I love the papers.
ARSENAL WILLING TO SELL OZIL
TURKISH CLUBS WILLING TO BUY OZIL
TURKISH CLUBS NOT WILLING TO PAY WAGES
OZIL WANTS TO STAY
… and so goes the cycle.
Rapha Honigstein, an impeccably sourced writer, says Ozil is digging in and hinted his team think he’ll outlast the manager. Absolutely no doubt he’ll do that and I’ve said for months that calculation is almost 100% correct.
This poses a huge problem for Arsenal. Preseason now comes loaded with a cancerous tumour. When your biggest player is on lip-reading record in a Europa League final saying the coach is ‘not a coach,’ you cannot have him there at preseason. His attitude will impact preparations, the whispering campaign will start early and his mere presence will burden Arsenal every time we lose and the factor cited is creativity.
Not just that, as you all know, when there is someone at your work that’s getting paid a boatload of money and they aren’t delivering, it has adverse effects on the culture. It can make you resentful, it can make some players take their foot off the gas, it can create fissures in the dressing room (I don’t work in a dressing room, but you get it).
It’s a dreadful situation to be in… and could be made even worse if the players he lambasted in his yearly reviews aren’t shifted on easily. Emery needs to have a settled squad by July, if he doesn’t, our start this season could be problematic.
Hopefully, we can counter a lot of the nonsense by hiring in so many new players, the miserable voices will pipe down… however, in football, status is a big thing. Mesut Ozil is a megastar in the eyes of most players, even at elite clubs. He’s also our most talented player. It’s going to be very hard for Emery to out-gravitas him, and it’s a huge ask to expect someone that is an average people person to manage the situation delicately.
Horrible news that Arsenal are apparently prioritising Fraser over Carrasco… that’s a hard one to digest. One is a workhorse, one is a delicate player with a very high ceiling. Let’s see how that goes.
As the dust settles, you start to see which rumours have substance, or they’re just there to whip up interest. Praet looks like noise for the sake of noise. AC Milan are now interested in the player, with his agent insisting there is interest from abroad.
I also keep hearing ill-informed people parroting this £40m transfer budget like that’s set in stone and nothing can impact that number. If Arsenal sell Xhaka for £50m, that budget moves up to £90m. If we sell Mustafi for £1. It’s £90,000,001. Arsenal absolutely has to cut the wage bill this summer, we need to ship out dross, we need to correct the imbalance in our squad. The £40m number is so low because we missed out on CL and the Kroenke’s no doubt want to get some control back over the finances.
However, it has to be noted, we have consistently spent what we’ve earned. Bemoan Stan all you want about being absent, but the reality is the people leading the club are Vinnai and Raul. They are your focal point this summer. Let’s hope the transfer plan is youth focused and we can get European clubs to commit to the players we want to exit.
Big Unai has been out in New York taking risks with his fashion. I was on the fence with his gilet move a few weeks ago, but I can’t give him the benefit of the doube on the choice of belt here. Branded belts is VERY Essex 1997. It was always a classic trip on the 248 to Romford to look at the belt buckles. But in 2019? On $6m a year? A branded buckle? It’s not on. I’m also not one for the colored leathers either… keep it earthy. I can see what he’s trying to do here, and I’ll commend the risk, but I’m not going to endorse this look.
Let’s see where he goes tomorrow…
CAN SOMEONE JUST BUY OSPINA? Is this not the longest transfer saga since we tried to buy Batistuta? What is the fucking issue? Why is £3m such and issue? I reckon we could GoFundMe the deal. Get him out of the damn club people!
Finally, I was VERY sad to read that Myles Palmer is packing up the blogging game.
Myles, you may have let a nutter slate me in your letters section, and that nutter may have egg on his face now after an embarrassing diatribe that proved incorrect, but you are a hero of mine regardless.
Give me a provocative writer over bland on toast prose that leans into ‘balanced’ territory every time. Myles was a demon writer, short and sharp, and he always had a view that would stretch your mind. He never pulled punches and his salacious tidbits on transfers was my gateway drug to mainlining pure transfer stories erry damn day.
