For the second game in succession, Mesut Ozil was not included in the Arsenal squad. He was expected to be in the team for the Europa League clash with Standard Liege, but wasn’t even on the bench.
Whatever about a trip to Old Trafford and it’s suitability for the German, a home game against lower calibre opposition is basically perfect for him. Instead, he wasn’t even on the bench, and Unai Emery’s explanation afterwards was quite pointed.
Pressed on the absence of the £350,000 a week man, the Arsenal boss said, “I am thinking every time to decide the best players for each match and the best players in the squad to play and to help us.
“When I decided he shouldn’t be in the squad it’s because I think other players deserved it more.”
And on what he needs to get to get back into consideration, he continued, “He needs to continue working.
“Tomorrow we have training with the players who didn’t play, and on Sunday we have another match, and we are going to decide the same.
“Our target is to win on Sunday against Bournemouth, and we want to carry on our same way in each match.”
It does sound as if there’s been some kind of breakdown in the relationship between the manager and Ozil, after a kind of uneasy truce had been found in the second half of last season.
Emery named him as one of his five captains, but as ever with a player of that stature, when he’s left out in such circumstances, it creates a talking point.
In the end, Arsenal didn’t miss him as the young Guns ran riot, spanking four past the Belgians, but this isn’t the kind of story that goes away, so expect more on this in the days and weeks to come. We’ll leave it up to you to decide if that’s going to be healthy or not.
I like Emery’s honesty in that answer, but he ought to have had the courage of his convictions when naming his five captains too.
Weren’t the voted for by the players?
It’s claimed to be at least. But it’s very strange to have a vote which potentially puts him as the number one captain if you have no intentions to use him at all.
It was a combination of both the players’ votes AND Emery’s input. In that case, one wouldn’t know how the outcome differed from the votes, if the votes were confidential.
Do you know if all players was in the pool? Could they have voted for Ceballos and Saka e.g.?
Or vote for almunia just for fun. Bantz
He’s not the number one captain though…………. he’s the number five captain which he probably deserves just from his seniority.
Unfortunate dirty laundry on display 🙁
Allowing the players to vote for the captains provided Emery the cover he needed to select Xhaka, but it also exposed him to naming Ozil as a co-captain he has little trust in.
Seems like a bit of a protest vote by the players.
What Honesty? Hes a prat in my opinion who has no balls,he has an ego issue , if he doesn’t like the player he doesn’t play him and will force him out of the club. Ozil will walk into most teams and be given the role to create and make things happen, he has a world cup winners medal and played at the highest level with real madrid ,yet maitland- niles deserves it more(and im a big fan of the kid), pull the other one you lying donkey of a coach. I have supported this club for nearing 30 years… Read more »
“He has a world cup winners medal and played at the highest level with real madrid” – you’re right. It was ages ago.
Gus, I sincerely do not like the treatment Ozil is getting but all of your Ozil is this and that and can do this and that are hollow words.
“If it wasn’t for the striking prowess of Auba and lacazette (both signed under arsene’s watch) we will definelty end up as Everton FC harping back at the good old days.” I dunno. with martinelli, saka, nelson, smith-rowe, guendouzi, willock, tierney, bellerin, holding, and chambers we have a whole 11 of really promising players who are 24 and under (not even mentioning a.m.n., who can sub in all over the pitch for almost any of those players, or pepe, who is also 24) i feel positive about our future even if i’m not thrilled with how emery is managing the… Read more »
Before I opened the comments, I was curious to find out how many posts would be made before someone called Emery a donkey. In case your were also, the answer is 10.
At arsenal we don’t sack coaches like Chelsea,man u or crystal palace. Emery wants to play attacking football which is our identity. He would rather win 6-5 than lose 1-0 trying to play defensive. He has won 3 Europa and 2 ligue1. Far better than what Wenger did his whole arsenal career. Emery has done super recruitment and getting rid of non performing big names. You sound like a Spurs fan by the way. Trust your coach. If you think coaches are out there, go try Allegri or Mourinho.
