Ozil has just said that he will decide when he leaves, not anyone else. He added that he has signed for 4 years, not two or three. He also recalled that when a player wants to leave and the club says no, the player has to respect the club’s position unless they find a mutually agreeable solution and likewise, if the club wants a player to leave but the player wants to stay, the club has to respect the player’s position unless a mutually agreeable solution is reached.
So it seems that this stage, the Ozil saga is going to keep us alert for at least this summer and maybe for another 12 months.
What is your take on it? Should we do like Utd and pay Ozil to leave? Shall we just try to reach an agreement with him so that he could be sold to the clubs he wants to play for but at a cut price (PSG, Juve, Barcelona, Benfica, Bayern, LA, Miami are reportedly interested)? Shall Arteta use him in Europe and Cup Games? Shall Arteta make him play as a false 9 in some games? So many options and yet, it could be another year of frustration for both the club, fans and Ozil…
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This is such a sad topic of conversation, we got Ozil at his peak, he is a gifted player, the club signed him on a long term deal in reaction to losing Alexis, the result for both players hasn’t been great and you would have to imagine if we had kept them both perhaps their individual fortunes would also have been better? They suited each other, Alexis clever runs and Ozil’s ability to find him.
I love watching Ozil play but we cannot afford it would seem in the current setup to accommodate him, as we have to also accommodate Pepe and PEA to an extent, one of them represents the future and one is undroppable, Lacazette brings some of that bite to the front three that unfortunately Ozil would not.
I don’t buy lack of workrate etc, you don’t buy a Ferrari and complain when the back end falls off as you asked it to tow a caravan.
Does Ozil want to play for Arteta, does Arteta want him in the squad, if the answer to both those questions is no then then player and the club should try everything to come to some arrangement that allows us all to move on.
I also have a sneaking suspicion that the outcome of the PEA situation will have a big affect on what we do as a club regarding Ozil. If we can’t keep PEA then the club is between a rock and a hard place. If we are seriously looking at Coutinho then do we as fans or the club expect a different kind of player to Ozil? Willian is slightly different in that he has a workrate to his game that neither Coutinho or Ozil have. That said £100k per week for a three year contract for Willian is taking him to 35 and seems very short terms, although like Pedro in the cup final you wouldn’t sometimes guess his age based on performances.
PS having looked up the Ozil interview there were some interesting comments:
“As a player, you sometimes have bad days and can’t always be happy, especially if you’re not playing.
When you know how good you are and you know you’re not going to be picked, it’s hard to be at 100 per cent and, of course, you can get disappointed.
This is my profession, it’s what I love doing: being on the pitch, playing matches, showing the people, helping the club and my team.
“I fully respect the coach’s decision but I believe these things should mainly be decided on the pitch.
After the restart, I wasn’t given a chance to show what I can do. You don’t play 10 games in a row if you’re unfit, not good enough or don’t behave well.
If I played these games badly and was then left out completely for that reason then I might understand, but this was not the case.”
I find that all quite interesting, and I do wonder whether this decision not to pay him is purely Arteta’s or perhaps somewhere from higher up in the club, who knows what kind of payments are in Ozil’s contract depending on appearances or bonuses?
GiE
Well done on picking out so much more of Ozil’s honest article!
Also said ” If anything goes wrong, I am the cause/one to blame”.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/13/mesut-ozil-speaks-arsenal-future-omission-side-mikel-arteta-13122427/
This is the link to the interview Ozil gave on his situation at the club
On the one hand I understand any player who is out of favor wanting to stick to hos contract, especially if they are vastly overpaid. But, I also think that it is also obscene that a player can hold a club to ransom and his contract due to spite. Ozil is not and has never been worth the money are contracted to. That is not his fault but morality is. Basically he is getting pain a huge sum to sit back and laugh at our great club. That is not acceptable. I really think this contractural law should be overruled by FIFA, they should have to power to represent both sides and they then should arrange a separation fee. Something like £5 million to sod off. Not bad when you see the lines of unemployed in this country who will get a tiny hand out to survive on. FIND A WAY !!
@GiE – spot on about the work rate of Willian.
@gunnerpete – would be nice indeed to have some type of arbitration court but I think it would need to be at UEFA level rather than Fifa’s level. If other regional football bodies want to have an arbitration court, it is also up to them. We have to take into consideration the difference in legal systems, commercial and labour laws. At the European level, thanks to the EU, there is quite a high level of harmonization of our legal systems across the Members and candidate members .
