Lots of back and forth on the great Mesut Ozil debate. At the core of it for me is the exceptionalism that folks think he’s entitled to. The best way to frame these sorts of arguments is to imagine how you’d react to them in your own life.
Firstly, imagine on your team there was an underperforming superstar that earned double what the second-best player on your team earned. Probably a bit of a kicker, but you get past that because you are a mature adult minding your own business. Now imagine that everyone agreed to a pay decrease to save the company that has made your entire team incredibly wealthy.
Is there any scenario where you and the 22 that took the pay decrease could reconcile that sort of behaviour? Probably not. The German’s pay cut, if he were to take it, amounts to 6x what Bukayo Saka earns at the moment. The 19-year-old has made 12 goal contributions this season, Mesut has made 4.
I’ve seen people talking up his charitable contributions that amount to roughly 10% of his salary. A tremendous effort, I’d never critique that sort of generosity. However, people fail to understand that charitable donations and taking a voluntary pay cut are not mutually exclusive. Take this mentality into your own life. Is there any business in the world at the moment that has charitable contributions in the mixer when they’re dishing out mandatory pay decreases? No. It’s exceptionalism wrapped in children’s hospital beds.
The future of the club is hanging in the balance. 12.5% shouldn’t be an ordeal. Roma players agreed to 40% cuts for 4 months. Juventus players gave up £81m. Aleti, Sevilla, and Barca players gave up 70%. How can any player in the Premier League muster an argument about reducing their pay? How can any player, with a straight face, ask to see what the business implications are of the entire game freezing overnight?
The good news coming from ESPN is that he’s apparently doing a deep dive into how the money is going to be spent and that his team has verbally agreed to the deal. We’ll see how that pans out. Hopefully, he does the right thing. If he doesn’t, it’ll be fascinating to see if there’s a reaction from the coach. You can’t build a strong culture if there is exceptionalism when it comes to sacrifice like this.
Mikel Arteta did a fun AMA on the Twitter.com. His favourite midfielders were Santi, Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey. That bodes well for taste levels when he dives into the transfer market this summer.
He also confirmed suspicions of this site about David Luiz. The Brazilian is taking his coaching badges. It looks like his impeccable attitude to the new coach is tightly linked to the hope that he lands a job with the club when he retires. A smart move, he probably sees Mikel as a role model for his career path. David Luiz has it all to be a good coach, he’s smart, articulate, has won everything, and he has gravitas. Would be great to keep him around when he hangs up the boots.
What he refused to talk about was Thomas Partey’s dad who has gone on the radio to explicitly tell the world his son is in talks with Arsenal about a move to North London.
‘I called my son after hearing the rumours and he told me that the rumours are true,’
‘He told me they are holding talks between him and Arsenal. ‘It all depends on the offer Atletico are demanding. If he goes to Arsenal fine, they have a lot supporters in Ghana.’
This move would make sense for Arsenal. He’d be absolutely perfect for the league. He’s the player we’ve been crying out since Paddy left. My concern with these sorts of leaks is they seem a bit too obvious. His dad isn’t a fan of Arsenal, he’s a fan of his son making a shit tonne of cash. This feels like a negotiation tactic with Atleti who badly underpay him.
That said, I’d LOVE to be wrong. £43m for a signing that’d completely change our midfield would be an absolute steal. I just don’t know where we’re finding the money? We’d have to be making some serious sales to make that happen. Auba? Lacazette? Which mega clubs are coming with big dollars this summer?
I think most transfer rumours at the moment are going to be players trying to land bigger deals. No one can be banking on a big money move at this time. But we’ll see…
Finally, some DELICIOUS theorising going on… if the season is voided and CL places are decided on UEFA coefficients, Arsenal are making Champions League baby.
Couldn’t think of a fairer approach.
See you in the comments you wonderful people. x
Pierre
Just for reference the results you quoted the other day:
Southampton 6 – 3
Newcastle 5 – 0
Chelsea 5 – 0
Liverpool 4 – 1
Woops!
Jamie
I’m guessing Pierre will disappear now for a couple of hours and then come back if nothing has happened.
Pierre, I already have said that I am not judging Ozil on his reported rejection of the 12.5% until his side of the story is known. I feel Ozil does do a lot for worthwhile charitable causes. The fact is you are Legrove’s self-appointed Ozil apologist (on all matters, footballing or non footballing)and you are willing, for some unknown reason, to continue your crusade against all the opposition you continually experience. Genuinely interested to know what you are hoping to achieve or is it simply part of your daily workout to satisfy some sort of Quixotic ambition? Or are you… Read more »
Ozil is the celebrity Pierre is mentally dating!
Marc –
Poor lad. He’s waiting for CG to come in and back him up.
Hasn’t worked out too well for me ?
Dear oh dear little,p going into turbo meltdown…..
Keep swallowing you unintelligent troll.
Marc
Of course I would leave out Ferguson’s most embarrassing defeat wouldnt I.
There you go Marc , apologies from you and Jamie will gratefully be accepted . “PierreApril 16, 2020 12:29:37 Uwot “.But what I’d really like an explanation is his reasoning behind some of those infamous choke results & “tactics “behind those humiliations” Do you think United fans dwell on the 6-3 defeat to Southampton or the 5-0 drubbing from Newcastle. How about the 6-1 defeat AT HOME to city or how about the 5-0 defeat to Chelsea, 4-1 defeat AT HOME to liverpool, 4-0 defeat to Barcelona.What were Ferguson’s “tactics” behind those “humiliations.”The fact is , in 20+ years at… Read more »
Marc
“JamieI’m guessing Pierre will disappear now for a couple of hours and then come back if nothing has happened.”
