Neither Mesut Ozil or Sokratis will not feature for Arsenal in the Europa League group stages after being left off the squad list registered with UEFA.
The Gunners had hoped to avoid such a decision but having failed to cut their non-homegrown (aka ‘locally trained players’) tally of senior players to 17 by the end of the transfer window they knew they’d have to cut two players.
In the end, Mikel Arteta selected Ozil, who hasn’t played a minute of competitive football since March, and Sokratis, who came close to leaving recently. Both players are into the final 12 months of their contracts.
Arsenal have Europa League six group stage games between now and 10 December. If we progress we’ll then have to submit another squad for the knockout stages.
The date to register players for the Premier League is thought to be 20 October; not long after the second transfer window, which allows for business with EFL clubs, closes.
If Ozil and Sokratis miss out on that too, we likely won’t see them in action until after Christmas at the earliest. They may even have played their last games for the club.
There’s also no place for William Saliba, who Arsenal are still considering loaning out before the October 16th EFL deadline, while Gabriel Martinelli is also excluded. However, the young Brazilian is injured and won’t return until the new year, so he can be added if/when the Gunners make it through the group stage.
That’s the end of that then, by Mesut, thanks for the memories
‘Bye’
maybe someone should just “buy”
Just wish there were more of the positive ones – I think we deserved them.
there were positive memories. there really were, they are just consigned a bit more to history then we would have liked
We should all fear the wrath of @Qwaliteee
Said here that we should have tried hard to loan Ozil by paying half of his salary and got a lot of downvotes. I still think that other teams would have done it whether Ozil fully agrees or not. We are the same club that was unable to send paperwork for Saliba’s loan on time.
Deliberately no Saliba overseas loan. A Championdhip loan already agreed .. much better he gets experience in England
Difficult to make happen if the player isn’t on board… Guendouzi ran out of choice in the matter if he was to have any worthwhile future
Let’s hope we’re saving some money by this. A textbook could be written on how not to manage a club and behave as a player.
i cant wondering if his contract has an appearance fee clause ( which must be relative to his weekly wage) is part of reason he is not picked. with us pinching the pennies at every turn , this must be a factor. i imagine his contract has a few bonus clauses in there , wins , goals etc. maybe we are keeping him out of the team to save us those costs ? just a thought.
You have just echoed my thoughts.
I made exactly the same argument to a friend when Ozil was allowed to go on holiday while his teammates prepared for the FA Cup final.
Don’t really understand the no Saliba aspect. Surely those six group games before Christmas would be more beneficial than a loan move? That’s almost a game a week, against (with all due respect) teams he should be capable of playing against at this point. Can always rethink at Christmas if its not going well.
Because we are looking to loan him to a championship side which can be done by the 16th October mate.
I think mjc recommends to keep him for UEFA and loan him after Xmas. And I agree
Does Arteta really want Saliba? I am not fully convinced
Arteta gets so much love from the fanbase, but we don’t listen to what he says, it’s so weird.
He has clearly said Saliba is gonna be a huge player for the club but needs regular starts to rebuild his match fitness.
It’s okay to put our own narratives asides and trust the manager – this isn’t Emery we’re talking about.
Then maybe, the club should have let him play the French cup final in the first place. Then facilitate the loan back? I wonder how the kid is mentally at the moment.
Emery was bad at Arsenal but no need to always refer to him that way.
You’re right, wasn’t trying to insult the man and defended him a lot when he was here.
I just meant fans didn’t have confidence in him.
Arteta also said he would build the team around Ozil. On a forum, I responded Arteta only said he knew what Ozil brings to the team when he ticks but other fans were unanimous: He once said he would build the team around Ozil.
Wouldnt make sense to build your team around someone going into their last year of contact with no intention for renewal in any circumstances
I’m aware, my point is I think Europa group stage with us would be far more beneficial
Personally, I disagree. There are only 6 games, and all against very low quality opposition who we could probably sleepwalk through. Don’t think he’d learn very much from them. The Championship at the very least would prepare him for the physicality of English football, which is probably the biggest risk factor behind signings from abroad failing. Especially young defenders
Brentford have been mentioned, and I think they would be perfect. Close by, so wouldn’t need to relocate and could stay in close contact with Arsenal, and have a decent style of play
You don’t think playing with his team (even against weaker opponents) and training with his teammates and coaches is better than another team, where he could easily fall out of favour and get further ostracised?
There are 6 Europa league starts for Saliba staring us and him in the face. Then if we’re still desperate for a loan do a January loan. But we also might just find he’s an absolutely beast in those games and is more ready than we think and he stays competing for the first team.
Doubt it. He’s been training with the team all summer, and the opposition we’re about to face is – at best – Championship level.
More games is better, I think.
Arsenal shouldn’t keep him just until the new year for six measly games, when he can play twice as much for the right team in the Championship.
His year of transition was heavily disrupted by injury and a truncated league season. It will be a sterner test and better preparation for his future to go on loan than playing EL group games.
Surely for the very reason that his season was so disrupted we wouldn’t want him playing any more than a game a week..?
Not at Premier League level where the risk of re-injury would be very high.
But at Ligue Un or Championship level two starts a week until January would be perfect for him.
I would say the Championship is no less likely to cause injuries that the Premier League. If anything moreso- more games, lower quality and thus likely more physical. I don’t watch any Championship games to comment but that would be my assumption, perhaps overly simplistic. In fairness I do agree with other commenters that I trust Arteta, I was just expecting to see him make his debut in the EL, so a touch surprised.
He’s a thoroughbred and he’s been treated as one .
