Well, it didn’t take long for the shine to rub from the Thomas Partey transfer.
Arsenal managed to get themselves into the weirdest fight of 2020 as Mesut Özil and our exec leadership traded blows over the redundancy of the man behind the Gunnersaurus.
Now, let me cover off a few things.
Firstly, my deepest sympathies to Jerry Quy who lost his job after many years of loyal service. I cannot imagine how tough this moment must be for him. Losing your job is bad enough without being part of a PR war of attrition with the most famous footballer in North London.
The way Arsenal dealt with the mascot situation was absolutely horrendous. Binning off a very visible part of the club and burying the story on transfer deadline day felt very, very amateur. Leadership is often about managing contradictions, but firing the mascot whilst lavishing £50m on a £250k a week player felt like corporate doublespeak in the extreme.
Machiavelli in The Prince suggests that cruel acts be done all at once to maintain power over the people. Arsenal’s slow drip, drip, drip of bad news suggests leadership skipped this chapter. We sacked the scouts. Then the 55. Then, weirdly, word dropped that the mascot had been binned. What an utterly pointless exercise in cost-cutting that lacked any humanity for the employee or self-awareness for how this would play out with the footballing community. Savings should be done with people in mind, this sort of exercise looked like the back-office spreadsheet merchants had been let loose without a sentient minder. Horrible stuff.
Next up, Mesut Ozil, PR guru of the internet swept in and offered to pick up the salary.
Firstly, it’s lovely that he’s willing to step in for someone. You can’t knock that. But the move is painfully transparent. The sole purpose of his campaign was to embarrass the club. I’d liken the move to calling your boss a ‘faaacking melt’ in an aggressive Essex accent, in the moment, you feel like a hero, but the next morning, when you realise you’ve just screwed your life so bad you’ll be adding skimmed cows milk to your Nescafe instant coffee… you feel silly.
This is another of Mesut’s classic contradictions. Salaries weren’t important a few weeks ago when he was trying to assess the business implications of the pandemic. He didn’t accept his 12.5% pay cut on his £18.2m a year salary when nearly everyone else did. That totalled £2,184,000. He didn’t step forward for the 55 laid off in the first round, a rumoured bill of £2.5m. That’s his decision, but it makes it clear the target of his generosity was not Jerry, it was to humiliate Arsenal at the cost of a day’s wages.
The club deserved the humiliation in this case, Arsenal’s own goal was greeted with the disdain it deserved, but bigger picture, what was the point for Mesut the footballer?
A lot of fans were hoping there’d be one more chance, his fans were pleading for ‘The Last Dance’, but after this? It’s a struggle to see how he can come back from it. What is super odd is that his people thought it was a good idea. He’s just told the world he does his own thing. He’s not a team player. He now operates as a lone wolf. Why would you want that to be the messaging for your personal brand in the final year of your deal?
The staff knew where it was going with Mesut, the predictable pattern of injuries, the lack of interest in new requirements like club Zoom calls and homework. It doubled down on what we all suspected, this is a player that doesn’t really care anymore. That’s sad. He’s an outrageous talent on his day. It is such a shame that he still wants a fight no one really cares about.
Still, it’ll be over by next June. Until then, it’ll be fascinating to see what Arteta does about it, or more likely, does not do about it.
Onto other news. I like the low-key job Per and Edu have been doing with the youth team this summer.
- Lewis 18
- Akinola 19
- Dinzeyi 20
- Möller 18
- Ideho 17
- Salah 17
- Rekik 18
Data led scouting. A low-risk/high-reward strategy. A group of players that will all fit the profile of what Arteta wants in his players. On paper, it seems very promising. All you need is one of them to come good and you pay for the entire process.
