Arsenal Continue To Ruin Reputation Over Ozil Treatment by Dan Smith
For Christmas I was given a lot of books to read. One of them was written by Piers Morgan, a gift from my Mum due to our constant debates after watching segments of GMB on YouTube.
I actually agree with Mr Morgan on a lot of his points of views, but I can’t help but feel he contradicted himself this week.
In his book, Mr Morgan said his biggest takeaway was that the events of the Pandemic had taught him the important things in life. That he had been wasting too much time debating with people things that really didn’t matter. That a lot more serious issues were going on in the world.
Well it has taken him less than a week of 2021 to forget his own realisation as he continued to troll Ozil, upon hearing the player might finally have agreed to move.
Arsenal Continue To Ruin Reputation Over Ozil Treatment by Dan Smith
For Christmas I was given a lot of books to read. One of them was written by Piers Morgan, a gift from Mum due to our constant debates after watching segments of GMB on YouTube.
I actually agree with Mr Morgan on a lot of his points of views, but I can’t help but feel he contradicted himself this week.
In his book, Mr Morgan said his biggest takeaway was that the events of the Pandemic had taught him the important things in life. That he had been wasting too much time debating with people things that really didn’t matter. That a lot more serious issues were going on in the world.
Well it has taken him less than a week of 2021 to forget his own realisation as he continued to troll Ozil, upon hearing the player might finally have agreed to move.
This isn’t the first unprovoked attack on Ozil our celebrity fan has made. On social media of course, I dare say he wouldn’t say any of his messages to the man’s face.
On closer inspection, while Mr Morgan can maybe get away with saying it’s ‘banter’, some other comments I read are vile and have been for years. To the point I suppose he’s learned to live with it.
The irony will never be lost on me that these same cowards talk about loyalty, yet (let’s pretend the German has done something wrong) why would you worry about being loyal to any ‘fans’ who are abusing and threatening you and your family?
Many might have gotten their way with the midfielder, it seems, finally conceding defeat that there is no way back into the first team. I guess it was silly of him for believing everything was being judged based on Football.
So this might be my final chance to defend a player, at least until he’s free to give us the details of what’s really gone on behind the scenes, which I feel might damage our reputation.
Let’s just see if one more time, someone can give me a reasonable explanation of what the player has done wrong.
Ozil could have made the same salary (if not more) by leaving as a free agent in 2018, doing what the likes of Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, etc were all ridiculed for, he could have made it clear, ‘sell me now, or I leave for nothing’.
Some gooners suggest those names sabotaged their legacy in North London by not extending their deals, others have used it as justification for sickening chants and taunts.
So which one is it? Are you disloyal for demanding a move away or disloyal for signing a new contract? How can you in one breath call Ozil greedy for staying yet call Nasri the C word for not?
Rival fans laugh at us for that way of thinking.
Was Ozil motivated by money? Of course …. just like every other footballer. Aubameyang, Saka, Vieira, Henry, Tony Adams …even Arsene Wenger …. not one person represents Arsenal out of love. Don’t just hate Ozil for that, that’s been this sport for decades.
Players have agents who make sure their client is getting well looked after. At no point do they say, ‘wow that’s way too much!’.
Do players get paid an insane amount of money? Of course!
Do I feel sorry for Arsenal? The same company that charges me a ridiculous amount of money for tickets, merchandise etc? No!
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t leak out how greedy a player is when you are part of a TV contracts in the billions.
Has Ozil justified his salary? No.
Yet the only way he ever would have justified 350,000 pound a week is by winning the Premiership. How many times during his time as a Gunner can you say the ambition existed from the owner to be anything else than a side who finished top 4?
Before Ozil arrived, we had gone 9 years without a trophy. Did those players justify their salaries? What about what’s happened since Ozil’s been dropped? We finished 8th, our worst position in 25 years.
We followed that up with our worst League Start in the Premier League era. So you could make the argument that we are witnessing one of the worst Arsenal squads in decades?
That squad isn’t on minimum wage by the way. Just like Ozil, they too are being paid thousands of pounds a week. Just like Ozil, Auba made sure he was paid over the odds before he agreed to stay. Just like Ozil, there are players who equally will not take a pay cut to leave.
Ask Piers Morgan himself.
If ITV told him they regretted his pay rise and asked him to move to the BBC for less money or they would pay him to sit at home, what would he do? Especially if he sat there and saw his replacement get worse ratings then when he was in the hot seat.
