The relationship between Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery hasn’t always been perfect this season, but it looks like the two have found a connection at exactly the right time.
The Spaniard has shown his faith in the playmaker and been rewarded with some excellent performances of late, and the German was in-form again as the Gunners beat Newcastle 2-0 at the Emirates tonight to move into third place.
Speaking afterwards, the Arsenal boss was keen to praise the 30 year old, as well as goalscorer Aaron Ramsey, for their contributions to the win.
On the game, which started slowly, he told the BBC, “We were improving little by little and our first goal helped us a lot.
‘Mesut Ozil has quality, when he can find the best performance for the team, he is playing like we want with the system and how tactically we want. He is giving us his quality.
“I think Aaron Ramsey is happy, he is helping us and is playing with a very good performance and scoring.
“Each energy from the players is very important for us and he is doing that. We are at the most important moment of the season.
“We are making progress in the table but we know it is difficult, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United are going to win a lot of games.”
The removal of Ramsey during the second half will lead to worries about him, but fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious.
We are back above Spurs
The will forever remain beneath us
‘We hate Tottenham, we hate Tottenham’ ?
yes i agree we do hate tottenham
let’s not get carried away still a lot of games remaining
Best points, best GD, best schedule, we should get 4th at least.
I don’t know about this “best schedule” thing – just because we don’t have to face any of the TOP6 opposition doesn’t make it necessarily easy considering we get to play all TOP7-10 away from home. Furthermore, it’s Burnley at Turf Moor, never an easy one. Hopefully they secure their place in PL by then and are on the beach. Spurs, though, have 5 out of 7 games at (new) home and I reckon there could be a thing such as “a new stadium boost.” Also, the toughest opposition is Everton. The other 2 is Man City and Huddersfield away. They’ll… Read more »
Made a mistake – it’s not City and Huddersfield away, but City and Bournemouth away. They actually face Huddersfield at home between their CL ties… could they get any luckier?
I hope that you’re right, but I think you’re just too confident at this stage. We have great home form but poor away form – and five of the remaining seven games are away. Dropping points just a couple of times in any of these games could be the difference between getting a top four and not.
Incredible man-management from Emery to be honest
And you can tell from his post-game interview that Özil is a very mature guy, when they asked about him as an individual he answered by talking about the team. Good leadership all round
Incredible man management? Wonder hope the table would look if Emery allowed Ozil to show his quality more earlier in the season.
Ozil took his position for granted under Wenger. If he started earlier he might of still be having inconsistent games.
Having gathered as many points as last season with 7 games to spare, with 3 season long injuries and no January transfers in his 1st season, I would say that we should at least give credit to Emery FCOL…
1 January transfer (loan)!
He played him in most of the unbeaten run. People have short memories indeed. You must one those who think the player was always performing at this level. And just suddenly the coach decided to bring him out of jail because he listens to fans moaning.
Ozick wasn’t pulling his weight earlier in the season!
Ozil…
Finally it seems that Ozil is beginning to justify at least part of the £18 million a year he’s now getting (never mind the £42 million transfer fee). If we’re honest, until recently he hasn’t done so on a consistent basis since we signed him. Anyway, if he can make a difference now, all to the good. I think we should wait and see how he does in the remaining games most of which are away from The Emirates, which could well be a factor. If he keeps it up, I’ll certainly give him three cheers.
The fastest player to 50 pl assists, without a top striker in front of him, is only now beginning to justify his transfer fee? This isn’t even the best Ozil we have seen at Arsenal. Lets stop having short memories and remember that this is a player who has played better than this, and his early season form, while not as bad as its made out to be, did coincide with him being basically disowned by his home of birth. Emery hasn’t handled him right, but that is in the past now. Ozil can perform better and now he has… Read more »
I gave you a thumb up for everything except the fact that you do not know the man Olivier Giroud is a top top striker (different, rare, exquisite, unique, very dedicated)!
I doubt Emery would start him in away fixtures…!
The ref was a bastard. He was totally calling every fking decision against us. Takes the joy out of the game. They should give the bastard 3 game ban for his performance. What a joke!!! I feel like Neil Warnock right now. ?????
Red faced, fat and sweaty?
I wonder how u feel when we actually lose…!
I saw a different Ozil tonight. I know he runs a lot every match but not as effective as today, he did what Ramsey usually does in an Emery team. He pressed and pressed, so unsurprisingly Emery was very happy and had a very good ebening.