Jamie
“Whoops”
Adios amigos ( what’s mugs in Spanish)
So you’ve found one humiliating result where United didn’t go on to win the PL title…
2011/12 where they finished 2nd on GD due to a freak stoppage time 2 goal swing for City to sneak the title at the literal death.
Very comparable to AW’s long litany of ass beatdowns, yes.
Rattled
Pierre frothing at the mouth now. He’s literally spent hours today going through Untold and his old posts, but still he can’t get any respect.
“See, this one humiliating defeat for Fergie after which Utd did not go on to win the league that season proves my point about all of Wenger’s acceptable humiliations after which he won zero league titles! Adios!”
I don’t think Pierre’s handling the lockdown very well – is he’s this bad after a few weeks what’s he going to be like after months.
Well said Pierre Indeed- you don’t hear Spurs supporters go on about their 2-7 drubbing against Bayern Munich despite Poch not winning any trophies. They revere their nearly man. Yet the Entitled ones and perpetual moaners on here constantly denigrate our Greatest. Came across a truly astonishing stat this morning: Arsène Wenger has more Premier League wins to his name (476) than Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (457), despite the fact that Spurs have played an extra 239 games. If that don’t make you immortal in the eyes of the Arsenal supporters nothing ever will. Throw in Doubles, an Invincible season,… Read more »
Don’t worry about Pierre, I’m sure once Ozil saunters off to pocket a nice fat signing on fee he’s find another crush to salivate over. How about Xhaka? Bit of a twat, nobody quite knows what he brings to the team which is perfect for someone who ‘understands’ football better than everyone else and can allude to some mysterious quality that is just too subtle for the rest of us neanderthals to grasp.
Auba contract talks now shelved. honestly What would keep me up is losing our young talent. Auba is lethal but not irreplaceable. I think we should sell move Martinelli to C.F, sell Kolasinac and get a backup to Kurzawa. Have Saka and a new winger ( Auba’s different replacement) to compete for that LW spot. Lacazette needs to be kept for atleast one more year now. That would give us more options for a dynamic front line. I say rebuild and stop relying on one player so much.
“What is wrong with our supporters?”
Why not take a look in the mirror and come back to us on that one?
backup like Kurzawa.
“What is wrong with our supporters?”
Asks the guy who has repeatedly wanted us to lose matches and questioned why anyone would buy tickets or travel on the tube to a match.
He can’t even troll consistently.
Pierre, don’t worry about your views my friend, every one of them makes complete sense – just waiting for those who know better than the most successful manager at The Arsenal, to pass their exams and enter the race to become a premier league manager. Once the well deserved statue goes up, his legacy will be honoured forever and we can watch these budding know alls taking selfies next to Le Prof. As for Ozil, it seems they are also mind readers, as they know the exact reason Mesut, supposedly, turned down a 12.5% cut – but could it be… Read more »
I think Mr. Arseblog got it right “Let’s be honest, it doesn’t look good for the highest paid player in the squad to not be a part of this. When almost everyone else is doing their bit, the man who earns more than anyone else appears not to be. What I would say is that before the pitchforks come out, let’s wait and see what he has to say about it. Ozil’s contributions to charities are well known, he might feel that good causes are more important than propping up KSE, or there might be some other issue which is… Read more »
Pierre, where did you dig up Ken? Are you related? Looks like lockdown madness is starting to bite!
Well said Ken 1945
(Hope he stays around.)
What a sensible and thoughtful chap.
andy1886, see what I mean, Pierre?
Can’t debate sensibly, so true to form, tries to bluster and ridicule, while having no idea how to counteract the points given.
Just for your information andy1886, been a season ticket holder for over forty years and followed The Arsenal for over sixty-five years – and your qualifications are???
ken1945,
andy1886 has been following The Arsenal since 1886, so roughly twice as long as you.
Checkmate.
I see posters making fun of Trump’s brain storming how to fix this coronavirus mess. I think it’s extremely unfair to criticize him for his latest “miracle solution” to inject disinfectants into peoples lungs. At least the man is trying, ok? Which is more than I can say for the Democrats who are completely lacking in clever ideas. The US economy has lost 25m workers to unemployment during this crisis so we are open to any ideas and remedies that might help. Apparently the next idea Trump is contemplating pitching is a mandatory, daily glass of high octane rocket fuel… Read more »
andy1886 has been following The Arsenal since 1886, so roughly twice as long as you.Checkmate.
Lol
Jamie, just do a little maths and you will find that Andy would be 134, so your “checkmate” quote does make you thought on his “qualification” seem as far fetched as his views quite frankly!
ken1945, don’t be bitter that andy1886 has seniority over you. Respect your elders. Unless it’s CG, obviously.
Ken, , you do understand the concept of ‘jokes’ I take it? Of course Jamie was pulling your leg, surely you’re bright enough to get that aren’t you? If your ‘qualifications’ are based on longevity are we going to see who can dig up the oldest Gooner (not literally I should add) and declare his view the correct one? No logic in that I’m afraid. Ridicule is entirely appropriate when the argument in itself is ridiculous. I must take it that you are a fully qualified manager as you seem to believe that’s what gives someone’s views credibility? Or are… Read more »
Let’s take each of your points one at a time. 1. Longevity doesn’t guarantee a wise man, that’s for sure and “checkmate” in the context it was written, most certainly proved that – enjoyed the humour, but not the assumption that he had proved something…see the subtle difference? 2. As most on here seems to think they are better than AW, it is quite logical to believe that any true Gooner, would know that for twenty straight years, this manager gave us the following: 3 No. 1 positions. 6 No. 2 positions 5 No.3 positionss 6 No 4 positions One… Read more »