He has same nurture as Mbappe
Saliba is a personal issue, he’s just a kid and his mother just passed away. Just imagine you being a 19 year old living in England and your mother dying suddenly. That’s the reason Saint Ettiene almost signed him again on loan, timing was the problem, almost in the end of the transfer window. He needs familiar support, crucial stage of life to put your head on the right path, it’s a young man. Hope he finds a good place to play, get some minutes and be happy.
No arguments there, but then let him go back to France. And we have a lot of French speakers in the squad, surely staying put and building a network in your new home is more important? Maybe we’re just going to give him some time off, work on fitness with U23s and settle in for that very reason.. I just can’t imagine farming him off to another new home at a Championship club would be the right option if it were indeed a personal thing.
Is Eddie not in the squad?
Well spotted.
Doesn’t need to be registered. He’s u21 and homegrown
Then why is James Hillson mentioned in the list?
Special rule for goalkeepers to be able to have 2 groups training separately because if one goalkeeper got covid, that would rule out every goalkeeper for self isolating.
So what now that Iliev has been sent on loan. I don’t see the sense in this
Wouldn’t the same apply to Saliba?
You need to be with the club for 2 years for that. So Saliba and Martinelli don’t count.
Mesut had one good year ( the first year) and lived on his reputation for the rest of his stay. He has obvious technical qualities but was never world class. He’s never shown enough physical attribute or even desire for the premier league. The 350k is not his fault but mismanagement of which I suspect Arsene pushed for. However his latest stunt with Gunnersaurus to play with fans emotional attachment is a disgraceful attempt at manipulating public opinion. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Mezout Offzil!
50 assists in 140 games. That’s more than 1 season.
That with just Giroud up front for almost a year and then Welbeck. Played with Bendtner as a striker too.
Had an amazing partnership with Sanchez that helped us lift our first trophy in so many years.
Hate how its ended and he is to blame as well, but both parties should have worked together to come up with a better solution to this.
But thanks for the memories Özil guess this is goodbye.
20 of those assisted were in the first year. Also for an advanced midfielder he has a very poor goal return.
Dreadful goal record. Never wanted to put himself in goal scoring positions, probably scared he might get tackled. Profoundly unsuited to the English game, Madrid and Ozil saw Wenger coming on this one. Did nothing to earn that contract btw, clear as day he was on a steep downward curve at the time. Should have been sold or allowed to leave for free ( and, no, that is not Capt hindsight talking, I felt exactly that way when it was happening ) More than any dodgy keeper or disorganized defence it was the Ozil/ Sanchez deals that sealed Wenger’s fate… Read more »
Dave, do you remember how bad the mood around the club was when we lost Fab/Nasri the same summer? Selling club image etc, would’ve been a huge loss. IIRC, the timelines of Auba signing and Ozil extending overlapped, who knows if Ozil signing on was instrumental in getting us Auba?
I just don’t care about selling club image etc if it is not the right deal. Every club sells players, even if they don’t want to. The money could and should have been much more wisely invested. And that is pure idle speculation regarding Auba.
‘And rightly so’— wenger was a legend and always will be-
quickly confirmed over the following two years where we turned out abysmal football
even now though we may look more solid- we are still poor going forward -scrape past teams instead of bossing games
Under we had an a style and identity which was attacking and attractive football– all i see now is a mid table team
slagging off previous managers is poor
Ok Gus, I’ll bite. You say over the next 2 seasons we played abysmal football. Fair enough, I agree. But the football was becoming pretty poor under Wenger by then anyway, it didn’t suddenly start when Arsene left. Secondly, instead of having Mhki and Ozil floating ineffectively around on huge wages we could have had 60M in the bank and nearly 600k a week in wages available to buy different ( better ) players ( although Wenger apparently wanted to spend all that and more on lemar, who isn’t doing much at Atleti ). You, presumably, would have liked to… Read more »
But we didn’t sign lemar so that’s how much wenger wanted him. Weird that some fans hatred of wenger is so ingrained that they still can’t let go of their obsession even after driving him from the club in the most distasteful fashion. Stop trying to rewrite history and using any excuse as a stick to beat arsene with…… Move on, wenger has.
We didn’t sign Lemar because he refused the move, not because Arsene didn’t try. We offered 90m ffs, and Monaco were more than happy to accept
Without Alexis (and, I believe, Ozil–but you can ignore that if you like) there is no chance whatsoever that we would have finished top four. Without Alexis and Ozil (and, most of all, Wenger) players like Aubameyang would have viewed Arsenal as just another undifferentiated English club, like Spurs, or Everton, or even West Ham–they pay a lot, they play in a strong league, and they don’t matter.
I take your point, but Arsene was not the only coach in world football who could do this. Don’t laugh, but it was perfectly reasonable to think we could have gotten Guardiola at one time, or Klopp, or Ancelloti or Hiddink. Arsenal paid Wenger VERY well, and they had a big history and reputation long before Arsene arrived. It is also perfectly reasonable to argue that Wenger was the reason that players like Fabregas, RvP, Nasri etc saw the peak of their careers elsewhere. Can you imagine how frustrating it must be as a forward player to work your bollocks… Read more »
I agree with every word in your comment. I was livid when we re-signed him.
No they weren’t, he nearly broke the assists record in 2015-16 (his third season) and in fact he got more G+A in 2016-17 than in his first season as well as being the fastest to reach 50 PL assists (until KDB beat it). So to say he just had one good season is completely wrong.