@gus pull your head out your arse…Ozil has given us practically nothing last 3 years…couldn’t give a fuck about the club…happy to sit in the reserves and take home the biggest pay check in the club. And when he does start he does fuck all as usual. And forget trying to play him north of the Watford gap…that’s when it’s sniffles time again and suddenly he’s “injured”. Total disgrace of a player. Holy shit at least mustafi is willing to make the best of a bad situation and give 100% in the cup games and in training. Can’t say the… Read more »
The fact that Arsenal play with no identity, style or direction has absolutely nothing to do with not using a 30 year old player disinterested in his own job that has been steadily declining and has now reached deadwood levels. Especially when you have a crop of young, talented, hungry players coming up.
@almunira, best comment, right on point!
Xhaka over Ozil is how Emery sees football. Get him out.
Difficult comment to vote for, because I agree Emery should probably go – but I also want Ozil too leave.
from a value for money perspective shedding ozil seems to make sense, but only because emery won’t play him.
i think, especially with the other talent we have, a good coach could integrate ozil and have both him and the club ticking over really well. ozil wants runners, and we finally have them, but emery won’t let him loose to play in those runners.
This. this. exactly this. Put Ozil in the right system with the right players and you can tear teams apart (and not only that, but tear them apart in style). Put him in the wrong system and he’s a liability.
I dunno. I love Ozil, partly because when he’s at his fluid best, it’s such a joy to watch. Do people want to return to 1-0 to the Arsenal?
I would agree if Ozil had Been anywhere near his fluid best since we signed him. But he hasn.t. He is a mirage. I.m with Unai on this one. It isn.t nice to see a once excellent player humiliated, but he has brought it on himself with his weak performances unfortunately
I’ll start this by saying I don’t think Ozil has been on any kind of consistent form for some time. But I will also say, I can’t recall the last time we were set up in a way that we can get the best out of He has been going through a few years of left wing, right wing, set up with a giant hole behind him in midfield, no runners, etc etc etc. And not only him. This goes for several other players as well, including Torreira and Xhaka. Emery played Torreira in his more natural position, and look… Read more »
Dude, since we signed him?? He was absolutely amazing in his first 2-3 seasons.
Mate, even a 1-0 to the Arsenal isn’t happening right now 😐
Spot on. Thursday match was exactly that kind of opportunity for playing him. Mixture of experienced players and enthusiasm of youth.
Go where? He is not going anywhere. He has a project which looks better and brighter everyday. Captaincy is a non issue to Emery. He has better things to think about.
Stupid comment
Could you see Ozil playing defensive midfield? Xhaka being selected too often doesn’t mean Ozil is selected too little
Xhaka and Ozil both have good points and bad points. Neither suit the high intensity of the premier league, but are too content to move to a league that suits their strengths.
Emery is doing a good thing by sidelining Ozil, but a bad thing by making Xhaka a cornerstone of our strongest xi. There is no connection to be made between the two decisions.
I actually think Ozil could do a Santi.
“Xhaka being selected too often doesn’t mean Ozil is selected too little” disagree. with two mobile, defensively sound midfielders behind him (guendouzi and torreira, with willock rotating in) and any 3 of our potential strikers/wingers (auba, laca, pepe, saka, martinelli, nelson) ozil would be really potent, but i think he can’t play with xhaka behind him because having *two* players who don’t “suit the high intensity of the premier league,” as you put it, leaves us at too much of a disadvantage, and emery clearly prefers xhaka to ozil. his reasoning i can only guess at, and if my guess… Read more »
You’re talking about the Ozil of 3 or 4 years ago… He doesn’t exist. Ozil hasn’t hit double figures for goals or assists in the League since 2015/16 and even when he’s producing end product the rest of the team must carry his lack of defensive workrate.
How do you say to your players – “I want 100% effort from all of you, expect Ozil …because he used to be good” .. You can’t.
I think he wanted to lower the average age on the pitch, which was just above 22 last night..
Hold up. This is what Emery has me thinking. Is Ozil still for sale? Is it possible an MLS club is planning to buy him in January? Misgivings about Xhaka aside, the way Emery is handling Ozil might be about something else entirely.
Your argument falls down when he plays Mustafi who has been publicly told he can leave.
Xhaka and Paul don’t even play the same position. I guess viewing every midfielder as the same kind of player is how you see football.
Paul = Ozil is evidently how my autocorrect sees Ozil. (and you know I had to fix it saying Paul 10 times in this very post before I got it right.)
