Arsenal’s Head of Football Raul Sanllehi says he’s hopeful that Arsenal will see more of Mesut Ozil this season, declaring that his quality is not in question.
However, like Unai Emery, he appears to have raised question marks over his work-rate and suggested that he needs to do more to win a place back in the team again.
Speaking at a Fan’s Forum event last night, the Spaniard said, “There is nothing against Mesut. On the contrary, I hope we get to see him much more in the next games because his qualities are without question, but he needs to contribute 24-7 and that’s what Unai expects from him.
“It’s not that he’s not working so well, but there are others who are deserving more playing time, but Unai can’t treat him differently than any other player.
“You may have read that Unai has put a barrier up, but nothing at all like this has happened.”
Ozil has played just 71 minutes of Premier League football this season, and hasn’t been in the squad for the last few games with Emery saying other players deserved a place ahead of the German who remains the club’s highest paid player by some distance.
There have been reports that Ozil has put his house up for sale, leading to speculation that he’s preparing for a move, but given the sinister attack on him earlier this season and the fact his property was shown on TV, he might just be moving away for security reasons.
The sooner Ozil leave the club the better. Hopefully he can bring along all of his cinderella fans on his way out.
Leaves the club? When Emery gets sacked they are making him player manager. A training session every other week, daily fortnite tourneys and we won’t ever show up to away games.
Someone’s been paying Sanllehi and Per to leak false stroies to the media about Ozil.
It’s……………….. Unai Emery.
Not going to away games just might be what we need to be first in the league
The guy I sit next to loves Ozil (of course not how he’s being at the moment) and has been a season ticket holder for over a decade. Just because someone has a different opinion to you don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re any more of a fan.
I think it’s less about being a fan but more about letting an obsession over a player destroy all reasonable debate. It’s extremely frustrating and tiresome to hear how our superstar player needs two WC strikers, a WC winger, a WC DM and a WC manager just to perform at an adequate level! And it’s just embarrassing when his supporters claim he’s the most creative player in the league. He was an excellent if flawed player, now he’s just flawed. People questioned why he was being left out, but now we know and it’s from someone I’d like to think… Read more »
“I think it’s less about being a fan but more about letting an obsession over a player destroy all reasonable debate… People questioned why he was being left out, but now we know and it’s from someone I’d like to think we can trust. Can we move on now please?”
Spot on!
Cinderella fans? Hopefully we will throw you out on your ear with Emery.
Cinderella because even if Ozil gets the ball in his sights, he’s always dragged off on the hour.
I cannot wait to overreact to these comments.
I’ll see your overreaction & raise you a total meltdown
It’s a global conspiracy. God forbid Our head of football and our academy manager be telling the truth.
Haters lie. It is known.
Raul is clearly colluding with Emery to release Ozil’s emails!
Emery shot JR.
And Mr Burns
I won’t be so hard on Emery anymore, concerning Ozil. It’s shocking that somebody on 350k per week doesn’t apply himself properly
Wtf does ‘apply himself’ even mean? How tf does he get away with not applying himself until he’s 30 years old, when coincidentally, a manager who has a history of falling out with high profile players decides to bench him?
This is not Neymar we’re talking about. Ozil had no history of falling out with managers until Unai. None of his colleagues talk shit about him. Ramsey said he was the teacher’s pet, but how many times did Ramsey and Jack walk straight back into the first 11 after being injured, at the expense of others who had been training?
the teachers pets are usually the ones who put in effort too. if there are others who deserve a place in the team over ozil then a few things can be looked at… are they: fitter better more suited to the system putting in effort not many of our team are better than ozil in a technical sense, so that leaves fitter, effort and system. there are rumours he is suffering an illness, unai’s system changes from half to half let alone game to game and as for effort no one outside of London Colney knows how much effort they… Read more »
Many fitter players than Pirlo in his last outings for Italy. Never stopped him picking up the plaudits. Nor did anyone suggest and 18 year old who could run further should replace him.
I wonder if that was because Pirlo kept on delivering? Could they be linked?
You should read Ozil’s autobiography, he regularly fell out with Mourinho. The reason Rambo+Wilshere+Ozil used to walk into Arsene’s teams, was because Arsene used to pick the same set of players every week, even if they were underperforming…. Emery is different, he picks players on form+application, and as much as I love Arsene, I prefer Emery’s philosophy on this one. People may point to Emery continually picking Xhaka, but Xhaka isn’t Emery’s signing, and from what I read no one would question Xhaka’s application or commitment, and I’m not convinced of a viable internal alternative right now. We have Ceballos+Pepe… Read more »
Emery picks players on form and application? Denis Suarez straight off the plane and off the bench at the Etihad? It is simply absurd to think that there is not a single match, home or away, against top teams or weak ones, against teams that come out and teams that stay back–there is not one match where Ozil would make us a better team. Really? You honestly believe that?
