What a wally I looked yesterday!
How could I doubt John Cross. The man from The Mirror came back from the dead. He stole the internet crown from David Ornstein. A GoT like plotline.
Aaron Ramsey is DONE with Arsenal.
Now, I really don’t know what the fuck is going on here. So here are some bits that I do know, mashed in with guesswork. I won’t tell you which is what to keep you on your toes.
Mesut Ozil getting £350k a week was a massive mistake.
Aaron Ramsey’s agent pushed for that number.
Arsenal has withdrawn the deal.
Now, something must have gone on here that was major.
Did his agent name the number and refuse to budge?
Did the club catch wind of a deal with another club?
Did Arsenal decide that the money Aaron wanted didn’t match his ability?
Was it a blend of all of the above?
Here’s my thinking on it. He’s just too expensive for what he gives to the team.
Aaron is a good player, I struggle to see the greatness.
He works best when he’s allowed to do what the fuck he wants. He’s not really fitting into the Emery system at the moment. There are younger players with a better record of fitness that could do his job.
Additionally, the club is severely short of talent that works in Emery’s system. We need a winger. We need a replacement for Koscielny. We’re going to need to upgrade at leftback. There are a lot of holes in the squad. I’m not sure the best place to invest £91m is on Aaron Ramsey over 5 years.
The next area of planning Arsenal need to address in the transfer market is hot young players in the mold of Torreira. Players like Sarr. Those that’ll come in on £50k a week, and maybe look like Dembele in 2 years.
If we’re going to splash out galactico money, we should be doing that on transfer fees, not on wages.
The worst thing to happen to Arsenal this year was tying Mesut down to a £18.2m deal over 4 years. It was a crazy moment driven by ego and misplaced fear. There was nothing ambitious about it. I said at the time, the best leverage Arsenal had was that no other club in Europe had gone near him. But we pulled the trigger because the press of losing him wouldn’t have reflected well on Ivan. Now Emery is in, he can’t use him as a 10 and if he’s played on the right, he clearly hates it and it doesn’t really click.
Here’s the question now on Rambo. Where is he going?
Juventus won’t pay him galactico money, because they don’t have it. The Milan rumour is fucking hilarious if true, Ivan promising to make him as rich as him at a new club.
Will he move to Chelsea? United? City? Will they pay him mega money? It’s hard to see it, because, despite his talent, he’s not disciplined because he’s never been properly coached (until this season).
Another guess, he’s pushing Arsenal for mega money, if he doesn’t get it, he’ll chase trophies.
Whatever the deal, if Arsenal has pulled out of negotiations, I trust the decision. We have footballing brains on the team now. Raul will have made the case money wise, Sven and Emery will be looking at his data and comparing what they could buy for that money elsewhere, and the decision will be a sound one.
It’s sad that he wants to move on. I’ll always have a soft spot for him. I think the real issue is the loss of control over the narrative. Ramsey will now come under intense scrutiny. His body language, perceived effort, dedication, how hard he goes into challenges… and ultimately, he’s likely going to become a target of fan angst… and that’s a shame.
It’s like living in the same house as a partner you’ve broken up with. It’ll be sunshine and rainbows for a month, because you’re mature people. Then something will happen. He’ll drop a stinker against Spurs, and that’ll be it. Game over. Get the f*ck out of my house you selfish bitch, how could you do this to me! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY CAT!
Anyway, sad times, but fuck it… we’ll move on, we’ll find better, we’ll survive his loss. Hardly an RVP or Cesc moment.
Finally, how can you not look at that picture at the top of the blog and not feel a little sad? Project British Youth was the most miserable failure of Wenger’s tenure. The vision was interesting, but the execution was diabolical. You know why? Shite coaching. Imagine those players under Klopp? We’d be in a very different place right now…
Wipe those tears, we’re done.
Un nai
I didn’t like Wenger during his last 10 years with us but I understand what you are hinting at.
However, I do find Wenger culpable to some extend for Ozil’s laissez-faire attitude. I don’t think Wenger gave him enough instructions on his positional responsibilities. That doesn’t exempt Ozil from his responsibilities or his dog shite attitude though. I’m just saying, maybe a sterner manager could have reigned Ozil abit better from the get go and moulded him abit better in terms of his attitude and made him more accountable for his on field efforts.
