Per Mertesacker has hailed the impact of Mesut Ozil after his compatriot provided yet another assist to help Arsenal rescue a point against Sp*rs yesterday.
In doing so, he set a new Premier League record by providing an assist in six games in a row, as well as making seven chances in the game throughout.
Speaking after the game, the Arsenal vice-captain said, “It could have been more assists after today. He gave a lot of good set-pieces and we had a couple of great chances.
“If we continue to play like that and fight like that, he can have an enormous impact on our season.”
And on the performance itself, Mertesacker said the team had to be pleased with a point having not played as well as they could in the first half.
“I think it’s a good point for us in terms of how we played the first half,” he said. “We approached the second half a bit differently, fought for each other in a different way, had some good chances from set-pieces and that says a lot about the game.
“In the end it’s a good point for us. Obviously you want more when you equalise but we have to be happy after the first half.
“They pressed us really well and as soon as they stopped a little bit, we took more initiative.”
so a draw against that shit is a god result? Forgive me for being a bit upset, but our attitude in the first half stank. Why is it that when we know we can win the game in the first 20 minutes, e.g., Man Utd, we don’t do more of it? Our defence was so bent out of shape in the first half I thought they had all smoked some serious pot.
*good
We were so leggy today and played shit. Of course a point is a good result. If you can’t see that then there’s no hope for you. With so many injuries it was only a matter of time before the squad burnt out. Clearly shows why competing in Europe can have such a negative impact on competing in the league. Only bone to pick I have is that we always get injuries. It’s a given now. So why not buy more players and loan them out if need be? Least they can be recalled if required. Should’ve loaned out podolski… Read more »
Season long loans generally cannot be recalled. And if we brought back, say, Jenkinson, then what would we do with him once Bellerin was fit again? If we brought back Akpom, what would we do with him once Ramsey was fit again? Also, if we kept sending players on year-long loans and then bringing them back, eventually other teams would stop taking our players on loan. And then they’d just leave the club permanently to get first team football.
Buy players and then loan them out you say? That would make us chavski would it not? Fuck that!
I think that – under the circumstances – the draw was a good result. We have almost a whole team out injured, and played an ill Santi in the first half. (I don’t even think I saw him complete a pass, it was horribly obvious that he wasn’t OK.) And we played like crap in the first half, even the players who weren’t dizzy and throwing up at half-time. Under those circumstances the draw is OK. I would have loved Giroud’s headers or that volley to have been a winning goal, but I’m also very happy that Cech didn’t completely… Read more »
Great nutmeg on Kane straight after that by Cech.
Cech almost caught by a Llama? Wtf!?
Not to be negative but why was Santi out there in the first place if he was dizzy and sick as it has been reported? Wengers confidence in Flamini must be through the floor
Because this is Santi Cazorla we are talking about here?! He’s not just some random player, he’s a magician 99.9% of the time. When he is on his game the guy gets us out of the tightest situations consistently; the guy makes our midfield tick – I can guarantee he is in Coquelins mind before he wins the ball, and as soon as the ball is at his feet he’ll more than often look up straight away to find Santi. Le Coq can play a 3 yard pass to Cazorla with 3 opposing players around him, and he can comfortably… Read more »
Yeah! Why can’t we just win all our games in the first 20 mins??!?! WHAT THE FUCK WENGER! RAARRRR
I refute the claim that any draw at home, at this stage, is a good result. I was reeling. However, it was not bad yesterday, under the circumstances. We can’t just repeat the sublime first 20 minutes of the United game, not with Santi – the orchestrator of almost everything good we do – being half-conscious in the field. (I wondered why his eyes were closed during the tribute before kick-off!). That the boss thought that bringing on Gibbs for-Sanchez-for-Campbell would be more effective for our attack points to the source another shortcoming. Lets not forget that we had Theo… Read more »
i felt the same way at first but you have to look at this with some perspective, sooner or later injuries were always going to take thier toll………would have won with Theo being abit more quicker than Giroud in counterattacks 1st half for example…atleast we did not chelsea.
