I agree with Em Gallactico for the most part. Anyone who doesn't want to see Ozil play wide should think twice about whether they actually want it to happen.
He's world class though so if it did happen, which I still don't really see, I'd be delighted.
I do think signing a competent reserve GK and 3rd/4th choice CB should be a formality and not take up too much of the budget.
Whenever I have seen games live, Cesc easily stands out as the best player I have ever seen- including the opposition here too. That man knows his entire playing field and his passes are from another planet. I would love us to get rid of Arteta and have him play the Xabi Alonso role. Cesc, Ramsey and Ozil in the middle is pure orgasm worthy.. although, I am perfectly fine if Ozil is benched and Santi is played there.
Arsene Wenger, the only football manager that got paid 8 million quid to do nothing but sit on his arse..
Ozil drifts into wide areas anyway. He has too many quiet and anonymous games so I'm not worried about him being pushed wide. It may force him to dribble a bit more.Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
Perhaps but I do think there is a difference between players who have a tendency to move into positions as an option and players who must start in that position. I think as a starting point, Ozil like many others, needs the full scope of the pitch in view when he receives it to be at his best.
People are vehemently opposed to Cazorla playing left so it would probably be even worse with Ozil. It just so happens Cazorla didn't have his best season this year which is totally explained by being positioned on the left as he played there plenty of times in his first season.
Starting positions are important and having the freedom to drift doesn't always get the best out of a player or liberate them. I feel the same way about Theo and Pod playing out wide rather than in the centre. You're right about Cazorla and i feel he's better in the middle. In Ozil's case, I think we need to simplify his role. Get him running at defenders and using his trickery. Focus his role more because right now he's looking a little lost on a massive pitch. I'd like to see how he does from wide at least because I'm not impressed with what I've seen so far.
I meant isn't totally explained by being out on the left! Doh... I'm one of the few that is happy to see him there.
I think Ozil just struggled to fully come to terms with his new playing environment and the changes in personnel around him didn't help, with the loss of Theo, Ramsey and the at times immobile Giroud. I think that is all it is really and he will be markedly better next year.
I don't really get this downer everyone seems to be on with Wilshere? He's not had the best season by his standards, but is that really that surprising? I think he spent longer out injured than Ramsey in the end, and the team he's come back into is completely different to the one he was in before we lost him (the rest of our midfield and attack at the time was Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Walcott and van Persie, and only Walcott, who's been injured himself most of the season, is still here out of that lot).
I also don't know where this idea has come from that the game against Barcelona was a one-off? Wasn't he voted our player of the season, and the PFA young player of the year that season? I certainly remember him being one of our best and most consistent performers that year. I just don't get why there's so little faith him in (especially after what we've seen with Ramsey this year)? Honestly, I think I see more optimism about Diaby at times?!
Last edited by I am invisible; 01-06-2014 at 09:29 AM.
If the aim is to have two quality players in every position, then could we not be rotating Fabregas with Ramsey in CM, if we brought him back, and then rotate Özil with Cazorla in front of them, behind the striker? I kind of like having Özil or Cazorla in that position - the fact that they can both operate down either flank means that they can cover our wide attackers and wingers when they cut into the centre, and if you have CMs like Ramsey and Fabregas behind them who like to look forward, then it becomes quite a fluid, flexible system...
Last edited by I am invisible; 01-06-2014 at 09:47 AM.
If any of the stories we've seen are to be believed, then there's some potentially amazing deals to be done this summer...
Remy - 8-10m is a bargain
Griezmann - 30m buy out clause, less the 12m we're asking for to write-off the clause we have on Vela, so that could go down to 18m (or just Vela for 4m)
Fabregas - 30m, less what Barca still owe us for selling him to them in the first place, less what they still owe us for Song, so that could end up being something like 15-18m as well!
(We could possibly get those 3 deals done for about what we paid for Özil last summer)
Aurier - 7-8m, which is also very reasonable
Williams - 3m (ok, he's not everyone's cup of tea, but that's a decent price for experienced, PL-ready cover)
...so that's 5 positions strengthened for about 57m (or less, depending on whether we're talking £s or s), leaving us with roughly half our reported 100m budget to get a striker, a backup GK, and maybe a DM (although I don't think that's critical just yet)?
(Also, imagine if we went out and got Fabregas, Griezmann and Remy sorted straight away - all of a sudden the club becomes a lot easier to sell to a top striker, as they'd have Fabregas, Özil, Cazorla, Ramsey, Griezmann, Remy, Walcott, Chamberlain, Podolski, Wilshere and Rosicky around them, with only Giroud as direct competition!)
Last edited by I am invisible; 01-06-2014 at 10:48 AM.
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