He was a pioneer in the blog world, he was always a MUST READ and his work, or lack of daily writing was a huge driver in me setting up this blog. I needed the fix.
I was also lucky enough to meet him by accident at the AGM. What a lovely guy he is. A total pleasure to hang with him for an hour or so.
Myles, you were the original provocateur, you never bent the knee, hopefully, we can replace some of that over here. You are a loss to the blogoshpere, and you should be saluted for your 21 years of service to Arsenal fandom.
Know this sir, you’ll always be a legend in my eyes.
Right, that’s me done… see you awful bastards in the comments.
P.S. I think Faust, Liebestraume, S541/R211 : No. 3: Nocturne in A-Flat Major is the most beautiful piece of music I’ve ever heard? I know you guys love a bit of classic between cunting each other in the comments.
x
Pierre
Do you think that it’s actually possible for Ozil to play a match and not be perfect?
Pierre
Also I wouldn’t repeat what happened last year – you’re saying it was Emery that benched him I’m saying Sanllehi should let it be known that he’s not to even be named in the 25 man squad.
Pedro You know the club will use Özil’s contract as a reason for not improving the team Let’s talk the rest of the squad. At RB Lichtsteiner released. Chambers won’t start. Why aren’t we offering him to bottom PL sides? We need a new LB. Why isn’t Kolasinac being offered to Schalke and Serie A sides who have shown interest? Koscielny is finished. Mustafi linked to Serie A sides. Why isn’t he being shipped around? Fan favourite Torreira is closer to Coquelin than he is to Kanté. Why isn’t he being offered to Milan sides, Roma? Same with Xhaka. Mkhitaryan… Read more »
Pedro “Marc, sure, I understand… but I think there’s a way to extract more out of him than Emery is. He still has more special sauce going forward than anyone at our club at the minute. He’s here to stay, we should try and get creative with him otherwise his shadow is going to crash next season.” Do you think the best way to extract a performance out of him is to ask him to follow Jorginho around in a European final …. He could quite easily have asked Guendouzi or Iwobi to mark jorginho and put Ozil on the… Read more »
‘you are forgetting something …..Emery tried something very similar last season by marginalizing him from the team , and what happened.We lost 7 out of 14 games ‘without Ozil starting one of those games , culminating in the defeat to Bate … And what did Emery do , he reinstated Ozil back into the team to get the season back on track , and fair play to him……it worked.’ So you really believe Ozil inspired those wins? Those wins were flukes just like the fluke unbeaten run earlier in the season. Emery’s ball is fluke. Ozil can’t make a football… Read more »
Pierre
For once we agree – drop Ozil from the final and have another player actually a) do a job and b) give a fuck.
‘Well we didn’t fall off the edge of the world.Pedro’
Marc, how would you describe being humiliated like that in a European cup final?
Gentlebris
Come on haven’t you seen the stats on all the assists Ozil provided in that run of games?
Thousands, well hundreds, well over 50, er well certainly double figures, closer to 10 than 5 oh!
Pierre, are you as blinkered in your real life? Your posts are always so biased towards Ozil. The vast majority of Arsenal fans criticise Ozil for not contributing enough. You somehow insinuate that Arsenal’s home form being better than their away formed has a correlation between Ozil playing and not playing. You seem to conveniently ignore why he’s considered an unwise pick for away games- he goes missing! Sure, football is a team game and our mental frailties away from home are not simply down to Ozil. But come on, if you can’t acknowledge that our previously considered, star player… Read more »
Dear oh dear.
Seems some folks just can’t move on from Arsene Wenger and what he symbolises.
Ozil is the perfect example. Technical player with flaws nowhere near an all round top player.
Madhouse club it really is.
Gent
I think you will find that the” last sissy”has a cabinet full of winners medals(including one world cup) to go with his German player of the year award for 5 consecutive years.
“Juve signed him, ergo he’s mega. Case closed.”
Well, you said it. So yep, case closed I suppose.
Dissenter – I don’t know why you keep going about Sarri’s ‘rigid system’ and Ramsey struggling in it. He played two number 8’s ahead of Jorginho – Barkley/Kovacic and Kante as box-to-box. Both roles would suit Ramsey perfectly.