To be fair, it is unsurprising that any reasonable individual would fall out with Mourinho.
So Pepe has contributed more to this team than Ozick would? Get a grip man!
*Ozil
“It’s not that he’s not working so well, but there are others who are deserving more playing time…”
That statement by Raul seems to mean that Oil is putting in some work just like Ornstein reported some time last season when Ozil improved on effort in training.
What you mean by “apply himself” and this talk of how he’s lazy and just wants to sit on the bench and get paid is just bollocks really.
Allow me to translate. It’s not that he’s not working so well, but there are others who are working better. There, easy really
No, I don’t think that’s the translation at all. He’s saying “There is no problem with Ozil’s training, but the manager thinks other players should start, and we support the manager’s decision.” You can agree or disagree with playing Ozil–but no one has actually said he is not training well.
It’s not about being the “teachers pet”, Ramsey specifically said that Ozil many times asked for time off training – and often got it. It’s actually a pretty big deal for someone to say that about a team mate in public, and I don’t think anyone could question Ramsey’s commitment on the pitch or off it. It strikes me that what both Emery and Sanlehi are saying is the truth – that Emery is a manager who wants to see the same effort from everybody and there will be no special cases. This may not have been the case with… Read more »
Have you seen auba contesting header ? Players can t be good at everything. That s why they are eleven. Football is about complementarity. Look at auba and laca. Perfect duo. Laca is a hard worker. A warrior. He will fight for the ball. He make the defender tired. He is also very good with the ball in his feet (Ball holding, rush, shot, pass ). But auba is more about placement. He sense where he need to be and and when. Fantastic finishers ( even if he misses some “easy” goal ). Also good with the ball but he… Read more »
I agree with what you say after your first sentence – in answer to that question: yes, for example in the first half on Sunday, he produced a great flick which no-one read as they didn’t expect him to win the header! Of course certain players are better at certain things. And some players certainly are more ‘fighters’ than others. But Ozil will often jump about 4 yards in front of where the ball is going so he goes up, but is nowhere near the ball – and nowhere near the opposite player! Also he will make moves often towards… Read more »
Yes I have seen auba contest headers lots of times ..he often doesn’t win but he tries at least …Ozil shirks like he is afraid of the defender barging in to him and that is just poor ..piss poor from a professional footballer
I’ve never seen Ozil ever shirk challenges at any time. Even at his peak he was never great defensively but that doesn’t mean he pulls out of challenges.
I love ozil but lets call a spade a spade I can not remember ozil actually challenging for a header I mean genuinely in 6yrs at the club…there are many times when I am watching and just thinking how can a player that makes his livelihood from this be allowed to get away with it…I am not expecting him to barge in to the defender but at least try and put him off it often makes the difference between the defender heading easily to a team mate or hurriedly making a mistake which we can exploit…I can not remember a… Read more »
I have seen Ozil make many challenges with his head and has even scored the odd goal with his head
Because Emery wants all 11 to run like headless chicken that doesn’t mean football has changed. It will change if this Mediocre manager can achieve a Premier league medal with this rudderless style. I bet, he won’t.
What effort does he want to see? We are simply not creating enough goal scoring chances. He needs Ozil and he needs to set up his team differently. How can a coach ever play Xhaka who is error prone and would almost certainly cost you points and bench Ozil who would almost certainly earn you points while playing pretty football? Emery is a small minded coach in a big club and he is on his way to bring the club to his level with his pettiness.
The most sensible argument I read in a while.
Exactly Ozil has done more for the club than emery. If the jury is out over anyone it’s him. And how does Pepe get away with being in the team when Ozil wa apparently dropped for the things that Pepe is also not doing? , tracking back, defensive shift, shape of team, too weak to play away – it’s all BS from a man that lacks good man management skills. Even if what he says is true about Ozil these are matters that should be dealt with privately not getting senior management to say he is lazy in training. Digging… Read more »
That’s a narrative put out by Emery to justify his idiocy. Let’s hope he gets the sack soon. It’s about time we start enjoying watching our team play competently and entertainingly again.
#EmeryOut
Raul has literally told you that Ozil isn’t working hard enough and yet that’s Emery’s fault…?
I don’t see where Raul makes that revelation that Ozil isn’t working hard enough…
“It’s NOT that he’s NOT working so well, but there are others who are deserving more playing time”
Perhaps it’s just about preference and not work ethic?
Rubbish. I cannot understand one vote of approval
Everything is Emery’s fault 🙂
Mertesacker (who trained with him btw) says so in very clear and direct vocabulary. But I guess coach, head of football, head of the academy and former teammate (all of them insiders) can’t convince these fans and bloggers otherwise.