There was a bit of shock on the Premier League website as the squads for this season were updated. Pablo Mari and Cedric were missing. Well apparently, that list isn’t final until October 15th or so. The question is, who makes the squad and who doesn’t? Will we keep Mesut on the books after yesterday’s episode? Which defenders stay and which go? I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
That’s all I have time for today. Listen to my podcast. Enjoy the slow couple of weeks we have coming up. See you in the comments. x
Stroller, The Arsenal academy has been completely overhauled in term of strategy. A few years ago but it won the Premiership 2, but then those players got stuck in limbo. Too good for U23, but not ready for premiership. So now all the best U23 prospect are loaned out. The Arsenal U23 is now mostly composed of precocious U19 with a sprinkle of recent U21 additions. Most of those recent additions got released by other England clubs from their U21 academy. They are not going to make it at Arsenal, but they help with filling the fixtures and still not… Read more »
It’s all very well putting Willian on the right , but if he is isolated and has no one to bounce off, to play give and goes and one twos, he becomes ineffectual as was the case for the first hour or so v Sheffield united . As soon as Pepe came on , Willian’s game went up a level and he looked much more comfortable with his game , he then moved to the left and linked well with Saka… I see no reason why Willian could not play a more central role as the CAM as he has… Read more »
Our next seven PL matches are
City (a), Leicester, Man Utd (a), Villa, Leeds (a), Wolves, Spurs (a)
Arteta has settled into being more cautious.
Be very surprised if he moves away from 343.
With the way we have been playing, we probably will be outshot in the majority of the next seven matches. Have to hope the ridiculously sky high conversion rate continues.
Pierre, It’s between Saka or Willian on the left and the other one in the midfield. After his goal vs Sheffied Saka said it’s something they’ve practiced on the training ground, Bellerin crossing and Saka going deeper in the box to be able to get on the end of crosses. If could be a repeating thing in our game and a very dangerous one mind you. As we saw in that same game Willian did move to the CAM position and Saka was in the LW role. So as things stand this is the version that Arteta prefers. Still time… Read more »
Tierney is going to be a big miss.
Left Testicle
“Tierney is going to be a big miss.””
Why?
Leno , a couple of weeks ago “”The club has always given me the feeling I was the number one, I am the number one and will be the number one” Martinez ,this week. “”I was told that there was a 95% chance I would start against Fulham, but I just thought, ‘why not 100%?’” It looks like they were both given the feeling that they were no.1 . Maybe there was a little confusion in the message that was given out to both goalkeepers as I would imagine it would pretty dumb to assure both Martinez and Leno that… Read more »
Drean10
“City (a), Leicester, Man Utd (a), Villa, Leeds (a), Wolves, Spurs (a)
Arteta has settled into being more cautious.
Be very surprised if he moves away from 343.”
Will probably be a gradual transition , I cant see anything other than wing backs v city next , but Arteta may surprise us and Pep.
I just can’t see why if Leicester and Villa can catch City and Pool with their pants down, Arteta doesn’t try the same. I assume what was stopping him was our slow midfield. Thomas will help with it and maybe push Arteta’s hand on actually having a go at being proactive and really take the game to any opponent we face. Our attack and midfield now could evolve into one of the best in the league. Arteta should definitely try a system where we create more. He has to give us the chance to see how it goes. Maybe not… Read more »
There is a well known maxim that you learn to walk before you can run. Most young people are impatient and think in the short term, but realistically very few young footballers at Premier League Clubs are ready to play regularly for first team. The main point which the CEO of Man City made is that the introduction of EPL club second teams would benefit both the clubs and the leagues because it would provide a better pathway. Clubs in Germany and Spain have been operating in this way for decades and if used properly is of benefit to these… Read more »
On a separate point not registering Ozil for Europa Cup is absolutely right decision. He should not play again for Arsenal,. I advocated putting him on gardening leave two months ago. Ozil and his advisers now have a decision to make. Does he sit at home not playing football or make the decision to leave the club in January? The payment of his wages is now secondary. I am sure that Arsenal accept that they will land up paying the bill until June. However it sends a clear message to Ozil and other such players and their agents that Arsenal… Read more »
Just Another Customer
“fuck gunnersaurus we have the fossil ghanasaurus now”
Hahaha fucking yes
Left Testicle
“Tierney is going to be a big miss.””Why?
……………..
Hasn’t he had to pull out of Scotland squad due to Covid?
