Mesut Ozil’s future NOT linked to Arsene Wenger

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As you have already probably read / heard, the breaking Arsenal story of the last 24 hours or so is the news that Mesut Ozil’s future is interlinked with Arsene Wenger’s. That the German superstar will only remain at Arsenal, signing a new contract, if Arsene Wenger does the same.

Like with everything Wenger related – and the majority of things Ozil result – the full out on social media has been polar opposites.

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On one hand you have those that have used the news to show that Mesut Ozil, who in their eyes is better than Zidane, is only at Arsenal due to Arsene, and that him only wanting to stay if Wenger stays is the only justification required when it comes to Wenger’s new 2 year contract that is on the table.

On the other side of the fence are those that blame Wenger for everything and see Ozil as his immortalisation on the pitch. Everything that is wrong with Arsenal is Arsene, and everything that Wenger portrays off the pitch is portrayed by Ozil on the pitch. Ozil is Wenger’s muse. The only reason Ozil want’s to stay at Arsenal under Wenger is because life is easy under Wenger. Wenger does not push him, and he gets away with whatever he wants. Big money for any east life.

Unfortunately for both parties, all this furore has highlighted how much a newspaper will take quotes and twist it to a headline, ignoring what was actually said. How little people read the quotes. And how much press BS people will believe if it suits their agenda. Whether that be Wenger-In or Wenger-Out.

Let’s look at them quotes from German football magazine Kicker in full;

“I want to be clear on what Wenger is doing,”

“I feel very, very happy at Arsenal and have shown the club that I am prepared to extend my contract,”

“The fans want me to stay. Now it’s just down to the club.”

“The club knows that I am, above all, here because of Arsene Wenger – who signed me and whose trust I have,”

“The club also knows that I just want to be clear on what the manager will do.”

At no point has Ozil said that he will only remain at Arsenal if Arsene Wenger stays. Or will leave if Arsene Wenger go’s. There has been a lot of reading between the lines.

Yes, Ozil admits that Wenger was a big reason for coming to Arsenal – and that should be remembered when it comes to replacing Wenger; Manchester United struggled to attract players under David Moyes – but that does not mean he is saying he will only stay at Arsenal if Arsene Wenger stays.

Of course, he wants clarification on what the managerial situation is going to be next season. Arsene Wenger’s contract comes to an end. Any player who is currently in contract negotiations with the club will be concerned as to what will happen next season.

Will Wenger still be at the club? If not who will be? Is it someone they know? Someone they have worked with? Someone they can work with?

Often in real life, when a popular long term manager leaves a company, those who served underneath question their future. The replacement manager could lead to the staff staying, but could also lead to a mass raft of resignations if they get the replacement wrong.

The way I see things, Ozil just wants to know what is going on before committing his future to the club. Does it mean he will only stay under Wenger? No. Does it mean he will leave if Wenger leaves? No. Does it mean he wants to see what the situation is going to be next season before making up his own mind? Yes.

Like Alexis Sanchez, Ozil has said that it is “down to the club”. They know what they want for him to stay. And the ball is in their hands. I imagine for Sanchez, like Ozil, the future depends on not just what Wenger does in terms of staying or going, but what the club does in terms of potentially replacing him.

Playing under Steve Bould or Eddie Howe is very different to playing under Diego Simeone or Massimiliano Allegri.

Of course, some will say that it should be The Arsenal, and not the manager, that is key to their decision. These people live in the past where people used to sign contracts without even reading them.

Footballers now only care about money, and that they will get on with the manager who will potentially drive them to success. More success means more money.

So let’s put them agendas away. I will leave the final summary to blogger You Are My Arsenal.

Keenos

Arsenal’s Dirty Laundry

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So I sit here for the 2nd time in a week on a Virgin Train on the way back from the North West to Euston having seen Arsenal go 1-nil up and lose 2-1.

We have now not kept a clean sheet in 12 games in all competitions, and it is costing us big time.

Meanwhile, across the city Chelsea are running away with the league, mainly due to their ability to keep clean sheets. They have now kept 9 in their last 11 league games.

11 wins in a row, their form is scintillating. 4 of their last 6 games have been 1-0. Arsenal have won 1-0 just once this season.

A last minute winner against Burnley with the last kick of the game. We didn’t have to see the game out, the final whistle went as they kicked off.

Our inability to see out a game having gone 1-nil up has now cost us on 3 major occasions.

Firstly against Spurs, 1-nil up, we conceded a penalty and drew 1-1. Then mid week, 1-nil up against Everton. Lost 2-1. Finally tonight (you will be reading this tomorrow so it’s yesterday), 1-nil up against Manchester City. Lose 2-1.

From 3 games which we were in a position to win, we got 1 points. Dropping 8. We are 9 points behind Chelsea.

During the second half, Man City fans mocked Arsenal with our own song; “1-nil, to The Arsenal” they sang. And it bought it home. We can no longer win a game 1-nil.

Attackers win you games, defences win you Championships. I had a debate on Twitter with a fan who told me “clean sheets are pointless, it’s all about scoring goals”. My response was that his comment shows he knows little about football.