That’s my biggest argument, Arsenal haven’t done any better without Ozil. They went backwards.
Like they went backwards when they decided not to offer Ramsey a new deal.
Like they have gone backwards since forcing Mr Wenger out of the club.
All these decisions are designed to save our owner money, yet never bettering us on the pitch.
Some gooners will celebrate Arsenal lowering the wage bill this month? Why?
Why do you care if it just saves a Billionaire some money?
To become as rich as the Kroenke Family has, you accept along the way that it’s natural you’re going to make deals you regret. Realising they were paying Champions League wages to a Europa League squad; Silent Stan clearly wishes he never gave Ozil the offer he did. Instead of accepting it and writing it off, he and his minions have done everything to make someone feel so miserable it would force him out. They leaked out how the player refused a pay cut even though they knew they were lying to the first team and had zero intention of protecting jobs.
Worse., when China refused to broadcast a fixture, Arsenal distanced themselves from Ozil’s political views just to get TV revenue.
Just think about that. Ozil points out his concerns over how Muslims are being treated in China, but his employers don’t support him out of fear of not being broadcast in China? And Ozil is the greedy one?
Arsene Wenger warned us that we as a club were in danger of losing the values we were famous for. The ‘Arsenal way’ used to mean ‘The Right way’. We have lost those principles and that’s what the Ozil saga will represent.
Ozil will be fine. He will make money elsewhere.
Stan Kroenke will take his 350 000 pound a week and bank it.
It’s Arsenal who look poor.
Arsenal who won’t bring in anyone better.
I wish some could see it. As I wrote for the last year, I don’t care if Ozil doesn’t play as long as someone better is playing. That’s not happening. That won’t happen this month.
A club who no longer base decisions on football. A club who would not matter the lack of creativity, no matter how low we are in the table, saving money will take priority.
And then there are so called ‘fans’. In 12 months, let’s say Saka wants to leave for Man City. If you’re a fan who has mocked Ozil for staying, you have lost the right to ever demand loyalty the other way round.
There’s one report that Ozil was in tears this week when he was told he still would not be submitted to play despite our lack of creativity. The moment it was confirmed that this is nothing to do with Football. Some ‘fans’ have mocked him for crying.
That’s the sort of club we have become
Be Kind In The Comments
Dan
This isn’t the first unprovoked attack on Ozil our celebrity fan has made. On social media of course, I dare say he wouldn’t say any of his messages to the man’s face.
On closer inspection, while Mr Morgan can maybe get away with saying it’s ‘banter’, some other comments I read are vile and have been for years. To the point I suppose he’s learned to live with it.
The irony will never be lost on me that these same cowards talk about loyalty, yet (let’s pretend the German has done something wrong) why would you worry about being loyal to any ‘fans’ who are abusing and threatening you and your family?
Many might have gotten their way with the midfielder, it seems, finally conceding defeat that there is no way back into the first team. I guess it was silly of him for believing everything was being judged based on Football.
So this might be my final chance to defend a player, at least until he’s free to give us the details of what’s really gone on behind the scenes, which I feel might damage our reputation.
Let’s just see if one more time, someone can give me a reasonable explanation of what the player has done wrong.
Ozil could have made the same salary (if not more) by leaving as a free agent in 2018, doing what the likes of Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, etc were all ridiculed for, he could have made it clear, ‘sell me now, or I leave for nothing’.
Some gooners suggest those names sabotaged their legacy in North London by not extending their deals, others have used it as justification for sickening chants and taunts.
So which one is it? Are you disloyal for demanding a move away or disloyal for signing a new contract? How can you in one breath call Ozil greedy for staying yet call Nasri the C word for not?
Rival fans laugh at us for that way of thinking.
Was Ozil motivated by money? Of course …. just like every other footballer. Aubameyang, Saka, Vieira, Henry, Tony Adams …even Arsene Wenger …. not one person represents Arsenal out of love. Don’t just hate Ozil for that, that’s been this sport for decades.
Players have agents who make sure their client is getting well looked after. At no point do they say, ‘wow that’s way too much!’.
Do players get paid an insane amount of money? Of course!
Do I feel sorry for Arsenal? The same company that charges me a ridiculous amount of money for tickets, merchandise etc? No!
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t leak out how greedy a player is when you are part of a TV contracts in the billions.
Has Ozil justified his salary? No.