That group wouldn’t have thrived with Klopp or anyone else.
They all spend too much time being injured to be good.
Walcott and Ramsey were the only decent pair. One can score occasionally and provides nothing else and the other will be gone in a couple months.
Don’t even get me started with Ox and Jack. Could have been world beaters if they could stay healthy but such is life at Arsenal.
Nep
Maybe. I doubt it. If that were the case then you’d get ozil at his best sometimes right? Not never. And if it’s all wenger then why did the club sanction a £350k a week contract endorsed by a man they were giving serious consideration to sacking? Surely someone at the club must have said, hold on here, how much does ozil want?? Fuck that. Tell Arsene and Mesut they can swivel. Let the bug faced creep walk. Him and his tiny weird little mouth
Cali
You literally just contradicted yourself in that tiny little post. You’ve beat marko’s record of 48 words anyway
Well done
We were getting shafted by both Ozil and Alexis at the same time. Poor results and Wenger out all over the place. Ivan and team, decided to save face- and make Ozil the loyal superstar and paid him through the nose- effectively destroying us for years. Wenger of course would approve anything of his babied superstars. He could never take the glasses off to see what reality really was . Now Ivan is gone, Wenger gone, Rambo to be gone, and we still have Nozil Getting rid of him would really get the Wenger stench out of the team. Cant… Read more »
Caligonner
Sorry, but all these players would have benefited from a top coach and a progressive working environment.
Under Wenger they were never going to fulfill their true potential, as has been proven.
Once Sanchez made his mind up to leave ,Ozil used his pending departure as a bargaining tool, because he knew nobody else wanted him.
Both players made massive financial gains from their actions whilst, AFC (specifically Wenger and Gazidis) , showed stupidity to the highest order.
Whatever way you look at things, we screwed up big time.
Mourinho is rumoured to want ozil and Ramsey. Let’s do another swap deal and take two players off him that he don’t want in return pogba and bailly. Then we can bench xhaka and mustafi ahead of summer transfers. Scrap this no. 10 thing, go back to 442 which was always our most successful formation. Torreira and Pogba would be our new petit/vieria. Niles on the right miki on the left. Like parlour Ljungberg pires oversea rocastle did so successfully before them Cech Leichinstener Sokratis bailly monreal Niles torreira Pogba mkhitaryan Lacazette Aubameyang Cup side Leno Bellerin mustafi holding kolasinac… Read more »
Although I have tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, mainly for getting rid of Wenger, this latest episode involving Ramsey suggests Ivan Gazidis is as culpable as Wenger for such matters.
And it is Stan who gave Gazidis, Wenger and any number of other failures a free run for years. The man is a master in letting his clubs drift.
Just saying.
Think god ramsey is gone
Another player from the wenger sent on his way.
Perfect.
The stench is slowly drifting away
Wenger
Gazidis.
Ramsey
A few more players out. A bunch new in.
Getting a proper replacement in for ransey and a winger this jan and this team will be 100x better off than with Ramsey
If utd are stupid enough to take ozil and Ramsey and cash and give us Pogba and Bailey then it would be a hilarious coup
My dream this winter would be bailey Pogba and rabbiot in, Ramsey ozil out
It’s far beyond the realms of the reality but it would be our best January in decades. One can dream
There is not a hope in hell we are getting Pogba
Especially for Ransey
Cali, you did catch Ox last season, right? He looked like a totally different player once joining Pool. In not even half a season under Klopp he was already playing heaps better to what he ever threw out on the field in an Arse uni. Please enlighten us more on how that group would not have been better served growing up and developing in a better environment with an actual competent medical staff and superior coaching instead of a decade under Wenger and his minions. Hell, it isn’t like Arsenal can even really claim they developed any of them to… Read more »
Wenger got the most out of our young players. Walcott scored over 100 goals for the club despite having a limited skillset. Ramsey has had good seasons here. The rest has had a relatively decent career. CL football and quality pay Wenger’s problem was the evaluation of the players level. He rated some of our players as 9/10 when they were closer 6-7/10. Difficult to compete with limited talent over 45-50 matches per season. I’m not big on tactics. Ultimately players make the difference. Don’t agree with the idea that players would have developed into world beaters if they were… Read more »
Ramsey can leave in Jan or bench him till the summer if he doesn’t budge. But I have a feeling, he’s going to fold and sign what ever we offer. The agent May want the money but ramsey likes arsenal FC (I may be wrong). Either way I hope he leaves arsenal. I did like ramsey more than Jack though.