So, yes it’s Emery’s fault?
sure, It’s a global conspiracy to tarnish Ozil.
No one’s claiming a conspiracy. Speaking for myself, Ozil is a very talented player who brings much-needed creativity and link-up play to our attack. I believe there are many matches where we would be better, in fact much better, with him playing. I would like to see him play in some matches to find out. I cannot understand why that is not happening. Rational? I think so.
Personally I am waiting for Emery to be sacked and sadly for Ozil to be shown the door also…it pains me to say it but as much as I love him..I know his best days are behind him..we have to look to the future…
P11 W7 D3 L1. 3rd in the table. Bellerin, Holding and Tierney coming back from injury. New players beginning to gel. A fantastic bunch of youngsters such as Martinelli, Guendouzi, Saka, Willock, Nelson. Yes let’s sack Emery
If unai cant see that our team lacks creativity them he should be sacked. We have one of the best creative midfielder in world. But because Emery want to crew battles with big players everywhere he goe that’s y h ends up sacked. Yes we all know Ozil is not that type of player with much physical as emery wants but he can give us some good flow of the game
Seriously goes back to f**ck Emery since this seasin began we play poor football. Bad system s
He has on his few appearances this season
This is the most vague and bullshit explanation I’ve ever heard! So it’s not that he’s not running around enough during training, but still others deserve to play more? On what basis do they deserve to play more? Because it can’t be their talent or output on the field. Guendouzi, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka, Nelson, Pepe, none of them will create half as many chances for Auba and Laca as Ozil did last season. He is by far the most creative player we have on our team. Even though he didn’t play much last season, he still by far created the… Read more »
Yep, the question is: what “work hard” means? And then it becomes very subjective. Especially when you watch Arsenal – Valencia last season (for example), nobody can say Özil didn’t “work hard”.
He worked hard but citing a tie where Auba & Laca basically won it entirely by themselves isn’t exactly the best advertisement for what Ozil brings to the team. He contributed very little that tie – as it pretty much everyone but our forwards.
Too true. In his last meaningful season at Arsenal Ozil covered the 3rd highest distance per 90 minutes. By that measure he works hard.
2018/19 Big Chances Created (premierleague.com)
Kola – 10
Mkhi – 10
Iwobi – 10
Xhaka – 5
Guendouzi – 3
Ozil – 3
Read it and weep fanboy
To be fair to Ozil, it’s kind of hard to “create chances” from the bench or from the stands.
… and from home.
A lot of people work from home these days…:-)
Nexpress
Wtf
It’s not about passes the just lead to a potential assist. It’s about making the pass that can unlock or create something positive in the final third.
let us ignore what Emery may or may not have said…what about what my eyes are seeing?..
Leave Guendouzi out of this. And give him the armband while you’re at it.
I believe there can be a very big difference between running around alot in training and producing on match day. You can never have certain qualities however much you work hard. Ozil has no replica in the squad, just play him. If it clicks with the front three of PAL, we could be very dangerous.
Erdogan is a genocidal fucking war criminal. Mesut can fuck right off to turkey with him.
Erdogan is known to turn up to peoples weddings unannounced for his own political gain. Ozil has never posted a picture of him at his wedding, it was Erdogan himself. The rest i won’t deny lol.
He was literally the best man.
I find it strange that Ozil seems so close to Erdogan, considering Ozil comes across as such a nice person, and Erdogan such a massive cunt.
I do not want politics discussed here but Erdogan worse than John Terry thousand times.
This is the kind of comment which gets the internet a bad name.
Nobody is worse than John Terry.
Nice to get some clarity on this, because I feel that a lot of the hate and criticism towards Emery stems from the Özil situation. So to get another view from someone inside should hopefully alleviate that a little bit.
” because I feel that a lot of the hate and criticism towards Emery stems from the Özil situation”
Spot on!
I think a lot of these fans and bloggers have become too invested in/wedded to that narrative.
My own “hate and criticism” towards Emery stems from the Xhaka situation.
My own “hate and criticism” comes from the fact that he doesn’t have a footballing philosophy with this team even after 18 months and the way me make Watford look like Real Madrid.