Yet the only way he ever would have justified 350,000 pound a week is by winning the Premiership. How many times during his time as a Gunner can you say the ambition existed from the owner to be anything else than a side who finished top 4?
Before Ozil arrived, we had gone 9 years without a trophy. Did those players justify their salaries? What about what’s happened since Ozil’s been dropped? We finished 8th, our worst position in 25 years.
We followed that up with our worst League Start in the Premier League era. So you could make the argument that we are witnessing one of the worst Arsenal squads in decades?
That squad isn’t on minimum wage by the way. Just like Ozil, they too are being paid thousands of pounds a week. Just like Ozil, Auba made sure he was paid over the odds before he agreed to stay. Just like Ozil, there are players who equally will not take a pay cut to leave.
Ask Piers Morgan himself.
If ITV told him they regretted his pay rise and asked him to move to the BBC for less money or they would pay him to sit at home, what would he do? Especially if he sat there and saw his replacement get worse ratings then when he was in the hot seat.
That’s my biggest argument, Arsenal haven’t done any better without Ozil. They went backwards.
Like they went backwards when they decided not to offer Ramsey a new deal.
Like they have gone backwards since forcing Mr Wenger out of the club.
All these decisions are designed to save our owner money, yet never bettering us on the pitch.
Some gooners will celebrate Arsenal lowering the wage bill this month? Why?
Why do you care if it just saves a Billionaire some money?
To become as rich as the Kroenke Family has, you accept along the way that it’s natural you’re going to make deals you regret. Realising they were paying Champions League wages to a Europa League squad; Silent Stan clearly wishes he never gave Ozil the offer he did. Instead of accepting it and writing it off, he and his minions have done everything to make someone feel so miserable it would force him out. They leaked out how the player refused a pay cut even though they knew they were lying to the first team and had zero intention of protecting jobs.
Worse., when China refused to broadcast a fixture, Arsenal distanced themselves from Ozil’s political views just to get TV revenue.
Just think about that. Ozil points out his concerns over how Muslims are being treated in China, but his employers don’t support him out of fear of not being broadcast in China? And Ozil is the greedy one?
Arsene Wenger warned us that we as a club were in danger of losing the values we were famous for. The ‘Arsenal way’ used to mean ‘The Right way’. We have lost those principles and that’s what the Ozil saga will represent.
Ozil will be fine. He will make money elsewhere. Stan Kroenke will take his 350 000 pound a week and bank it.
It’s Arsenal who look poor.
Arsenal who won’t bring in anyone better.
I wish some could see it. As I wrote for the last year, I don’t care if Ozil doesn’t play as long as someone better is playing. That’s not happening. That won’t happen this month.
A club who no longer base decisions on football. A club who would not matter the lack of creativity, no matter how low we are in the table, saving money will take priority.
And then there are so called ‘fans’. In 12 months, let’s say Saka wants to leave for Man City. If you’re a fan who has mocked Ozil for staying, you have lost the right to ever demand loyalty the other way round.
There’s one report that Ozil was in tears this week when he was told he still would not be submitted to play despite our lack of creativity. The moment it was confirmed that this is nothing to do with football. Some ‘fans’ have mocked him for crying.
That’s the sort of club we have become…
Be Kind In The Comments
Dan
Ozil was a flop,he will be gone soon lets forget him and talk about real players like Tierney,Saka,Auba,Martinelli,Laca,Gabriel,Pablo,Leno,Danni,Nelson the list is growing and The Flop and his gang Mustafi,Kolasniac,Guendouzi are going …..
WONDERFUL !
You don’t know the meaning of that word you used…Calling Ozil a flop is insanity.
As soon as penned big contract.
didnt they finish 8th and are now 11th ?
have they not flopped ?
Peruse the article very and balance things this out. This is a balanced write up.
The write doesn’t argue with your arbitrarily tight-held opinions, he’s just making a lucid breakdown of the situation based on his lens, and what you can only do is to vomit a spurious jibe at an athlete who’s only human; something you can do and even worse.
Next time, engage your cerebrum to produce a rooted premises not making unsubstantiated conclusion.
Thanks.
Flop? Perhaps you could compare Ozil credentials against your listed players like Tierney, Saka, Auba, Martinelli, Laca, Gabriel, Pablo, Leno, Danni and Nelson. Not Is even close to Ozil Victories.