Maybe ramsey will turn into a decent player at a new club where he doesn’t know what the manager expects. Here at arsenal he’s too laid back and just does what he wants.
Dream
‘I’m not big on tactics. Ultimately players make the difference. Don’t agree with the idea that players would have developed into world beaters if they were at other top UK clubs. ‘
Dream as always on the money.
We have had people making excuses for Xhaka, Ozil, Theo, Ramsey and Bellerin saying how they would turn in to top players under a different manager. That Wenger gave these player a long rope was the problem, not that he could not extract more out of them.
dreams
tactics and man management are almost the same thing. Of course xhaka and co would benefit from getting instructions as what to do during the game instead of the express yourself tactics from wenger. So yes, these players would benefit from tactics and instructions. They would also benefit from personnel around them.
Or just tell ramsey that if he plays really really well, he can leave in January, or rot in the bench until summer.
I dont know… he has to have some sort of ultimatum or we just start benching his now
TR7 but all of those and many more like wilshere, senderos, djourou, eboue actually already demonstrated a capacity to play at a very high and in a few cases top level Senderos and eboue were mainstays in our CL run. It wasn’t really a fluke. They were extremely talented kids in a team surrounded by top talent to guide them and with great coaching (keown). Wilshere as well, imagine spending hours a day with cesc. It wasn’t a fluke that he had one awesome season. His ceiling was actually that high and he demonstrated a capacity to reach it. The… Read more »
The proof is in the pudding that most of our best young talents have become worse in the prime years of their careers than they were shortly after they arrived as kids
How is that possible if they never had a high ceiling?
China Both players had a lot of upside and I agree with your assessment. jack is done though. How many surgeries has he had in his career??? Im afraid his career is done at this level and perhaps fully. Rambo, has a another 3 years or so before he wanes. My problems with him, are that he is undisciplined, slow as hell, slows the play when he gets the ball, and he is just plain fucking slow. He is like a slight upgrade to Ozil, which shows how bad Ozil is. We need fast, youth, and a dynamic midfield for… Read more »
New attitude at Arsenal, I like what i am seeing. The Young British core could have been good, under anyone other than Wenger who was proven out in the end to be a career killer. Arsenal are now rid of two-thirds of its internal cancer, Wenger and Gazidis. Not going to rid themselves of Kroenke so best hope that he remains silent. Better days ahead despite carting the massive wage liabilty and eternal gift known as Ozil from Gazidis and Wenger. Ramsey equally would have been another wage killing liability so its in the clubs best interests to move on… Read more »
If you put a 20 year old Eboue, 19 year old jack, 19 year old Ramsey and 18 year old Walcott in this squad we would be a 15-20% better team than we are
China Wenger in my view was not good at identifying good center backs and developing them. So I will take your point on Senderos and Djohorou although injuries and lack of focus/desire were also important factors. I don’t blame Wenger for failed careers of midfielders and forwards who played under him except in the case of Arshavin. If anything he was very good at identifying technically sound midfielders and playing to their strengths. Wilshere’s career was ruined by injury. Sharp turns and a great engine were the main ingredients of Wilshire’s game. Injuries debilitated his ability to make those sharp… Read more »
Diaby was the one player that I feel could have been a world beater. Talk about an utter disappointment. The fact Wenger kept giving him new contracts was ludicrous.
If this kid stayed healthy, I wonder what we would have had. A combo of Vieira, Pogba and something else.