May not be worth the 350k (which was our fault in the first place because we couldn’t afford the backlash from losing both Sanchez and Ozil back to back) but you don’t have to be Kaka in his prime to stake a claim in our midfield. Would be interesting to see his pre assist/assist -1 numbers, would imagine they’re pretty good too
It absolutely blows my mind that people think we shouldn’t have Ozil in our team (before the current saga) because he’s not worth the 350k we pay him. It’s a sunk cost, which we had to cough to avoid a Fabregas+Nasri summer situation. Are we a better team with him in the squad, of course – can’t make the case that we’re not.*
* All arguments presented reflective on a playing ability basis excluding the current saga and its impact on intangibles
There are lots of arguments. He does not allow an effective high press because he simply doesn’t tackle – thus making tactical pressing up the pitch very difficult. Creating such transition is a big part of what we are trying to do. He avoids physical contact like the plague with or without the ball (never challenges for a header and complains to the refs at any contact on it). As an attacking midfielder he contributes almost no goals. Basically, at this point in his career he brings sharp passing and creativity, but you cannot argue even those strengths are at… Read more »
Summed up perfectly.
Agreed he’s not as good as he used to be, which is why he should be starting some games, coming on as a sub for some and missing out completely on a few, depending on the opposition. To suggest that every single midfield option we have is better than Ozil in every single game type is frankly v hard to reconcile
Hallelujah, well said
Think Daveo summed it up nicely in his response to you, but would add that his wages are only a sunk cost in the current perfect storm of circumstances. Were Ozil willing to leave, were Arsenal willing to subsidize his wages, and if any club wanted him for even 50k a week, at least some of that 350k could be recovered. It’s not inherently a sunk cost, it just becomes one when all sides stubbornly dig in.
Do you guys remember that it was ozil that gave us FA cup back to back and even trying to get the 3rd one. The treatment from the club is too bad. I know coach mikel didn’t brought this. It was the club that has been wanted to ship him out because of his wage bill. Okay see it this way when coach Mikel came in he used him in almost all the matches and he played well. Suddenly he dropped him. Think of that lads. This is an arrangement for not accepting to 12% of his salary and the… Read more »
Are you mistaking Ozil for Aaron Ramsey with first part of your comment?
He was pretty good (not world-class though) during his first two seasons, although not very consistent. As for him and Sanchez helping us win our first trophy, that’s not true. We ended the trophy drought thanks to Ramsey.
Despite both racking up some impressive stats (sometimes concurrently), Ozil and Alexis never quite clicked… and Alexis wasn’t at the club when we lifted the FA Cup in 2014. Amazing the things fans will make up to put a positive spin on things. It’s okay to concede when things didn’t go as planned…
How was his partnership with Sanchez ‘amazing’? It was decent but not amazing as a partnership goes. Talent wise Ozil is one of the best I have seen at the club but in regards application so much was lacking. Such a shame. In regards ‘both parties’ being to blame I don’t see that at all. This article is about Ozil and Sokratis. If Ozil had Sokratis’ attitude we would not even be having this conversation and Ozil would be a top player in our team and that’s it – it really is as simple as that in my mind. It’s… Read more »
How has it worked out for Özil?
La Liga, Spanish Cup, German Cup, FA Cup, World Cup and more sitting on his shelf and Arsenal sending £18,200,000 his way each year.
Wish my life had “worked out” like that!
Haha.. Depends on your priorities and how you gauge success I guess.. if he wanted he could have had all that AND still be playing!
Exactly, even Gareth Bale finally left Real Madrid to find a new club.
Mesut Ozil should’ve done the same.
This time thumbs up for you. Özil’s life is a slacker’s dream come true. Getting paid a royally high amount and needing to do not much more than turning up to training in time to avoid a fine or visiting a doc to get the sick leave and skip training. I must admit, I would also like that.
However, stakeholders of my employer surely wouldn’t and in this case I, as an Arsenal fan,see myself as a stakeholder of his employer.
This hits all my feelings well. I was at the CL game he scored his first goal in (Napoli I think?) and watching him play was mesmerizing.
Shame it couldn’t have ended better.
‘Mesut had one good year.’
His 3rd season (15-16; the ‘Leicester season’) was clearly the best: 35 PL games, 6 goals, 19 assists. His next season was fine as well: 33 PL games, 8 goals, 9 assists.
All in all, he gave us 4 good seasons. Would love to see the end of the story, but let’s not completely rewrite history.
Yes of course those numbers look good. Problem is they don’t recognize all the negatives he brought to the team with them. How many goals did we concede as a direct result of Mesut not closing down opposition players, not challenging for balls, being pushed off the ball?
Even when he was playing ‘well’ he created as many problems as he solved. Off the ball we were almost literally playing with 10 men, except other players did not go to close down the gaps because Mesut was there and they, your know, actually expected him to do his job
I hope the door hits you hard on the head when it swings back. It may already have tbh.
No chance baby 😉 Glad you took the time off your playstation to comment.
Glad to know there is wifi in the shithole you sleep in.
Ozil was at his best in his third season with us, were he got 19 assists in a single pl season. He only got 9 assists in pl his first season.
Think he is a decent player on technical grounds but that cheap trick on Gunnersaurus was a disgrace and he should get the boot asap!!
Yeah how dare he support a working class man (who’s been with us for 25 years) who was fired the same day we found 50m under the sofa?
Of course he took advantage of it, but if the guys running the biz side of things at our club don’t want to get shown up in public they should stop making rookie mistakes
And obviously shouldn’t be letting go of people like this anyway
He didn’t get the sack though did he?