DFB-Pokal 2009
UEFA U-21 Championship 2009
Supercup 2009
Copa del Rey 2011
Primera Division 2012
Supercopa 2012
FA Cup 4 – 2014 2015 2017 2020
World Cup 2014
Community Shield 2015
What do you mean by flop? You are just one biased Ozil hater. Have you not seen Magic on the pitch that ozil has treated us to for many years. No Arsenal player will ever come close to these class moments… Ozil shall rise again soon and put to shame fake fans.😠
Dan a very well articulated thoughtful piece of writing. The Owners and Club hierarchy have shown that they are prepared to degrade a player’s reputation and future by casting him as an Evil Force and Greedy money grabber when 3 years ago he was vital to their plans. The next player to be treated this way is just around the bend. The sad thing is that Supporters who fuel this club are sucked into the narrative are the ones who spread hatred to their own players on online platforms. No Sportsperson deserves to be treated this way at the start or end of their career.
It’s a really long article, I’m sorry I couldn’t read the whole thing but I’ll weigh in.
If Ozil had just left, things would never have escalated to this point. Calling him a money grabber was a result of him sticking to a place where he clearly wasn’t welcome anymore.
I don’t think that the board is as involved as people think. Why would they be? We need to move on.
I am an Arsenal fan. I support a player if he aligns with that perspective, we part ways otherwise. I respect Mesut as a man, but he should have left the moment it was clear he was surplus to requirements.
The board is 100% involved.
And you know this how?
Are you part of them?
Money is the issue here. He would have left if any club could match what he currently earns here. We know no club will match that especially knowing he isn’t as good as he used to. I wouldn’t leave too especially with the way the club took the whole thing.
Hi, bro please note that Ozil is a true Arsenal player not a sellout like Van Persi, Nasri, etc. So just know that great players become on form and sometimes off form, so stop blaming Ozil for not be on his best level. To be honest this matter isn’t about Ozil is a political issue that has been started by Germany when they fail to qualify for the second round in the world cup.
You are the disgrace..
Dan, your most thought provoking and sensible article to date, in my opinion.
I agree 100% with everything you have written and said the same kind of thing while replying to the article about MO leaving the club for Turkey.
Needless to say, the fans you describe were in full swing in their delight, with the personal abuse of the player and his salary being the central feature.
Your point that, as long as the club had positive results, were playing attractive football and creating chances, the argument that Ozil was not being missed was null and void… but that wasn’t the case.
Our worst start for decades, our four home defeats in a row were still met claims that MO wouldn’t improve matters-but of course the decision to leave him out of the squad meant that the club didn’t even have that possibility anyway.
What nonsensical thinking and decision making!!!
Still, even today, we have MA saying he hasn’t yet made a decision on whether to bring him back into the squad, yet also saying he can leave if he finds a club, while his agent says he still wants to see out his contract.
Is this the way our club now acts?
We are becoming the laughing stock of the PL.
Still, my fellow Gooner, we will support this club through thick and thin no matter what and let’s hope that the club can start to act as it did when we were thought of as the bastion of English football – a brilliant article.
“We are becoming the laughing stock of the PL.” Sorry, its not we, it’s you and those who support him and his antics over club. For us the club comes first. Gunner till my final breath.
What a silly statement – for me the club ALSO comes first…what has that got to do with my post?
The article was about the club’s treatment of one of it’s players, not about why a fan thinks he supports the club more than another.
That’s the problem, when one doesn’t read and/or understand what the article is trying to say, but replies with the same old histrionic response.
Gunner to my final breath and my dads bigger than yours !!!!
Splendid reply @Ken 1945!
but we done worse without him so the club hasn’t come first has it ?
You are correct. A single tree cannot make a forest. Ozil wanted stay because arsenal don’t put pressure on players, where people under perform and get paid for mediocrity.
A player with ambition for production would have left right when he knew he was not needed but noo he wanted the pay without working hard. A fantastic player but not what we need at moment
Come on Fabian – Ozil was under pressure since Unai Emery took over. If the Arsenal manager is good enough to think of the best strategy to maximize Ozil performance is to have a good defensive midfield. Why Alexis Sánchez able to score many goals in Arsenal compare to MU.
Agree with your sentiments Mr.Ken. Mostly we are mocked online for our reactionary thinking(obviously guilty myself), whenever we win we are out of bounds with joy, same whenever we lose, just with anger, sadness, and sometimes lowkey hate. In the case of MO and for that matter, AW is the prime example of this.
It’s true that the those outside of Arsenal keep laughing at Arsenal as a whole with this Ozil sage.