Oh well… he is a rich man with a bad ankle. cant feel too bad for him
China Spot on. But I still don’t think Wilshere is finished at a very high level. Maybe not operating at the very very top but the level below. He could play in any midfield in the world still. You dont lose that ability. It breaks my heart. Such a lovely player to watch. Rvp was my other favourite. Killed me when he left. On the United swap, nota chance. I can’t ever see them letting pogba go in a swap deal. They have invested over £100m in him. They would surely need to recoup that. We’d habe to at least… Read more »
Guns of SF
I meant diaby, spellcheck
Was referring more to the British core. China We’re in an era where attacking football is being rewarded. Eboue would be very useful right now. Having creative/outlets at fullback is more valuable than defense first types, especially in the PL. It allows us to play 15 yards higher and not get trapped in our own final third. Bellerin gets too much stick from the Arsenal fanbase imo. He’s often our only consistent outlet against all opposition. Monreal is quality, but he is not elite on the ball like Marcelo or physically special like Mendy. Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Ozil, Ramsey drift in… Read more »
Coffee cakes I make China right on that Had he supported and nurtured those players with players to guide them And teach them I feel we would have seen a far improved project youth. He wasn’t adding players of quality Back in 08 we still had massive pulling power and could have signed top shelf players had we been able to afford it. We really should have bought a top keeper and a couple of experienced, commanding centre halves once Campbell left. And a replacement for Gilberto. The rest of the team was stocked full of wonderous talent. Hleb, rosicky,… Read more »
Dream10
I disagree
Sanchez scored some beauties against city United and Chelsea and really turned up in those games. Yes he was something of a soloist on the field but you can’t say he didn’t apply his talent against the better sides. I’d say he was our only threat in those games more often than not
Un na naai
I’m referring to away matches.
Don’t think he scored away at Old Trafford/Etihad/Anfield/Stamford Bridge/White Hart Lane for us in the PL
zimmie2652 Super duper post! All these players underachieved under Wenger, of that there is no doubt. The whole regime from the coaching environment, the in game tactics, the incompetent medical team, the man management of the players etc, was aan utter disgrace. Wenger was culpable for all of this shite. Weasel Gazidis, on the other hand, was culpable for sitting on his fat ass and letting Wenger get away with it, whilst Stan just sat back because he knew no fudging better. All it needed was one person, even it was one of the bloody tea ladies, to go to… Read more »
an
@Un na naai – There will always be a lot of Would Have’s and Should Have’s associated with Wenger. Fact remains, Wenger had great opportunity to do something very special with the youth of the club. Fact also remains, he blew that great opportunity. Reasons? Whats done is done and his legacy is what it is, time will reflect it appropriately in due course.
Dream
Did he not score in our 6-3 loss against city?
Frankie
Yeah but it’s still ok to reminisce on bitter sweet memories
Fair points tho I wouldn’t call the criticism against Bellerin over the top I am ok with attacking wing backs but you have to do a job defensively. If you create a goal at one end and cost a goal at the other, what’s the point in it all? Bellerin has been either directly or indirectly involved in loads of our defensive lapses over the last 18 months. 50% or more don’t get fully punished because a lot of opposition aren’t really that good, but the issue is serious Early years eboue was really useful bombing up the wing though… Read more »
un na naai
Think Walcott scored twice that day.
Alexis joined the season after
Also Sagna was a really class act because he was a fabulously reliable RB but also did forwards and wasn’t slow either
I’d kill to have 25 year old Sagna in this team
un na naaiSeptember 29, 2018 08:15:24
Dream Did he not score in our 6-3 loss against city?
__
He most certainly didn’t as he wasn’t even an Arsenal player at that time lol.
Dream10
I remember Walcott scoring twice
I’m sure Sanchez got the other
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=08BrymTPoyI
Just watch these though
He did more than any other player in his time at the club to make us a force again. If we had another 2 like him we might have stood a chance.
You’re right dream
That was the season before he joined us
Walcott scored two and Mertesacker got the third in our 6-3 defeat at the Etihad.
Mertesacker was culpable for 4 of the goals conceded.
Wonderful player!
Come on EUROPE!!
Unai na
How are you doing?
How do you explain away the fact that Westham started thriving as soon as Wilshere got injured.
That FACT isn’t lost on everyone else.
I remember, I was at school when sagna made his debut. We got to watch PL games in our wardens flat. I just laughed my head off at his hair, but he impressed me and I had a big hard on for Wenger for finding him. lol
Looking forward to playing Watford today. My first ever game at Highbury was against Watford in 1982 (fucking hell!!).
Gonsterous are you ever flaccid.?
Sanchez scored at the Etihad in a meaningless 2-2 draw in the 2nd to last game of the season.