Stroller, ManCity’s argument are self serving. Like China1 wrote, it is the responsibility of the club to create a proper pathway to the first team. ManCity never did and got caught by having talented players they did not believe in deciding to move to greener pastures. ManCity operates in such a way that they are only interested in ready made players. Without FFP and home grown rules they would have a squad full of world class players. Most young players have caught on that. ManCity has a world class academy, yet because of their lack of opportunities, most of their… Read more »
All very well for the ‘big boys’ of the PL wanting to play their ‘B’ teams in the lower leagues but what about the small community clubs that would be pushed out or the professional leagues and possibly out of business completely? I’m sure that they and their supporters would say it’s just another example of greed and selfishness amongst the wealthy. I don’t believe that U23 football prepares young players physically for the first team the way the old reserve system did. Back then youngsters would play with gnarled older professionals and first team players making a comeback from… Read more »
Strange how he was integral to Arteta’s plans before lockdown when we the only unbeaten side in Europe this year domestically. Apparently his form dipped alarmingly during lockdown when there was no football being played. Nothing do with the pay cut though was it. Shame really as 100% of our fans( charlie the exception) are bemoaning our lack of creativity since lockdown.. Sometimes putting 2 and 2 together may just come up with the answer.. Not to worry, the non negotiables were breached so there’s no going back … pay him off i say and move on from the lies… Read more »
ES: “Ozil and his advisers now have a decision to make. Does he sit at home not playing football or make the decision to leave the club in January?” He can leave almost whenever he wants. The MLS transfer window closes on 29th of October. The United Arab Emirates window will reopen soon. He has choices. But he always had them. He has said multiple times that he will complete his contract with Arsenal. He hasn’t been bothered that he isn’t playing cause he’s perfectly happy with it. He’s cashing in the millions. Whatever tactics the club or Arteta take… Read more »
Pierre
The fact you continue to defend Ozil says a lot about your character.
I’ll leave it at that.
“I’m not sure why they don’t pay him off….anyone have any explanation.”
Cash flow. Paying him £20m in one whack has a greater strain on club finances than paying him £20m over 9 months.
My sources tell me he’s demanding his entire salary to be paid or he’ll ride out his contract sitting on the couch playing Fortnite.
raptora
You are missing the point.
Arsenal have written off Ozil. They are no longer bothered whether he plays for club or not.
That has been probably the case since resumption of football in June.
If he leaves prematurely and they can save a few quid that is a bonus.
Whether as a professional footballer he wants to continuing playing is up to him. He is allowed to train with first team as a curtesy, but that is all.
“Apparently his form dipped alarmingly during lockdown when there was no football being played.Nothing do with the pay cut though was it.Shame really as 100% of our fans( charlie the exception) are bemoaning our lack of creativity since lockdown..“ Pierre it’s only your dim imagination that has Ozil as anything other than a complete burden to the club, it’s pathetic. He came back from lockdown unfit and didn’t play since, his media clowning has really underlined how little he’s interested in the collective in his current iteration, Instagram and Twitter posts aiming to put pressure on the manager, now more… Read more »
Stroller,
He is not allowed to train with first team as a curtesy, it is part of his contract. If Arsenal were to refuse to do that, it would be in breach of contract and be liable for compensation on top of his salary.
I still think that removing him from the team is not done for football reason but because Arteta requested a pay cut and Özil refused. When you look at Willian contribution for the last two games, even an half interested Özil would still have been better.
ES,
If you think that the club and not the player is in control of the situation, you can say it to his over 18m pa he’s getting paid by Arsenal doing less than any other footballer on the planet.
Refusing the pay cut will be a part of it.
Refusing to participate in zoom meetings and team bonding, and follow training prigrammes during the lock down will be part of it too.
The non-negotiable broken was that of being a member of a team.
Were there not 3 other players that refused the pay cut? Are they dropped and not playing now? Or do we just pick that one for Ozil because it’s a convenient way of justifying him being dropped? Ozil would not fit a system designed to press from the front, it’s simple as that. He’s had one stand out season in 7 or whatever years where he produced real numbers, and the rest has been padded by this ‘chances created’ stat. Even the great Wenger dropped him for a while then played him out of position to try and get him… Read more »
Pierre really argues and baits like a troublesome woman. You really still have a lot of growing to do. Arsenal will always come before any one player, or at least should do.
Especially a player and character like Ozil at that.