But on the other hand just go onto their forums and see what they keep saying about your cult hero (Ozil) himself. They think he is a joke money grabbing mercenary.
So Arsenal is being laughed at and the same time Ozil is being made fun of himself.
😊
I have seen many opposition fans bigging up MO too. So maybe you only focus on the ones that align with your viewpoint? Cult Hero? Lol. But if it pleases you to call me that by all means go ahead😊😉
Goonster does seem to have a limited vocabulary when trying to describe those who disagree with his views and your last sentence sums up how we should sympathize with him.
Maybe MO is a topic which is too frustrating to discuss for Mr.Goonster. I see that I agree with most of his opinions, based on various other Arsenal subjects, but not on MO. I guess we can only attribute it to the divisive power that MO has had over the fans, even if he didnt mean to. So many people who are like minded on many subjects are divisive over Mesut. I often wonder how can one man create such division in opinion among fans, even if unknowingly?
“I often wonder how can one man create such division in opinion among fans, even if unknowingly?”
Sid,
The way I see it, if the Mesut division started before the German national team and the Chinese Muslim issues then it’s for football reasons, but if it started after those issues then some people might have felt attacked (or related to what Mesut accused some people of)
For example, some fans have issue with Mesut friendship with Turkey president. One would be forgiven to wonder what that has to do with Arsenal in any way?
They treated MO unfairly no matter who says wat. MA must keep an open mind with all the players and not dislike some and throw them away.
@Sid.
How come you agree with me on most issue but not on the Ozil issue?
Give me an example of issues you normally agree with me about Our team and club.
I would like to think I am an objective person. I call bullcrap where I see it. It does not matter if it’s Wenger, Iwobi, Giroud, Xhaka, Ozil, Arteta, Emery, Kroenke, Gazidis, Mustafi, Auba, Laca etc..
The problem I find with some of you with regards to Ozil is that you have so much bias towards him. You apply a different criteria for Ozil and a completely different one for everyone else. I have never seen anything like it. Most will call out Mustafi, Welbeck, Iwobi, Laca, Wenger, Elneny, Arteta, Emery, Ljumberg, Xhaka, Willian, Luiz, Willock, Kroenke, Gazidis etc, call them not good enough for Arsenal, and I will agree to the criticism for each individual at a given time.
But the moment the same criticism is applies to Ozil then you start seeing people getting emotional, sensitive and into their feelings just because anyone dared to even criticise Prince Ozil.
VICTIMHOOD, Race, Religion, Hate, ethnicity etc are then suggested as the trigger for the criticism.
And I have been criticising Ozil since 2014. For me it’s always been about his one field personality, attitude and mentality. It all started in 2013 or 2014 when we lot to City 6-3, everyone came over to applaud our magnificent travelling away fans. Ozil refused and Mertesacker told him off. Then another incident against Bayern away, he was just going through the emotions while we were being pummelled. Was just nonchalant.
Then everyone started making excuses for him, blaming Giroud and our whole season after season.
Him always disappearing in most games.
He Started callling sickies under wenger. One time he called in his typical winter sickie but then was photographed out clubbing that same night while his teammates were still in Newcastle.
Remember that Europa league Final against Chelsea? How disgraceful was he that night?
Him never taking any responsibility. He is always the Victim. And his fan crowd encourage him all the time.
The underperforming, undermining his managers. Saying to Emery’s face “Wallah You are not a manager”. Constantly undermining emery on social media.
Every time we lose Ozil would run to his social media and take slimy digs at Emery, Ljumberg and Arteta.
Refusing to take a pay cut like his teammates.
Meddling in the clubs affairs (Gunnersaurus Stunt) etc.
His Erdogan bootlicking.
May be I would have ignored all that stuff if Ozil showed a bit of fight whenever he was on the pitch. Showing a bit of care. But all he has ever done is “I don’t give a fck. I am too big for arsenal. Arsenal should feel privileged that I am even their player. I am a global superstar. Got nothing to prove to anyone at Arsenal” kind of attitude.
That mentality and attitude is what irritates me with your boy Ozil.
Thanks for the expanation Mr.Highbury Hero. It bought some clarity to the situation.