He also scored at the shithole to bring us level at 2-2 after Coquelin got sent off, if I remember correctly?
so jardim is going to get fired soon. 6 points from 8 games and sitting on 18th.
I won’t judge jardim because I haven’t paid attention to him, but outside of a sick season when he had half the hottest young properties in european football, has he really impressed in his other seasons?
china
No he hasn’t. And he wasn’t the one who found those hot prospects.
One of the funniest exits I ever read about. Funny and sad I have to say. “A man nicknamed the Romeo of Rimini because he slept with so many women has died while having intercourse with a 23-year-old tourist” .”Maurizio Zanfanti, Italy’s most famous playboy, was 63 when he died. He is said to have slept with more than 6,000 women, previously boasting that in a successful summer he could sleep with around 200 women. His highest tally, he said, was 207. “During the winter months he worked for tourist agencies in Scandinavia and he was so well-known that a… Read more »
Dissenter Same way I can’t explain the fact our win percentage is higher when Ramsey plays to when he doesn’t. It’s just a coincidental statistic. I also don’t think jack is suited to a mid table side. If he doesn’t have players that compliment his skills then his productivity suffers You can put the boot into jack as much as you like. You’ll never change my opinion of what he’s capable of. A wasted talent. I’d have built my arsenal side around him. Made him the centre peice. I’d have kept Theo too and put him up front and built… Read more »
Ha ha Dissenter. What a life he lived. I wonder if he worked?
Sorry I meant outside of the winter months tourist agent because he must of had a lot of money to be dating all these ladies.
Ramsay should now be on the bench….impact sub, opportunity to show off to potential suitors in last 20 mins of games…. get rid in Jan.
We have to start setting an example.
Sanchez obviously had some amazing matches for us but his last 12 months would only look good on a MOTD type highlights real. His ‘individualism’ meant he gave the ball away at a ridiculous rate. This ‘form’ has continued with United….a busted flush.
There is a lot of negativity around ozil of which some is media driven and some are arsenal fans not liking his style of play ….I happen to think a lot of fans don’t understand his style of play …he has always played this way and Will continue to play that way until the end of his career…. The negativity has intensified since around February …his new lucrative contract coincided with his illness/injury from February until the end of the season..he only played a sporadic number of games and if anyone understands football they would know how difficult it is… Read more »
Pierre its such a cop out to say Ozil plays so intelligently no one gets him! I’ve heard so many interviews with ex-pros talking about his “style” of play and nearly all of them call him lazy or uninterested! do they not understand his style of play either? is it just you that gets the poor misunderstood Ozil? I’ve seen Ozil play electric football. I remember a world cup game against England where it was Ozil vs the Brits. I remember lots of games for RM where he was on fire. So you saying it’s how he’s always played?? I… Read more »
Agree with you Pierre, we have to give Ozil the best opportunity to contribute best(the same for every player obviously). Give him license to move in the space in front of the opposition back 4. Our front three can offer him targets to aim at.
One more addition to the above Pierre! Why do you think people are so harsh on Ozil? why do you think they set the ceiling so high for their expectation of his play? is it from not understanding him or from historical form they have witnessed and KNOW he can do better?
ozil is shit. end of story. I liked him when he first came and wanted to prove himself. The fine first touch control, the vision he had. Now it’s all about hiding in the game and acting ticked off when he gets substituted. We need to get rid ASAP.
@gonsterous, exactly. The guy can assist and that he has always done and always will, but the rest of his game has deteriorated to embarrassing levels. Anyone who’s watched Ozil historically will see the player we have is unrecognisable from the one that played at Madrid.
It’s no surprise he’s picked up the nickname nozil.
going by past nicknames there is a ring of truth to it. flapianski being an example. Wilshite, und so weiter…
I was a massive fan of Ozil when he arrived and if anyone cared to go through the older posts you’ll see me defending him endlessly. I used to say he played subtle football that went unnoticed and his vision was 2nd to none etc etc.
But even I gave up on trying to convince others he wasn’t a dud. Gilberto was a subtle footballer. He played a no bells and whistles game for us, but was so important to our team. Nozil, doesn’t matter if he’s there or not. He contributes the same in both.
N5
Not being contrarian,honestly .
I can see his faults but I believe he is being singled out because of his new contract and the fact he missed so many games since signing the contract …people have put 2&2 together and come up with 5.