Raptora, I admire your optimism but the welcome addition of Partry does not make us have one of the best midfields. We need an attacking, creative outlet. If we had also brought in Aouar then that may have taken our midfield to the next level, but only if Saliba had been ready. Our defence still needs help, that will affect our set up in midfield.
Shame we couldn’t have sold Laca snd bought a younger, more mobile striker – there’s always next summer for that.
Yep. When Pierre grows up, he’ll look back at the amount of time he spent defending Ozil with embarrassment.
Just regarding the pay cut matter surely arsenal as a elite premier league outfit should’ve been a bit more professional and not even have told arteta who took the cut and who didn’t especially as arteta was only head coach at the time .
Now I only view things if it had happen to me and I’d want any decision I made to be between myself and the pay master . It shouldn’t have been in Artetas remit to know
Anyone else think during the duration of this pandemic… we should cancel international friendlies all together?
Pointless putting players and non-playing staff lives in danger.
Anyone else think during the duration of this pandemic… we should cancel international friendlies all together?
Absolutely.
Complete idiocy to even consider playing friendlies at the current time.
Totally agree with zchina, Andy and Vakentin, I see no benefit to the health of football in having B teams operate in the leagues below the Oremiership. It means a further colonisation of the same big clubs who can then stockpile players to an even greater extent. It also stops a revenue stream for those clubs that buy players who are necessarily shown the door die yo lack of opportunity ities and finally, it weakens clubs who are reliant on loan deals of players ftom the big clubs. B teams are a totally self-serving idea that will cement the status… Read more »
Raptora
Of course the club are now in control of the situation.
They have written off the player even if it costs them an additional 9 months wages.
He is not playing again for Arsenal.The longer he does not play football the more difficult it
will become for him to find a new club willing to pay the sort of wages he will undoubtedly
want to get.
The club who sign him will be far more cautious in negotiating a deal. I am fairly sure that there will be strings attached to avoid a similar situation arising.
“However, it’s now been confirmed by agent Pablo Bentancur that Atletico did not secure an option to sign him next summer. That means that should the player impress, then Atleti will have to pay significantly more than the reported £20m he’s currently valued at.” Edu absolutely pulled a blinder should Torreira impress. At. Madrid might retaliate by not playing Torreira, but should they do that they are causing cutting off their nose to spite their face. It’s never a good idea to deliberate cause a player to be unhappy. If Torriera plays out of his skin this coming season, perhaps… Read more »
A lot of the argument suggested in favour of big teams having a lower league team is that it will benefit the England team. If you look at the both countries Spain and Germany where such a system is in place, nearly none of the best national teams have played in such clubs. When Barcelona and Real Madrid academy players dominated the Spain national team that seems like a reasonable explanation, but that’s not the case anymore. There has been very few players emerging from the B teams that then flourishing in the A team. Most of the big clubs,… Read more »
… plus At. Madrid are paying Lucas’ wages during the duration… so they would be throwing good money away should wish not to play him just to “punish” Arsenal.
Absolutely don’t see the point of international friendlies in this match-laden congested schedule environment, particularly when returnees face the additional risk catching Covid-19 and either potentially transmitting the virus to teammates or missing matches due to quarantine.
Stroller
“He is not playing again for Arsenal.The longer he does not play football the more difficult it
will become for him to find a new club willing to pay the sort of wages he will undoubtedly
want to get.”
All seems rather petty to me…no class
Pierre
This is not petty. Arsenal have been a soft touch for a very long time and the club are now making difficult decisions however unpalatable they may be.
Do you think seriously that Ozil is a committed to Arsenal? Personally the whole saga smacks of a player who has taken professional advice from his agent who is a highly qualified lawyer.
Both know very well that Ozil will find it exceedingly difficult finding a new club willing
to pay the sort of wages he earns and certainly not at a club of his choosing.
Barcelona tried to sign amn….. maybe this guy is actually quality?
Charlie
“I’ll leave it to you to be the sole defender of a man”
Quite a few on Le grove are questioning why we would pay a player 350 grand a week and not play him despite the team being devoid of creativity of which there is almost unilateral agreement.
It reeks of pettiness, lack of respect to the player and is classless ..
