

Caligunner

regards to unai and the job interview

Was it here or somewhere else where someone wrote that he impressed everyone with the interview knowing the players on the squad and how he was going to use them.

He’s still in his prime years with a lot of talent and skill. Unai can’t figure out, the tactical genius he is, how to use him in a effective way?

Tired

There is a fundamental question here. Can you afford to have a player that is not willing, able to follow the plan and participate in the whole team philosophy that you as a new manager are trying to build? I doubt it because if you are asking everybody to press and run for 90 mins and put in all the energy they have and somebody isn’t but they line up each week you would loose all credibility. Plus you would be more likely to fail. If Ozil can and wants to play the game the way Emery wants I don’t… Read more »

Tim Miller

But then my question would become, who in their right mind would even think that you can somehow turn Ozil into a 90 min pressing and running machine? Also, is that the kind of football Emery wants to play? I can’t quit figure it out…

Tired

I agree it’s unlikely that he could at this age and stage. To an extent he did in his early German and Madrid career. But then he dropped off about and I think that was part of the reason why Mou didn’t try and keep him at RM. The question is has Emery given him a chance? I think yes.

Now with regards to the game Emery wants, I think it is a high energy, press game with the main focus on transitions. He certainly doesn’t have the midfield tools to do it and thus our lack of consistency.

Caligunner

He seems like a high press possession type at the beginning than after that who knows lol

No Mou left already by the time ozil was transferred

It was ancelotti that transferred him out I believe. That’s surprising knowing he isn’t a high press guy and uses the “10” still

Olivije Žirod

Mou wasn’t at Real anymore! Ozil was pressing just fine when he was asked to. Liverpool was our best pressing game and he played in it. When Wenger played pressing from time to time especially in the first half of 2016/17 season also Ozil was pressing.

A Different George

Please stop using facts. They get in the way of people’s preconceptions.

Bob

Tbh it looks like Emery’s style is mid-table conservativeness with better strikers. Regarding the high press, all we’ve really heard is there’s lots of work and players will run araand a bit more.

I’m wondering if Emery would be given so much leeway with his approach if he was British. Because some of his “tactics” wouldn’t look out of place in the championship.

Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but I’d like him to show us something to help us get on his side and see his vision. It’d make the transition a lot easier to watch.

Billymac

Spot on. Arsenal are going backwards in terms of playing style and skill levels. They are starting to look pedestrian and more like a mid-table team.

A Different George

You know, Pogba looked like a player who couldn’t play the way his manager wanted, not suited for the English game blah blah. Not sure how he won the World Cup, must have been the rest of the France team. Then he got a manager who thought you should play in a way that brings out the best qualities from your players. (Didn’t Ozil win that cup too?)

Caligunner

This is the same manager who was at psg. I’m sure Neymar(I’m not saying ozil is in the same class) wasn’t pressing for 90 min

When you are at a bigger club or new club you have to adapt to the players you have until you can change it. What’s the point of not using everyone at your disposal to make asinine point if you get fired after the first season.

Remaining 12 matches with the way the team is playing are they going to even match AW pt total from last season?

SharpasFc

He was playing at the start of the season so it’s not as if Emery took against him from the start. However, if you have rewatched or just watched some of the performances that Ozil put in you would not fail to understand why Emery might have fallen out of love with him and decided that he would have to use him sparingly or not at all. Also, it is quite possible that Emery, being the football maniac that he is, has watched videos of Mesut’s performances from last season, where he didn’t exactly set the world on fire and… Read more »

Tony Adams Nose

Hallafuckingluya!

chopper4001

This may have been mentioned somewhere, but it’s not like the current team is pressing for 90 minutes as it is. Apart from in a few games (Spuds, Chelsea etc.), we only seem to press in certain situations nowadays and then drop off for the rest. Ozil’s tackling and running stats are actually quite reasonable, and when the whole team isn’t pressing it can’t just be that that he’s being dropped for. I mean it’s not, we know it’s not, but this myth that Emery wants us to be a pressing team seems to have fallen by the wayside recently… Read more »

Elmo

I suspect Ozil and his wily agent have managed to get the club to insert an appearance fee in his contract. We know his basic salary is crazy but he likely gets a significant boost each time he hits the pitch. Him not playing is probably a boardroom-level decision. Emery is following orders as you can see the politics taking its toll on his tactical decision-making.