I don’t understand what’s happened for him to not even make the squad these days!
We can’t carry on like this for another year… it’s ridiculous!!
If we have no intention of playing him, just pay him off! Crazy goings on right now!!
I would suggest Ozil May be past his prime and the figures they are getting indicate he is not reaching the base values of previous figures they have. His enthusiasm might still be there for the big game, maybe even a game where he is enjoying himself but we know from experience that when the chips are down there is little fight from him.
Whether there was truth in him coming back from the lockdown unfit or not we don’t know but clearly either he is too large a drain on resources so we are hoping he will move on or the coaches have not seen improvement in his desire to cover the features of play that Arteta relies upon.
I think it is a dead end for him at AFC in terms of playing time. I d love for Arteta to somehow find a way to make it work but it is unlikely. I am happy to take him at PSG any days – he probably will be benched but he ll add a new dimension to my Paris team
Oooooh the man is on fire.
“I don’t buy lack of workrate etc, you don’t buy a Ferrari and complain when the back end falls off as you asked it to tow a caravan.”
Top read GIE
I see it very simply, Ozil does not fit into the way Arteta wants his team to play, you get a lot of work rate going forward from Mesut but we all know that he lacks it when tracking back is required.
I can’t see him being sold, a golden handshake seems the only way, and good luck to him, everyone moaned because we failed to secure Sanchez, Ramsey etc on long contracts, well here we are, the new manager’s requirements have changed and through no fault of his own he is where he is.
I find it odd to read that some blame Ozil for being surplus to Arteta’s requirements. Ozil was signed under Wenger, and I for one was very glad he was. Us Ozil diehards will never give up hope of a miraculous phenix from the ashes return until he officially leaves the club for one reason or another.
Mesuuuuuuuuuuut.
I just read my posts back and see I foolishly tried to be rational, hmmm, on this subject my willpower has the breaking point of a KitKat.
This pass is still worthy of mention, not the greatest footage…I was sitting directly behind Ozil with the Vines. There was a forest of blue and white and Ozil picked this pass.
I understand 😀
Politics aside, just move this guy on, what a cancer!
Don’t care if he helps PSG win CL next year, just find a way to move the team forward,
Question: does anyone think mesuT would make into puP’s $h*tTy side? Answer: not in a million years.
Next….
LB… @ 3.00 👌👍 spot on!! I still like Mesut and really don’t like how things have turned out for him… be nice for the club to come out and explain why he doesn’t even make the squad anymore….
Still think it interesting that most “condemn” Mesut for current situation and in particular contract “offered” to him. Of course it was was ridiculous, but not his fault, and if you ignore the actual ridiculous figures, IT WAS WHAT HE WAS WORTH.
Disagree he has never been worth……..
Also not his fault if, he does not fit Mikel’s plan, IMO.
Coyle and Medley now at Gillingham. Arsenal must believe in Gills style and management.
Who did United pay to leave
Sanchez
Really I assumed inter bought him, wages and all
So basically united paid the difference he was supposed to make right
Sue the reason I think mesut couldn’t make the squad was because of the 343 formation so basically we asking him to do the ceballos role
But yea we did play a back four sometimes and not given him a run in the tight schedule was strange indeed
Personally I was never a fan of mesut I always wished we kept Sanchez over him
Fred.. seems strange how he played before lockdown and now doesn’t even get a look in… I liked Sanchez too, until I saw him on that darn piano 😄
Atletico are out… so no excuses now, go and get our man (Partey), oh and while you’re at it please announce Willian and Auba’s new deal… I’m sooooo fed up with waiting 😁
Ozil…he’s like a bad smell…really hard to get rid of.
Sorry to upset the fan boys (& girls) but he’s produced very little since he arrived at the Club. The contract extension was Gazidis’ parting disastrous legacy to Arsenal.
Pay him off, do whatever is needed to get him away from the Club. His interview proves how toxic he is.
@Sue ‘seems strange how he played before lockdown and now doesn’t even get a look in…’
I heard a rumour that Arteta asked all the players in for a team meeting before the season re-started. Apparently one player didn’t turn up…Ozil. That was his last chance, Arteta won’t play him again.
Well, that’s fair enough then, I guess, Pete!
Welcome Willian…at last, it’s official!! Red suits you!!