Of course , they could always come out and tell the truth.
It reeks of pettiness, lack of respect to the player and is classless ..
Nonsense.
Ozil does not want to be a team player, yet expects to be part of the team.
Peckobil
:”Just regarding the pay cut matter surely arsenal as a elite premier league outfit should’ve been a bit more professional and not even have told arteta who took the cut and who didn’t especially as arteta was only head coach at the time .”
Makes sense…
covid case has been spiking everywhere due to the incompetence of the authorities and the powers that be
the first hurdle of the battle against this pandemic….
Pierre No-one needs to tell the truth. The situation is blindingly obvious even to the most ardent fan of Ozil. Do you seriously think that Ozil does not understand the situation? Yesterday there was a shot of Ozil and Arteta exchanging pleasantries during training. If there was ill feeling that would certainly not be happening. This is an end game situation for both sides. It is no different from any redundancy situation in the current pandemic. Staff and employers have to satisfy legal requirements and financial obligations. Both parties can in those circumstances part amicably or with ill feeling. I… Read more »
How many points should we reasonably expect from this upcoming list of fixtures?
Man city
Leicester
Man utd
Leeds
Spurs.
If one’s actions expose the hypocrisy of your employer… the employer is at fault… not the person exposing it. For me, where Özil loses the moral high ground is that he has continued to stay at the club drawing his salary even though he knows by now he will not be played. If I was him, I would have approached the club for an pay off and left this summer. If Özil said to the club give me £10m now to go away, and donate £4m to charities of our joint choosing — the club and the player could have… Read more »
Pierre doing his best to troll the board.
If Ozil had any dignity, he’d ask to be released on a free so he could go grace another club that might appreciate his ‘skills’.
He’s basically a wealthy dole scrounger. Taking money he isn’t earning instead of getting a fucking job. What a bum.
*for a pay off
“It reeks of pettiness, lack of respect to the player and is classless ..“
Interesting (it isn’t), and can you summarise Ozil in this whole debacle while you’re at it?
Win or Die
Five. I think wins against any of those teams will be difficult to come by, but I think we should aim to at least get a draw against every one of them.
Ozil has far more supporters than detractors. That much is clear in forums with thousands of supporters, not a few dozen like Le Grove. But our retarded pencil pushers have decided he should be made an example of for not bowing to the Kroenkes’ greed. Even if it hurts us in sports’ terms. And it is unthinkable that a player deemed so integral to Arteta’s “project” that he was played in every single game after Arteta came, suddenly became shit in a couple of months. Only a total simpleton or an immature hater of a player could come to such… Read more »
6 points in them games
Bamford,
At least say 1 win, 2 draws, 2 losses. 5 draws lol. It’s an opinion I guess…
I’d take 7 pts out of these 5 game and I don’t think it’s an optimistic punt.
7 points for me too.
Raptora
I don’t expect wins against any of those teams. As you know, I’m more negative about where we are relative to other teams than many of you. To each his own.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8819159/Arsenal-open-talks-Mesut-Ozil-ripping-350-000-week-contract.html
Good news if it happened, need to get the wasteman as far away from the club as possible, the sooner the better. Doubt he agrees to anything though, he’s happy just collecting his wages and hamstringing the club.
Kris
Ozil didn’t become shit over a couple of months, he’s been shit for years, the so called creative genius that doesn’t score or assists and only manages low probability chances.
Kris
All that proves is that many if not most Arsenal fans are clueless. This was obvious during late Wenger as well, when despite Professor Dipshit being clearly out to lunch, many if not most Arsenal fans continued to believe in him.
Leeds “For me, where Özil loses the moral high ground is that he has continued to stay at the club drawing his salary even though he knows by now he will not be played.” Put yourself in his position. Started every game up until lockdown Was left out when football resumed in July The manager has reiterated many times that he and every other player will be considered for selection. Let’s say there has been a maximum of 3 months football played since returning from lockdown, I’m not sure , if the manager is telling the truth on selection, that… Read more »
Kris on what sporting terms does it hurt us. We consistently get better results with him out the team. We’ve won something like 11 of our last 12 games. In the last two years he has fuck all goals and assists
The ozil that people are still lining for does not exist. You guys are looking at a corpse and imagining a footballer. It’s beyond ridiculous
” a legend”!