‘real life’
Gentlebris
A major fuck up, the fact is we should’ve qualified for top 4 through the league quite comfortably.
Do you not get that having a manager who was out of the running by Christmas and not showing that we at least have a chance of doing it would’ve undermined us completely this summer. At least we can put the argument forward that we will compete for top 4 this season.
Pierre, he’s not being set up for success… plays deeper, asked to do things he can’t… but his attitude has been shite, and mouthing off on the touchline/hanging with dictators isn’t helping the cause.
Now we HAVE established Raul sanctioned off the Ozil Deal. And THEN thought Emery was the manager to bring the best out of him. We now have Raul wanting an Edu And Emery Collaboration…. tick tock. (The classy Brazilian & cultured Edu and Emerys Chameleons soccer???) Surely- we are just stoking up more trouble. There is no way Edu’s philosophy matches Emerys. ( Maybe Emu but certainly not the silky Edu) Where Raul could be off assistance to his desperate coach. get him a Personal Shopper- for gawds sake. or recommend him a good tailor. Buckled Belts? Whats next…… I… Read more »
The notion Juve brought in Ramsey without knowing who the manager would be is laughable. Freezing out a £400k a week player, only arsenal play that game.
CG,
Edu builds out his structure next season… Emery doesn’t get renewed. Simple.
If Ozil wanted to show the world how up for the coming season and how passionate he is for Arsenal all he has to do is to turn up to pre season training early in excellent condition.
He loves social media he could be putting posts out showing him do one on one fitness training, taking plenty of vitamin C to boost his immune system and showing he appreciates the money hard working fans put into his pocket.
Pierre, he appears to have fallen out of love with the game. Germany….and an Arsenal led Emery. Would you advise him to hope that Emery gets the sack or find him a club that would appreciate his abilities? Or would you just tell him to do what you’re doing and enjoy the financial good life? As a fan of AFC not (now ) Ozil I see him as symbolic of where we have gone wrong, a player who has talent but clear weaknesses, who is getting overpaid in comparison to his contributions. Take those rose-tinted glasses off for a moment… Read more »
Pedro
You think Juve already had Sarri lined up?
Pedro, agree.
Marc, agree.
Bob
Ozil wold be better suited to a league where he can contribute without having to work hard. The PL is brutal a nice move to the MLS would suit him down to the ground.
Marc,
No doubt. They’d have been strategising how to move on Allegri for a while, known the style of football they want to play and built a plan around it.
Dortmund signed Sancho with the idea of him being sold after he performed to a home crowd at the Euros. It’s only Arsenal that think month to month
Denis Suarez is top tier because he signed for Barcelona not once, but twice. Another case closed.
Bob Actually Bob , my posts are far from blinkered, I am well aware of Ozil’s shortcomings as I was well aware of wenger’s shortcomings. To me, it’s obvious that Emery doesn’t rate him , so why play him. For Arsenal to employ a manager who will never see the positives in Ozil’s game ,was ludicrous. The situation is not of Ozil’s fault, he was offered a contract so he signed the contract….Arsenal have employed a manager who will never be able to get the best out of our most talented player …the europa cup final.was confirmation of that and… Read more »
Jamie – Do you like taking the piss out of your own arguments or something?
Pedro
What if Allegri had won the CL?
Paulinho –
What?
If Edu is on a 5 year Contract,
Waste of time
he would have been bought off!
if Freddie is on a 4 year contract
Wast of time
he would have been bought off!
no one Rocks The Boat- when they are bullet proof contracts.
its human nature- unfortunately
I want to see hungry , incentivised contracts.
Then we will Reap the Rewards.
I want these 2 Invincibles- throwing hand grenades from The OFF- not becoming Bouldie mark 2 and Bouldie mark 3.
If Edu can not sack Emery- He might as well stay in Sao Paulo!
Weather is better!
Bob
I would advice Ozil to wait until.Christmas and if he continues to be frozen out then he should leave.
There is a strong possibility that Emery may be on his way by then and if we employ a manage who recognises Ozil’s strengths then of course it would be perfect for Arsenal football club.