Billymac

As I wrote above, if Emery is not playing one of his only world class players because the board told him not to, he shouldn’t be managing Arsenal

SLC Gooner

Yeah, I don’t get this at all. Sure he’s not been great this year, with only a couple of exceptions. But players need to play in competitive situations with their teammates to establish a rhythm. Dropping him in for 20 minutes once a month isn’t going to do that.
I don’t understand not even having him on the bench as an option. And as others have pointed out, if you want to move him in the summer, you’re not going to show anyone any kind of value by not playing him.

Dan

You seem to conveniently gloss over all the times he’s been “sick” in the past couple of years. If hes that sick he needs a hospital not a football pitch.

A P

I wouldn’t put much credence into what Emery supposedly said during his impressive interview. He left PSG before his contract was up and must have been desperate.

A Different George

To me, the moment where it became impossible not to put at least some of the responsibility on Emery was the Man City game. He brought Suarez on–who had hardly played any competitive football this entire season, who possibly had trained with Arsenal once (maybe twice), who was completely unfamiliar with his teammates’ qualities and weaknesses and tendencies, who was was not used to the different style and pace of the Premier League, who was unfamiliar with the opponents. There was no reasonable possibility (through no fault of his own) that he could have helped us in that match; there… Read more »

Alex

Waiting for next week’s excuse. Unai, be creative, please, it’s all turning around. Ask Mesut! He is the best creator of the PL since 2013! Oh, wait, yes, i forgot creation is not your cup of tea. But it can win you games…

Fred

We’ve had teams built around Ozil and they haven’t worked. At least not to the extent we want (something more than the occasional FA cups, not that I didn’t enjoy those). The bottom line is we don’t have the facts. We don’t know what happened with the not so alleged training ground bust up. You can’t say, despite ozil’s managements attempts to portray him as the most invested, “ready to go”, arsenal player ever, that Ozil isn’t prone to a bit of an attitude problem. I don’t know, I don’t like everyone jumping down emery’s throat about this when they… Read more »

Tony Adams Nose

I lived through the Berkamp years, I don’t think you lot even know what a No. 10 is. Well it’s not what Ozil has been putting out that’s for sure.
Talk to a manure fan if you want to know about the transition manager’s first year FFS.
Give Emery a chance to make Arsenal his, not run whats been left over from another guy. Then we judge.

Dan

Well put.

Levi

If i am to be asked, Emery should leave our sweet club and let Özil stay. I don’t want to imagine a player of his calibre(Özil) being left out of games like Emery is doing. Emery is becoming a boring coach at Arsenal.

Dan

Ahhh the sweet little Instagram fans. Pray tell me, have you watched a whole match with ozil playing in it? If you had, you might have a different view of him.

MartinM

I understand they want to clear up some wages but pushing Özil out, but what if it backfires and Özil decides in the summer that he is happy to stay and “fight” for his position? Then we are stuck with his high wage, and we got a player on our hands that is neither match fit nor feeling trust. I really do hope the club knows what they are doing on this one.

Santori

Sokratis is understandable. He needs to be nursed back in. Ozil is defo linked to the defensive security in midfield. Even with Torreira, we failed to impose control against the bottom team. Sane issues persisted against BHA, Soton, Liverpool where we dropped 8 points without Mustafi. It is important to be more lucid with the issues in the squad rather than fall back on red herrings blaming Mustafi or Granit. In fact I think we miss Granit. The same rubbish was spewed dome time back about Flamini costing us a season. Together with Ramsey they held for a long spate… Read more »

Gordy

I can’t think of a better way to destroy someone’s confidence than what he’s doing to Ozil.

Sue

Exactly… then play him and give him the armband.. then drop him from the squad completely. Nice.
I don’t see this happening to any other player

Vonnie

It’s nasty, vindictive behaviour and whether it’s coming from the manager or the club it stinks. Unai Emery seems determined to to humiliate Mesut, and after all the hatred and disappointment that Mesut had to endure in the summer, the mind games that are being played at Arsenal are a disgrace.