A legendary wimp. All the talent in the world, no bollocks.
Why would the club respect a player who fakes injuries, embarrasses the club with public action, doesn’t train properly, doesn’t set an example?
In any other industry he’d simply have been sacked outright but because of the nature of football and it’s contracts we find ourselves where he has a die hard group of cultist followers and the club has held on to him this long simply because it costs so much to cunt him off.
He’s a disgrace and good riddance to him
Hope Özil takes every dollar he is owed. Club’s management are full of shit and should be let off the hook.
—————————————————————–
Bamford/Raptora
I think it will be a rough period. 1 win 3 draws 3 losses.
Will be interested in how we play and if Arteta makes adjustments.
Fred
A bit late now to rip up his contract ..should have been done 4/5 months ago instead of hiding behind the continual lies about him being considered for selection.
China1
So true.
———————————-
Kris
“Ozil has far more supporters than detractors”
Maybe on your planet 🪐.
Delusional.
Lol as if the Kroenkes are going to pay 13m (Sami Mokbel said he made a typo. it’s 13 and not 3).
Kris
“Ozil will still be a legend”.
🤣🤣👎
Unbelievable.
Saliba being loaned to a Championship club? Arsenal better watch out. If it goes wrong, he could push for a move to back.to France.
Pierre
Hard to do when Ozil isn’t interested in moving on and playing football at a low level club that would want to take him.
Paying him off in full in one go in the middle of a pandemic, just before the transfer window wasn’t really an option. Would have completely fucked our summer instead of just crippling it like his wages does now.
Don’t know what the club is doing with Saliba I really don’t. He was supposed to be the great hope for the defence and here we are registering 5 keepers for the Europa League instead of giving him a chance against poor teams on a Thursday night
its Funny because I don’t recall our other legends ending either their club or international careers in absolute disgrace
DB10, Henry, vieira, cesc, sol, Adams… name any arsenal legend you want. In fact name any legend full stop. Then ask yourself if they ended both club and international careers in disgrace and ending up being hounded out of the club at any cost
Yeah it’s gonna be a while while you pretend to think about that one
Well with all our added sauce I’d expect nine or ten points from those games. No reason we can’t beat Leicester (at home), ManU (thrashed by Sp*rs) and Leeds. Plus at point from one of either Sp*rs or City who aren’t all that either.
China
I loved cesc but he did threatened to go on strike if he didn’t get his Barca move
Pierre
I am not sure what exactly you are trying to prove.
We have 19 overseas players aged 21 + and only 17 can be registered. Ozil and Sokratis are leaving in summer and are not playing. So who would you choose as alternative?
Of much greater concern is the situation with Saliba who is also not registered. We have
spent a lot of money on this player last year and he could well not be playing for 2 years since we signed him.
How about a return of Samir for the creative edge?! A free agent at the moment!! 😂😂
This is an old quote from Mr Ozil.
“My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game. The discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.”
Do you think the 5th goalkeeper will play in the europa lol
I don’t expect wins against any of those teams. As you know, I’m more negative about where we are relative to other teams than many of you.
I know we continue to be shocked about it.
“I don’t expect wins against any of those teams. As you know, I’m more negative about where we are relative to other teams than many of you.“
Well don’t reserve yourself any right to complain or criticise after any potential defeats in those upcoming fixtures.
Is that actually true that we registered 5 keepers for the europa ? If so that’s really bizarre to do that and not include Saliba .
Any of the french posters on here give any insight on well he was playing last season and how high is he regarded there .? Also how good was in comparison to Gabriel ?
Actually this period coming up while it should be considered tricky we got a bit of luck with some of the Europa fixtures between the games. City will likely win. United have PSG and Leipzig sandwiched between playing Chelsea and us. We should be beating Leicester at home and we should be beating a tough Leeds side and I think we have another break before Villa and Spurs are up.
