A lot has been said about Mesut Ozil in recent weeks after a couple of quiet games led a lot of Arsenal fan’s to start criticising the German midfielder. After a brilliant start to his Arsenal career, he seemed of have gone off the boil.
During the game against Cardiff City, a lot of people in the crowd were calling for his substitution, not really understanding the key contribution he was making in the attacking half of the field.
A statistic by Orbinho highlights how good his performance was;
Mesut Özil completed 38 out of 40 passes in the opposition half today. Two assists. Absolute class.
38 completed passes out of 40 in the opposition half. With ability like that, he will, and has, create a lot of goals for Arsenal.
Despite being ‘under par’ and ‘struggling to acclimatise‘ since joining Arsenal, his full Premier League statistics make interesting reading:
Assists: 6 – Premier League Leader
Key Passes: 2.9pg – 1.2 more than the next top Arsenal player
Average Passes: 64.6pg – Only Aaron Ramsey (72.1) has averaged more
Pass Success: 87% – Only behind Flamini and Arteta, who’s passes tend to be less risky
Accurate Crosses: 1.5pg – 2nd behind Walcott (1.5)
Through Balls: 0.4pg – 2nd, only to Olivier Giroud (0.5)
Successful Dribbles: 1.6pg – More than anyone bar Chamberlain, who’s only play 1 PL game
It is clear by the statistics that even though it appears Mesut Ozil is having quiet, unproductive, game, he is actually the most important, most efficient, man in the midfield. Coming out 1st or 2nd in all important statistics for a midfielder highlights what he does.
So next time it seems he is having a quiet game, just remember, he probably isn’t.
Well after last weekend and a few disagreements with other supporters of The Arsenal over what we wanted the Man City v Tottenham result to be we decided to put both sides of the argument over. Now me and fellow writer of this blog, Keenos often do not see eye to eye, you could say that we have plenty of healthy debates over a wide range of subjects and have done so for the last 10 years. So here’s our thoughts on wherever or not to want Tottenham to beat Man City…
Well firstly I am old enough to remember football from the early 80s, I was there in the semi final in 1991 (one of the worst day’s of my life) so I remember having to speak to and see happy Tottenham fans and that’s not a happy memory. From a very young age I was brought up to love the The Arsenal and part of that was hating that lot from Middlesex. The way I see every season is that the 1st priority is beating Tottenham, the 2nd is finishing above them. Failing those would see that lot up the road crow like mad donkeys on acid.
I look at the season as us playing 38 games with every other team having to play 36 as I want Tottenham to lose every game they play. I want them to finish every season on 0 pts with a goal difference of minus 10000. I don’t even like them winning the coin toss. Anything that makes them happy is not a good thing in my eyes.
I really can not understand any so called fan of The Arsenal wanting that lot to win anything. The joy it gave me to see Man City smash 6 (SIX) past them last Sunday was immense and rightly so, social media went nut’s and it was on full on piss take mode. The perfect weekend, us winning them getting smashed.
Now of course I’m aware that if Tottenham somehow managed to beat the other teams that could challenge us for the title/top 4 that could be good for our league position but until St Totteringhams day is done and dusted that doesn’t remain the priority. Any fan of The Arsenal who could either want or shout at their tele for that lot from Middlesex to win or even draw a game can, to coin a phrase that’s been slapped at me more times than I’ve had cold pints “fuck off down the lane”.
Do you think Tottenham fans want us to beat teams like Southampton/Everton/Liverpool that could challenge them for 6th ? of course not, there greatest moments in the last 20 years are games we have lost. IF we are to win anything and challenge for anything this season I want it to be because we have won games, not because Tottenham have somehow managed beat anyone.
Arsenal first. They are the most important factor in footballing life. The success of Arsenal Football Club is all that matters. Spurs are out of the title race. They can not win it. Manchester United are a title rival. That is what matters. A defeat for Manchester United reduces their chance of winning the title, and by proxy, increases the chance of Arsenal winning the title. If Arsenal win Saturday, and Manchester United lose, Arsenal will be 10 points ahead of Manchester United. Surely it is better to be 10 points ahead of Manchester United than 11 points ahead of Tottenham?
In 1999, Arsenal went into the last day of the season needing Spurs to beat Manchester United at White Hart Lane to be in with a chance of the title. Everyone in Highbury wanted Manchester United to lose that day. Had Spurs won, Arsenal would have won the league.
Imagine a scenario, last day of the season, Arsenal are joint top with and could win the title. They are playing the side currently in 18th. Spurs are 17th, playing the side in 2nd. What would you rather, an Arsenal title or a Spurs relegation. It is the success of oneself which defines my happiness, not the failure and sadness of another.
Yes, I was laughing with everyone else during Spurs’ 6-0 defeat against Manchester City, but I would much prefer to be 9 points ahead of City then the current 6. The success of Arsenal is what is important. Manchester United losing is more important than Spurs losing.