Totally agree. I’m sure his km are similar to usual but he moved so much more effectively, and in good positions, and actually with a fair bit of intensity. If he does do what I(/we)’ve been praying and add that facet to his game, well..
He’s always had that facet to his game You don’t become German player of the year 5 times without that ability
He didn’t played like this often in the Wenger years. Also, the style of play has nothing to do with German player of the year award.
Ozil was the most creative player in the Premier League in the first 3 years after he joined us and helped us win 3 FA Cups. To say he didn’t play as well in thee Wenger era is rewriting history
You’re conflating two different things; creating chances and being physically intense. No one is going to argue with Ozil’s creativity, especially in 2015/16, but his defensive contribution is quite another story entirely.
As for being the 5 time German player of the year, that’s certainly impressive but in the 5 years he’s been at Arsenal he’s only been Arsenal’s player of the season once (2015/16) and as a non-German Arsenal fan, that’s much more important to me 🙂 .
Yup. In fact i notice somw guendouzi jogging moments when tracking back, which is more worrying. We need him to play st max intensity for 90 mins.
That’s his 150%.What more do you want ?
He’s still a young player and most definitely become a great in the nearest future…we’ll struggle to keep him after a couple of seasons (provided all goes according to plan)! He’s definitely world class material.
He’s a good man manager.
What these arm chair statisticians and tacticians fail to realise is we are not dealing with widgets. There are humans involved in the game so its never just quantifiable by numbers alone.
Unai went through a tough period with Ozil having to be left out but he is proven right.
The German has come back in hungrier and showing a bit of leadership.
he’s an expensive asset (arguable if we should have let this happen) but we have him so we need to maximise him. He can scale greater heights yet in his career.
Santori, I beg to differ with your point that he is a good man manager. Emery’s history is littered with altercations with players. Most specifically, players whose quality and place among the elite within his squad or globally, have been a problem for him to relate to. There is a false sense of belief that having a dressing room where everyone is treated the same, creates a stronger team spirit or better performances. this just isn’t true, and there isn’t a track record of it succeeding at the highest level. Ferguson knew that Cantona wasn’t like his other players, and… Read more »
Very well written answer. Totally agreed
Considering the arguably justifiable but somewhat short-termist criticism of Emery a few monts back, boy is he really starting to show his calibre as a manager. The team is playing with real structure, identity and carachter. It is clear that the players have responded positivley to him and are working hard under his instruction. He’s also managed to reverse our perception as the PL’s banter club of recent times, bar the odd Mustafi blunder that it is abundantly clear is just plain impossible to fix. Emery is doing exactly what was required in extracting the full potential out of this… Read more »
“Arguably justifiable” . I am sorry what?! Football fans have very little knowledge about proper football. None of the criticism bestowed on him was objective ever. No one sees what he sees when he takes his decisions. Most fans talk out of their arse, so no most criticisms against Emery are not justifiable at all.
I think Ozil has all ways been most effective when he has someone like Sami Khedira or Ramesy playing in central midfield. Some one who can makes runs into the box from Central midfield
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that as we have gotten better defensively, Özil has gotten more playing time.
When ozil plays, he always makes himself free, and he keeps the ball moving and arsenal are able to retain more possession. It’s an unbelievable talent to make these precise passes in the final third and keep the ball ticking. But this performance would mean ozil would be heavily marked going against Everton so it’s gonna be another test all together.
The Ramsey injury was worrying. If we have serious ambition to finish third though then we need the collective effort from the team to achieve that. We need performances from everyone whether Ramsey is available or not.
Play like we have been and we should be ok. I’m a little worries by Leicester away as they are looking good again, and you just don’t know what you’re going to get with Everton either. I think those will likely be the matches that dictate our final position.
There’s Wolves & Watford away as well…
Ain’t that the truth!! Superb last night Mesut ?
Some of the fanboys won’t like it, especially the ones calling for Emery’s head only a couple of months ago, but he’s getting more and more out of Ozil. His man-management has been great and that’s showing itself through Ozil on the pitch. He looks hungrier and more consistent than he’s looked in a long time and it’s massively benefiting the team. Long may it continue.
I am quite happy to be wrong about Emery and Özil ever working together. Real men put their differences aside when it matters. Great to see
Let’s not forget Ozil was also having health and fitness issues. He does look much fitter and healthier now by his energy level.