Has the Mesut Ozil-Arsenal saga finally come to an end?
Media reports suggest that the club and player have come to an agreement to terminate his contract after seven and a half years in N5, with the German star heading off to Fenerbahce of Turkey (thanks to Sue of this parish for spotting the news).
It’s obviously a good thing for both parties that this unhappy narrative now has a final chapter. It cannot have been good for squad dynamics to have such a talented player and big character (who was also on an enormous salary) hanging around while being denied the chance to kick a ball in anger.
Rather than re-hash all the arguments about him, and in the spirit of moving forward positively, let’s celebrate the good times that we had with Ozil by remembering our favourite moments.
I’m going to go for the period when he and Alexis Sanchez seemed to have a telepathic relationship, creating goals and chances for each other (and working together to create goals for team mates).
Over to you.
RockyLIves
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Nice one, Rocky!
Obviously Leicester and Ludogorets speak for themselves, but one of my favourite games was Everton away 2-5.. Mesut was brilliant and that headed goal was special, loved it! 👌
It’s such a shame it has ended this way – no chance to say a proper goodbye. I’m glad I was there and saw his final assist!
Good luck and thanks for the memories!
Will defo tune into Fenerbahce v Antalyaspor (Ozil v Podolski 😍)
Mesuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut
Thanks Sue
Funny – I was going to mention the headed goal against Everton (if only for what a surprise it was).
Well that was disappointing — my suggestion this morning at 11:11a.m. that there are patterns of play that can indicate how well, or badly, a games is going.
A little too rustic? Well it received about 10 minutes without a response before the new post put it to bed.
As regards the content of today’s Post, I have been somewhat disappointed that the Mesut era has come to an end — in a mysterious way — can there be any justification for allegedly paying him £1.4m per month, and then exiling him for 10 months — umm that’s £14m over that period, while we played some terrible games when the pandemic allowed — and some good games, too, when we may have played many more good games if Ôzil had been available — and who suffered through all those poor games? Why, we loyal and faithful Gooners, while unknown others engaged in their childish macho silly boys’ games.
Neither Mesut nor the others involved have come out of this with any credit. Ridiculous.
Hello Redders
Apologies – I didn’t see your comment when I uploaded today’s Post. I shall copy it below.
RA says:
January 16, 2021 at 11:11 am (Edit)
Well done, Rocky, and you too RC, better men than me, it has to be said, for your calm recollection of that game.
I could not add anything to the individual ratings each of you produced — so I will skip that, but …….
Perhaps because of my work, I have an eye for patterns and the ‘correctness’, or otherwise of any relevant pattern.
When Arsenal have occasionally played really well, there is a distinct ‘disciplined’ pattern that is immediately obvious and ‘correct’.
The pattern is that (say) the team is set up in a 4 – 3 – 1 – 2 formation, every part of the team remains in contact and context with the rest of the team.
In the first pattern — Any movement from the back line is compensated by the midfield and/or the forwards reacting to cover that movement or going to a better position to receive the ball — not with everybody just running forward willy nilly like delinquent schoolboys, but looking to see where they can add support value to the initial movement, or to be aware of a possible weakness in the initial movement which might need cover in a second movement.
A lack of pattern occurs — When we play crap — step forward the delinquent schoolboys — they do not give a hoot for the team shape, are caught out of position, and do not think to get into position and so are are left stranded when they inevitably lose the ball by passing to the opposition, or doing a Hector – by stopping the run forward, do a twirl and pass back to a teammate badly positioned between two opposition players who intercept the pass and hare of on a counter-attack.
There are multi-patterns, but these two reflect directly on a team playing well, with everyone knowing his place and helping his teammate.
And the other? A pattern reflecting …. utter crap!!
Rushing off now, but I will read and ponder later!
Thank you Rocky. When having Mesut in the team worked he produced some moments of magic almost up there with DB10. For me he’s tarnished his legacy somewhat and since that is not in keeping with the tone of the post I will thank him for the good times and reminding us of what it was like when we had truly exceptional players wearing the shirt
The monkey is off Afcs back…..
Thank god !
Wasted talent. The ability was there but the effort was not. Some players just aren’t suited to the PL and Özil is one of them. The last 2 years of his time at Arsenal have been a joke, but as much as people will point fingers at anyone other than Mesut, the fact is that if Özil had performed on the pitch then there wouldn’t have been any drama. He’s been sub-par for a long time and the idea that he’s somehow an Arsenal ‘legend’ is an insult to actual legends of the club. Fantastic when he wanted to be, awful when he wanted to be.
Rocky,
I did not mean my comment as a complaint — there was nothing for me to complain about — rather that it was a boring theory even for me — and your new Post saved the day as it removed it from boring the ass off everyone else. Thank you. 🤪
Hi Rocky, thanks for the recent posts. Sorry I’ve not been about to comment.