Mr. Goonster, remember when we were playing rigid football? You said at that time that MA should give the players freedom to play and I agreed with that opinion, though I might not have directly conveyed so. Recently there are many such instances where I have agreed with your thoughtful opinions. It is just that on MO, I think it is not the sole fault of one individual. Sure he was disgraceful the night Mertesacker scolded him, and also was not playing well against Bayern, but on balance he has played well against many sides too, and has showed good attitude. I dont think he took to social media every time we lost, but you have a point that he usually does PR releases at awkward times. Regarding the paycut issue, I think he has explained it well. The season where we almost won the title and he was on form, at that time Giroud went off the boil, and so at that one time of the season I too have criticised Ollie G. About the sickies part, well I agree with you on that part that MO was not the model employee, but he was a world class star before je came to Arsenal, and such stars usually have lavish lifestyles. The fact that he chose to call in sick and then clubbed on a matchday, that is unacceptable, but I dont think he was under someone who would take him off the team for that. Mr. Wenger was protective most of the time of his players, and MO still put up decent numbers so maybe the issue was resolved quietly. The issues escalated after him being pictured with Erdogan, which led to him being scapegoated for Germany’s 2018 world cup run and led to him resigning from the national team. At that moment the criticism was more shifted to his political views and idealogy. Also when MA took over, MO like everyone else was playing decently, boosted by the new manager’s bump. Then came the paycut issue. Initially I felt that he was ousted for footballing reasons seeing as we were playing relatively well against attacking football, but then when we were cancelled by teams with a lowblock, at that time I had a suspicion that we were starved of backup options. MO could still maybe have played against AstonVilla last season, and atleast helped with the chance creation. I am not completely on Mr. Dan’s side that he was only excluded for non footballing reasons. I quite liked MA’s formations and the fact was we were creating glaring scoring oppurtunities(not more than 3) in some games which our forwards missed. It was a case of when rather than if. But that process was quickened with the arrival of ESR. Now if MO was someone who was available, we might have created more chances. Evwn when we initially shifted to a back4 with TP as one of the modfielders, MO ahead of him was a good idea in some games, like the Leicester game. But yeah the relationship between the club and the player is so bad now that there is no way for that to happen. I just think that the player wasnt the only one at fault here. Also your comment about energy, I think Mesut’s playstyle is something that shows he isnt exerting his all on the pitch but that is what may have been the manager’s instruction and he has been playing like that his entire career. Arsenal and Mr. Wenger knew this but still bought him ao maybe that was his purpose? And I hope that Aubameyang doesnt suffer the same fate. People loving him crazy for helping to carry us the last two years, call him lazy now. I dont think Pro footballers are lazy.
I hope you had a good holiday during Christmas and New Year. Stay safe and keep contributing to the site! Cheers!
Remember Ozil pays to let children have operations who would have otherwise have to wait and not only in this country
Great and balanced article. I feel so sorry for Ozil it’s like being used and dumped after a freak accident in a place of work without a thought for all the good shifts you’ve contributed. But I’m so glad Ozil didn’t allow himself to be bullied and blackmailed out of the club. My advice for him is to see out his contact and secure his future financially.
Yes, and lets have patience for a few more months with these articles, then it will be the end. If the reports from Turkey are true our gift will could be this month. Shame an 18 year old lad named ESR is doing what this man could not do over the last 2 years.
Wonderful article!!! Some fans on this site are downright nasty and have a holier than thou attitude. I am sure when Ozil joined Arsenal, he did so thinking that club would invest to build a team to win the PL. Other than Alexis Sanchez, he was always surrounded by average players whom he made look good. Over a period of few years, he had built quite a good understanding with players like Ramsey, Giroud, Monreal, etc. Post Wenger, that team has largely
been disbanded and newer average players have come into the picture. For whatever reasons, he hasn’t played more than a few matches at a stretch to build an understanding with these players and that in my opinion is the reason why
he has not been as productive as the seasons earlier. AFC has been trying to force him out for sometime now and he is perfectly justified in
rubbing AFC’s nose in the dirt on his way out! If Ozil was not part of AFC’s plans going forward, they should have paid off his remaining wages and terminated his contract.
Just one thing, we also had Santi at that time, who in my opinion is the greatest player to play for us in this decade.
So Koscieny, Cazola, Ramsey, Belerin that was regarded as the best right at a time, Meterzarka, Czeck, Giroud, Van Persie, Sanchez, were all average players compare to Ozil?
Adedayo, I’ve looked everywhere to see where this has been said or claimed, perhaps you can give me a clue as to where I can find such claims regarding Ozil and he players you mention?
Thanks.