He’s a part-timer who can’t do his part-time job because government guidelines won’t allow him in the stadium and almost certainly the training ground to do it
Irrespective, it’s horrible optics considering non footballer/coach salaries are a drop in the ocean for your budget anyway. What you might save on your wage budget you’ll end up losing 100x of in terms of goodwill with fans/brands/sponsors
It’s not poor “optics” at all, presumably he’s only ever been paid for the work he’s done.
It can’t possibly be true that Tim his guy has lived off the part time wages of being Gunnersaurus for the past 30?!
Mate how’s it not poor optics when literally every website that covered the Partey news also mentioned how we’d gotten rid of our mascot?
And if they were part time wages that wouldn’t cover a person’s cost of living, what are we even trying to save them for – drop in the ocean in our budget
Only because no one will scrutinise the statement. He hasn’t been made redundant, he’s unable to do the job and when mascots are allowed back into the stadium he’ll be able to work again.
I’m honestly surprised that he gets paid to do it
Mate the entire point of it being poor optics is that nobody’s gonna care enough to scrutinize the statement
I have, and i wonder why he’s made a very public offer to pay the wages of a part time member of staff but not the 55 made redundant a couple of months earlier? I dare say a 12.5% reduction of his wage would cover most, if not all of the cost?
But alas he hasn’t and to the uncurious it’s look like a win but to those who think a little deeper about it, it just makes him look bad!
If you can’t see why getting rid of a much loved character who’s been with the club nearly 3 decades hours before dropping £45 million on a very high profile signing doesn’t look good, you should probably apply to the club’s PR department. Apparently they can’t see it either.
They haven’t got rid of him, when mascots are allowed back in the ground he’ll work again.
If anything this is a manufactured story released from Ozil’s PR department
What weird little dream world do you live in? What is this silly conspiracy you’re peddling?
Conspiracy? What conspiracy
Oh, you are paying Gunnersaurus then?
Hard to be too cynical about the gunnersaurus offer to be honest.
Very easy to be cynical, if he took his pay cut of 12.5% he could have saved the jobs of the 55 permanent staff that were made redundant.
1 good year? That’s bullshit.
You’re forgetting that year when he was stuck on 19 assists from about half way through the season and needed just 1 assist to set a new record, which every striker tried their hardest and succeeded in messing up every chance that he created for them. You may not like him, he may not be what he was, but at least state facts that are staring you in the face.
Uhmmm, that is literally 1 year! Not even, about 5 months in fact
Mesut Ozil. Arsene Wenger. It really did not have to end this way.
Actually it was kind of inevitable, look at Arsene’s biggest purchases ( I don’t include Auba because that was a Gazidis buy ) Sanchez – success, could have had 3 great years of service and sold him at a double your money profit, instead fucked him around and got Mhki Arshavin – bust, left on a free Reyes – bust, left on the cheap Ozil – bust, would pay him off if he’d agree probably Jeffers – bust, clawed back 1M from Charlton, who soon ditched him Wiltord – so-so, left on a free because the Club didn’t think he… Read more »
In what world is Ozil a bust hahaha
In my world
All appart from jeffers were decent value .
Watching arsenal won the league at old Trafford in the home end with wiltord scoring , priceless
Totally agree with you, but he was our record signing at the time and did well without ever really becoming a great player for us. That’s why I said so-so
Arshavin was a level up on rest of the squad , he realised this and got bored , found the cakes in Harrods. Having to play with Chamack , and that defence .. Still some great goals and assist , plus and 14 m was not a lot then only for Arsenal/ Arsene.
Again, I don’t disagree, but can you really say it was a successful signing?
It kind of was in the sense that he did what we bought him in January to do. Got us into the top 4 by the skin of our teeth that season, which probably covered the cost of his purchase + a year or 2s wages.
I’m picturing Mesut as Switch in the Martix as Arteta (Cypher) is about to pull his plug…
Life is all about leaving when you are ahead…both Wenger and Ozil are arsenal legends at least in my mind..I wanted them to leave with dignity but in truth for different reasons they both will be forced out to let the club or team move on”..that is what its all about……..
Been a massive fan of Özil backing him to be brought back to the team. But that there is just something that has gone really wrong. Lack of creativity in the team and yet dropped out. Nothing can explain it other than assume that there is something really wrong.
The club seem to snub Özil at every chance and Özil seems to do the same with different publicity stunts. Should have left the club with dignity.
No player is bigger than the club. Time to move on.
The truth will come out, so let us wait until then.
Reasonable take from an Ozil fan.
Often the thing that makes most sense is the most obvious explanation. What makes the most sense to me is that Ozil won’t apply himself in training and do the job that the manager wants, meaning change his playing style. Hard to play two way football with a one way player by reducing your side to 10 men on defense. Only logical explanation that fits the situation. The modern game has moved beyond a classic one way 10 and requires players who will press and tackle. Even Auba tackles.
I do agree that Ozil’s lack of defensive work has always been an issue but when you know he is still the best creative outlet we have got in the team and playing against teams that often are hard to break down like against Sheffield I don’t think we could do much worse than not even have Ozil in the corner of our plan. Plus he has just got one year and he is one of the top paid athletes in the league, I guess we could have at least made some use of him and let him go by… Read more »
It’s not like Ozil suddenly stopped tackling or haring around the pitch. Arteta played him in practically every game pre the lockdown. And for a player who’d had practically no game time under Emery, he was as good (or as bad) as anyone else in the squad bar Auba. This has more to do with his refusal to take a pay cut. It’s like we’re cutting our noses to spite our face. We’re crying out for some creativity in midfield, to unlock stubborn defences. Surely someone like that deserves a place on the bench at times, even for that one… Read more »
There isn’t a single person alive that can convince that his talents have dropped below Caraboa Cup levels. THAT should tell you it’s the club, not the manager.