Wasn’t all the players asked to take a pay cut and the only player who refused was mesut
Going back to bed with that one
@Sue – and just like that, we have Willian
Let’s hope the first of a few, RC 🙏
Indeed…
@RockyLives – any posts baking in the oven or shall I do a quick one on Willian?
Fred
Want to be careful about all the experts who know what happened behind closed doors!
Ozil claims he was not the only one to reject the pay cut, at least initially, but was the name leaked!
I predict that Mesut will not only stay, but will play a part next season.
RC,
I have missed the Posts lately as I have been elsewhere, but I have now caught up, and you have done a great job with the main articles you have Posted. 👍
Keep up the good work!
LBG I to believe mesut can play next season once we go to a back 4 I can see him playing like David Silva in the City team
I do not understand the whole Mesut standoff frankly.
He was and still is a class act — when allowed to play.
As Sue said, in her own words, and I agree, that it is sheer nonsense for the club hierarchy to moan about all the money he was offered by them at the time, and now they ‘punish’ him by not letting him play.
Anyone heard of the expression “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face”?
It means — do not needlessly self-destruct with an over-reaction to a perceived problem by acting out of pique, or by pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one’s anger.
Board – Ôzil – should kiss and make up — life is too short to waste time and money on this nonsense.
Willian to get the #10 Jersey? 😉
This guy is exactly what Arsenal need, not his wages, but the type of player.
Makes runs through midfield and beyond.
Auba sign da thing on Saturday, please.
Aaron.. I thought he was given No.12??
Saw this on twitter:
Willian’s compared to Arsenal players during the 2019-20 Premier League season:
⬢ 1st – chances created
⬢ 1st – Big Chances created
⬢ 1st – penalty area entries
⬡ 2nd – take-ons completed
⬡ 2nd – shots on target
⬡ 2nd – touches in the opp. box
He’ll do well for us, I reckon! Makes me think of all the other players who have played for us and the chavs… Galas, Anelka, Giroud…. the gorgeous Petit… and many more…
Now for Auba…. I thought it was going to be announced today (14th) at 14.14pm… but no, instead Arsenal’s tweet at that time was another Willian pic.. they’re trolling us, i swear 🤣🤣🤣
Fred.. I can’t see Mesut playing for us again.. too much has gone on since football restarted.. I can’t see a way back from it.. all the media want to discuss is Ozil… a lot of fans want him gone.. we’re known for being tight and/or skint.. yet our highest paid player doesn’t even make the squad… all of this doesn’t look good on the club and I hope it can be resolved asap…
I’m just glad I was at his last game 😁 haha!!
The Coutinho rumours aren’t going away… he can play against Barca tonight… imagine if he scored the winner?! Suarez would bite him for sure 🤣 I’d like to see Barca win… Messi and Lewandowski… should be a cracker!!
Sue,
I was joking.
Will watch that game too.
If Coutinho scores that will price us out. Hopefully…..
Sorry, Aaron… I’m a bit slow today 😊🤣🤣🤣🤣
8-2… surely we’ll be left alone now 😂😂
What a game… and Coutinho just had to score, didn’t he?!!
Remember when Tony Pulis didn’t think much of Serge Gnabry? How do they let that bloke be a pundit!
Sue,
Scored 2, so his price is now double.
So nice to see someone else on the side of a drubbing in a big game.
Bayern v $h*tTy in the final it is then.
Aaron.. you’re right and Kia will be rubbing his hands together, as his fee will have gone up an extortionate amount too!!!
If City beat Lyon, they’ll face Bayern in the semi.. after last night, I’m not sure City will cope with them, especially if Mendy and Zinchenko are playing!!
Raul has left!!
Hope Emery is not going to have the last laugh with Guendouzi. 30m is fair enough, but sell on claus required.
There certainly are big changes afoot in our club. Interesting to see which direction it all goes.
This means a proper way forward to buy youth, develop them and build our club back to the level that is AFC.
Never liked that hire and maybe now all those shady deals and payoffs to 3 party ownership will not be tolerated anymore.
Sue, now no more kiA.
MA and Edu axis now of full display.
That sounds good to me, Aaron!!
I can’t believe what’s been going on behind closed doors… I’m glad he’s gone and I hope he’s made to pay for his actions!!
