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.
1.. As always I will start with our back 5.. Not really much to say, doing a great job every one of them and with Cardiff scoring under a goal per game another clean sheet is a big possibility.
2.. Flamini, the big question has moved on from can him and Arteta play in the same side together to just why does he take a pair of scissors to his shirts. and why someone doesn’t stop him.
3.. Ramsey;s an ex-Cardiff player, bang on form for us and will be looking forward to this one.
4.. Great game by Jack Wilshere midweek, brilliant goals, all-round performance and he just adds to Wenger’s nice to have selection headache.
5.. Ozil, I’d love to say this could be his kind of game, but I think it maybe time to give him a little breather.
6.. Even tottenh*m won at Cardiff, 0-1, even if it was a dodgy penalty (I didn’t bother to check if this is true, but i’d be surprised if its wrong)
7.. Apart from Cardiff’s strike rate their defence is not upto much either shipping in 17 goals in 12 Prem games.
8.. Giroud, first he should take all our penalty’s. Secondly he must remain fit as the Danish fella is not fit to wear our shirt.
9.. Cardiff so far this season.. played 12, won 3, drawn 5, lost 5.
10.. Wenger knows this is another tricky away game, Cardiff’s will be well up for this upto the players to get in early, silent them and take control.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 