We run all kinds of scenarios and try to fit any number of reasons I to this. This is the only one that fits.
Wouldn’t it be nice for someone at the club to grow a pair and lay it out straight? End all this intra-fan bickering.
I think it’s more likely that if Arteta is to instil a new work ethic into the team then he simply cannot allow Ozil to undermine him by not working hard enough and still getting playing time.
Cutting your nose off to spite your face?
Yes, perhaps. But with a greater long-term goal in mind.
Let’s not forget all the extra curricular stuff that Arteta demands too, like writing up notes on matches.
I love a lot of things about Ozil. Don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about an Arsenal signing (I’m relatively young so…) yet I have to agree with this 100%. The player I remember tearing up opposition at the 2010 World Cup has departed, and the assistmonger who nearly broke the premier league assists record a few years ago seems to have left the building too. I am a political person, never afraid to express my views and I fully support his criticism of the Chinese government over the treatment of the Urguirs and I LOVED him standing up… Read more »
I’m in the exact same thought process as you. I just want it to stop
He’s not that shit, it does look a bit like there’s something else going on tbh …
I think it’s a contract thing. It must be like if we dont play him at all, we must be able to pay him significantly less. Maybe around 200k or something. And we think it’s better to save that 150k or whatever rather than play him and get some scanty returns on the field. And nothing wrong in that. He does play a scanty role on the field, especially in the big games. And small games we are able to win anyway. However, as some are saying, if it’s because of his china comment, then it’s just sad on the… Read more »
The only things we do know are that Arteta gave everyone a clean slate and that if you didn’t live up to his non negotiables you would be moved on. Ozil & Gendouzi both fell afoul and paid the price. And to be fair both have had issues in the past. Ozil missed the end of Wenger’s tenure (officially injured but lot of questions around that at the time), fell out with Emery, wasn’t selected by Freddie and fell out with Arteta.
Let’s not forget after that clean slate came a ton of Ozil games, and then COVID, and then no Ozil pay cut.
12.5 % of Ozil’s pay is the largest.
There are a number of somethings. Firstly, he was the wrong character: quite self-indulgent, with a propensity to go missing in tough times. Downvote all you want, but he has only performed to any reasonable extent under Wenger, and for good reason. Even Mourinho called him a coward. He (and Wenger) were unable to adapt to the game’s new emphasis on transitions, diminishing of the 10, etc. quite inconsistent and proved never to be truly decisive often enough. Secondly, he is a great offensive facilitator, akin to Oil In The Machine, simply making things run better. However this only applies… Read more »
If we don’t register Özil for the PL too, what I’m expecting, we should tell him to train alone or with the u23s as he’s a horrible role model for the young players in our squad. Guendouzi is very close to him and we’ve seen what we got from that. So happy when it’s Mai and we can leave this Özil saga finally behind.
Some people find it tough to digest the truth and have downvoted your comment. I am with you on this mate.
Moreover, did anyone observe his well planned PR strategy yesterday specific to Gunnersaurus? Now the gullible would say he is generous, kind-hearted, compassionate, humble etc. But to your heartbreak I would like to tell you one important thing – this is how politician win elections. Its well manipulated! Anyway like someone once said, “He who has ears, let him hear.” was it Jesus? Now bring one the downvotes!!!
Yes it was Jesus, God incarnate.
We really need to be bigger than this, we haven’t come out of this situation looking great either and punitive action will make it worse. Pay off his contract and focus on the team we have.
I bet club would wants to pay him off but Ozil don’t want that. What he wants is to live in London and build his “Brand”.
His brand is declining if he’s not playing football surely?
You would think so but the devotion to Ozil is beyond football. Not sure why.
His middle eastern fan base will love him no matter what
Not in his predominantly middle eastern fan base
It’s the best thing for all, but he clearly feels wronged enough to dig his heels in, accept no pay-off (except possibly 100% + loyalty bonuses) and go to PR war with the club. More than being distasteful, it’s quite distracting and ramps up pressure. If there’s a positive result – like against Leicester with 5 academy graduates – he takes a shine off post-match proceedings when the focus should be elsewhere. If it’s negative, it’s the same but in his favour, with the tired argument that his inclusion may have helped. Hopefully, the team keep winning without creativity issues,… Read more »
It’s almost the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your own face though. I’m sure we would have happily reached a settlement to allow Ozil to leave to find a new club. He would have come out with the same financials as I’m sure he wouldn’t leave otherwise & would get to pick his next club and play this year. Granted he would likely have to go to Turkey or the MLS as his time at the top is clearly finished – but it beats sitting out an entire year at the tailend of his career. We keep… Read more »
It is a real shame. I’m not his biggest fan, but this is the last thing we ALL wanted for him, especially after the World Cup debacle. Just to prove the doubters wrong. As much as I want to see things from his perspective, I keep asking, “Where is his professional pride??” I’ve yet to get an acceptable answer from anyone. His sitting on his contract and playing these PR games with a hierarchy that don’t believe in his ability to perform… quite unseemly stuff. His future prospects and his legacy – not just at Arsenal, but his whole professional… Read more »
I’m with you on this. His actions belie a player that cares far more about his social media image than he does about his playing career. I can’t imagine clubs would be lining up to sign him looking at the way he has conducted himself – he’s taken a lot of pot shots at the club via social media the past few years.