One more thing… Come on City (sorry Aaron 🤣)
Come on any team left other than oiler based owners which puP has benefited from greatly. (Along with their side skirting toothless ffP rules and a positive ruling by the corrupt caS)
Lyon take the lead on a well taken left footed Cornet shot.
Looks like puP will need to make some adjustments.
Was a good goal… how frustrating is Sterling?!!
Sterling with the miss of the season then Lyon go up the other end and score!!!
City just aren’t meant to win owt in Europe – rather like us!!
At least Aaron’s happy 😜
Even more now Sue.
Lyon knocking the oilers out!
Hoping for an all French finals
Surely the German juggernaut will win it now, Fred…. Gnabry with a CL medal!!
Nah mbappe suit it much better
How good a coach is Pep really? Always taken on “established squads” – yes even, Shitty – and admittedly then won big with them. How good is he at building from scratch? ( Do we even know, since he usually departs when things go wrong!)
Think our man is going to prove a better proactive leader. Feel free to disagree.
Well Vinai can certainly talk the talk.
Here’s hoping LGB
It is quite clear that the sudden change of heart concerning Ozil between before the lockdown and after it is mysterious, to say the least.
He now says that it is because he refused to take a cut in his salary.
I have seen somewhere else on a blog that his stand concerning the Ughurs has resulted in none of our games being shown in China, thus another “reason” comes forward.
If either or both of these reasons are correct, then it reflects very badly on our club and the way it now conducts its business.
Does anyone really believe that all the players who played in the post-break games were so much better than Ozil that he could not even get on the bench more than a couple of times and even then he did no play?
Brighton, Villa, Man$ity and many more games were played with terrible performances, especially by the midfield, with zero creativity.
Can anyone honestly suggest that there was not a very good chance that he would have improved those dreadful performances?
The venomous hatred for one of our players by some fans, which we have seen time and again over recent years for many others, seems to have blinded so many people, who really cannot see the wood for the trees.
The alleged salary seems to me to be the main reason for this hatred, despite the fact that there is no evidence for it and, even if there was, the club agreed to it willingly at the time.
Now that Raul has been dispatched, with extraordinary speed, perhaps we will see a change, which I hope will be the positive one of Ozil’s return to the fold and to playing.
I doubt if Willian will be enough to restore our creativity and to get us back to creating lots of chances for our forwards.
I dare say, there is a lot about this story still to come out, or, indeed may never come out, but is it unlikely to be as straightforward as Ozil not turning up for a meeting. Please?
Nice one, Jjgsol
Good comment Jjgsol
Mesut in the title of a post guarantees a good debate.
Jjgsol,
You mean like not turning up in big games, away games, physical games and practice- you mean that straight forward??
Nice one, Sevilla 😜
Aaron, are you saying that from your own observation, or are you simply repeating what other people have said in one blog or another?
How many other players have been at the receiving end of similar allegations and yet sometime later have become the same fan’s darling.
Ramsey was criticised remorsefully for months on end and yet, when he left, he was eulogised as if he was the best player we ever had.
Frankly, even if what you say were to be true, and I do not accept it is, then his creative ability would do for me in all the other matches, as against the non-creative ability of all the rest.
I prefer to comment on what I have seen and not what some blogger somewhere has made up.
Won’t get into a pissing contest with you.
I watch them all, for many many years.
The guy is a cream puff when it comes to opposing physical sides, realizing that is not what Ozil is all about.
Ozil is strong, but not tough, hardened, pacey or tenacious, a defensive liability clearly.
And as a creator the last 2 years, he has been a no go also, along with not getting the time or space to create very well in the oppositions final third. The STATS have shown this to be true.
MA wants a different type of team, one that plays both ways, and if you do not show it in practice or games you ain’t on the team sheet come game time.
Watch Pepe in the FA Cup final for hints of what is to be expected.
Just my lousy 2 cents.
The way Seville pass the ball just beautiful
Aaron
So Mesut doesnt “turn up” to big games, away games or physical games and he alone is blamed if the result is against us.
He is then not even on the bench, for whatever reasons, football or political, and NOONE turns up against Brighton and Aston Villa, squashing our slim hopes of top four (five at one point), and it is seemingly a “collective team problem” of lack of creativity!!?
Seems to me unfairly waited heavily one way.
Very interesting discourse regarding the ‘pros and cons’ of Mesut’s current situation and Arsenal’s hardline attitude as to how they treat him.