BigToks

Is Ozil’s reported $350k a month “guaranteed”? or is it “up to” $350k a month based on appearance/minutes played etc. If it’s the latter, then they are doing a “fantastic” job ok making sure his earnings is reduced. It’s not secret Emery does not rate him but to freeze him him like this is bonkers. This man, can still help the club dammit!!!

Dobby

I just don’t really care tbh. It’s clear Ozil’s arsenal days are numbered and emery wouldn’t be doing this without backing from the higher ups. Sooner this drama is over the better really.

Tim Miller

The situation at Arsenal football club doesn’t seem the best right now, but it’s not the worst… that honour goes to Inter!

Hantal

God I wish they’d list the players in order of position rather than presumably squad number

Espen

Let med spew out my personal ramblings, because I’m entitled to MY opnions. Why is Emery freezing out Sokratis? Even if Sokratis trains Emery doesn’t include him. Will our best defender ever play again!!! This must be a plot from Emery to keep Mustafi!! Why oh Why? Once we played beautiful attacking fotball. Now we only play shit. I don’t want tactics, I want us to loose a four goal lead again. I want the 2-8 formation BACK. Blablabla drama. Blablabla conflict. If anyone finds this comment pointless, you are right as rain.

Mesut O'Neill

The Chinese transfer window closes February 28th. His wages would not be a problem & I think we would actually get a fee close to what we paid. Just depends if he is interested.

Vonnie

Why the hell would he want to go to China? He’s happy at the club, his teammates seem happy with him, he hasn’t done anything bad, the new coach/management team/club are acting like arseholes. Why should he have to go so soon after being given a brilliant new contract because he’s our top player and irreplaceable? Remember all the hype, Arsenal isn’t a top team if they can’t keep Mesut Ozil? Well they did, and now everyone wants to rip him to shreds because of the salary he was given. Would Adidas have paid so much money if we had… Read more »

Tbbro

I think Emery needs Ozil to assist him with his decision making, because it’s just plain crazy how little Ozil has played this season. Can’t get my head around the whole Damn situation. Who else is technically better than him at Arsenal?

Lanre

Exactly. It’s so classless how the club is treating ozil. I don’t even recognise our club anymore. Sad.

Badaab

Love to see the boardroom influencing team selection.

pedro

I tell you what, considering the club has pushed out Ramsey and is trying to destroy any commercial value for Ozil on his way out the door (as if that is the preferred end to this soap opera), they better have a fucking blinder of a transfer window. It’s not like the club is spoiled for creative types in the midfield and is banging goals in. It’s all well and good having two fantastic strikers but with a shit defence, a no2 keeper to replace, and nothing happening in the middle there is a huge amount of work to do… Read more »

Gunnery

Would be senseless to build a team around a player soon to be 30years old and seemingly unbale to adapt to new positions. Emery even tried him further back to pickup the ball and dictate play.

The future as always is the future. Can we get over the Ozil thing please.

Gunnery

It was actually more senseless to give him that huge contract at the age of 29.

Ramsey is 27, definitely possible to build a team around him based on age and experience. In fact Emery said that he wanted to build a team around Aaron as soon as he could communicate in a presser.

Mpls

That was before the contract situation was ‘resolved’ by the club.

George

It’s the lies that hurt the most.

henry

One day we will look back at this and will laugh. Hoping for that day to be sooner than later. 😉

Billymac

Fans of Sp*rs, Liverpool, Man City and Man U, are laughing now

jon

Emery will balance the need to rest our biggest stars with the need for players who recently returned from sickness and injuries (or is just acquired) to get some match sharpness. This might entail for example: Cech Lichtsteiner – Mustafi – Koscielny – Monreal Suarez – Elneny – Xhaka Mkhitaryan – Aubumeyang – Iwobi If there were good alternatives, Emery might have rested Koscielny, who is probably our most important player at the moment (in that he is hardest to replace). He could instead play Monreal centrally and Kolasinac on left back. A similar reflection on Iwobi, who has played… Read more »

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