For me Europa League team til Christmas should be ( rest others for League push
Leno
Cedric saliba ( Mari/ holding ) kola
Mo.e. willock
Pepe ozil Nelson
Eddie
Pepe only to get his confidence up .
You know Eddie would love at the square ball tap ins ozil would set him up with .
And Pepe balls inside the CB and lb to run on to .
Oh well
I actually always liked Sokratis. Sure he has his limitations as a player, and it makes sense to try to move him on of course. But he always gave 100% for us and put his body on the line.
Absolutely
I’d argue he was our best defender in 18/19.
Never let us down. Unlike many others. How he’s got this reputation as a liability is so strange, and disappointing for him no doubt.
His ability to play out from the back – which is crucial to Artetaball, is the worst amongst the central defenders. That’s why he was posted at right back, to limit the risk of his dispossession.
He’s a good pure defender – probably the best after Gabriel – but his limitations are real and hamper the team’s ability to win.
The rumour was/is that Sokrates got into a fight with Guendouzi in Dubai. I don’t think Arteta rated him much anyway but that definitely wouldn’t have helped his cause.
Makes me like Sokratis more. Guendouzi was the guy that would flick the back of everyone’s ear on the team plane. That would get old fast in the team.
I was neutral really
Yeah it is kinda hard for me to see him excluded. There has to be something behind the scenes which caused him to not move. Maybe Bosman move and money, who knows.
Still suprises me no newly promoted or relegation battling teams came in for him. He’s dogged and can definitely do a job there. Very strange, the type of leader teams like that need. Salary may have been a factor, but he was willing to take a cut (reportedly) or on loan we could have paid part. Maybe there is a loan to championship on the cards. I mean he’d hate sitting a season out. Mesut doesn’t seem that bothered though.
I think he wasted most of the transfer window waiting for Napoli who left him hanging at the last minute. It’s a shame, it would have been a nice place for his young family and a bit of stability for him. He’s a solid defender and I like him. The next window is less than three months away so he may have to wait, hopefully he can set up a decent move.
Maybe the other teams are also hell-bent on playing it out from the back and so Sokratis has rather harshly fallen foul of fashion
Where is Stoke City when you need them?!
Hardly a surprise in either case really. Ozil seems a “busted flush” now and there are reports that Arsenal are renewing efforts to try get him off the books by paying up his remaining contract, possibly because his continuing presence as the club’s highest earner may be having an effect on the players who are giving everything, week in and out for considerably less dosh in many cases. Sokratis was one of several that we wanted to offload in the recent window but for whatever reason (wages, his “average” ability or probably both) means we’re probably stuck with him as… Read more »
5 goalkeepers seems like a bit much…
I think quite a few of them are Home Grown
Is Saka in that list? Or am I going blind? Five goalkeepers?
Don’t need to register U21 players
Surely this is the case for why saliba isnt listed in the squad then?
He’s probably going on loan
100% sure the China comments had a big part to play in this. No surprise the club chose financial gains over a humanitarian cause. The same reason no other player or club has uttered a word about the genocide.
Not surprised either as all the clubs are owned by the 1% for whom profit is the number one priority and nothing else matters.
Can’t argue with profit being the number one priority for our club. But making the leap and infer Mesout is being ostracised for his comment is pure speculation. #nickingaliving but good on him to denounce the atrocities from the Chinese gvnmt
I agree with your comment about Ozil but it’s a little bizarre to suggest that profit wouldn’t be the number one priority for any club. Arsenal – like every other professional club I know – is a business. I don’t know of another club where the most important thing isn’t, at the end of the day, the “bottom line”. If that goes in the wrong direction for any length of time you end up like Barcelona have – an undignified scramble to offload high earning players in the transfer window to try to reduce their massive and unsustainable debt, reportedly… Read more »
Yes, similarly it could have been nice had he said something about that Turkish president’s atrocities against the Kurds too.
On face value I’d agree but I suggest you educate yourself on what’s happened to Enes Kanter & his family members since speaking out against Erdogan. Presumably Ozil has relatives in Turkey
Erdogan was the best man at his wedding. Staying quiet is one thing but open friendship is something else entirely…
Pure nonsense – Ozil’s problems go back to his staggering wage increase when the (then) management were simply panicked into awarding him £350,000 per week and breaking the wage structure. They did this, and it’s well documented, to avoid a second humiliating departure of another (then) top player following that of Sanchez who left for no fee, although he was then worth £millions, because the club failed to tie him down to a new contract! Ozil’s overall performance began to decline, albeit slowly, after that – nothing to do with daft China conspiracy theories.
I am very sure Ozil is going to get back to Turkey and join active politics with his best man Erdogan!! I have the same understanding that political comments are a part of whole Ozil mess and I see pure footballing aspect being minimal.
Is everything a conspiracy? This is nothing to do with China or whatever else he wouldn’t have played at all last season either. Just have to face the basic facts: Ozil has not applied himself to the extent a top level player needs to in 2020. It really is as simple as that. If Ozil had spent the last 2 years getting his head down, working as hard as he could, and *genuinely* applying himself 100% then he would be in the team and that’s it. He should have made himself undroppable. People talk about China, wages, conspiracies – fact… Read more »
Ozil made his comments about Uighurs in December 2019. He was getting dropped from the squad way before that. And Arteta plated him after that, for all of his games before the restart.
So really doesn’t seem like he’s been dropped for those comments.
Can’t wait for a Mesut Ozil autobiography.