I also can’t understand why Xhaka is never dropped, even when it is glaringly obvious that he just offers us so little. But I find it hard to blame Emery on this, because for whatever inexplicable reason, Wenger also consistently stepped into this same bucket. Is it just because Xhaka is your traditional teacher’s pet who gets straight A’s no matter what he does or perhaps there is some strategic, data-driven reason to this? Anyways he has been the captain for almost all the teams he has played for and under several different managers, so who’s to say that Klopp… Read more »
@Wright Gangsta Wenger would not adapt tactically but he had a playing philosophy similarly all coaches Klopp, Guardiola, Simeone has a playing philosophy. And also, tactical awareness doesn’t mean changing and chopping team and formation every week. There is a thick line almost a highway between changing and chopping being confused and tactically adapt. Emery is no close to any of the top tactical coaches. Also, Wenger had a clear footballing philosophy and wanted to emulate cryuff. He gave us eye catching football with some serious success and he never had meltdown with players or as team for 22 years… Read more »
Yes, but. A lot of the criticism of Emery comes from watching Arsenal play–for example, the second half against Bournemouth where we looked like we were Sevilla trying to hold off Barcelona. The dire, uncreative, defeatist football we played at Old Trafford is what makes me angry. And Ozil might–based on his quality, his history, and the few glimpses we have had this season–make us better.
The hate comes from how bad the team plays. They play like a mid table team. No ambition.
This BS that they are 3rd and with 1 loss is laughable at this point in the season. When there is no separation between many of the clubs at this point. We a drawing now with clubs we should beat if we are playing well. These are the points that are going to matter at the end of the season
I don’t understand why everyone (Ozil supporters) think it’s okay for Ozil not put in the work in training like every other player and deserves special treatment from training.
In the real world, if I’m being paid more, that means it’s expected I contribute more at work hence why I’m being paid more.
Ozil needs to put in the work. I actually side with Emery because Ozil was a big part of the pre-season games and still named a captain. Emery’s has been fair and transparent about him for the most part at his time here at Arsenal.
On what basis are you suggesting that Ozil is not putting in the work?
on the basis that hes not appearing every week perhaps
And yet he somehow managed to play over 30 games for Schalke, around 71 games for Bremen, over 120 games for Real Madrid and almost 200 games for arsenal…..that is without mentioning assists, chances created, e.t.c.
Rubbish
On what basis do you think he is?
The most obvious basis is what he does on the pitch for me – something we can all see. Sure he may cover ground (even I can easily clock in 11k over 95 minutes and I’m 42) but he will not genuinely challenge for the ball and is very fearful of headers – in fact I don’t think I have seen someone shirk more headed balls in all my years watching the team! Effort isn’t only running, it’s attitude, really wanting to win by putting in the hard yards and the dirty work where it’s needed.
Carzola, Iniesta, Xavi well even Messi have not challenged for a header in their life also
Depends on what you mean by contribute – is that based on effort or results? If our young srikers worked harder than Auba in practice, does that mean Auba should lose his starting position? Not saying Ozil is a world beater by himself, but he typically creates more chances than anyone else we have. Before last year, he was consistently in the top 10 in the league for chances created. Now we finally have a killer front line that should be able to bury the chances, but it would mean giving Ozil a consistent run of games. Of course that… Read more »
I hope emery to be sacked before Ozil moves and then comes a manager who can bring out best of this Arsenal. We should be an attacking menace in the league with a team like this instead we are registering 2 shots against mid table teams. Can we run a campaign to throw emery out.
More importantly, on what basis in the “real world” do you think compensation is meritoriously based on working hard?
How do you know Ozil never works as hard at training as anyone else. I assume you believe the anti Ozil media
Talking about pre-season, he was one of our best players in that time, against Barca and Madrid he was wow. To cut the long story short Emery doesn’t like Ozil to be in his team even when he was playing well last season Enemy still ended up dropping him saying that he needed energy. Emery game plan is shit as I see it even Ozil worst critic said Ozil shoul be given a chance in the middle so as to allow Pepe shine. Or are you saying they Pepe is better than Ozil this season yet Pepe plays every game.… Read more »
Actually what happens at work is you ove perform before you’re paid more in most cases.
I get what you are saying but we aren’t in some “real”world are we? This is professional sports. No one cares who wins in some drill or inter squad game. This isn’t some 17-19 yo ozil trying to breakthrough. I think players should always give good effort but players at his level Who are established shouldn’t have to grind it out like a 17-19 yo. Unfortunately those don’t count. No one gets paid because they train the hardest.
In the real world only the thing that should matter is results in real games.