That’s the funniest farce I ever noticed, can’t remember Ozil making a mistake that led to a goal against. I remember a lot from Xhaka, the most painful being against Brighton towards the end of last season. For me.
Ozil is great if you want to unlock parked defenses or if you want to play one touch pass and move football.
Emery parks the bus himself even against the likes of Brighton..so no need of Ozil. As for one touch football, he plays 3 DM midfield, none of whom can pass without 2-3 touches
Fucking madness…Emery is a complete fool
Imagine having a classroom of children and one is refusing to do the work, disobeying your command and questioning your authority in front of the other kids.
But you can’t send him home or to the headmasters office. So you don’t let them go on the school trips.
Ozil got away with it under Wenger as he was teachers pet but Emery isn’t standing for it. I’ve got to say, I’m not a huge fan of Emery, but if Ozil is turning up halfhearted and half arsed then that’s not Arsenal and he doesn’t play.
We now have a coach who likes to think of himself as a teacher, that doesn’t mean our training ground is now a kindergarten. If this, if that, if you stopped fantasising and cut out the ifs you’d realise that you’ve just posted nonsense.
Not necessarily. Coaches have made allowances for their top performers for as long as I can remember. So imagine your disobedient kid is also has grades which put him in the top 11 in the world.
Give me 5 chances for our team and you can have an extra milkshake and if Xhaka or someone else doesn’t like it, they can have a milkshake too when they do it.
Top performers is the key part of that sentence Alex. There are 4 or 5 players consistently better than Ozil week in week out.. Do they get to take it easy when we lose the ball too?
And how would you know that?
What about if one kid was rubbish at science but an amazing poet or musician? Would you make them do biology all the time?
That’s somewhere I think both Emery and our education system aren’t working. Trying to make people they are not (or play in a way or positions they can’t).
Look, the issue is clearly Ozil. When Messi and Kevin De Bruyne can put in the hard yards and help their team mates out while at the same time produce far more than Ozil ever has, why can’t Ozil just put a shift in like everyone else? Why should he get a free ride when far better players than him don’t get one? You can complain all you want about how Emery shouldn’t expect a level of effort from a professional footballer because he’s never really tried that hard in the past but it doesn’t wash. Ozil should want to… Read more »
wants*
Here’s a simpler explanation: Emery does not like to use players like Ozil, the ownership want to get rid of Ozil because of his wages, and nothing Ozil does–however brilliantly he plays in his limited time or how hard he works in training–will change that.
We have no idea what Ozil does in training or his attitude–but I don’t believe it matters. Classless. The same club that treated Diaby and Santi with the respect they were due, is intentionally humiliating Ozil.
If Ozil was playing well and adding value to the team they would bend over backward to shoehorn him into the team. £350k per week playing well on the pitch is better than £350k sat a home.
You just said they paid wages for players who couldn’t play for the badge due to injury. They wouldn’t have a problem paying Ozils wage if he wasn’t fit either. Ozil isn’t injured though, so what’s his excuse? There’s no logic to your comment.
The more I think about the way we treated players like Diaby and Santi compared to how we act now, the more I realize that, whatever his other weaknesses at the end, it was Arsene Wenger who kept this club true to its principles.
It is not the same AFC w/ this kind of values.
last season they did the same to Ramsey, so its a pattern. Leave or be maligned.
the 300k can be split and given to our two strikers we oh so rely on and need to update their contracts
Wenger out!!!
Whoops, ….Emery out!!!
Or:
[Current Arsenal manager*] out!!!
*Insert as appropriate.
Spin the propellors on the Chipmunk, launch another Loony Tunes banner (Current Arsenal Manager) Out! But be careful what you ask for you might get (Insert most catastrophic arrival as Arsenal Manager).
Allegri is out of work right now. Just saying.
…and Man United may need a new coach very soon. I think he’d rather go there and become a hero than come to us, assuming he thinks he’s as great as everybody else seems to.
I’m an Ozil fan (or at least was) but how people can decide this when they’ve not seen what’s going on behind the scenes is bizarre. If he’s not working as hard or performing as well in training as the youngsters- which given their performances last night and Ozil’s in the last year or two really isn’t all that unlikely- then he’s absolutely right. I’m by no means completely sold on Emery but accommodating Ozil if he’s not pulling his weight would be detrimental to everything he’s trying to do.