‘Now we HAVE established Raul sanctioned off the Ozil Deal.
And THEN thought Emery was the manager to bring the best out of him.’
C.G.
You are such a genius to think that an incoming executive approved a deal while the C.E.O was not really the one who decided.
Yes, Raul might have nodded his head here and there.
But he wasn’t responsible for that deal, that was above him.
Arsenal don’t want to hire any manager that will accommodate the wimp.
Ozil typifies everything that is wrong with this current Arsenal side.
Jamie – You’re the one that said if Ramsey is great he will end up at a great club.
It’s bizarre you keep bringing it up, unless as I said, you enjoy roasting your own arguments.
Pedro
“The notion Juve brought in Ramsey without knowing who the manager would be is laughable. Freezing out a £400k a week player, only arsenal play that game.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself
Marc, who knows… but it’s been clear Juve are moving away from Allegri players since last summer, so it might have been the same. He won the league by 11 points, they still binned him. I don’t think sentimentality factors.
Pierre
Do you seriously think that at Emery’s interview he was told to adapt his management style and methods to suit Ozil?
What world are you living in?
Your defence of Ozil is indefensible.
Infact it is fudging embarrassing.
With this late season collapse, Emery must have lost some trust among the players. I wonder what language he uses to communicate with the players. He also brought in a team of assistants. Can they all communicate well with the players? I can’t see this 22 games unbeaten run can be repeated. The impact of a new manager on a team after 22 years of Wenger has gone.
We’ll be playing Colorado Rapids in a month. The team should have completed all the TW business before. Let’s see what Raul can do to earn his big salary.
Pierre, I think your explanation/ defence of Ozil in the EL sums up why Ozil is a luxury player and how your judgement of Ozil is so warped. You’re essentially saying that a club should devote its tactics to get the best out of Ozil and unless they accommodate him, that it is not the player’s deficiencies that are the issue but the tactics. Let’s just say he was told to ‘man mark ‘ Jorginho ( ludicrous in both concept and expectation). Ozil should have attempted to impose his mighty talent, to keep Jorginho busy rather than try and do… Read more »
Pedro
Not disagreeing but to me Sarri is not on the same level as Allegri. With Conte joining Inter you’d assume it’ll be more competitive this season.
Will be interesting to see what happens.
Pierre can make all the protestations he wants and talk about Emery being gone in 6 months but he’s missing one small factor. Ozil’s contract will be up at the end of the season after this one – does he think he’ll even be offered an extension?
Ozil is the concrete boots around Arsenals feet, anyone that doesn’t see that or blames the new manager for not “fancying” a complete waste of space shirker that can only perform at home against shite teams 20% of the time is deluded.
Looks like Claude Maurice is almost done, personal terms agreed, new bid on the way. 18m sounds a bit high for a player from ligue 2 but since it’s with add ons maybe it’s not that bad.
Now get Ziyech in for the other wing/CAM and we can focus on defence and midfield.
Paulinho –
What’s bizarre is you thinking great clubs never make mistakes when recruiting players.
Ramsey is going to win them the only major trophy that haven’t bagged in over 20 years, such is his sauciness and ever-presence on the pitch. We’ll all see. Just wait. He definitely won’t hit a small purple patch, break down, and spend 3 months of the season on the sidelines. No way.
If only Bamford was here to back you up. Maybe recruit Benteke up front and things will really start heating up in Turin.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/785744/Arsenal-Mesut-Ozil-Unai-Emery-transfer-latest
We apparently want 30m for Ozil (ha) but no takers (of course)
(it’s in the daily star so it must be true)
Probably would have someone bid 30m for him if he was on say 100k a week so just subsidize the difference and maybe we could get 10m for him? That would be amazing and would merit a statue outside the Emirates for whoever can pull that off. If not give him away or launch him into space with CG.
Freddie
You may have misread that. Are you sure it’s not a case of Arsenal saying we’ll give someone £30 million to take him off our hands?
“What’s bizarre is you thinking great clubs never make mistakes when recruiting players.”
Citation needed.
That’s actually your opinion. Unless of course you weren’t aware that top clubs sign players that flop when you made those comments about Ramsey.
