18 Aug 2020 11:26:20
Hello everyone. I just like to share my view on Ozil. I think first and foremost in my opinion he is a genuine nice person. He stats on assists is up their with the best. I think for me personally where we have been at times in the last few years perhaps Mesut was a luxury we could not afford on the pitch. If he has got a year or so to go and Arteta has got us into a better place, depending on his thinking I would be inclined to give him a another try.
18 Aug 2020 13:04:34
I don't think Ozil not playing is related to footballing reasons. Maybe to display his authority Arteta has said he will not play unless willing to take a paycut like the rest of the team. I can see both the club's and Ozil's side regarding him not taking a pay cut. It's sad because I really think he could flourish in his number 10 role under Arteta, especially if we were to sign someone physical and imposing like Partey to play behind him in a double pivot and alleviate him more of defensive duties and need to partake in midfield battles.
18 Aug 2020 13:42:57
Ozil is being left out because he can't live up to the high pressure football that Arteta wants to achieve with this team. Ozil cannot be relied to defend at ANY time in the game. He's a player that should be hovering on the half way line with the striker or one of the wide players, to play the vital passes on the counter attack or after the build up play.
The days of Tiki Taka football are over and nowadays, you need to be able to maintain a high tempo and press for 90 minutes, whilst also having the ability to be creative when you have the ball.
IF we had 2 players behind Ozil such as Partey and Kante then we could probably get the best out of Ozil but we haven't and don't have that option. We are always out-played in the middle of the park and that's why Arteta has opted for a CM pairing that can really put in the energetic performances that we need. That combined with a back 5 only gives us a midfield 2 rather than 3, so playing Ozil would just leave a massive hole for any team to exploit.
Would I like to see him back in the team? Of course I would. He's been one of favourite players since he was at Real Madrid and I hate seeing his talent wasted on the bench.
Do I think he's ready or capable to do what Arteta wants on the pitch? No.
18 Aug 2020 14:29:08
Hey Everyone - Just adding my 2 cents here.
The Ozil interview to The Athletic clearly called out that the Banishment of Ozil was not down to Arteta.
Ozil started 10 games prior to the lockdown. All under Artera.
Post lockdown suddenly gets dropped.
This was clearly as he indicates in the interview - Due to this not agreeing to the pay cuts as he wanted extra assurances from the club and was in favour of a deferral instead of a wage cut.
The decision to drop Ozil therefore does not seem football related as a player who started 10 games consecutively before the lockdown didn't then feature for a minute.
18 Aug 2020 17:53:53
I have just read an article (admittedly by his agent) and it seems Mesut is quite an amazing man. His wages are shared out by so many charities, friends, people in need and long term business ventures. It's no wonder he didn't want to take a wage cut, notably because he couldn't get a guarantee where the money would end up. Apparently he was happy to defer. Very interesting article indeed.
18 Aug 2020 18:44:09
Hi Sally - where is the article? I’ve read quite a bit about his assisting others outside of teammates. UNfortunately that does help papers bash Ozil so they find other stories or half truths to meet their agenda. I feel quite confident that it’s a political board level move to drop him rather than a managers decision although that could be my rose tinted glasses again.
Frustratingly - if we have Partey ( similar player ) and Granit Plus better central defenders and shape then surely we need Ozil and the side suits him more. Especially if we get the front line sorted. What a crime it would be to miss-play him for years. Then have the team that frees him up, to drop him for no reason.
Did we sign him to track back, defend, cover etc or to assist and score a handful of goals. Would I rather see him tracking back or charging at goal. senseless
He could be the missing piece if we get our 💩 together with defence, midfield, leadership and spine.
18 Aug 2020 19:12:24
I've shared the link SY4 but if it doesn't show it's called The Secret Life of Mesut Ozil in the Turkish Times.
18 Aug 2020 19:47:35
Love the sarcasm Sally mate hahahaha!
@SY4 - Its an interview in The Athletic by David Ornstein hence me giving it a bit of importance.
Links here aren't coming up. Search for The Athletic - Mesut Ozil Pay Cut and you'll be able to see the article.
18 Aug 2020 20:24:39
Sorry Kasyap90 no sarcasm intended, just genuinely impressed by the article.
18 Aug 2020 22:09:59
I never get the defensive criticism of Ozil. If you were discussing Arsenals greatest players and someone said neither Berkamp or Henry should be considered because they didn’t contribute enough defensively, you would rightly think they were out of their mind, and yet poor Ozil continually receives criticism over his tackling and tracking back. Yes, I don’t want to see Ozil stand back and let the center half walk past him with the ball, but he doesn’t do that anyway. What I do want to see from Ozil is his heatmap showing him spending most time in the hole between the oppositions defence and midfield, and him having most of his time in possession In that same area. It seems to me that is where he has had most success both in his career And for us, so why would anyone want to change that?
19 Aug 2020 00:24:27
The thing with Ozil is that his understanding of the game is impeccable, he knows the exact spaces to move into at the right times when in possession so he can get on the ball. He also knows what spaces to occupy out of possession as to cover passing options without necessarily pressing the opposition on the ball. This, coupled with a huge agenda against him in the press for whatever reason, leads people to believe that he is lazy as he isn't seen running around the pitch 24/ 7. Essentially, he has been slammed by critics for having great positional awareness instead of running after the ball like a headless chicken! At least that is my take on it anyway hahaha.
{Ed0666's Note - he’s persecuted because of his faith and his astronomical salary. The guy is a genuinely nice human being and does lots of stuff behind the scenes for charity.
19 Aug 2020 09:11:09
Agreed - seems to do a lot outside of football
As long as we have dinosaurs commenting on sky ( Souness ) that Ozil needs to track back etc then we will always have a public conflict. His demeanour doesn’t help him.
We like headless chickens who burn themselves out doing the jobs others should be doing on the pitch. We want visible passion. people loved Sanchez and Matteo because they ran and ran but were at times selfish and headless.
Watching Ozil play live is an experience. His movement, vision, touch and amount of selfless running is amazing and a joy to watch. You don’t see it on TV. I was at a game and watch Souness watching the game on a screen for sky rather than out of the box window. how can you comment if you don’t watch.
19 Aug 2020 09:58:32
Yes he does an amazing amount of charity work which I didn't even know until recently because it gets COMPLETELY swept under the carpet by the media. Also he had every reason to publicly call out China, as again it is a humanitarian crisis that isn't (or at least wasn't at the time) being talked about enough - its a shame our club didn't show solidarity because of the risk of losing Chinese fans and therefore money.
19 Aug 2020 12:57:53
I couldn’t care less about what he does Outside football
His first priority is Arsenal fc who pay him 350k a week
I think your all forgetting that.