And to add to this- perhaps Emery isn’t a manager of high enough calibre for Arsenal, but you can be damn sure that to get to where he has in his career that there’s no way he’d freeze out a talent as great as Ozil if there wasn’t reason to do so.
bullshit, thats why he selected a crocked and unfit dennis suarez over him last year against man city, he has an ego issue ,
A crocked and unfit Dennis Suarez who also had arrived earlier that same week, and had trained with the team once. Emery had given up on that game–the same attitude we saw at Old Trafford last weekend.
Excellent comment. We just don’t know what’s happening. If Ozil isn’t pulling his weight, then Emery is absolutely to pick players over him who are.
Emery clearly hasn’t got time for prima donnas. I like that about him.
Really? Really is not pulling his weight? Last game he played he had most key passes, good game owerall but still substituted. No, it’s just Emery picking up on him. So sad.
I can’t believe how short people’s memories are. I kept my patience with Ozil as long as possible but he’s no longer worth a spot on the team sheet. The game you refer to was against Notts Forest. Why would we bother playing him against teams we should be rolling over when we could blood the youngsters and plan for the future? I’ve been waiting and hoping for his resurgence (he was comfortably my favourite player after he demolished us in the World Cup and I followed his career from then on) but he’s done. If he cared enough he’d… Read more »
Yeah, waiting for resurgence. He plays well and immediately being punished for that. Let’s simply agree this manager has no ability to get the best from one of most talented and creative players in Europe.
I reminds me of similar story about shity manager and Juan Mata. Do you think it was a players problem or managers stubornes?
Perhaps Ozil sulked and didn’t train well after being subbed? I don’t know, but it is a possibility. If he did, then why reward him with a game when others deserve it more? It is all conjecture, but I believe the performance and result justify Unai.s selection
This.
Unai Emery is liar and a fraud.
That’s harsh. I love this club and at times I am as frustrated with the state of things as the next fellow, but I would never refer to ANYONE presently doing their best for the club in those terms.
Shame on you.
So blunt pal, relax it’s just football
Fraud gang in the building!!!
Where has this sudden influx of personal insults come from towards Emery? Jesus, he’s not bludgeoning puppies to death and stealing the food off of orphans plates. Seems like a nice enough guy and I think genuinely cares about the club.
He better not be!!
Some of the comments made by people here are baffling to say the least. They talk as if they know what’s going on in Emery’s mind, what’s going on in Ozil’s mind, like they have any idea on the whole situation. Hell, they talk as if they know everything and make all kinds of assumptions. So bizarre.
I say that we let Henrypiresberg speak. Everyone’s got a different opinion and we should respect that. Now, Henrypiresberg has said that UE is a liar and a fraud. We’d all like to hear the evidence. If the statement can’t be justified, then we all know who the fraud is.
No it wouldn’t. It’s detrimental if Özil doesn’t give you chances and assists. You can (to an extent) treat people who perform differently differently.
mc1892
A reasonable view. Ozil was my favourite player for a long time. But he had an attitude issue under Wenger and he does now under Emery. I’m bot sold on Emery but I support him on this. If you want any player to believe in what you’re trying to.do you cannot let players walk all over you.
Attitude problem under Wenger? Are you basing this on knowledge rather than malicious gossip and conjecture. Explain, with examples of an evidentiary nature.
That he is.
I wonder who will be the last man standing? Ozil or Emery? Logic says it’ll be Ozil seeing Emery off if things don’t improve in the PL. Should be anyway.
No manager worth his salt would be using Ozil in any competing team.
he’s done here.
Love the nuance!
This is true. And he only has himself to blame. What is self evident is the Club should move might and mane, to get him to another club for a loan deal in January. Even if we pay half his wages. It’s better than paying him in full to sit here and do nothing.
Yes let’s loan him to Man U, he’ll evidently make them worse!
You’d be rubbish on a jury.
Really? There is no match where you think the inclusion of Ozil would make us better? None?
Can you think of any? Under 18.s perhaps
No way Emery would have dared to move against 350k per week without Raul’s approval…….. in fact it might be possible Emery wants to play Ozil but has been ordered not to by those who want Ozil’s wages off our books by all means.
So the way to get an incredibly expensive player off our books is to bench him against the weakest opponents, speak poorly of him in public, and then watch teams line up to buy him and take on his wages? Doubtful.