If we could repeat the first 20 mins against ManU in every game, we would! There is a reason, why the Invincible season is not a regular occurrence!
Also sometimes we need to play defence first, like we did at home against Bayern. Something that Wenger has lately adopted effectively!
Ofcourse would have loved to have taken all 3 points. However, really pleased with Wenger finding a Plan B during the game.
You’re the one on pot with comments like that.
A draw in a NLD where we fell behind and looked tired and didn’t play well at all is a good result.
‘That shit’ have the second best defence in the league. We have no God given right to win, although we normally do.
A decent result in a tough game with knackered and ill players.
Nowadays when Ozil’s on the ball in the final third, I sit up and wait to see what he’ll do next. There’s an even chance that he’ll do something clever, something that the viewer can’t even imagine let alone execute. And occasionally, something really sublime. The frustrating games are few and far between now. One of the most gorgeous players to watch, so glad we have him.
Good point in the end yesterday but I would say it’s time to recall some of our loanees, Isacc Hayden and Jon Toral could both be useful if our squad health keeps diminishing.
They played out of their skin, pinching, running, coming through the back of our players. A good referee would have had control over the game sooner but we can’t expect that. We didn’t. Despite being a repleted squad, tired from Munich, we patiently waited for them to lose their composure and could have come away with three points.
Once again. Spurs at their best, Arsenal not in the game at all: even.
What does that tell you?
They are clearly knackered, it was a good result being negative about it is stupid. We’ve won five league games in a row then pick up a point against sp*rs who always give more in this game then any other in their season (usually go on a shit run afterwards too) these are the points in the season that championship winning sides look back on an see their importance. Can only see us building up momentum again hopefully winning the games that on paper we should win then it’s city. We don’t lose that game im confident we will be… Read more »
I hope Alexis gets a break from the national team. Wilshere and Welbeck couldn’t be needed sooner. I think the boss should use Rene-Adelaide more, I have a feeling he could do a job on the wing just for one game to give Alexis a break for the next game. He is suffering like Ozil did last year.
I understand your disappointment but lets not go over the top here. Tottenham are Shit!….yep!…but by no means anybody’s push over and they’ve proven this conclusively by taking points off the top teams in the premiership including the current and the previous champions. the only reason why they remain where they are (and hopefullt will remain there till kingdom come?) is because they are Shit!….yep! and also lack the season long consistency required to stay in the top four. Our team is at half strength because of injuries and exhaustion from the bayern game, so a point against a full… Read more »
Would really love to see Arteta partner the Coq in the middle in Santi’s absence. He really has that calm passing and presence.
Arteta and Flamini make one great player. Give them a half each.
Maybe because Bellerin’s not playing?
It’s so nice to see corners land on the heads of one of our players from time to time, rather than constantly hitting the first defender or whatever. It’d got so bad that I always expected to see “Cleared” on the liveblog immediately after “Corner”.
Nothing is a given in this league, but with Bellerin, Ox, Ramsey and Walcott back soon we’ve got a run of WBA, Norwich, Sunderland and Villa before we host City on the 21st Dec. Hopefully we can a decent amount of points on the board from those 4 games going into the City clash.
I was pretty pissed at the result at first obviously as not beating the scum is always disappointing, but in hindsight it’s a good point that in past seasons I don’t think we would have picked up. Credit to Wenger for somehow turning a game by bringing on 2 CDM’s & a LB. That is the strongest Sp*rs side in years and they’re on a good run of form, our team is decimated by injuries to key players at the moment, coming off the back of a exhausting few weeks (United, Bayern x2, Everton & Swansea) 5 difficult games and… Read more »
I’m so pleased with Ozil’s impact on our performance and result.
I was someone who complained about his defensive contribution in the game against Bayern at home (surprised by his ball recovery stats in that game – shows how intelligent his game his and difficult for someone like me to follow).
In his favoured position as No. 10, he is the best in the world currently (Messi and Ronaldo are not aligned to any of the traditional positions isn’t it).