DAN SMITH IS RIGHT
1. In any organization the public image is a factor. We haven’t done ourselves any favors in handling the Ozil matter at Arsenal. The reasons brandied about of his exclusion aren’t convincing. It’s a matter of backing the coach even when it is questionable to do so, and Arteta didn’t convince us with sufficient results to justify his decision. When Pep rang the changes when he started coaching Barcelona it raised eyebrows but the results followed immediately and were sustained. What about us?
2. Numbers don’t lie. The statistics of when Ozil played say to us if a coach knows how to use Ozil, his contribution is massive. The Arsenal stats of Ozil and with Ozil, those at Real Madrid and the same stats with Germany surely tell the truth about his quality.
3. Regarding his earnings, which one of us is not in our job or business for the best amount we can get? Mesut did not force anyone to sign for his pay. It wasn’t an agreement.
4. Be kind in your comments. While I believe Ozil is a star player, I respect the people who do not see him as such. Let us be kind to one another and to him him in our comments. He is not the main decision maker. He will still play football and we will get to confirm or adjust our ideas.
It have months ozil have not been playing where is arsenal on the table. Worst start ever think about it.
Oops. Wanted to say “It was an agreement. “
No, because there must be a clause to drop a player if he doesn’t perform as expected as written on his new contract. In addition to that, Arsenal had explained to Ozil that he wouldn’t be registered before this season started, yet Ozil chose to stay to collect his loyalty bonus and wage
GAI, can you direct me to the information that Ozil was told before the season started that he wouldn’t be registered please?
If that is the case, then why didn’t the club just buy out his contract, as he still had until June this year ? That is one of the points Dan is trying to make is it not?
Also, if your suggestion that every player had a clause in his contract stating that he would be dropped if he didn’t perform as expected – who and how would that expectation and decision be agreed upon before the contracts are signed?
Thanks.
Arteta had stated several times that he’s explained about the exclusions to Ozil/ Sokratis directly and you can find these press conference videos on Arsenal’s YouTube channel. I believe Arsenal wouldn’t buy out his contract because paying in installments is better
If there’s no clause about dropping an underperformer, Ozil could’ve sued Arsenal for whatever non-performance reasons his fans could think of
The explanations you are referring to, were made AFTER the decision was made, not before.
I like your idea of paying by instalments, so if that was the case, we can hardly blame the player for having to wait for his full renumeration can we?
With regards to your explanation regarding non performance, you haven’t answered my question about how an agreement would be agreed have you?
What the fans have to do with his non performances and him being able to sue the club I have no idea, so perhaps you could explain that to me?
Thanks again.
Arteta had clearly stated that he explained about the exclusions to Ozil/ Sokratis directly before this season started, unless you don’t believe him
We can’t blame a player for legally wanting to get his full renumeration, but Ozil’s interest in football is questionable. He could’ve revived his career elsewhere, if some top European football clubs were serious in chasing his signature
All employment contracts I signed have performance based clauses, so I believe it’s the same in football. I read all clauses before I signed anything, hence I bet Ozil did the same
Again I have to ask you, how would the club and the player define a performance related clause?
If Ma has these in his contract and he hasn’t fulfilled them, then the club would be able to sack him and not carry on paying him…isn’t that correct?
So, if we take the statement that Ozilhas not been playing well enough to fulfill these terms, why haven’t the club sacked him?
If MA informed MO that he wasn’t going to be in the squad for the coming season, why was this not announced until the 20th October? (source skysports 20th .10.20.)
It’s not that I don’t believe Arteta, it’s just that I cannot find anything before the above date, wheras you seem to have knowledge – all I am asking is for you to supply me with that information.
The club had to give the PL it’s 25 man squad by 2.00 pm on the 20th October and THAT was when we found out.
Arteta says (and I believe him of course) that he told both Ozil and Soks the day before of his decision…so your statement that Ozil knew before the season started is misleading to say the least….unless of course you can direct me to the earlier decision made by Arteta?
We had, of course, played five premier league games by the 20th October!!!!
Thanks GOA.