If the strategy is to make him so miserable that he’ll quit, then that’s a strategy I just can’t support.
Yes. Wasn’t his “commercial” value seen as providing part of his wages through jersey sales? If so, not playing him doesn’t make sense, so discounting irrationality, what else is going on?
KSE is paying his wages, so how about he at least plays for the Colorado Rapids. (Maybe he would like Denver!)
If you choose a player to be one of your players but keep leaving him out of the squad, why in the first place you still name him captain? This whole situation become more and more alike the neymar, Di Maria stuff happening in PSG with #emeryout# situation.
yea, because the neymar stuff really calmed down after emery left
I know, Neymar has been such an example of professionalism since Emery, the man who can’t handle big players, left!!
Because the players voted??
Don’t bother. These articles are for raving, not balanced takes.
Couldn’t agree more Red. Especially after last Arsecast extra, definitely starting to see seeing an agenda here. But sure…. Whatever gets the clicks, right?
i agree. anyone knows any other forum that is more reasonable?
breaks my heart what’s happening on Arseblog News, but makes me puke what i have to read through over here more and more often.
i did recently view fb comments for an Arseblog article and was stupefied. always thought it’s the Arseblog crowd that provides these measured views as opposed to media like fb and others, right not it appears to be the other way round.
Totally bizarre from Emery to name him as one of his 5 captains. He is creating this drama for no reason and when the team cannot even create chances against the worst united side in years, people can legitimately ask questions as to why Ozil is being frozen out.
It is, ultimately, a sad situation, and one that is being really badly managed by a coach whose communication has been highlighted as an issue in recent weeks.
How interesting it would be if we all knew what was happening behind the scenes. I’m sure the truth is somewhere in the middle. Maybe he named Ozil as a captain because he thinks that it will make Ozil care more and work harder. Who knows. Something tells me though that communication is not as issue on this one. I think we have a coach who wants a player to do certain things, but that player either isn’t able to or doesn’t want to. And I don’t think that UE is asking anything of Ozil that he isn’t asking of… Read more »
He is not asking the same to xhaka and amn
Don.t know about Xhaka, but at least he tries. AMN is a young and talented player learning a new position, he should have our support
Maybe he named Ozil as a Captain because the Squad voted for him because they like and/or respect him. What do any of us fans actually know about the true situation? Nothing at all. Mostly I think we are picking sides based on the bias we already have either for or against Ozil.
When Ozil doesn’t speak only Emery’s voice is heard. That is NOT a sound basis for judging whether Ozil should or shouldn’t be getting opportunities to play.
It was the same last season. But what does “deserve it more” mean? Being Spanish? Running like an headless chicken? Didn’t Xhaka and Auva deserve a real rest? Doesn’t Özil deserve to play in order to work on his fitness ? Didn’t he deserve to run the young ones as he did against Nottingham? Does UE deserve to be our coach?
It’s a strange situation but somewhat justified given the score. To be honest while watching yesterday I didn’t miss ozil. It’s good to know we have great young midfielders who can create a yard of space for themselves to play it out.
Did you feel that way against Watford and Man Utd too?
Do you think Ozil would have made a difference? If so, based on what? Certainly not his performances over the last 2 years.
Ozil has been a great player. Increasingly it looks as though those days are past. Simply wanting that not to be the case doesn’t change anything.
Özil needs a team set up for him to orchestrate and as far as I’m concerned he deserves one. That’s the deal he was signed on, why else would you give him £350k a week? To remove your support and change your agenda a few weeks later and not manage him through a difficult patch?
Alex – the real issue is that we panicked and gave him the contract to avoid the public relations nightmare of losing both Sanchez & Ozil at a time when it was probably already clear to the higher ups that Wenger was going to be fired as well. When a new boss comes in everyone starts with a clean slate – Emery wants to succeed personally = he wouldn’t have walked in & said “I need to screw Ozil” like some on here seem to think. Ozil hasn’t performed well consistently when given chances & we don’t really know what’s… Read more »
Agreed on all three points. In fact, having Ozil in the squad is one of the reasons I’d have wanted to come to Arsenal if I was Emery.