I wouldn’t give even a dime to Ozil anymore. Pirated ebook is okay, but for sure no money to his book. He already has enough from Arsenal 😀
You badass you
Nah, I just want him to spill. We don’t have to buy it, the media will leak it to us anyway. And then, fingers-crossed, maybe the club or somebody in the club will respond.
Sorry to be a pedant.
Are you sorry though?
Can’t help but feel with made a pigs ear of the Saliba situation… He was bought for big money then we had the issues with the French Cup final and then a deal doesn’t get sorted before the end of the window when there were teams in for him. The only hope I have is that he goes to a top championship side and has a similar impact as Ben White at Leeds. Otherwise his career with us may be over before it begins. I’m actually gutted to mention too much about Ozil, end of his career with us this… Read more »
Neither Mesut nor Sokratis will feature for Arsenal in the Europa League…..?
It’s neither/nor and either/or….? Otherwise you’ve been fantastic blogs…. Let me take nothing away from your level of English. It’s supreme, honestly…..
Theres somthing really wrong. I was hopeful that Ozil will be back in the team especially as we have signed a rock solid Party. I expected Ozil to take up the creative spot that we would have given to Aouar had he signed. This is so shameful. With all the positive news about OZil’s generosity behind the scenes, he seems to be one really difficult character. At the end of the day, it isn’t his fault we gave him a massive 350k. This is a sad ending for sure.
yes it is. he asked for it.
At the end of the day, for the groundbreaking Mesut Özil transfer to end up like this is a massive embarrassing fucking blotch on Arsenal. Compare the absolute jubilation of the deadline eve that he signed, with today.
What a fucking catastrophe.
True, but the responsibility lies with Ozil
He’s been given several chances back in the starting xi to update his game to modern standards, and every chance to leave. But he’s perfectly happy to contribute nothing after having held us over a barrel at his last contract negotiation. Can’t comprehend why any Arsenal fans feel the need to support him, he couldn’t have caused more harm to the club if he tried (which now seems to be his plan)
What could Arsenal have done differently? Arteta played him as soon as he came in pre shutdown. Ozil was ok but certainly not contributing at a level needed to advance the team. Arteta’s style requires pressing and tackling by the forward unit. Ozil doesn’t tackle. Ozil lost his sporting ambition after that big contract was signed and the 3 managers after big Weng saw that. You don’t play any player who isn’t committed to giving 100% in training. According to Arteta you have to suffer collectively. Does anyone really believe that a player who was asking Wenger for time off… Read more »
Get your tin hats boys, it’s about to get loud in here ⛑️
I have a quick question.
What other windows other than EFL are still open that we can loan (or sell to)?
Portuguese Super Liga window is open till 25 October, so could potentially loan/sell players there. I don’t think any other big leagues can bring in players now but could be wrong
Portugal is one, I believe. Ozil to Porto and Sokratis to Benfica?
Well they’ve refused to leave despite being told they’re not in the club’s plans. And that’s their prerogative, sit on the contract and milk it to the last drop, good on them.
But why all the dismay? This was their choice. Is this not the ruthlessness we were all screaming for towards the end of Arsene’s era? Fuck it. I like it.
This is the Arteta era and it looks like he’s taking shit from no-one. .
Been saying this for a while but the last few times I saw Ozil play he had lost a yard of pace, he wasn’t the quickest anyway. If ya legs are gone then you ain’t playing top flight football anymore.
Imagine thinking a team that laid off 50 workers and put arguably the most popular mascot in the country on furlough after forcing their players to take a pay-cut and publicly ostracized those that chose not to would take a risk of their games not being shown to China’s 1.5 billion citizens and not being able to sell merchandise and do business in a county as financially buoyant as China. If you think this is solely for footballing reasons, then I have an ocean-front property to sell you on Mars. Because it obviously has nothing to do with football –… Read more »
I think it’s clear this is more than just a football issue. A lot of clowns seem to think you’re either an Ozil fanboy or must be behind the club 100% whatever it does. It’s ok to support the club and be critical of some aspects of the way it is run. As it stands, Ozil will likely not play for Arsenal again. Just pay the guy off and stop pretending he can get back into the team if he does the right things…just like he did for that 10 game run but clearly wasn’t before or after those games.
Better to pay him out under the contract since he chose not to leave the club. We might save some money on bonuses and it’s better not to pay in one sum now when we are hurting for cash. I’m not sure what the fuss is all about. Ozil knows he isn’t going to play, he could have requested a transfer or termination of his contract, he didn’t so he’s not going to play. This is how the world of contracts works.
Maybe if we want to pay him off, we’d have to pay compensation for bonuses he might have earned
Based on most of the comments, your Mars properties must be booming. The very real threat of being shut out of the market in China made the entire NBA genuflect, so it’s entirely likely that a similar concern is operating behind the scenes here, too. I’m not aware of any of Özil’s teammates complaining of his work ethic, so my only window into this situation is that two different managers now have played him until quite suddenly, and completely, they didn’t. I see how that can suggest both collusion and no collusion (as in, SK could have just said to… Read more »
The Ozil situation is clearly extremely nuanced and a culmination of several things over a significant period of time that has lead to a complete breakdown in his relationship with the club. For me it starts from before his contract renewal, i’m sure that both he and Sanchez were assured on signing that other big names would be joining and when in the summer of 2015 we signed an ageing Cech and cohesion, they both felt promises had been broken. Finishing a clear second at the end of that season to Leicester, both appeared to have lost their mojo and… Read more »
I don’t buy that entirely. Aubameyang was bought the day after Mesut signed the new contract. How much more “elite” does a striker get than that?