My opinion on Ramsey as a player never hinged on where he ended up. It did with you though.
“The Gunners have placed a £30m price tag on the 30-year-old, but even that is not low enough to attract potential suitors, reports The Mirror.”
Looks like Pierre doesn’t have the cash needed to get the final piece for his sex dungeon.
Freddie
You can imagine the police who discover it, a place of horror beyond human imagination. Poor fuckers will be in therapy for life.
Conte > Sarri > Allegri
Conte resurrected Juventus from abyss. Sarri has shown courage and tremendous belief in persisting with his philosophy. Allegri just plays it safe, nothing special about his philosophy and style. He is a safe pair of hands type manager.
Paulinho – “Citation needed.” Better, you acknowledge clubs like Juventus make mistakes when recruiting players? Then we’re on the same page, because big clubs either make mistakes, or they don’t*. Hiring Ramsey on 400k a week is a mistake in my opinion. He isn’t top tier, and won’t lead them to CL glory. If Ronaldo couldn’t, Ramsey sure as shit can’t either. Your opinion of Ramsey will be validated when he helps them win a trophy they don’t already win blindfolded year after year, not because he signed for a club [*which makes mistakes]. You love Ramsey like Pierre loves… Read more »
Bob “Let’s just say he was told to ‘man mark ‘ Jorginho ( ludicrous in both concept and expectation” Exactly….ludicrous….but that is exactly the role given to Ozil and though you may find it difficult to believe, he did quite well ……jorginho hardly had a worthwhile touch in the first half . The point is ,Ozil was criticised for his performance because it lacked creativity, which I agree , but he wasn’t praised for sticking to his role that the manager asked him to play . Whenever arsenal lost the ball , which was regularly( normal under Emery) , Ozil… Read more »
Pierre
You are spot on. It was ludicrous judgment by Emery. One of many during the last couple of months during the season which cost us CL football.
I give up Pierre….your mindset is fixed. I’m not sure why I bothered….
Jamie – Oh dear, all just deflection-induced waffle.
You don’t seem to get it. Ramsey is already a great player, according to your own criteria/logic. It doesn’t matter what he does in Juve, or whether they win the Champions League. He is already great.
So you can spend the whole of next season hoping he flops and they don’t win the Champions league, but it won’t matter one iota. Ramsey is top tier.
Paulinho –
“Ramsey is top tier.”
That just, like, your opinion, man.
He has never been fit long enough to merit being in the top bracket of anything but time spent on the treatment table.
I’ve never said I wanted him to fail, I said he needed to win the CL in order to validate his marquee wages. Like Neymar was supposed to do for PSG. Or did they only need him to with Ligue 1?
No deflection, just an assessment of a good not great player. You love him, that’s cool. Decent-looking chap, to be fair.
That’s*
We should be able to sell this x1 for a profit, especially if we look to China. They are basically the old, the dross and the overpaid. Ospina Jenkinson Mustafi Koscielny Monreal Mkhitaryan Ozil Elneny Xhaka Nwakali Asano. If we are conservative with our demands we should raise around £100m and a further 1.1m a week reduction on the wage bill. We could then add a few shrewd Bosman’s like Moreno, sturridge, brahimi and schulz to be back up and others like Rabiot, cahill and kruse who would probably be a starter This would leave us enough to bring in… Read more »
Marc You ask about Lampard . He along with Gerrard and Vierra are the next generation of coaches. The likes of Mourinho, Wenger, Alyadice etc have had their day. A new generation of coaches who have done and seen it all who won’t be called out in the same way by today’s players who are fabulously wealthy and have egos the size of their wallets to match. The new breed of coaches will know you can’t manage modern day players with an iron fist nor can you over coach them or allowed them to become bored. If Lampard is appointed… Read more »
Jamie – Your opinion as well. I can re-post your comments but I noticed you haven’t denied them so you can carry on lifting those goal-posts.
Jamie;
‘You love Ramsey like Pierre loves Ozil and CG loves Wenger. Not a great look, to be honest mate.’
After all it’s a blog of love. Let them love!