I’d say Messabout has far more detractors than supporters. Far far more. Pretty much the whole German nation, I imagine, for a start. But his popularity, for or against, hardly matters. It’s his performance and behaviour as an Arsenal player which is the issue. The fact is he was a misfit from the start. I don’t question him for that, he was a Wenger whim, the choice of a bruised ego. Discarded by Real Madrid,, ironically, he turned out to have a bruised ego too. A prima donna never blames herself, it’s always somebody else. She sulks, she stirs up… Read more »
Normally it’d be very strange for someone to dismiss out of hand our chances against teams for example who just got beaten 6-1 at home (United) or one win on the season (City) or conceded 8 goals already (Leeds) or got comfortably beaten at home 3-0 by a team we already beat (Leicester) but this is Bamford after all.
Note I helped make it easy for you (basically walked you step by step) to understand a little bit more instead of your usual quick glance at a squad list and formulate an opinion routine
Cesc never left on disgrace. He played for us for 8 years. Was our best and most important player for about 5 of them. He had always hoped to return to Barca and after 8 years away, and with them putting in a bid, he made it known he didn’t want to stay. I don’t know how you can hold that against him. As well, deep into his 30s now and cesc has always kept a professional reputation. No one will be shitting on him or hounding him away. He will retire with dignity and look back on a stellar… Read more »
Ironically the player ozil gets most compared to is DB10. A player who started taking pay cuts to keep playing and contributing deep into his 30s. He was a key player in our invincibles even in his 30s.
Legends leave a legacy. Charlatans leave in disgrace
China
Cesc was fantastic for us but he had us over a barrel by threatening to strike . Lost us negotiating strengths so went for way under what he was actually worth .
Not everything is black and white, it’s fine to say he was a fantastic player for but he screwed us to go to Barca .
A prime Cesc & Partey pairing in midfield would have been immense.
Most of the le Grovers are very agenda driven. Have anyone thought about how the club has humiliated Ozil the past two years. For example, there were more than one player refusing the pay cut but the club singled him out The club didn’t have to publish that. Anyway, a player can only perform if he is playing regularly in a squad. I don’t find the club has acted smartly for this Ozil issue.
Bergkamp
A true arsenal legend .
There’ll never be a cesc statue
Jeez some verbal diarrhoea gets spouted on this blog.OZIL is a lazy f** ng leech.
We have got 3 years to make a transition. By the time, Auba and Willian retire, we shoudl have our young crop including Nketiah, Pepe, Saka, AMN, Martinelli to be matured and should be firing all cylinders.
Future is bright if Arteta plays his cards well.
A prime Cesc & Partey pairing in midfield would have been immense.
My balls are tingling thinking about it.
“A prime Cesc & Partey pairing in midfield would have been immense.”
Well now that we are imagining, why dont we put Henry and Bergkamp in front of them.
Cesc didn’t screw us.
How anyone would think this is beyond me.
Obviously blind to what was going at the club, as so many others were.
Those fixtures coming up. I think there will be a few suprising results.
I think we will get 3 wins a loss and a draw. Winning games breeds confidence and if we can start by beating City who knows. I see Leeds being one of those games where we think we don’t have to put the effort in as they just come up. But that’s just my opinion.
Peckobiil- agree but I would add that I’ve never forgiven Barca & their role .shameless,underhand tactics such as Pepe Reina ( playing for Liverpool) at the time & others pulling a Barca jersey on him publicly etc.Total lack of respect shown to our club.
Nelson
Ozil never gave two hoots about Emery. Not that he cares much about Arteta either.
Arteta just showed him who the boss is…
having said that, i think Arteta is taking it a bit too far.
Ozil was pretty useless before the lockdown, he stung the place with his attitude, physical weakness and a part from one or two occasions he was misplacing passes left and right..
Couldn’t create a spit!
The fact that we were doing well before lockdown was due to many factors, ozil definitely wasn’t one of them
Cesc went to Chelsea that hurt alot.
The club didn’t have to publish that.
They didn’t. Not once has it been officially commented on by the club who refused the pay cut.
Anyway it’s irrelevant that has never been the issue it’s just a simplistic way to view what is a total and utter wank player. Turns in declining performances over a 3 year period, pulls sickies and lacks general professionalism and then there’s the social media stuff. Just a pathetic excuse for a player these days