I.ll tell you exactly why he was given that deal. Wenger and Gazidis had no balls. Same like they gave Wally a huge undeserved contract in the wake of another big player leaving. All bullshit, this big clubs don.t let players leave talk. Ozil shoul have been allowed to walk and a suitable replacement found. Simple
Well were up 2-0 on Watford with Ozil getting a “hockey assist” playing Niles through for the easy cross to Auba…then we switched to bunker mode as always and didn’t sub Ozil off. Now I would argue that we were fortunate to be playing Watford as they could’ve had more goals while running around Xhaka like a traffic cone for 90 minutes. But hey, it’s Ozil that doesn’t bring anything of value eyeroll.
Yes how about the other days where arsenal play 3 dms and 3 forwards? If the results justify things so much, why would u forget results from a couple days back? Arsenal were dire vs Manchester United, a side that’s struggling to score goals, gave them more shots than any other game this season for them. Emery needs to leave.
The problem we had against those two teams have little bearing on the game yesterday. We have clear problems in our first team but our ‘second’ team and academy players look great. The performance on the pitch will always justify a manager’s selection if it’s a good one with a win so credit where it’s due, I will be one of the first to criticise when I disagree with selections and we lose. If I disagree with the selection but we win anyway while playing well I’ll shut up. lol
Having Ozil in the team Vs Man fucking Her is unlikely to have reduced our shots against count. Be reasonable pls
And u know that should read Man fucking Ure, but Man fucking Her has some comedy. Thx auto correct
Have you ever heard the best defense is the attack? I think, we now have players able to beat this Manutd in current squad. But we have to be brave with our game attitude and it starts with the line up and tactics.
So Emery is out of excuses why to sideline Özil now. He was not rested, not injuried, not sick nor was the opponent to physical. It’s more and more obvious that he doesn’t fancy using him anymore. That’s sad but as long as we win (especially like yesterday) it’s hard to objectively criticize that. However what does he mean with “deserve it”, is it a matter of quality?, work rate?, playing time? It’s quite hard to see how he isn’t among the best players we got. If the reason was that he wants the youngsters to gain experience (like OGS… Read more »
You took words from my mouth.
I so feel like to say something too on this matter. You have said it all. Tired of pretending I’m fine.
You can’t help but think it’s personal? For years half of the fan base has wanted more effort from Ozil, even when he was producing end product. Now that he isn’t even doing that on a regular basis you still resort to conspiracy theories. Just objectively look at a guy trying to motivate a team while having the highest paid player, who isn’t even the best performer, shirk his duties for all to see and ask yourself why he might not play that player… It’s got nothing to do with personal issues, I’ve never even met the guy but he… Read more »
Why does it have to be personal? Emery doesn’t like what Ozil brings to the team. Ozil doesn’t want to leave because of his contract. Maybe it has nothing personal about it. When has Emery ever said he doesn’t like Ozil.s face?
Well, the reason I’m saying; I can’t help to think there’s something personal … Is solely about Emereys “reasons” why not to select him – which has no apparent cohesion, which leads me to believe there’s another reason that his not telling the press and us. I’m not a manager nor a motivator, but it dosen’t seem to me to be very motivating to show people “if you’re not what I want, I’ll do whatever to f*ck you over” that sounds like building a culture of fear – which I personally think is wrong, however I might be fundamentally wrong.… Read more »
Well, the reason I’m saying; I can’t help to think there’s something personal … Is solely about Emereys “reasons” why not to select him – which has no apparent cohesion, which leads me to believe there’s another reason that his not telling the press and us. I’m not a manager nor a motivator, but it dosen’t seem to me to be very motivating to show people “if you’re not what I want, I’ll do whatever to f*ck you over” that sounds like building a culture of fear – which I personally think is wrong, however I might be fundamentally wrong.… Read more »
That’s a poor, and frankly, unbelievable excuse. Emery has a history of falling out with certain players (Ben Arfa springs to mind) and then exerting his managerial power in full force by freezing you out. It seems like bullying and there is no way that I’m buying that someone of Ozil’s calibre, for all his flaws, cannot get into a Europa league squad. Be a man Emery and admit you have a personal problem with him. It’s clear for all to see. Emery is the man who froze out players before and he is doing it again. He is a… Read more »
Well we don’t KNOW that he is freezing him out per se. Using that he had “problems” with Neymar and Ben Arfa (and probably others as well) to explain what’s happening to Özil is tendentious, he might have legit reasons to do what he does, however how hard it is to see for us. The excuses for not using him is getting old though, and an honest explaination would be good to get from the boss.