We are the bigger club. The fact is, Spurs often want Arsenal to lose more than they want their own club to win. They know as fans that they will never see Tottenham win the league in their lifetime, so the only satisfaction for them is seeing Arsenal fail to win it. We are different, we have the success, Tottenham winning or losing means nothing for our league chances. It is better for them to beat our rivals and finish mid table, then lose to them and still finish mid table. It is about the bigger picture.
On Sunday, I will not be cheering Spurs to victory, I will not be supporting Spurs, I will be supporting a Manchester United loss, if that means Spurs have to win, then so be it.
I almost became a Chav. I actually thought that Zola was the best player ever to play the beautiful game. I knew about Chelsea players more than the likes of Wright, Lee Dixon, Kevin Campbell, Merson, Bould, Alan Smith, George Graham etc. for the sole reason I grew up surrounded by Chelsea fans and watched some of their matches and only the odd Arsenal game.
It was difficult to watch any Arsenal matches back then. We didn’t have that coverage to such matches easily. You know the technological problems of a 3rd world country like Kenya in the 90s and I was just 5 yrs old then! I had never heard of a mobile phone back then let alone the internet or cable television, imagine! Most of the information about the EPL came from reading the daily newspapers which will be a day or two late!
I only read about The Arsenal signing the likes of Bergkamp, AW, Petit etc. in the papers. I also read about the 1998 double in the papers though I had watched just two matches that campaign one against Southampton I remember! At least I was ten back then and running away from extra tuition and Madrassa classes to just go watch football would earn one a thorough beating.
Good thing though that was a world cup year and everyone watched the world cup. I came to know more about Bergkamp, Petit and Vieira from just watching the world cup matches. We later signed Henry and Davor Suker; Croatia and France top scorers in that tournament. Sadly, I didn’t get to watch them play for The Arsenal as I had now moved to the upper classes and needed to concentrate a lot more on my studies. Thanks goodness I only read about the 6-1 loss to Utd in the papers!
In Feb 2002, I joined a national school in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya for my secondary school education. It was there that I met Ian Kipchirchir, a devoted Gooner and my transformation to a fully pledged Arsenal fan was complete. He sneaked a small portable radio to school and we would listen to the 5 o’clock BBC live commentary every Saturday and the midnight sports news in midweek just to know how The Arsenal had fared. It was risky as it would lead to 2 weeks suspension if we were caught but who cared!
I could now watch more games when I was on holiday or not in school. It was now easy to catch the matches at the local joint as many people now had cable television coverage. I became completely engrossed in football and The Arsenal. I didn’t want to miss a single match. I would stay late into the night or walk long distances just to find a place to watch The Arsenal play. What a team we had then.
The years 1996-2005 were great years. The squad was complete. It was composed of players with great technical ability and just sheer physical strength. It was a great blend of players who complemented one another very well. It didn’t matter whether we lost key players because they were adequately replaced. The desire and passion to win was just vivid and add to it the panache in the overall team play. Winning was the only thing.
The years that followed that very successful period were very difficult as the club underwent many changes. The summer of 2005 saw an overhaul of the squad. The old guard was replaced by unproven precocious players and saw the shift from big, tall players to small, technical players. This came just after the greatest achievement for the club and English football; going the whole season unbeaten and just before moving to the new stadium. I really thought we would dominate English football for years to come after such an achievement. I was wrong…
The approach the club took their after was not the best at least in my opinion. Trophies were replaced by the ‘top four trophy’, returning injured players became LANS which was the biggest flaw in AW’s management in that same period, average players became overpaid, signing quality players became a taboo, the young players would be killed if better and proven players were signed, the cups lost their importance, more players became susceptible to injuries and would be sidelined for longer periods leaving the squad even thinner, change of formation and we started selling our star players without adequate replacements or completely fail to replace them.
In a nutshell the winning mentality was gone. Excuses for poor performances became the order of the day. Most players were average and/or not suitable to play the Wengerball. Players started being played out of position. Same tactics were used regardless of opposition and most players were almost similar to one another with absolutely no squad depth. For eight consecutive seasons our capitulation was just as similar as the season past yet nothing was done about it. Mistakes were never learnt and have never been even this 2013/14 season.
We always dither in the transfer market. Indecision and penny-pinching takes the better of our manager in the transfer window and still refuses to address the glaring problems of the team. 9 seasons since we last won a trophy the squad still has one 2/3 players short more notably a super striker and a proper winger. OG is a good player but we will never win the league with him as our main striker even if he were to stay fit the whole season. By our own standards he is not the best out there. Can we do better? Absolutely…
This season we can win the league but let us not deceive ourselves that this already thin squad can sustain a title challenge. Let 2007/08 be a great lesson. We must sign another striker and he should be better than what we have. Hope we win something this season. The whole team and the fans deserve it.
That said it is easy to brush aside the overseas fan base just because we’ve never stood on the terraces of the North Bank at Highbury nor been to the Grove but we share the same passion. We win we bask in the same glory; we lose we share the same pain and angst. I am Arsenal and always will be…
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 