The fan in question was American. He wanted us to win every game 5-4. No surprise considering his nationality. He can’t understand the benefit of keeping clean sheets. He probably doesn’t understand the concept of draws either.

Clean sheets are costing us points. When you need to score at least 2 goals a game to win a match you put yourselves up against it straight away. Chelsea have seen out 4 of the last 6 1-nil. That is 8 points gained with just a single goal. They are top because they are not conceding.

A lot of people felt Mustafi solved our problems at the back, and whilst he has been missed for the last 2 games, he has still been part of a defence that has conceded a lot of goals.

If Arsenal are to get back into this title race – and we are still not out of it – we need to keep clean sheets. We need to turn the 1-nil leads we take into 3 points.

Until we can keep a clean sheet, we will not win the league.

Keenos

Has Mustafi solved Arsenal’s defensive problems?

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Arsenal have not conceded a clean sheet for 10 games. You have to go back to the League Cup home win against Reading on the 25th of October for our last one. Arsenal clearly have problems at the back.

Much of our defensive “problems” were supposed to have been sorted by the signing of Shkodran Mustafi for big money from Valencia. And whilst he has been a terrific signing, and he is yet to lose a game in an Arsenal shirt, he has certainly not solved Arsenal’s defensive problems:

https://twitter.com/SouthportDJ/status/809713697417560064

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In the last two years, or lack of success has been firmly blamed on our defence, and on one defender in particular, Per Mertesacker. But this ignores the facts.

In 205/16 Petr Cech kept more clean sheets than any other goal keeper, Arsenal conceded as many goals as Leicester, and just 1 more than the leagues two stingiest defences, Man U and Spurs.

The year before was not too much different. Arsenal were once again 3rd in the league when it came to ‘goals conceded’ Only Southampton and Champions Chelsea conceding less.

So what has happened at Arsenal? If Mustafi has so obviously (to many fans eyes) improved out defence, why has it seemingly gone backwards?

The first problem is our eyes often deceive us.

Per Mertesacker was often labelled a weak link as when he was beaten, our made an error, he would rarely be in the picture when a goal was scored. Where as when Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny make errors, it is not as obvious.

This year Arsenal have given their opponents a lot of chances. And a lot of these come from Mustafi and Koscielny’s lack of positional awareness.

Neither are as good positionally as Mertesacker, nor are they as good at organising the defence. What this leads to is a massive gap between the two defenders, leaving a lot of space for strikers to slip in between and get a chance. From Cavani in the Champions League, to lowly Ludogorets, our defence gives opponents very clear chances.

Even when we beat Ludogorets 6-0, the chicken farmers still had 10 shots and it was only poor finishing that stopped them scoring.

The weakness with Per Mertesacker was when a ball went in behind Hector Bellerin, Mertesacker would not have the pace to get across him. So Koscielny at left sided centre back would have to undercut the big German to get across to the opponent. This would then leave Mertesacker labouring to get back in the middle to cover whoever had run through from the away team. Koscielny wouldn’t get to the right quick enough, Mertesacker would be nowhere near anyone, Nacho Monreal would fail to drop inside to cover, and our opponents would be left with a simple tap in if the squared ball was right.

Signing Mustafi has meant that Koscielny no longer needs to undercut, but it has created another problem.

When Bellerin gets caught out going forward, Mustafi drifts across to the right a bit to cover his full back, which is what a centre back should do. But then everyone else should follow. Koscielny should tuck in to cover Mustafi, either the defensive midfielder or Monreal tucks in to cover Koscielny, and the winger or defensive midfielder slots in to cover Monreal. But this is not happening.

Mustafi go’s right, and Koscielny is not covering his centre back partner, leaving a big gap between the two centre backs that a striker is exploiting.

A major reason why Koscielny is not covering is he is so concerned about Monreal. He is trying to cover his right back when he should be covering his centre back. It does not help when Alex Iwobi is also not covering his full back, so Monreal can not fully commit to covering the middle.

I do think Mustafi and Koscielny could develop into a decent defensive partnership, but it is clear that at the moment Arsenal’s defence is not keeping enough clean sheets.

Koscielny’s positioning has always been his weakness. I have got a lot of abuse for saying this before. But this probably highlights who knows football and who doesn’t. Koscielny has been caught out a lot inf the past. Too high up the field, too far left, diving in when a player is not a danger.

There is a reason why Koscielny has conceded more penalties than any other Premier League player since 2010. Because he is always out of position and having to lunge in to win the ball.

Koscielny has always performed better when he has a leader next to him. Someone who can organise him, direct him. Mustafi looks a classy player, better than Mertesacker, but at the moment the defence is struggling with positional organisation. I am a big believer of the effect games such as FIFA has on people. Many did not rate Mertesacker purely because they could not defend with him on computer games.

Good defences always work on partnerships. You have a leader. Tony Adams, John Terry, Laurent Blanc, Nemanja Vidic. Arsenal currently do not have this out and out defensive leader. Manchester City have spent £150m trying to find one.

Mustafi could grow into the leader of the defence over the next 6 months, but at the moment he is the junior partner to Koscielny.

Arsenal defensive frailties have become worse this season. Mustafi has solved one problem but created another.

Keenos