So then, what are these other reasons? An injury ? We would be told if he had a debilitating one. You know, we are Arsenal – we are well used to having crocks on the sidelines for long periods of times. So it’s not like we couldn’t handle that reality. Emery just makes bizzare decisions on a frequent basis but he gets away with it for now because for every crap result we have a nice Europa league pick me up just around the corner. Also, if a person has a history of falling out with players it’s time to… Read more »
As I wrote above Emery is out of excuses for not to select him now. And as you write it isn’t an injury pt. However (even though I’m thinking it might be personal myself) it might be sporting reasons combined with a “protection” of a financial asset which makes it dubious to go to the media and say: he isn’t good enough, or he isn’t capable of the modern game, which could make it more difficult to move him on. Let’s be fair, Özil lacks some qualities defensively. He is an advanced player which under the right circumstances offers a… Read more »
I like Joe Willock too. But the idea that he isn’t as good with the killer pass as Ozil “yet” is just wishful thinking. It’s like saying Martinelli isn’t as good as Lewandowski “yet.” It is possible, but very unlikely, that any given player will reach those levels.
Meanwhile, we have a player right now whose killer passes might have torn today’s Man United to pieces, but we never saw him.
Sure, Willock might never get “that pass of Özil”, but we can hope he can offer what Özil on his best days can do.
I think Özil deserves more chances, but I’m not the man in charge.
Most managers have fallen out with players. It’s just like any walk of life.
I’m not surprised he fell out with Neymar. Neymar is a prick.
Well, Emery isn’t going to say ‘He’s lazy, and way past his prime’. There’s limits to how honest managers can be, in terms of club diplomacy.
The comment about others deserving it more is good enough. It’s highly suggestive that Ozil’s attitude and commitment is not what it should be.
I’d much rather have hungry, talented youngsters playing. It’s not like Ozil has shown his (former) world class qualities when he’s actually played over the last year or two, has he? The ‘quality’ reason is no longer robust.
100% Matt P
“The comment about others deserving it more is good enough. It’s highly suggestive that Ozil’s attitude and commitment is not what it should be.” Many Arsenal fans are predisposed to believing Ozil must be lazy because “he doesn’t run around a lot”, ignoring the fact that we didn’t buy him for his speed in getting back to defend. Those fans are going to lap up any vague quote from Emery suggesting he is “less deserving”. If Emery is a coach who likes to freeze out certain players then it is entirely believable that he would suggest Ozil is not making… Read more »
It would be interesting to know what Raul and Edu think of Ozil, whether they think that Mesut is a player who you build the team around or a luxury we can’t afford?
Totally agree, I think Emery has support of club hierarchy in his treatment of Ozil. Without the power extended to Emery by leadership he cannot make such decision on his own and stay with the job for long. There is some things going on behind the scenes are Emery IMO is the face of it. I don’t think he is solely to blame for this.
Exactly. I really hope that Emery does not allow any influence by Raul or Edu over his squad selections for a specific matchday, because if that was the case I would lose all respect for him as a manager and if that were to happen, Emery should actually throw the towel. I mean we are not in the balkans or Turkey (no offense) where the club owner makes the selection and the coach is basically just a puppet. However, if it was the case that Raul tried to convince Emery to play Özil and Emery didn’t budge, it would have… Read more »
dont be so certain, we potentially would have had to pay millions to fire him 12 months early.
they could have had it with him after fluffing that chance, and instead of working on a extention to his 2 year deal they are using these 12 months to find someone who is a better fit.
Raul gave him the 350K deal.
That was all Gazidis
so was Raul braiding his hair while this was decided?
My burning question!
I think it is obvious what Raul and Edu think. They agree with Emery, and so do I
Imo there are too many good young players in need of Europa League minutes for development to waste on a fringe player who is elegantly declining in his ability to influence on a match. Ozil stopped assisting at an amazing rate several seasons ago, and you can’t claim he ever brought the goals himself.
It’s kinda hard to get assists when you’re not playing though. Özil was dropped around the time we got some quality strikers, when his chances to get that assist tally would’ve been greater.