What is clear, is that you are each expressing your differing opinions, and why not, because, as in. most such cases, facts are thin on the ground, and it is human nature to try and rationalise a subject that no fan can be happy about.
I am not proffering an opinion because it would not help resolve anything.
Alternatively, my ‘preference’ would be for the club and Mesut to arrive at a consensus, and for what little I have read, the player wants to stay at Arsenal until the end of his contract, next season — and the club have been unable to sell him (for whatever reason) – so —–
1. Ozil should be made available to play, and not ostracised, as seems the current situation, and the manager should select him, where appropriate, for the benefit of the team.
Seems straightforward enough, but, of course, all parties involved will have to stop faffing around like stupid schoolboys (or girls) and admit the people who really matter here are the fans — and they are not happy with the present farcical personalised agendas.
@jjgsol
I agree with Aaron. You are accusing others of believing what they are reading but you are coming from an angle that is opinion-based anyway. You can’t act like the smartest person in the room if you’re bringing nothing to the table.
Expecting people to cut Ozil a break and ignore his wage is laughable. It is a variable that needs to be taken into account. We aren’t City or Chelsea – a contract like that is a rarity for Arsenal. That contract demands performance. If you don’t deliver expect more heat. It’s not comparable to if say someone like Saka doesn’t perform.
Ozil was on the decline. Falling out with 1 manager…okay. It happens. Not played by another…mmm. That’s a concern.
Who wouldn’t love a fit and firing Ozil? The issue is I’m not even sure Ozil wants to deliver that because it’s been such a rarity and non-existent for 2 whole years.
Ozil has said his piece. Well, time for him to put up or shut up.
Rather difficult for Ozil to “put up”, when he is not on the pitch, do you not agree?
What was he picked before the break and not after the break? Does that make sense?
Did we not go unbeaten when he played before the break and yet lost to such high powered teams as Villa, against whom, how many shots on target did we have?
Did he not deliver before the break?
Why can we all not agree that we simply do not understand what happened after the break, rather than to make accusations as to conduct that may not be sustainable on consideration of the statistics?
Can you think of another team who has treated their most talented player like this?
Bogard at ChelSki all those years ago might be the only comparison but was he actually their most talented player, albeit if he may have been one of their most expensive ones.
I wonder whether fans of other clubs are so quick to criticise and condemn their own players like our fans seem to be happy to do.
Real doing the same to bale
Barcelona doing same to griezmann
Chelsea did same to Costa
“Did he not deliver( for Mikel) before the break?” (Forget Emery, by the end only Leno was delivering for him!!!)
Of course he did and, as importantly, the “team” around him did/were!
When, then bereft of creativity, Mikel apparently decided on the “horrendous horseshoe”, everybody else, except those convinced of its efficacy, bemoaned Arsenal’s complete lack of said creativity.
We dont know why the Club is not selecting him, but I believe he will stay, will be picked on occasions next year, and some may even be content with his performance.
Whilst we’re waiting for the announcement of Auba signing da ting – chuffed to bits *heel kick jump* – down the road, they’ve signed Joe Hart 😂😂
Akinola from Huddersfield for the Academy. Smith-Rowe should know about him. Taken without a trial based on observations. Unusual.
*heel kick jump*
I like it 🙂
Anyone for a post today?
@ jjgsol
There are more ways to show you want it than just playing. Didn’t seem to be an issue for Xhaka and cebellos. Both turned it around under Arteta.
“So quick” – it has been 2 years. I wonder if other clubs have supoorters that live in fairy tales and reminisce about highlights from years ago. Especially when they are still at the club and collecting double the pay vs. The next highest paid.
Again, you fail to see you are doing the exact same as me but with an opposite viewpoint. You are providing no insight. Nor am i. The difference is, only one of us is trying to act like the smartest person in the room. At least i can point to something…arteta refusing to play him. All you have is a chinese conspiracy…lol
My post would simply be: are we happy with the signing of Willian and how do we see him fitting in short term and long term, if there is one?
Other questions that cross my mind are who was the driving force behind him joining THOF and being given a 3 year contract.
I have loads of mini posts like this but can never turn them into something that warrants being posted above but hey ho…..
LB – turned your comment into a post so feel free to lead the discussion 🙂
New post everyone and make sure to support PSG tonight 🙂
Of course I supporting psg tonight
And I personally don’t like the willian signing