@caligunner His performances have been pretty average for the past several years now. This isn’t a case of Ozil sluffing off in training & then consistently performing at a world class level when he plays games. If that was the case he would be the first name on the team sheet as ultimately Emery cares about winning games. The other question for those who really think Ozil should be starting – which of our young midfielders shouldn’t be getting playing time as Ozil really needs 2 defensive midfielders behind him (Xhaka for better or worse is playing) which likely means… Read more »
@atom Of course I agree if you isolate his particular play and look at his assist. But I see it as a team game. I think numbers like goals and assist are fun to look at but it’s how the team plays. I feel like as much as I love AW he never built a team around him and had below avg players that just weren’t good enough Especially last few years. like you mentioned who do I play behind him if he starts in CAM position? I really don’t know. In my world xhaka isn’t one of them lol.… Read more »
If we’re getting rid of Xhaka then IMO we actually have a much better functioning midfield without Ozil still as Gendouzi/Torriera/Willock/Ceballos would allow us to have a hard working modern midfield which frees up Lacazette/Auba/Pepe and still has some creativity /unpredictability coming via Ceballos/Willock. Xhaka isn’t a bad player – he just causes us a lot of issues as he isn’t mobile & we’re asking him to play in a position that requires mobility. He’s probably perfect for a slow moving league like Italy in reality.
The simple question is are we actually any better when Ozil doesn’t play? I would say we haven’t suddenly got 10 times better defensively with him out the team as that was always put on him he was at fault for not tracking or tackling back. Would he improve us offensively? Could he be the key to getting the best out of Pepe with his vision and passing ability. We have a run of games coming up where i would love to see Ozil behind a front 3 of Laca, auba, Pepe. We won’t know if this could be a… Read more »
“The simple question is are we actually any better when Ozil doesn’t play?“
The simpler question is are we actually any better when Ozil does play?
The evidence of the last few years points the the answer to the latter being “not really”.
It would be lovely to think otherwise but I’m afraid that would be a bit like believing in astrology, or copper bangles for rheumatism.
All I know is that our football is simply dog shit at the moment.
yeah, and that automatically means whoever is on the bench is better than the ones already playing?
I think we are going 3 solid hard working mids and two great quick full backs like liverpool.
Yes, and that leaves Ozil where? Not in the picture on the front three when there are Pepe, Auba, Laca, Baka, Martinelli, or Nelson available. In midfield, he won’t work hard enough to Emery’s liking. (See Liverpool work rate of midfielders.) Believe this is what management means when they talk about Mesut’s “training” issues, and who deserves to play.
I luv your front 4 ..its a mouth watering prospect…but sadly we don’t have enough physicality (torreira /Gwendouzi and athleticism ( xhaka ) to back the front 4 …we may get away with it at home against lower league opposition..the problem is the EPL is so bloody competitive there are no easy games any more.. And if we play that front 4 against the top sides they will wipe us with the floor because Ozil and Pepe don’t offer much defensive cover…the modern game does not allow for carrying any players.. Have a look at the top 2 teams …do… Read more »
if we had 2 Ngolo Kante’s behind them it could work tho…
No team deserves to have more than one Ngolo Kante.
This look so much like bullshit. Trying To put the thing on ozil. I m not saying that he is trying as much as the others, i m sure there is some truth. But what is the point in giving everything in training ? A shit player Will still be a shit player. And physical abilities are the same. I can train as much as CR7 that doesnt mean i will be like him. And lets say he doesnt train like he is supposed too. What as change between now and the pre-season ? Maybe the fact that you see… Read more »
This really is a case where actions speak much louder than words. Emery & Raul are being much more careful in regards to what they say about Ozil than Mustafi for instance, whom Emery was quite open about wanting to leave. This likely is down to a combination of 3 things: it’s much more difficult to find someone who is willing to take Ozil on his current deal, Ozil appears to not want to leave unless a dream scenario pops up, Ozil has a very sophisticated PR team. The reality is however that Raul/Edu/Emery have made it very clear to… Read more »
Yep it’s pretty obvious
Emery doesn’t seem to be a very intelligent person. He reads a lot of books and seems to think he’s some sort of psychologist, and in his book he tells how when he was playing he didn’t know what he was supposed to do, so now he micro-manages the players to ensure that they know exactly what they are supposed to do. This is why he is called a teacher, anyone at a higher level would realise that we have some very intelligent players in our team who probably know more than he ever will about the game of football,… Read more »
The people who downvote should never downvote when we loose to a mid table team or register two shots against a mid table team. You guys deserve to be playing like this.
I’ll be honest, as much as I rate him as a world class footballer, I’d be so happy to see the back of him
I’ll be honest as much as you think Emery is mediocre, you will like to have him as a manager, is it?
Why has Ozil been named one of our five captains? He can’t get in our match day squad, because his application isn’t high enough, so it can’t be for leading by example…. He doesn’t come across as a particularly inspirational figure off the pitch either. I think the Criticism of Emery is way OTT, and using democracy in the dressing room to reaffirm Xhaka as captain was clever, but making Ozil 1 of our 5 captains when he can’t even make the league cup squad, was just plain ridiculous. The sooner we put the Ozil debate to bed the better,… Read more »
Maybe because the players voted for him and Emery couldn’t leave him out. Emery needs to realise he’s not messing around with a twit like Neymar, but rather that Mesut is a very popular person and well loved by very many people. Also, many Arsenal fans aren’t stupid, and don’t just believe what they are spoon fed if it doesn’t make sense, even if Mesut isn’t one of your favourite players this situation is weird and the way Emery has handled this whole thing stinks.