Paulinho –
My opinion of Ramsey has been consistent – he’s a good not great player.
You’re welcome to re-post any comment I’ve made stating differently.
Your opinion of him has been consistent too – he’s top tier. He doesn’t even need to perform well for Juventus for your opinion of him to change, he’s already made it. Cool beans.
Pedro Realistically, who of our squad would make it into the Chelsea team? Okay, I’ve exaggerated, two or three might. The narrow two point gap indicates that either Arsenal over-performed or Chelsea underperformed, or maybe both. My view is that no manager could have done much better with the current squad. At any rate missing out on CL has spared us further humiliation. It has also starkly revealed that major surgery is required. If Emery fails to do that, he should go. Raul, likewise. Under Stan’s regime, there is only one route out. Cut expenses to the bone by getting… Read more »
Myles Palmer website was first Arsenal blog that I read but quit 5-6 years ago when he stopped writing himself and just started to post random letters from his readers. I am not certain but I am mostly sure Palmer blog linked to Geoff/Pedro site Le Grove one day and I’ve been here ever since. Palmer always had interesting things to say about music, and other art, he reminds me of Tony who posts here combining his passion for music and Arsenal. I never liked arseblog, I tried reading him for a few months way back when but every new… Read more »
Englands Best Arsenal were 3rd with 6 Games to go, man!!! Only the league Champions and European Champions were ahead of us. Why are you in complete and utter denial? We are not in the CL because of Emery. He wanted a 4TH Loosers Cup for his CV He prioritized what was best for him- against the best interests of the club. That is totally unacceptable and unforgivable…. What makes this so shocking Vinai and Raul are Proud of appointing someone as inadequate as Emery. He will always Let you down Because that’s what he always does. Why do you… Read more »
CG – Emery exceeded expectations for most of season and players let him down during home stretch but we should have expected that because we have mentally weak squad, have done for years. Instead of everything going tits up mid season like normal, Emery was able to keep this listless squad in contention until last few weeks of season.
Jamie – Okay, here’s a couple: “JamieSeptember 28, 2018 12:52:18 Cool. Let’s see where he ends up. A top tier player in his prime years on a Bosman doesn’t happen very often. I expect City, Utd, Chelsea, Juve, Bayern, Barca, Real Madrid, and PSG to open up contract negotiations with him this summer, or to pick him up sooner in Jan. I’d wager he stays in England to help satisfy City or Chelsea’s HG requirements, and that all the other clubs take a pass.” Welcome Rambo, onto the top tier top table. “JamieSeptember 29, 2018 19:20:59 If Ramsey is great,… Read more »
One way of looking at it jwl.
So you’re saying when things were going well Emery should be given the credit but when things went badly it’s the players’ fault. Okay.
Pedro
Maybe a way out of the Özil problem is to sell him for nothing. It’s a write off but we’d still save £350,000 a week.
A Turkish club might then stump up the cash to pay his wages.
We can’t get rid of Ozil, pointless expending one’s energy on finding ways to do so. It’s difficult to sell a player who doesn’t want to leave, it’s nearly impossible when there is no potential buyer in sight either.
AH
‘Maybe a way out of the Özil problem is to sell him for nothing. It’s a write off but we’d still save £350,000 a week.
A Turkish club might then stump up the cash to pay his wages.’
And then ? Spend our entire budget on another mediocre playmaker to replace Ozil ?
Bob N16 – I don’t think it is black/white issue on who is to blame for horrendous end of season but I hold our players more responsible than our head coach for our fiasco finish.
I don’t believe majority of our players have physical traits or mental fortitude to play elite football, the squad is Arsenal main problem, not our manager.
TR7
Surely the priority is to get him off the pay roll. We need to just get rid of the guy.
Also, I don’t think arsenal are going to make any mega signings unless we manage to get big money for laca and/or auba.
Promising young players are more likely.
Jwl
Agreed.
Sure Jwl but the way you put it was to appear to absolve Emery of any blame for our calamitous finish.
There is no parallel universe to see how another manager would have fared but to put it kindly Emery has been on a learning curve! I accept the lack of full backs particularly hampered his selections. My concern has been his tinkering. I don’t think with all his supposed analysis that his set ups have lacked clarity.
