It's not going to improve their mood much when they see how hyped Bale is :haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by JonasTC
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It's not going to improve their mood much when they see how hyped Bale is :haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by JonasTC
http://instagram.com/p/d2GDNiErus/
Ozil interview trailer from Arsenal.com :lol:
Good thing his english is quite good
it was rioch who signed Ozil. true story.Quote:
Originally Posted by Syn
Lolzil :haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry Tuffnutz
I can't see us being so staunch in our refusal to sell him to you in the summer, just to then sell him to you in January. In some ways it would be worse.Quote:
Originally Posted by ollie the optimist
We'll sell him next summer that's for sure, but we'll hope against all hope it'll be abroad. Barring a huge bid from someone like City. Saying that, part of me wonders whether we'd have preferred the money this summer, provided he left the country. And when it was obvious that would never come we changed our tune from saying we'd consider ~£55m to him simply not being for sale, though I guess him acting like a dick didn't help either.
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Would it be too mental even for Madrid if they went and bought Ozil back off you?
I can't really remember a more popular player though. So far as you guys are 100% behind it in that he's a great signing and not a complete arsehole, RM fans are up in arms and even some of their players aren't happy. Little bit coup tbf.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG
Hi! I'm Steve French and I approve of this post. :good:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23958489Quote:
When 20,000 Real Madrid fans flocked to the Bernabeu on Monday to witness the unveiling of their latest galactico, it wasn't only Gareth Bale's name they chanted.
"Don't sell Ozil" echoed around the famous stadium, to the visible discomfort of club president Florentino Perez.
When, hours later, midfielder Mesut Ozil's £42.4m transfer to Arsenal was confirmed, the mourning could begin in earnest.
Real star Cristiano Ronaldo said he was "angry" about the Germany international's departure, while defender Sergio Ramos tweeted a picture of himself holding his now former team-mate's last Madrid shirt as he lamented the loss of "the king of the assist". A poll of Real fans in Spanish sports daily AS revealed 66% opposed his transfer.
Their disappointment is easy to understand. Over the past five seasons, 24-year-old Ozil has provided more assists and created more chances than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.
In a direct statistical comparison with Bale, also 24, Ozil is top in almost every category. While Real's higher standing than Spurs may explain his better tally of assists and chances, the German also has a superior shooting accuracy, as well as a higher completion of passes, crosses and dribbles.
"Whenever I speak to Barcelona fans about which [rival] player they would most like to have in their team, the one who would merge most fluently with their style, they always say Ozil," Spanish football expert John Carlin told BBC Sport.
"He's got a very quick football mind and is immensely skilful. He is one of those players who needs less time than other players. His exquisite touch gives him that extra fraction of a second to look up and see the gap and put the ball there for a goalscorer."
Ozil's national coach, Joachim Low, described Real's decision to sell the player as "incomprehensible".
Carlin, who wrote a book about Real Madrid during David Beckham's time at the club and pens a weekly football column for Spanish newspaper El Pais, believes the explanation for Ozil's sale lies less in manager Carlo Ancelotti's tactical plans, and more in Perez's impulsive nature.
"Perez is extremely capricious," said Carlin. "An avid art collector, you could give him all the Picasso and Dali paintings in the world, and he would still want to buy up the Miros.
"He has this acquisitive lust. And so, when [21-year-old Spain international] Isco came on the market, Real didn't really need him, but he is beautiful and Perez knew that if Real didn't buy him, someone else would.
"Once he was bought, there was always going to be pressure on Ancelotti to make sure Isco played, even though Ozil is much more the final product. When you throw Bale and [Croatia midfielder] Luka Modric into the mix you have a problem, and something had to give."
That something was Ozil, the son of Turkish immigrants, who grew up in Gelsenkirchen playing football on a fenced-off gravel pitch known as "the monkey cage".
Having come through the youth system at Schalke, Ozil moved to Werder Bremen in January 2008 at the age of 19 and helped the club reach the Uefa Cup final.
English audiences got their first glimpse of him during the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, when he was a key part of the Germany side that destroyed England 4-0 in the final.
"Even at the age of 17, Ozil was already making scouts very excited, but that tournament was the real breakthrough," recalls Tor-Kristian Karlsen, who spent 15 years working as a scout for leading European clubs, including German side Bayer Leverkusen and Zenit St Petersburg of Russia.
"He was absolutely outstanding and that really established him in people's consciousness. He was part of a very, very exciting generation of young German players who were quickly catapulted into the national team."
Ozil was an instant success at full international level, starring in Germany's 4-1 victory over England and 4-0 demolition of Argentina at the 2010 World Cup to earn himself a place in Fifa's team of the tournament and a move to Real Madrid.
When he wasn't setting up goals for Ronaldo and helping Real topple Barcelona to win the league title in 2011-12, Ozil lived a quiet life off the pitch, avoiding the Madrid celebrity circuit.
A practising Muslim, he recites the Koran before matches and observes fasting during Ramadan as much as his sporting commitments allow.
At Arsenal, Ozil will join international team-mates Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski, and a German-speaking manager who shattered his club's transfer record to sign him.
Ozil says the faith shown in him by Arsene Wenger persuaded him to move, and according to Carlin, the set-up at the Emirates should be ideally suited to a player who needs to feel wanted.
"If there is one doubt about him, he is a player who can sometimes drift out of the reckoning in games," said Carlin.
"He needs a lot of love from the manager. He is a beautiful flower who is a bit frail, but if he is well looked after, he will deliver."
Ozil's signing prompted an ecstatic reaction from Gunners players and fans. Podolski, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey have all tweeted enthusiastically about their new team-mate, while shirt sales at the club's online shop are 12 times higher than usual.
Karlsen, who left his post as Monaco chief executive in March, believes Ozil is a "great fit" for the Londoners. He is concerned, however, by over-inflated expectations that even a player of Ozil's pedigree could struggle to live up to.
"Ozil's game is all about finesse, intuition and creativity so Arsenal's style is ideally suited to his talents," said Karlsen.
"But we have to give him time because English football is very different to what he is used to. Players are more aggressive and will deny him the space he is used to in Spain.
"He is one of many top attacking midfielders who have joined Premier League clubs in the transfer window, including Willian at Chelsea, [Stevan] Jovetic at Manchester City and [Erik] Lamela at Spurs. Only time will tell whether Ozil can prove himself the best of the bunch."
Mourned in Madrid, already adored at Arsenal. Ozil has a lot to live up to.
Also shows stats comparing him to inferior players such as Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc and a direct comparison with Bale
It was a schizophrenic summer, that's why I'm still not sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Not that Özil was a panic buy, but there is still a whiff of opportunism about it, and of needs must.
After spending all that time posturing about what we could now afford, the extra pressure of an opening day loss, and our transfer inactivity, the club wanted and needed a marquee signing.
I don't think for a minute Ozil was on the shopping list initially. We really wanted a forward, but it all came down to circumstance and the club figured 'fuck it, it's more than we wanted to pay, but we have to do something'.
2 freebies and a goalie don't put bums on seats.
Signing Ozil is great, but it tells us little about the sustainability of this kind of outlay. If this is our new threshold, ~£45m per year, we can be back challenging within 2. If not, then we'll find our level.
Either way, I'd expect the usual round of 'The market is very difficult in January'.