Am I the only one who thinks the “vote for your captain” thing was, in part, a sly way for Emery to demote Ozil? Ozil was one of two captains staying on from last year, but only became 5th captain, effectively meaning he’ll only wear the armband when playing with the youngsters in the cups. With all the rage about Xhaka, this demotion didn’t get much attention, but must surely have been felt by the man himself.
Yes John, and I think he would have left him out completely but enough players voted for him so he couldn’t.
Your sucking up to Emery is OTT.
As OTT as your hypocrisy AP ?
We as fans can only best guess what the situation is , we will never know whats going on in these guy’s lives , maybe it will come out one day , but do not take everything a face value. It could be down to a simple case of a personality clash which is being played down by the club , or Mesut might have some personal problems , like the attempted robbery , or a million and one other things that humans go through. I don’t think people should assume anything. Just support the Arse and whoever puts on… Read more »
Also last season we had all the panel of excuses for letting Özil aside: tactical, technical, physical, “others deserve more”. Now it’s “others deserve more”. Let’s see what it’ll be in the future but meanwhile the team is s*** and we’re lucky to be at this position thanks to the collapse of others and to Auba. Oh, btw, the defense is not better without “Özilwhodoesn’ttrackback”.
I truly want ozil to play well. Everybody (including emery) does. The team is probably not set up to bis best skillset. Which is the throughpass. The team is to static. On the other hand, please watch the Nottingham forrest game. The 66th minute just before he is subbed. Watch what he does and it is no wonder why he has been taken off or is not in the starting lineup. Just watch!
I assume the 66th minute, that one minute is the most important one. If we judged all our players on their worst minute in any or every game, then we would not have a squad
There is a time when working smart outclass the hardwork that Unai calls tactics. EVen if Ozil, Sokratis, Xhaka and Luiz can train more they wil never have more pace and if Football is satisfied by more running during training then Ozil will never be on first eleven. Arsenal needs the intelligence of Ozil in supplying strikers with passes. Our wins have been a gamble so far. If Unai was fair Xhaka and Sokratis are not doing good but still he fields them. Unai is just making a cover up since we all know he hate Ozil because of the… Read more »
What happened during the europa league final ? I have only find “you are not a coach” but that comes from turkish sources. It s true ? Confirmed by people in the club ?
Happy enough with this explanation.
it is a long arse season and we are still in all the cups.
It’s been said, the best defense is a great offense.
To me, the best example of Ozil is the game against Leicester City last season.
Go on youtube and watch the highlights from that game.
Exactly, this is what we’re missing because Unai Emery doesn’t do creativity and has a problem with Mesut Ozil. I’ll keep Mesut over Emery any day.
Turns up one game in twenty. You got highlights of the other 23 league games from last season where he was guff?
No they probably don’t want all our league games or attend matches. I get the feeling ozil only exists in the world of youtube highlight reels for the majority of these commentors…
Actually Hurenson, many of us Ozil fans are fortunate to be able to attend matches, but I must confess that this season the footie on show has been so fucking boring I haven’t even bothered to try to get a ticket. Being able to attend matches doesn’t make anyone a better or more knowledgeable fan than someone who lives far away. Don’t be so condescending to fans who put in a lot of effort at unreasonable hours to watch the team that we all love.
Exactly! The fact that they have to bring up one game from the beginning of last season says it all. And why are we pretending Ozil never plays under Emery? After Ramsey’s injury Ozil played loads of games for us. The defeat at home to Palace, the draw at home to Brighton and of course the Europa League final. All much more recent than the Leicester game. But of course, they don’t fit the narrative that we always play way better with Ozil on the pitch!
Maybe the team should try and work less hard but more efficiently. Then we’ll get more chances to goal and the opponents will get less chances to shoot. UE, why not trying this? These days “hard working” is far from meaning “efficiency” for Arsenal.
Ozil is finished at Arsenal, and everybody knows it. When you can’t get in the team ahead of a bunch of kids for a League Cup tie then your time is surely up.
The best thing for Ozil would be a loan move in January, followed by a permanent one next summer.
It’s just such a shame that he’s sucking up so much money.
Not picking Ozil because he doesn’t present the coach’s standard of application is one thing, but if that is the case then why make him one of your five captains? What message does that send? I’m struggling to add it all up..
