Ozil - Do we need him?

[selassie]

Careful. I have seen all the usual anti-Ozil stuff this morning. But the "Idiotic team selection by the moron Wenger" articles seem to be missing, along with the "Giroud, WTF" articles. Ozil was one of the better performers on Sunday, which is not to say he performed well, but when you have players like Giroud on the pitch and idiots like Wenger on the touchline it seems strange to be singling out players who at least got involved and have enough technical ability to kick a ball roughly towards a teammate.

Ozil is part of the problem but not the problem. Like many others in this team he serves no purpose, I don't even know what position he is suppose to be playing in this new formation? kind of wide right, I don't know?

I agree that we have bigger problems than Ozil, though I will say that he has been awful this season IMO, especially in the big games. Like others, I think he (Ozil) would instantly improve and serve a purpose in the team under a manager who appreciates organisation and tactics.

[Marc Overmars]

I just don't know about Ozil anymore.

If the right offer came in I think we should probably sell him. I reckon he's easier to replace than Sanchez.

[Niall_Quinn]

Ozil is part of the problem but not the problem. Like many others in this team he serves no purpose, I don't even know what position he is suppose to be playing in this new formation? kind of wide right, I don't know?

I agree that we have bigger problems than Ozil, though I will say that he has been awful this season IMO, especially in the big games. Like others, I think he (Ozil) would instantly improve and serve a purpose in the team under a manager who appreciates organisation and tactics.

This is our dilemma. We have a club that thinks it can get away with paying well below the going rate for world class players, yet overpays dross. We have a manager that has no clue how to get the best from his players. We have a club that fucks around with player contracts, running them right up to the deadline. It's a shit show all round.

Can anyone believe this cock Wenger STILL hasn't announced his intentions? It's way beyond the line of credibility now. And this is fucking up the team and the players and the contract negotiations and potential summer deals too. It's impossibly hard to believe how badly this has all been conducted.

Do we pay Ozil 250K a week so he can continue to play in a team mismanaged by Wenger? I would say no, what's the point? But then again, what is the genius Wenger going to do with the money if we sell Ozil? Sit on it? Splash it in another Mustafi of Xhaka? And what will our famed transfer team get for Ozil anyway? Or Alexis? We've let all our starts go on the cheap because we fucked up all their contracts.

However, if the cock Wenger announced he was pissing off, as he should do if he has an ounce of dignity remaining, then we have a world class player in Ozil that surely a competent manager could unlock. And whether it's Ozil or a player of similar ability, it's still going to cost 200-250K a week, plus a big fee if we are bringing in a replacement. Will we spend what is required?

As always, it comes down to what the cock Wenger is going to do. Selfish cunt.

[selassie]

This is our dilemma. We have a club that thinks it can get away with paying well below the going rate for world class players, yet overpays dross. We have a manager that has no clue how to get the best from his players. We have a club that fucks around with player contracts, running them right up to the deadline. It's a shit show all round.

Can anyone believe this cock Wenger STILL hasn't announced his intentions? It's way beyond the line of credibility now. And this is fucking up the team and the players and the contract negotiations and potential summer deals too. It's impossibly hard to believe how badly this has all been conducted.

Do we pay Ozil 250K a week so he can continue to play in a team mismanaged by Wenger? I would say no, what's the point? But then again, what is the genius Wenger going to do with the money if we sell Ozil? Sit on it? Splash it in another Mustafi of Xhaka? And what will our famed transfer team get for Ozil anyway? Or Alexis? We've let all our starts go on the cheap because we fucked up all their contracts.

However, if the cock Wenger announced he was pissing off, as he should do if he has an ounce of dignity remaining, then we have a world class player in Ozil that surely a competent manager could unlock. And whether it's Ozil or a player of similar ability, it's still going to cost 200-250K a week, plus a big fee if we are bringing in a replacement. Will we spend what is required?

As always, it comes down to what the cock Wenger is going to do. Selfish cunt.

Sad thing is it's true, Wenger has the club by the balls. Sad state of affairs.

[Letters]

Can anyone believe this cock Wenger STILL hasn't announced his intentions?

Maybe he's going to judge himself at the end of the season


As much as I want us to win the FA Cup I fear that us doing so will, rather than nudging him to go out on a high, convince him that he's still "got it" and sign da ting.