Ben Arfa – the classic so what player. A problem wherever he has been and more clubs than Lee Trevino. Neymar – a pain in the hole at Barca, created havoc to get a move then does the same the second he’s at PSG. Perhaps Emery wasn’t going to stand for any nonsense from people who ought to behave professionally.
Well said. At least someone isn’t cherry picking arguments to fit their agenda. Imagine trying to use the Ben Arfa stick to beat anyone other than Ben Arfa…? Madness.
Jam yourself we won 4-0 and didn’t miss him at all
did u feel the same way when we drew against United?
Yes
Are you one of the people who thought that was a good result because it was Man United at Old Trafford? Because I thought we played a crap game against a crap team who, at the moment, have nowhere near our talent.
There’s absolutely no reason to think Ozil would have brought us victory against ManU away? He’s failed to do that in the previous 10 attempts he did play in. He goes missing when the big games roll around
@Renwahh They’ve forgotten all those games where he underwhelmed and his bang average stats vs the other top 6 teams.. Rose tinted glasses and all that.
this fanbase and the club was happy when he agreed the current contract. He had done enough to justify it. Since then, Wenger left, Bummery came and Ozil hasnt played much. Its not Ozil, its a decision by mgmt to get rid of all older players.
Maybe we should have played 11 players against United in those 10 games, instead of only playing Ozil.
i agree, i love ozil’s assists and crazy vision. but his is soo immobile that the PL doesnt suit him. i dont think we missed him vs united as he would have been dispossessed alot regardless. I still think emery got that wrong though. he sets us up depending on the opponent, which is what mid table sides do. we rent a mid table side, i think upstairs thought we might struggle this and last season with our closest league rivals kicking on and us dropping by. what actually happened though is that the majority of teams had a chaotic… Read more »
The knock on Ozil has always been about tracking back and his unwillingness to press when not in possession, moving to open areas instead, and the consequent loss of influence (“drifting out of games”). These are genuine weaknesses in his game though, in my opinion, vastly exaggerated. But “immobile?” He’s constantly on the move, looking for space, that’s one of the criticisms. Earlier this season, I read someone accusing hm of dwelling on the ball too long. Possibly the world’s greatest one-touch passer, and a “supporter” accuses him of being slow on the ball. I guess that once you are… Read more »
if it was about Ozil, then Ramsey wouldnt have been frozen out similarly.
No. But we could have lost the fame with Ozil. We need the bulk of midfielders and defence of team B to combine with the attack of team A. It will all be sorted out by the time we meet liverpool in the carabao cup.coyg
*game
I mean, Xhaka does not play in the same role as Ozil. Or are we just throughing the usual scapegoat in everything?
Here it’s probably about Ozil’s attitude, commitment and work rate.
Ozil looked a refreshed player during pre season and apparently Ozil and Emery settled their differences during that time, so to see how everything has disintegrated in such a short space of time has everyone confused. I mean if Xhaka keeps making mistake after mistake and still gets to start every game, what standard is Emery holding Ozil to? I mean there comes a point when you have to make the best decision for the team, but in games where we have clearly lacked a creative spark Ozil could have made a difference. I just hope whatever happens, the club… Read more »
Well put.
Exactly this. Such a double standard between Xhaka & Ozil. More & more it seems like a personal grudge than anything.
Listen, I don’t like having Xhaka in the starting XI any more than the next guy, but I don’t see a double standard. I think that Xhaka works his tail off, but just isn’t very good [and yes, I know that if he is surrounded by the right mix of players they can collectively minimise his weaknesses]. I think Ozil has very unique qualities but I suspect is too leisurely in training. If Emery’s requirement is that everybody has to take training seriously to play in matches, then there is no double standard. You might not like the fact that… Read more »
Despite everyone in and around the club saying how well Xhaka trains on a daily basis and how bad Ozil trains or how poor his attitude is, you default to a personal problem between him and Emery do you? Ok.
Everyone? Everyone IN THE CLUB? Name all of the everyones and give us links to their quotes telling the world “how bad Ozil trains or how poor his attitude is”.
The only person in the club that has suggested such a thing is Emery himself, and even he did not say it outright.
I am losing faith in Emery’s ability as a man manager more with each day that passes. I think he is showing us his limitations, not Ozil’s.