Match reaction: Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal

[Niall_Quinn]

Wenger is just as soft as some of his players. I doubt he'll say anything. But that's not far from what's been going on with the fans. Ozil has been playing the great magician with his world famous disappearing act for far too long. But with a title on the line and personal pride at stake, I don't know why that level of performance was acceptable for himself. It's not a one off either.

How can you possibly think that the shit going on at Arsenal is down to Ozil? Are you serious?

So why didn't we win a title with Fabregas? Or RvC? Or name any player in a decade? Why do the same shortcomings still materialise now, 10 years on? Ozil wasn't even playing back then. You may not like him. You may not thing he's contributing. Whatever. But to equate him as a problem on a level with Wenger, that's pure lunacy and shows you've gone off the deep end on this strange campaign. You were sticking up for Walcott earlier as you tried to finger Ozil in his stead. Well Theo Walcott is indeed a player who has been here throughout. That's a lot of years delivering fuck all squared. Perhaps the fans will all berate Ozil in 9 years, if he ends up being as big a non-entity as Theo Walcott.

[Globalgunner]

You have to excuse PnG. He really thinks Walcott is brilliant. Genuine Ballon Dor brilliant

[Power n Glory]

How can you possibly think that the shit going on at Arsenal is down to Ozil? Are you serious?

So why didn't we win a title with Fabregas? Or RvC? Or name any player in a decade? Why do the same shortcomings still materialise now, 10 years on? Ozil wasn't even playing back then. You may not like him. You may not thing he's contributing. Whatever. But to equate him as a problem on a level with Wenger, that's pure lunacy and shows you've gone off the deep end on this strange campaign. You were sticking up for Walcott earlier as you tried to finger Ozil in his stead. Well Theo Walcott is indeed a player who has been here throughout. That's a lot of years delivering fuck all squared. Perhaps the fans will all berate Ozil in 9 years, if he ends up being as big a non-entity as Theo Walcott.

Again, deflecting. I've said enough on Wenger to know his flaws. I probably said 5 years ago that we need real world class performers in key positions just to overcome Wenger's flaws. As the season goes, it's becoming more clear that Ozil isn't one of those players. But you in particular tend to skate past that point but at the same time quick to dig in on the more limited players like Walcott who scored again against City. We need to strengthen our squad and find players willing to step up and down all possible with what they possess to win us the ball, the points, etc. I can't respect Ozil's performance and won't make excuses just because of how much we paid for him.

[Power n Glory]

You have to excuse PnG. He really thinks Walcott is brilliant. Genuine Ballon Dor brilliant

I think you're an idiot.

[Globalgunner]

Again, deflecting. I've said enough on Wenger to know his flaws. I probably said 5 years ago that we need real world class performers in key positions just to overcome Wenger's flaws. As the season goes, it's becoming more clear that Ozil isn't one of those players. But you in particular tend to skate past that point but at the same time quick to dig in on the more limited players like Walcott who scored again against City. We need to strengthen our squad and find players willing to step up and down all possible with what they possess to win us the ball, the points, etc. I can't respect Ozil's performance and won't make excuses just because of how much we paid for him.

What you need to understand is that there are no numbers of WC players that can make up for Wengers deficiencies. The only way we could succeed with him in charge would be to have him tied up at the training ground and play with a cardboard cut out in his chair. That way the players can sort it out themselves on the pitch. We used to have 6 WC players in the team. We still couldnt win the CL or retain a PL title.

[Globalgunner]

I think you're an idiot.

It really doesnt matter what you think

[Power n Glory]

What you need to understand is that there are no numbers of WC players that can make up for Wengers deficiencies. The only way we could succeed with him in charge would be to have him tied up at the training ground and play with a cardboard cut out in his chair. That way the players can sort it out themselves on the pitch. We used to have 6 WC players in the team. We still couldnt win the CL or retain a PL title.

That's just stupid. Left to their own devices and little instruction/motivation, this is what we're getting, hence why I say there should be some sort of pride the players performance regardless of tactics. At the very least, these guys should be playing to their full potential.

[Gooner23]

The worst thing about today is that seeing Chelsea win twice since the Everton game the players must have known this was a must win. City were there for the taking, missing Aguero and defensively a shambles. But once again we choke when it matters. Nothing changes.

[Niall_Quinn]

Again, deflecting. I've said enough on Wenger to know his flaws. I probably said 5 years ago that we need real world class performers in key positions just to overcome Wenger's flaws. As the season goes, it's becoming more clear that Ozil isn't one of those players. But you in particular tend to skate past that point but at the same time quick to dig in on the more limited players like Walcott who scored again against City. We need to strengthen our squad and find players willing to step up and down all possible with what they possess to win us the ball, the points, etc. I can't respect Ozil's performance and won't make excuses just because of how much we paid for him.

Of course we need quality all over the pitch and 10 years in the Emirates, the place we moved to so we could compete at the top level of the game, is long enough to have built what we need to be serious challengers in the PL and in Europe. We have 4 or 5 of those pieces in place when it should be 11. But if you think Ozil is not one of those pieces then that's your opinion but it won't be shared by many others. Ask them if they believe Walcott is a player on whom to build progress and you'll likely get the opposite answer, even if he did score today. So what? Does that mean Theo has finally arrived?

Yes he scored, but he also missed today when 2-0 probably would have sealed the result. Ozil missed against Everton when that probably would have sealed the result. But we've seen Theo miss, how many hundreds of times? Where's the improvement in Theo since he came here as a kid? It's nowhere. And players like Walcott are part of the reason why we aren't challenging. He's not a terrible player, but he's very limited and he's certainly not top tier. So when you have him in the team then expect to drag down every other player in the team a notch. Then add 90 million worth of 2nd tier players, a few players who accidentally found their way into the team and did well enough to stay, a decidedly second rate striker like Giroud. This isn't going to be a winning team. If your solution is get rid of Ozil then we disagree for obvious reasons.

[Power n Glory]

NQ, like most people, you'd struggle to explain Ozil's role in this team, especially now he's not actually helping to create chances or hold possession. Pay the man whatever he wants for more of that? No thanks. It's not justified. If he' now focused solely on making runs behind the space that Sanchez vacates to score goals, we can easily find someone else that's a better striker to do that. Heck, I'm tempted to say he should play wide in Iwobi's role but not if he won't defend.