[Power n Glory]

Ozil is the epitome of Wenger ball. Economical football. He doesn’t take chances and that’s the main problem I have with his game. He is Mr. Tippy Tappy. Pass completion rate always in the high percentages, ball to feet passes all the time, never takes on a player and despite playing in a wider position against Spurs, he didn’t attempt a single take on. It’s a common stat and whilst everyone is going crazy over Ox, Gibbs and Sanchez turning over the ball 20 times, I think good pass completion stats help hide passenger players. Literally passing the buck to the high risk players that attempt the risky pass or risky dribble.

This is pisses me off most about Ozil. He’s more than capable of dribbling past a couple of players or playing the sort of pass we’ve seen Cesc pull off for Chelsea this season but he doesn’t try to. Just look at how technically limited Ramsey is but he’ll always attempt a Hollywood ball, shot or flick despite not having the tools. If only Ozil had that sort of audacity to his game. Definitely not worth the money.

It’s not just a case of Wenger being Wenger either. Whatever happened to player intuition? Play Cesc in that formation and I bet he’d drop back and tuck in to help control the middle if that’s what the game is calling for. Failing that, I bet he’d look to play diagonal passes over the top to Sanchez to try and get him in on goal. We’ve seen it so much where a player just breaks the usual pass and recycle pattern to try and produce some magic. Ozil rarely makes and attempt despite being capable.

[Niall_Quinn]

Without that ball retention we literally have nothing. We're in such a state now that hanging on to the ball ranks as an achievement. Almost all our players were panic-stricken in possession and resorted to booting the ball up the pitch, mostly to the opposition. We couldn't even get our square and backwards game going. The midfield was horrendous. Ramsey is so slow when he received the ball, he invites the pressure. Xhaka is the same. Ozil can at least keep the ball and get himself out of trouble. This is it, the best we can hope for when we come up against decent opposition. Because Wenger's whole game is tip, tap, tip, tap, 73% possession, when we are up against a good team and because the technical ability of the team has been exposed as a myth, we get dominated. Ozil might not be winning the games, but he's one of the few players, along with Ox and Alexis and sometimes Coquelin (more by luck than design I think), who prevent it being a total rout. Santi would be another one, but he's always dead.

And don't forget Giroud. When you stick that lump up top it puts such a huge amount of pressure on the midfield because they have no out ball. Giroud just stands there waiting for the ball to hit him. He's a super lazy bastard and he's had very little criticism over his recent performances. There's a reason for that. Mostly everyone knows he's shit, so we all just say, Giroud, yes, awful, and the move on. The criticism of Ozil is based on the desire to see more, not because he's a bad player. We're in a reality (whether Wenger likes it or not) that sees even half decent players pulling down big wages. Is Ozil worth 250? Of course not, that's insane. But then again, nobody is worth that and who are we getting to replace him? Some panic merchant with hyped technical ability who will make us even more vulnerable?

We really are in some serious shit now. The fall always comes fast after steady decline. If Wenger keeps his job then there's literally nothing that could see him get sacked and there's nothing that would encourage him to piss off. So we say, 2 more years. But does this really mean 4 more years, or 10? Are we going to be in exactly the same situation 2 years on from now, with Wenger saying will I, won't I? Why not? This is Arsenal. Put some money on us being in that exact position 2 years from now and you won't be disappointed.

[Power n Glory]

If Ozil's supposed to be better than Cesc and one of the best at creating chances, what's stopping him from pulling this off?



No need for us to dominate possession to create this sort of opportunity. For us, when we had Cesc, players like Theo and Ade would anticipate the ball coming from Cesc and make that run. Ozil doesn't have that sort of understanding with any of the players. Not Theo, Alexis, Welbeck, Ox...none of them.

[Niall_Quinn]

If Ozil's supposed to be better than Cesc and one of the best at creating chances, what's stopping him from pulling this off?



No need for us to dominate possession to create this sort of opportunity. For us, when we had Cesc, players like Theo and Ade would anticipate the ball coming from Cesc and make that run. Ozil doesn't have that sort of understanding with any of the players. Not Theo, Alexis, Welbeck, Ox...none of them.

He had an EXCELLENT understanding with Alexis when the latter was playing up top and they were starting to interchange very nicely. Wenger spotted that and stamped it out.

[Power n Glory]

He had an EXCELLENT understanding with Alexis when the latter was playing up top and they were starting to interchange very nicely. Wenger spotted that and stamped it out.

Ozil didn’t provide one assist for Alexis in that partnership. It was always the other way around with Alexis setting up the majority of Ozil’s goals this season.