For Emery to sit and watch how shite we’ve been at breaking teams down in recent matches and not even have Ozil on the bench is just stupid. He’s never been the all action type player, so to expect that from him when he’s now in his 30s is again stupid.
I’ve supported Özil every step of the way because I know his quality and feel he’s been treated unfairly – especially by the German media in the aftermath of the World Cup. But at a certain point you have to call a spade a spade: he doesn’t work as hard as the other players do in defense. I think Emery could’ve handled the situation better, but to be fair, if a player doesn’t do what you ask – or isn’t capable of it, what are you supposed to do? Even as a long-time Özil defender, I was pretty unimpressed with… Read more »
I like Mourinho but not the kind of football he plays, also not the kind of press statement he gives and also not the poking in the eye but I really like Mourinho and defended for him but also don’t like his parking the bus. Hope you get my point.
Seems you don’t have much of an appetite for – or the capacity to comprehend – a thoughtful comment.
Perhaps an #ozilout or frothing-at-the-mouth #f*ckemery would suit you better?
Hey Unai, I will outwork half the team, when can I start for Arsenal?
P. S. My football skills are questionable, but like I said my work rate is fantastic. 50k per week will do.
Thanks
He will take you. He wants hardworking farmers or **** sucking players like Xhaka. Makes Özil and Lucas sit out.
It a bs narrative that is being spun by Arsenal management and coach about Ozil. I don’t buy it for 1 minute. My opinion is that Ozil is deliberately ostracized because he does not fit into the self-sustaining financial model that the club is pursuing. This means he has to go as his salary is an anomaly. A secondary reason is that Ozil is the remaining (iconic) reminder of the Wenger era and the transition – symbolically and financially- can’t be completed while Ozil is around. I also think that Emery reputation of struggling to manage players with star power… Read more »
To be fair I think they did give him a shot when unai first arrived but since then I think basically you are right
What’s being said now seems vaguely ridiculous
The best way to keep the ball is not to lose it. The more your players are accurate with their passes, the more possession you’ll have, the more chances you’ll create & the more the other team will tire. Ozil never looses the ball, he’s very accurate & he doesn’t over or under hit his passes. Such players will not get into tackles to try to get back the ball that his teammates under or over hit. If he gives you a perfect pass, he expect a level of professionalism from a team mate to do so in return. When… Read more »
Psst… Emery; play our most creative player. Fixed it.
Sorry guys but the ozil experiment ended with Wengers era….it’s really time to move on ..the club has decided..we can’t do anything about it..
Sorry mate! Not the club decides ok…it is that Useless Emery!!!
This is such a sad situation. Even if we accept the narrative he doesnt try hard enough in training hes still by far our most creative player and that is his primary job. You wouldn’t criticise Sokratis for his poor goal record for example Ozil averaged a goal or an assist every 1.8 games under Wenger. Even under Emery he has created the most chances in the league despite being constantly dropped. His talent is such that we need to set up in a way that gets the best out of him. I never want to see a midfield of… Read more »
It’s just absurd. So if Denilson tries harder in training he should play instead of Fabregas. If Bentdner puts more time is he should play instead of Bergkamp. Class is permanent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFisBhYvw3I
Mesut Özil won the Under 21 European Championships, the World Cup, was shortlisted for the Ballon D’Or and nominated for UEFA European Player of the year, being the youngest player to make the top 10 when he did. Scored twice in the final game of the season when Real Madrid became the first Spanish team to break 100 points in a season. He holds the all time record for assists in consecutive games in the premier league (7). Ronaldo is on record that he was angry that Mesut left Madrid because he knew his movement best. I’m not even his… Read more »
A lot of people on here appear to be in complete denial; there’s no global conspiracy against Ozil. No shadowy groups plotting the destruction of his career. It’s not Emery not being able to handle superstars like the “super professional and polite” Neymar. He’s just not been good enough, on the pitch and off it, and for some time. That’s it.
We know he was an incredible talent, but if he’s not doing it now (and he’s definitely not!) he doesn’t deserve to play. No ifs, not buts. Baffling that this even has to be said!
Well, fuck me, Emery sure doesn’t have a problem playing Mustafi, Xhaka, AMN, Kola, Iwobi, and others when they’ve not been good enough. I mean, shit, it’s not like we’re humming without Ozil or our team’s pressing is so amazing that Ozil would ruin it. I get that it’s over for him, but I reckon it’s as much to do with Emery’s schoolmaster approach than anything else.
It happens, I just want it to be over.
Well we’ve heard it from Raul now, of all people. He doesn’t seem like a “schoolmaster” type. It’s time to take these guys at face value; they’re leaving Ozil out due to a lack of effort on his part. Not talent, not tactics, but effort. If Xhaka, Mkhi etc al are being picked over Ozil based on effort, that should really give you and many people on this site pause for thought. I think it’s absolutely damning that our highest paid player is not giving his all on and off the pitch. Absolutely damning.