I think where Ozil is concerned I feel, as I do with a lot of football aspects when things aren’t as good as they should be, that a combination of factors, of varying levels of influence, are at work with Mesuts time with us.
I concur to a large degree with fgg that Ozil was not a player entirely suited to the EPL. That said we did witness some marvelous moments of inspiration and outrageous skill.
That however is the point, that Ozil’s genius was in sporadic flashes and lacked any kind of consistency across his time with us. The EPL, perhaps more than any other league, demands that consistency which requires an inner strength and drive, and it is this I think Mesut lacked.
Sometimes people just aren’t who they aren’t and it is not necessarily his fault that he lacked that and was thus likely better suited to a different league. We, and perhaps more relevantly Arsene, were seduced by the mercurial genius nature of his game. It was a heart over head signing, but I am always grateful for the moments of joy.
The other huge factor for me which I am sure will be slightly controversial, is that we never built the team around him properly to maximise his genius and minimise what he wasn’t and was never going to be.
The irony is that the system we have adopted, as of the Chelsea game, is entirely the right one for Mesut but it seems it has arrived too late and the ship has already sailed.
Mesut always needed to play in the hole position with 2 more robust holding midfielders covering behind him, but he also needed a pacey front 3 and dynamic overlapping FB’s for those slide rule passes that he always seemed to know about and execute 2 steps ahead of everyone else catching the opposition entirely unaware and opening up their defence.
I cant think of a time in Arsene’s entire reign during the Ozil period where he had that set up of the pacey front 3 ahead (and yes, with the 2 inverted wing forwards) and the 2 holding players behind. It was as if Arsene brought him in because he loves a mercurial player but then didn’t construct around him anywhere near effectively enough.
Still, my best wishes fo with him as I still feel he has been somewhat unfairly tainted with a bottling type mentality, but I just think that’s not entirely the case. Ozil is what he always was and if that included a weakness not suited to the EPL or that we didn’t set up in a way to get the consistency from him, then the fault lies more with us.
Well said,
Grand BretagneGB,Balanced, rational and fair.
Everyone will have an opinion on this, but the facts of this colossal fall out, and the grossly expensive financial catastrophe that has occurred.
As I mentioned previously, there are no winners as everyone involved will be tainted by this — and we will probably never know the real causes of Ôzil’s excile and demise.
RA, by the way I did read with interest your comment at the end of the last post. The concept definitely has some mileage. I have now dubbed it “RA’s disconnection theory”
Interesting when you look at our attacking department. Right now I feel we have a lot of options and additions in January would almost be overkill.
Also some of our players, particularly the younger ones like Martinelli and Saka, are adaptable to at least a couple of attacking roles.
Look at our options in the attacking front 4:
Number 10; ESR, Saka, Martinelli, Willian, Willock, Nelson.
Number 9; Lacazette, Aubameyang, Nketieh, Balogun
Left wing forward; Aubamayeng, Martinelli, Nelson
Right wing forward; Saka, Pepe.
Behind this we have other emerging players to consider like John Jules and the lad likened to Foden with the Italian sounding surname.
Now I’m not suggesting that it’s all perfect quality wise, and some of those players will fall short and need replacing but this is what we need to find out in our new (and correct) system.
I have 2 main areas of concern with our attacking department right now. Firstly whether we have a world class number 9. The modern 9 in the front 3 isn’t all about how prolific they are with goals as they were in the recent past. It’s important for them to be involved in the goal tally but also its about how well they link with the inverted wing forwards to help them in scoring goals.
Many teams now rely in the inverted wing forward to supply the lions share of goals even ahead of the number 9.
Lacazette is decent but can blow hot and cold and it’s still questionable whether he has that real x factor quality. Ditto with Nketieh. Aubamayeng is also better, IMO, as a left sided wing forward and lacks a bit with the link up with his back to goal. He is better playing off another player in the 9 role.
It also looks like we will lose Balogun and I really am not certain Lacazette’s contract will be extended by either side.
I have to say I really like the look of the lad at Celtic, Edouard. He’s a powerful unit already adapted to a physical league. He’s quick, can dribble, works well holding up or taking it on the turn and has good link play. I strongly feel he could be ideal for us and should go all out to secure him.
We are also potentially short in attacking left footers. Two is probably enough but that is as long as both a fully firing. Pepe has a big question mark hanging over him and we cant rely on Saka indefinitely all season so a decision may need to made on an attacking left footer who can play on the right in the summer.
I’d still try and coax it out of Pepe till the summer before making a final decision but if we need to recruit there I like the look of the lad at Leeds, Raphinha.