We were desperate for a proactive manager but what we witnessed with Emery has gone to the other extreme.
Pierre
At least have the decency to respond to our questions, rather than go off and work out your next pro- Ozil rhetoric.
As I highlighted earlier, do you think Emery was told to accommodate Ozil at his interview? or as I put it “adapt his management style” to suit his needs?
Paulinho – Several months later: Jamie January 10, 2019 11:48:26 Happy to nosh on some humble pie. Fair play to Ramsey and his agent. Tremendous move for him, great financial package, and to an elite club where he’s sure to finish his career with some top tier silverware. Ramsey was a great professional for us, I hope he does well at Juve, but I think he’s game is fraught with limitations. He was just about worth his £110k a week wages, but not a penny more (to us, at least). Professionalism does count massively though, in my view. Just look… Read more »
AH ‘Surely the priority is to get him off the pay roll. We need to just get rid of the guy.’ Our priority should be to strengthen our first 11 this summer. If replacing Ozil with a kid strengthens our team, I am all for it but it won’t. I have been one of the most vociferous critics of Ozil but it’s true that except Ozil, there is not one player in our team which can keep possession of the ball and show some composure in our build up play. There’s no way you get rid of Ozil and just… Read more »
Graham I would have expected that Ozil would have come into the conversation in the job interview. If not, you end up with a situation that we have now… If ,in the interview, Emery had said that Ozil doesn’t suit his style of play then alarm bells should have started ringing due to the fact that Arsenal football club had offered and given Ozil a wage 6 months prior that would make him virtually unsellable. Obviously you believe it all to be Ozil’s fault , I dont…..I believe it to be the club’s fault , first for offering the contract,… Read more »
Vivianne Miedema > Mesut Ozil
Gunner kJ, I’ve just read that she’s up to 60 international goals and she’s only 22! Women’s football is such a low level compared to the men though….
Argentina-Colombia should be worth a watch later.
Wasn’t hugely impressed by Brazil last night, they look much more ordinary without Neymar. They still have the best squad in the tourney mind.
Well worth a punt on Uruguay at 8/1 imo. Good solid experienced pros all over and are world class in their spine with Godin, Gimenez, Suarez, Cavani.
“My concern has been his tinkering. I don’t think with all his supposed analysis that his set ups have lacked clarity. We were desperate for a proactive manager … ” Bob N16 I don’t understand your frustration with Emery – you think he tinkers too much with squad but is not proactive? I think Emery inherited disjointed squad put together by eccentric senior citizen and he’s done about as well as could be expected. PSG is bigger club than Arsenal at moment, only learning curve Emery experienced this year was adjusting to English football, which would be same for any… Read more »
Maybe just maybe if you’re a higher paid professional you should be expected to be able to adjust to what your team needs. I’m not talking about playing a forward as a CB I’m talking about we’re going to work harder and everyone’s expected to close down the opposition. Except Ozil poor little darling snowflake. I mean surely the entire PL should be made to adjust to suit how he wants to play. The guy’s coasting towards retirement and will get progressively worse and worse. I just wonder which lost cause Pierre will latch onto next – he’ll be running… Read more »
TR7 I disagree regarding Özil. I don’t think he gave us much at all last season. Hardly any goals or assists. He is a liability both financially and in terms of morale. Also, it is not acceptable for any player at Arsenal to cruise the way he has been, or to undermine the manager’s authority. Just get rid I say. Also, in terms of improvement, what I would like to see next season is a clear out, and a change of playing style and philosophy. With the powers that be stubbornly sticking to their bottom line business plan, I think… Read more »
Jamie – Yeah several months later you noshed on humble pie for a while and in the next instance tried to change the goal posts to save face. All of a sudden it wasn’t just where he ended up that proved his level, now Rambo had to lead them to Champions League glory to be considered top tier.
TKO buddy.
Paulinho
Can you offer up some context to Ramsey being top tier?
Last time that subject was approached there was a newfound world 33 or some rubbish.
What midfielders are neck and neck with Rambo in this top bracket?