It is impossible for a player to create the most chances IN EUROPE(before his injuries) and play badly like he doesn’t care .
If he can do that then he must be a genius.
I don’t think we have seen the end of ozil(I hope not)… I think Emery should use the sarri method of asking his most creative player to do what he does best ……create. And yes, I know Hazard is a much better ,more dynamic player but he is loving his football now ….. He has been given the freedom to create havoc without having to waste his energy tracking back and consequently has more pace and power when he’s on the ball. Ozil is our most creative player despite what people may think so why not play to his strengths… Read more »
Pierre Meant agree with you on this one. His style of play is to go walkies through out almost every single game he plays If he is only there to provide 10-15 assists a season and nothing else then I don’t want him in my team. He doesn’t change games Tell me one big match that he’s altered. I don’t remember a single bug game that he’s turned up for. Not one. For £43m and £350k a week I want a game changer I want a KDB or a Silva or an iniesta or even a sanchez. He offers nothing… Read more »
N5,
“Looking forward to playing Watford today. My first ever game at Highbury was against Watford in 1982 (fucking hell!!).”
Mine was 1983 v Watford…. Raphael Meade hat trick 🙂
Gonsterous
” and acting ticked off when he gets substituted. We need to get rid ASAP. ”
Ozil is normally substituted if we are winning so he walks off slowly to waste time .
People need a bit of educating on the game round here.
@UTarse, amazing! I think John Barnes played for them at my first game!
“People need a bit of educating on the game round here.”
The ref adds on time for substitution so there is zero point to a slow walk off the pitch,
Un
What I’m saying is ,until we get an improvement on him ,we need to get the best out of ozil or don’t play him.
If course hazard and de bruyne are better all round players than him but they don’t play for us do they plus it’s pointless going on about how much he earns.
Would still like to know how he created the most chances IN EUROPE if he goes missing and walkies in games……not possible.
He doesn’t need to be a genius Pierre, he literally needs to be a good passer and have good vision (which he is and does) If he drifts anonymously through a game, doesn’t track the man he’s marked when he’s chasing back etc, but he plays two excellent passes to our forwards then he gets credit for ‘chance creation’ and potentially ‘assists’. Well good job apart from that we would win more games if he was actually involved, even if he created less So many of our defeats came when we were overrun in midfield and left our shitty defense… Read more »
“What I’m saying is ,until we get an improvement on him ,we need to get the best out of ozil or don’t play him.”
This I agree with. Also sorry for saying I believe you’re being contrarian, I honestly thought you enjoy the debate so defend the negatives.
N5
“The ref adds on time for substitution so there is zero point to a slow walk off the pitch,”
And the ref adds time on for every time a players goes down injured and every time a player takes their time on a corner of throw in or goal kick ..so is there also zero point in wasting time ….
Bullshit…and you know it.
Pierre he has good vision and passing and never shoots and he plays in an advanced position. And you wonder how he creates things? I’m sorry but if you have his vision passing and that’s the only thing you try and do for 90 minutes then ofc you’re going to get good numbers This is as dumb as when people say Lukaku is quality because he scores so many goals. But how many sitters does that guy miss? Many of those sitters are at key moments in key games which cost them points too. Zoning in on a single number… Read more »
Spot on China! this is what bothers me about pro-Ozil supporters. They through the assists thing at you, but I bet will be the first in other arguments to say that stats don’t paint a full picture.
Ozil can assist each game great, but when he’s not assisting the defence his “assists” are not protecting our leads. His style is actually a detriment to the game.
Also can someone tell me if Arsenal have a true B2B midfielder?
*throw the assists
If refs stopped the clock the average game would have something like 6 minutes of stoppage time each half bare minimum
Each sub is supposed to be +30 seconds and most games make all 6 subs in the second half, so most second halves should have 3 mins added on before including any other stoppages whatsoever.
Refs are hopeless at enforcing their own rules
China I believe most games are 3+ for the 6 subs and they don’t use any extra for fouls unless their is treatment.
*there
The Ozil song at Arsenal is embarrassing too.
We’ve got Ozil
Messut Ozil
I just don’t think you understand
He’s Arsene Wengers man
He’s better than Zidane
We’ve got Messut Ozil.
