Ozil - Do we need him?

[Power n Glory]

Passing the ball is passing the ball. For me tippy, tappy is forward one, sideways, backwards, forwards, sideways, back to Cech, forward, forward, sideways, backwards, forwards. We might be lucky and be at the half way line by now. Meanwhile, the oppo has packed the box. We then tippy, tappy to the box and find no way through, so we tippy, tappy around the box and lose possession. Then it all starts again

On Saturday we moved forward with purpose and pace, yeah the Chavs defence was off, but we caused that in some part by being decisive.

But do you think Wenger has told them to play any differently? We keep passing to try and probing to try and open teams up. It starts to look cumbersome and slow when we've run out of ideas or not at our sharpest. That second doesn't happen if someone takes a bad touch during the flurry of passes.

[Niall_Quinn]

Passing the ball is passing the ball. For me tippy, tappy is forward one, sideways, backwards, forwards, sideways, back to Cech, forward, forward, sideways, backwards, forwards. We might be lucky and be at the half way line by now. Meanwhile, the oppo has packed the box. We then tippy, tappy to the box and find no way through, so we tippy, tappy around the box and lose possession. Then it all starts again

On Saturday we moved forward with purpose and pace, yeah the Chavs defence was off, but we caused that in some part by being decisive.

Precisely. When we go into negative, slow, tip tap mode it stands out a mile. In the first half yesterday we played the opposite of that. In the second half we reverted a little but not entirely. As invisible says, it's all about the purpose, the aggression and ambition. So many games we play negatively, almost with fear, the main purpose being possession even though we end up doing nothing with that possession. Saturday was about playing without that negativity and fear, the players were far more mobile, the energy and tempo much higher and the purpose was to score goals and win the game, not prevent the opposition playing by retaining possession for the sake of retaining possession. We took risks and that was good to see. We need to do it all the time though. Except, perhaps, when we are up against a markedly superior opponent such as Barca or Bayern, then and only then can I understand conservatism. We don't need it otherwise. We have good enough players to beat anyone in this league.

[Niall_Quinn]

You really don't understand the difference, do you?

On attack, we were playing the same tactics as we usually would but our players were just on their A game. I can't speak for Chelsea.

Do you think Wenger told them to play faster or intentionally tells them each game not to make runs and not to pass quickly? I mean, when have we not played with as many forward as possible? That's how we always attack but can get caught out when it goes wrong.

Who can know what Wenger says? All we can do is examine the results of whatever he says when we watch the team on the pitch. We have all speculated why we generally play such a slow and purposeless game. It looks like you are saying that most of the time this is down to the players not being on their A game. This implies we have a very poor collection of players because they therefore only seem to hit their A game once, maybe twice a season. It seems far more likely it is the instructions of the manager that dictate the nature of our performances. This is supported by the final scoreline. We were in a position to annihilate the chavs by scoring several more goals. We didn't. On a one off basis you couldn't read much into that. But we rarely eviscerate the opposition when we get the chance. We'll go 2 or 3 up and then that'll be it, we ease off. This is hardly down to our players suddenly falling off their A game mid-game. Far more likely once again it is the intervention of the manager.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I saw Wenger at the Groucho club about 1am on Sunday morning, he was wearing beige chinos and sandals without socks (don't ask me why). I congratulated him and asked him what his game plan had been, he came out with his usual spiel of getting the players to believe in their own quality and to have faith in the way they want to play.

After a few lines of chang and a couple of tequillas, he basically said it was a bit like a souffle....you do the same thing over and over again and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. He then went on to admit that he'd spent most of Friday during training on his phone playing Web Sudoku and having a what's app conversation with Patrick Vieira swapping anecodes about Sonia Tatar.

A few drinks later he becomes maudlin and brooding, he wants to know why Giroud is facebook friends with his daughter.

[Niall_Quinn]

I saw Wenger at the Groucho club about 1am on Sunday morning, he was wearing beige chinos and sandals without socks (don't ask me why). I congratulated him and asked him what his game plan had been, he came out with his usual spiel of getting the players to believe in their own quality and to have faith in the way they want to play.

After a few lines of chang and a couple of tequillas, he basically said it was a bit like a souffle....you do the same thing over and over again and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. He then went on to admit that he'd spent most of Friday during training on his phone playing Web Sudoku and having a what's app conversation with Patrick Vieira swapping anecodes about Sonia Tatar.

A few drinks later he becomes maudlin and brooding, he wants to know why Giroud is facebook friends with his daughter.

The Groucho club was closed on Sunday, for renovations.

Busted!

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

The Groucho club was closed on Sunday, for renovations.

Busted!

It was closed during the day Sunday, and why do you think that was?

[Niall_Quinn]

It was closed during the day Sunday, and why do you think that was?

Because Ozil stank out the place?

[GP]

I saw Ozil in Aldi yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

[Niall_Quinn]

I saw Ozil in Aldi yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.

Probably the strongest indicator yet that he's gone next transfer window.

[Penguin]

I thought Ozil was brilliant on Saturday. Chelsea's midfield couldn't handle him, especially Kante who was chasing his shadow all game. That turn by Ozil in the build up to his goal was the icing on the cake

I have to agree with Herbert on this one though, as good as we were Chelsea defended like spastics. I would show Holding a video of just Luiz's performance to show him what NOT to do in almost any situation. He has always been a ball chasey defender like Kolo and Vermaelen, but worse.

It's great play from Iwobi to make that turn and slip Bellerin in. He spots the run and plays the risky pass. He could have played it back out ignoring the run to try and keep possession. We'll always be a team that plays possession football under Wenger but I don't know how his coaching can stop a player from picking out a good run when playing so deep in our opponents half. It has to come down to individual choices at some point.

For example, watch Theo's movement for the build up. He makes a good run into the box as soon as he sees Ozil getting a touch and he calls for the pass. But Ozil plays a simple pass to Iwobi who's not really in a great position to do damage with his back to goal. It results in the sort of tipp tappy moment you despise and would probably curse if that move breaks down. Could Ozil not have played the ball first time to Theo? Did he see the run? Is it too much of a difficult angle and pass? I don't know. Would a pass to his left for Monreal to whip in a cross be better? Who knows. But it results in a goal. Heck of a pass from Iwobi to find Bellerin, great movement from Theo and perfect cross from Hector. 2-0.

Ozil could have played Theo in there and probably should have. He's among the best in the business at seeing that sort of pass so it's no big deal that he didn't on this occasion. Although if you watch it again, Azpilicueta spots Theo's run and follows him, which left space for Bellerin to run into and the rest is history.

I think you're downplaying the quick, purposeful short passing though. It kept Chelsea's players off our toes and gave us that little bit of space between the lines for Iwobi to turn, look up and play in Hector. It was a great move all round.