I think it is a sad end to the Ozil saga but it was not to be for him after the Wenger era. Emery really made a mess out of him and Arteta just finished him. Why? Maybe Ozil did not meet the high press and defensive requirements…whatever the reason, it is upsetting to see him leave like a paria.
I remember his exceptional season when he played higher up the pitch behind Giroud and with Sanchez by his side – that first half of season was just phenomenal with all those assists registered and scoring a few goals too. I remember his contribution to the FA Cup wins and if there was one action that defined his talent, I would say that I will remember one of his last ones when he passed the ball to AMN – showed class and game awareness:
So farewell Ozil and best of luck! Your talent will be remembered fondly and shame it did not work out after the Wenger era.
GoonerB – we indeed have a lot of options and I agree that Pepe has basically this half season to prove his worth. If he is still struggling, then it may be time to recoup some money…
I think we do need another type of FW (a la Giroud like Zapata, Patagna…) and that we would need someone that could also create and score goals that can play 10 or 9 1/2 – any thoughts on Depay? Ben Yedder? Che Adams? Oyarzabal? but this would mean shipping out Nketiah and taken into account Ozil’s departure
GB,
I delight in your thoughtful analyses of our needs and just as importantly the assets we already have.
Reading your objective reasoning gives me a lift in that both you and Rocky have a much more positive mien, or disposition regarding our players, and you are prepared to support them when things are not going too well, but are pragmatic too, because if a player given amole chances, but just isn’t going to make it at Arsenal – so be it.
There are others on board the good ship AA who are like minded, but are perhaps a little more coy in writing comments.
“amole” = ample.
There actually is a technical use for amole — something to do with an amoled LED TV. 🤪
RC,
Your comments @ 1:54 and 2:05 are also excellent – not that I have a clue who the players are that you mentioned.
But then — we have you to help and guide us!! 👍
RC, the one area I differ in is in that I dont believe we ever got the best out if home. Even in that half a season when he was at his best for us it was still only half a season.
You dont win the league in half a season and players like Ozil should make the definitive difference to help us win the league.
Even in that purple patch that season I could argue that Giroud in front of him and Sanchez to his left worked but did we get the Gilberto and Vieira players to sit behind him and put a goal-scoring left footer to his right like a Mahrez? All other top and successful teams were using this blueprint but we ignored it.
We were always just almost there. It’s that classic cliche of always being 2 players short. We always lacked a couple of specific ingredients to make it really fire on all cylinders and often still looked rather disjointed with some positions looking awkward filled by a player not in his best position.
I think the further decline at the club since Wenger left has kind of psychologically overestimated that period in a kind of nostalgic reflective way. I’m not criticising anyone who believes those latter Wenger years were what we needed just that, even though he is our greatest manager and an absolute legend, I feel he slipped backwards himself and to feel he was and remained the right man for us is slightly rose tinted IMO.
For me we stood still after getting Ozil and then Sanchez when we could have pushed on with just a couple more considerations in the squad. That static position then transgressed into a backward slide while at the same time other clubs were ambitiously trying to move onwards and upwards
We got caught up, then passed by and then left behind by teams that we were in the ascendancy of just a couple of seasons before that. This all began in Arsene’s latter years and it getting worse after that and Emery being wrong doesn’t mean that what was happening before him was right.
Saliba vs koscielny
RC, the Giroud type option can be useful but I dont feel its critical. Have a look at Edouard. I know all players look great on their YouTube highlights but it’s about looking at his physical attributes and his style and quality.
He is enough of a unit to play with defenders on his back but looks good coming deep for the ball and his link play looks decent. In short he looks a player that can play high on top of the last defender but is also effective dropping deeper to get on the ball.
We want Edouard!! We want Edouard!!
I’m with you, GB, but the trouble is that if he is as good as we believe — other clubs with money – unlike us – will be queuing up to buy him, leaving us salivating outside the shop window. 😩
Fred.. Koscielny came out on top then!!
Our women only managed 1-1 😳
Sue
I may be misinterpreting, but are you saying that Kozzer played in our women’s game?
Perhaps he is self identifying as Lorraine?
RC, GB and Redders
Good comments as always.
GB – I was very taken with your observation that now, just as Ozil heads through the exit door, we are finally playing a system that would suit him perfectly.
Perhaps the final irony.
Lorraine has a nice ring to it, Rocky 😂
Ozil has more talent than Edu and Arteta put together, neither knew how to deal with him, and Emery was so out of his depth that pathetic is the only suitable word.
To make things worse we get “supporters” saying why don’t we tie our best players to long term contracts — we do and then people moan about the size of the deal.
Reminds me of the song Vincent by Don Mclean a long time ago.
Tragic.
LB
There is now one less star in our starry night.
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