When Kevin DeBruyne returned to the Premier League from Wolfsburg, I thought Wow, that’s the player Mesut Ozil should’ve turned into. He had such flair and creativity but lacked mental toughness and more importantly, seemed to lack a burning desire to be the best player he could be. It just looked like he never fancied it. Ozil just looks very complacent and very comfortable in how things have worked out in his career. It saddens me but I believe he was capable to be so much better than that.
And yet the stats are almost identical, and Mesut has less game time and for most of the time an inferior team around him. Just because the style is different doesn’t mean he’s not effective.
“And yet the stats are almost identical” OK now, please go to a non-Arsenal forum and tell people Ozil is as good as KdB ?. Would be very interested in seeing these “stats” from the last 3 seasons…
His Arsenal goose is cooked
If Sanilehi backs Emerys man management style when it comes to this debacle with Ozil his head should rest firmly.on the same block as E
merys should we fail to make top 4
Raul summer business Is overrated up to this point. He overpaid or didn’t get the players we needed. I don’t really trust his vision yet. Lol We didn’t need An expensive wide attacking player. What we needed were 1 CB that could be our #1 CB and another to challenge be a starter. Not some young Expensive CB with very little experience and we can’t have access to. Plus imagine his adjustment period once he gets here? Old 30+ cb who isn’t much better than what we have currently. We didn’t get a legitimate RB for competition or cover for… Read more »
Can we pick a different manager for difficult away games too?
Sanllehi said: “Unai’s policy has always been to play the ones that work hard in training.”
The above was his immediate response when asked about Ozil which is completely missing from this article.
How does that make sense in regards To Suarez? He immediately got on as sub the week he was pained to the club with hardly any training or even playing for Barca?
Arsenal has dug a hole for themselves. If they need to get rid of Ozil, the best way is to play him, then you can criticize that he is not performing and pull the rug. This is going to cost Arsenal.
All players loved Wenger because he was honest. Even if they did not make a career out of AFC but always admired Wenger. Look at this mediocre coach, comes to the club, changes the way we play to boring boring Arsenal and brings along all politics, lies and drama. Get rid of him please.
ozil has played two games this season. We are in control of both games while he was on the field. I note that no one is saying that he didnt play well in those two games. I also note, that those two games are the only direct evidence the fans have to base their judgement on. When people are talking about so much stuff that happens off the field, while there is no one complaining of his work on the field, it does seem that the debate is not rational. In this age of agendas, manipulation and weaponised xenophopic bigotry,… Read more »
Upto now I don’t know what formation Unai wants to build Arsenal on. Look at klopp, it’s 4-3-3 and he’s getting results because he has been working on it with his players. As for us? even the coach himself hasn’t understood what he wants to do. You target players in the transfer window based on how you want to lineup not just because this player is good. Mesuit will always struggle in a wide role and he’s a traditional number 10. His work rate is usually in question and I agree he hardly puts in as required. Torreira hasn’t been… Read more »
For me the interesting thing is the kid of symbol Ozil seems to have become among fans. Because besides the fraction of die hard Ozil fans most of us agree that the player has not lived up to the kind of standard that would justify his salary. Not by a long shot. Something that is not just an Emery era thing but goes back to the final Wenger years as well. So why does so many (including me to some extent) still disagree with Emery’s decision? I believe it’s because the reluctance of using Ozil reminds us of how unwilling… Read more »
Or maybe it’s an admission that you can’t build a team around Ozil, not now and certainly not later, so what’s the point when there’s an Emile Smith Rowe who will get more out of the game time? I don’t buy this narrative that we have no creative players besides Ozil, looking at the squad now all our attackers have great close control, ability to beat a man, can find killer passes and short pass and.move combos. The fact only a few have played more than a game or two together right now goes a long way to explaining any… Read more »
So maybe Ozil doesn’t have the commitment in training, maybe he’s not tearing across London Colney like Emery wants him to. But how does it harm the squad to have him on the bench? It’s not like we’re setting the League on fire with the number of chances we’re creating… against Manure for example, putting him on for the last 20 mins might have given us a chance or two. We’re devoid of creativity in midfield and he’s probably the only one who can spring a defence. At least until we get a replacement, at this point neither Ceballos nor… Read more »
If Ozil’s work rate is poor, then what does anyone think about Pepe’s work rate. Pepe is abysmal in attacking, and non-existent while defending.
In My opinion arsenal need ozil.. no matter how hard you train Once the coach loses favore from a player it won’t matter wether you give all or not..