I also don’t think it can get any more embarrassing than listing all the clubs you think would be after Ramsey if he was top tier, then those very clubs – three months later – reportedly being interested (Ornstein) An unwitting nostradamus.
Charlie – Back around October, you were asking what Ramsey offered bar third man runs. Context or no context, you’re a bit of a lost cause.
Jwl..you miss my point, I think we were all looking forward to a manager who didn’t wait until the 67th minute to make a substitution. It was refreshing to have half time substitutions if things weren’t going well – tick, proactive. But as the season went on, the changes became fairly manic. No unchanged lineups etc Gave the impression that he was scrambling for the right formula.
Raul had one tough controversial decision to make this summer. Back Emery and Sack Özil or Sack Emery and Back Özil But Raul won’t do either. He will wait until the situation is unmanageable. We may ended up having to pay off both of them to go away. Raul had one shot at getting rid of Özil, if he really wanted to. Use his insult to Emery. Unprofessional misconduct. Breach of ethics and relationship with the manager. He did not seize that opportunity and now we are left with two employees who can’t work together. There are fault on both… Read more »
Paulinho – His performances and his contribution over the duration of the season determines his level. To date, he’s scored more than 5 league goals in a season only 3 times in 11 years. Looking forward to your continued declarations of victory when he scores 5 league goals next season to ‘help’ Juve win their 9th Serie A title on the bounce. He’s the missing piece, and those 5 goals will make all the difference. No TKO, friend. The bell rings when we can actually evaluate his performance at his new club; goals, assists, pass completion, interceptions, starts, completed 90… Read more »
There are low level rumors that Juventus may be seeking to exchange Ramsey for Jorghino when the Chelsea ban ends next year.
“Paulinho –His performances and his contribution over the duration of the season determines his level.”
“JamieSeptember 29, 2018 19:20:59
If Ramsey is great, he’ll go to a big club. Let’s see”
Just to be clear , what determines his level again?
Because in September, you deferred judgement about his level to what club he ended up at.
Pierre “”””Emery lied in the interview and intimated that he would be able to work with Ozil.””” Be warned Pierre – telling some on here- Home Truths They – not all – are so deluded – they cant accept they have been Duped. Some still ( I think ) get Breast Fed – even though they are in their mid 40’s! Their immaturity is striking. They cry that everyone is A Troll- who they happen to disagree. Anyway-That interview. Those lies Those 5 captains. Rambo,Cech Xhaka, Ozil and Kos. Emery has fallen foul of all of them. Who is our… Read more »
Valentin
You know it’s a money issue that’s holding up the Ozil situation.
Either of the choices that Raul has to make will come with a money commitment.
It’s not just indecision, me thinks.
I see you doing everything to resist offering even a single metric by which he can be judged.
You have as much confidence in Ramsey making any sort of difference in Juve achieving their short-term goals as I am.
Very brave of you.
as I have*
And there will be no declaration of anything. I’ll look on with interest and that will be it.
I’ve already won any argument there was to be had about Ramsey in relation to the main point I was making all along – which was that he was our best player.
A top manager should not need long to adapt to the EPL. Wenger, Mourinho, Conte won the EPL in their first full season. If you are really a video analyst specialist, there is enough video of past games to familiarise yourself with clubs, players and other managers. Also if you are familiar with the environment, then rely on people within the club who know the environment, don’t try to replicate your own environment by sidelining the legacy staff and hiring a bunch of peoples who don’t have any experience of the league and its players. When he joined ManCity, Guardiola… Read more »
Jamie – If he stays fit he will do well.
The whole metric thing is bullshit because you still think he’s nothing more than an honest pro who who doesn’t excel at anything bar making runs which leave the midfield ‘exposed’, if it it’s some doomsday scenario every time he makes a run.
Funny how we kept three or four clean sheets in a row when he played central mid near the end of the season.
Dissenter,
Yes it is money, but is also indecision. Raul had a clear opportunity given the obvious breach of disciplinary protocol. He bottled it.
Do you think that Ferguson would have tolerated that? Conte did not with Costa.
Sometimes ripping the bandage is better than slow death.