Ha ha Better than Zidane!!!!
But loads of games have only 2 mins added on and why are those other stoppages not counted? It would be shit of every game ended up being 105+ minutes because they followed the rules properly but it would also soon cut this shit out with time wasting when it’s out of play and players rolling around pretending to be hurt after the ref already dealt with the opposition player Like Keepers regularly hold on to the ball for 12-15 seconds when they want to time waste or take 20 odd seconds to take a goal kick. This shit should… Read more »
China So why not play to his strengths instead of asking him to do things that he is clearly crap at ….or drop him . Will go back to hazard and how he is being asked to do all the damage in the final third …sarri said he doesn’t want to see him in his own half tracking back. Do you think Chelsea fans are complaining that he is on 250,000 a week and not tracking back ….of course not as they realise that he is their most creative player and is playing out of his skin due to the… Read more »
Oh I agree China. And to be honest my comment was more about Ozil sulking off the pitch rather than refs. I don’t believe him to be time wasting, I think he’s a misery guts.
It’s the same with diving
Players are actually supposed to be punished for ‘simulation’ but 70% of the time refs who don’t fall for it just wave play on and think they’re taking a tough stance. If they booked every player who they believed dived every time then it would largely get stamped out in weeks
Shit refs all of them. No credibility
Can easy stop time wasting towards the end of a game …..
Put a stop clock on with ten minutes to go and every time there is a sub ,injury corner ,free kick off ….stop the clock……..no more time wasting …simple
Pierre he spent most of his time at arsenal playing to his strengths and it has coincided with us dropping out of the CL and into the EL for two consecutive seasons
Ozil has been a 10 for the vast majority of his time with us. Meanwhile our midfield dropped off a cliff to be the worst we’ve had in decades.
Tough game today.
I would go with a 4-3-3/4-5-1 and play Cech, Bellerin, Sokratis, Holding, Monreal, Guendouzi, Torreira, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Lacazette/Aubameyang, Iwobi.
Going to be a test today, Watford have been playing very well.
Spot on China, they don’t enforce most of the rules! They say it’s to keep the flow of the game going but it’s weakness.
Pierre unless I’m mistaken, you rate ozil and xhaka. Yet with 2 ‘quality’ CMs our middle of the pitch has never been worse than the last 2 seasons
How is that possible if these two are both as good as you think?
N5
“Ozil sulking off the pitch rather than refs. I don’t believe him to be time wasting, I think he’s a misery guts.”
another one putting 2&2 together and making 5.
Maybe he should walk off with a big soppy grin on his face(like Ramsey) and then everyone will be happy.
Ozil creating the most chances in the universe and xhaka dropping Hollywood passes to the wingers like it’s nobody’s business yet our midfield constantly overrun and dumping pressure on a poor defense
This should tell you something about how useful ozil and xhaka have actually been. Their specialist strengths are entirely undermined by the absolute excrement that comes along with them that costs us more than their strengths actually win us
“Maybe he should walk off with a big soppy grin on his face(like Ramsey) and then everyone will be happy.”
No of course not, but it’s every time. He throws his shirt down and “acts” like he’s really frustrated! but he’s not playing with the same conviction during his on pitch time, so why act so disappointed to be subbed?
Spot on N5. I think we want to see him actually disappointed rather than the reality which is him pretending to be
How can someone disappear entirely on the pitch for 50 straight minutes then be really frustrated that they’re subbed? He’s thinking about his next holiday in turkey, he couldn’t care less about being on the pitch
China You are mistaken.. I have always wanted 2 holding/defensive midfielders who are rarely ahead of the ball and control the tempo of the game … Nzonzi and torriera would have been ideal for me …we can improve on xhaka but I don’t think he is as bad as some/most think …he tends to start games slowly but improves as the match progresses. If we had 2 holding midfielders then yes ,ozil as the CAM would have the protection behind but I also like Mhkitaryan as the CAM . I will say again ,there is no point having ozil in… Read more »
“I will say again ,there is no point having ozil in the side if he is played out of position”
Was you critical of Wenger doing this too? he was the master of square peg, round hole positioning.
Right now either ozil or mikki should be in n10 because we have no one better and we need two dms regardless. We agree on that
This will make us better but I don’t think it will make ozil more involved which we need him to be