The 18/19 season was the most crucial one if one wants to paint MÖ entirely in a bad light, but then good, cohesive team selection was not among the scant qualities Emery brought to the club. It all went downhill then on.
As I said, Ozil had already been lost at that point as was only staying for the money.
We had 4 and a half years to convince him of our ambition as a club but in the end it was the number of zeros on the end of his contract that made him sign. In that time the club hadn’t bought adequate quality in either central defence or midfield and for all the cost of Aubameyang he wasn’t what we needed nor has he actually improved our team or results.
I am very sad about the Ozil situation to be honest. I am sad for him and for the club. Mesut will leave the club in complete anonymity… We are talking about a player who played at one of the best clubs in the world and had the bravery to sacrifice his best footballing years to Arsenal (which was in decline). Mesut joined… and we started winning after 12 years: Ozil was a big contributor of those 3 FA Cups winning medals. I genuinely believe he loves Arsenal and the club. He loves the values of Arsenal: the involvement of… Read more »
Very well said. Ditto on all of what you say re Ozil
Well said. You’d think now with his contract winding down that the attempts to force him out that started under Emery would be pointless continuing. He’s not leaving & we won’t be getting any money for him. He’s still got something to offer so why not be pragmatic and make use of him until seasons end.
except you are making up your own history, it being only 8 seasons without a pot rather than 12.. (2004/5 FA cup v Man U, [2005/6, 2006/7, 2007/8, 2008/9, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 – nothing] then 2013/14 FA Cup v Hull C)
you are right, sorry got confused with the numbers
What a load of nonsense. Can’t agree with a word of that. Let’s just start with the fact that Madrid chucked him out to finance Bale. In no way did he want to leave to help out lil ole Arsenal
Not sure why I felt so gutted when I read this. Always hoped he would “up his game” in every way I suppose. The last time I saw him play live was at the Emirates v Leicester. Must be 2 seasons ago now, and he was amazing….. what happened? I want to give him a good shake as he was my football Federer. So frustrating!!
I feel you my friend. Surrounded with the right teammates, he is a joy to watch. This sort of player deserves at least a few cameos here and there for people who love Arsenal and love watching football.
And the huge PR battle has already started with Özil “saving” the Gunnersaurus. On the other hand hand, it boggles the mind how the club handles such things poorly on a routine basis – always making the entire system seem like a bunch of twats. Honestly, though, Mesut missed a huge opportunity to find pastures anew. He is not going to outlast the current managerial disposition and hierarchy. Next up, he will dig his heels in further, then there will be a slew of “How good was Mesut Özil at Arsenal” videos (he was good, but times have changed), Dr.… Read more »
Amazing that there are 5 GK in the team! It shows the trust Mickey Larteta shows to Leno (who btw got 3 goals in the net against him yesterday against all mighty Turkey)! Btw, Martinez said that MA offered him 95% of chances to be the n°1 this season but that it wasn’t enough for him and then he left. So it is 5% for Leno and the icelandic guy. Not much……
I’m sure Sok would have been useful in the squad, it would have made more sense to leave out one of the long term injured and rejig in January.
I have a question guys. Was it possible for the club to send him on loan, if he did not agree with? I mean does the club have the right for so, or it just depends on the contract?
Why do we need 5 goalkeepers to be listed in the squad for 6 games? Ozil could have taken one of those places…
The sooner Ozil ACTUALLY leaves the better
Does anyone feel sorry for Sokratis?
I’m gonna risk this one……. luiz still and will always have the brain farts amongst the good stuff, but he’s rated miles ahead of Sokratis by the manager ( or sad to say, by some folk above the manager).
Sokratis…… steady , not the future (neither is luiz or mustafi) , but no brain farts that I can remember….yet he’s the first to go.
Just sayin…
Ozil is not being left out for footballing reasons .Stevie wonder can see that. surely he can do a job against europa league opposition. We have 5 midfielders quite short we are shooting ourselves in the foot couple of injuries and we would be in trouble. Mikel Arteta seems to get orders from the top, oh he didnt take a pay cut and he pissed of china dont play him as punishment really who loses out imagine we are one big game away from top 4 or title or winning a trophy and all midfielders are injured ffs we are… Read more »
I truly do not understand Arteta. Is Ozil so unfit, or has such a poor attitude, or so disruptive that callow youngsters get into squads in front of him? Are we so proficient in linking midfield to attack that there’s no role at all for him? I think Arteta has been a bit pig-headed about Ozil…surely a key role of a manager is to get the best out of his players, esp. one that clearly has extraordinary talent. I just don’t get it.
Because Arteta is not involved in this case. He has no say trust me.
Anyone who watches football knows Ozil as n10 is a better option that Reiss Nelson.
Illiev just been sent out on to Shrewsbury, why not take Ozil now? Worth something even if it’s just a bench player?
We want our Özil back!
Sorry Ozil has retired. Time to get over it
I’m gonna miss Sok he had a great attitude, funny on camera with the deadpan interviews and scored a few good goals along with putting in a decent defensive shift ?
Shame it ended like this. I thought when Mikel first took over, it looked like Ozil was starting to come good. I dont know what happened, always thought they had a good relationship. Anyways, thanks for the memories. Onward to the next !
I do wonder how well people’s memories are on his contact extension and why he actually signed it in the first place. This was back in the day when Wenger was still manager. Ozil nearly didn’t sign his 350k week contract, the thing that made him stay was that Wenger reassured him he would still be manager throughout his contract. So of course he signs. But to the fans it appears to be a panic pay rise to keep one of your best players who then flops under Freddie and Emery. Ozil has no partinship with anyone on the team… Read more »