The performance related clause could be about the number of assists, goal, ball recoveries, take-ons, dribbles, duel won and through balls, since Ozil was unproductive before he signed the contract extension. I don’t think he’d sign it if the penalty was contract termination, but dropping him would be more acceptable since he can still collect full or some parts of his salary without producing anything
Arsenal didn’t have to announce Ozil’s/ Sokratis’ exclusions before the player registration was made public and Arteta’s statements were clear to me. Ozil can legally wait until he gets his full remuneration and Arsenal can legally exclude him for the drop of productivity
A player with ambition would have spoken out either through his agent like what Paul Pogba’s agent did to man U. Playing time is not MO interest but the money. Keep Messi, CR7 or kevin DB on the bench without a good reason for ten matches and see their reaction. To me MO lacks ambition
Some fans make me laugh. A player that has played in the bundesliga, won trophies with Real Madrid, won the world cup, won four FA cups with Arsenal and an ordinary fan is questioning the ambition of a man who had been very successful in his chosen carear?
What a life…… Ozil’s ambition is to see out his contact, safe enough money to secure his future and retire peacefully. That’s ambition.
You are so perfect that you know all it all.
What a hoot!
Good article.
I agree with many comments within but not all.
Also agree with Ken1945 on this.
At the end we as supporters are the club and we are the only ones that feel the pain with the ongoing issues which have been there for a long time.
It’s these types of Articles that make us ask if these are actually Arsenal fans or Mesut Ozil fans? To say we were worse without him is fallacy actually if you put the FA cup and community shield into perspective, to say that he would have improved our losing streak if he was in the team is also fallacy, the present Ozil, will never have been the power house and tireless worker ESR was, that’s the advantage ESR gave us over an Ozil in the team. I do not however believe he should not have at least made the bench. I feel he could have been an option(if anything, to prove us wrong that he’s way past his sell-by date).
That being said, I really cannot wait till he’s gone and the antics and toxicity finally comes to an end including the division amongst Arsenal fans. ARSENAL should be our priority as fans, not Ozil.
Why do you ask that question Kstix?
Because a point of view doesn’t agree with yours?
Everyone who takes the time to be part of our great club and make it part of their life is a Gooner – when Ozil goes, do you really believe that supporters will stop being Arsenal fans?
I remember the Iwobi debate, the Walcott debate etc etc on JustArsenal and the one simple fact is that, whatever side of the argument one was on, that person remained a Gooner.
When Ozil leaves, I will still be in my seat, cheering for my club and the players who are wearing the shirt that day, just as the majority of fans did for Ozil when he was playing.
That is why I laugh at those who call other “fanboys” or AOB and AKB’s etc etc – they just cannot seem to handle the fact that, as adults, we have different opinions and we give our opinions.
As for your comments regarding Ozil being on the bench, rather than at home, isn’t that one of the points that Dan is making?
The fact that ESR has said how much MO has influenced him, speaks volumes – I only hope he has the same success as a professional footballer that his tutor has had.
Being influenced by someone Ken doesn’t mean being tutored by them, I’m sure you know that.
Also I’ve never seen as many articles on a single Arsenal player in all my life as an Arsenal fan than those of Mesut Ozil. And the way he’s being defended is different from the arguments about other players that divide the fans. An iwobi debate for instance is over whether he’s good enough or not. An Ozil debate on the other hand brings up articles like the club you claim to love and support ruining their reputation because they decided not to play one single player who’s way past his best and still being paid the highest fee regardless. Now tell me how an opinion such as that doesnt seem to put the player above the club they claim to support Ken?
P.S I don’t see an article about how incompetent the club is to keep paying Sokratis and not play him, we were leaking goals at some point, why were there no cries to bring Sokratis back? See where my point is at about fans only backing “special” players that can do no wrong in their eyes.?
First of all, I hope your not blaming me for there not being a Sokratis article? If you want, I can soon produce one for discussion.
As for “seeming” to put the player before the club, a little below the belt for you Kstix, but water of a duck’s back as far as I’m concerned…I never question anyone’s commitment to our club if they appear on blogs like JA, but just their opinions and that’s a big difference.
You bring up the FA cup and I ask you if you think it was fair that a player who had not even featured in the first team squad, was given the opportunity to collect a winners medal, while Ozil, who played in previous ties, was not given that opportunity?
The leaking of his personal details (according to you it could have been a cleaner/secretary who happened to walk by and took down the details!!!) of a legally binding contract is also not something the fans should not question?
I’ve just read, via the Sun, that MO is now due a further bonus linked to appearances etc…that cleaner/secretary must be very good at his/her job…or the club very lapse when leaving out such highly confidential papers for Mr/Mrs Mopp to read!!!
As for ESR and MO and the influence the latter has over the former, I have to say well skipped over my friend – my fault for adding the word “tutor”, but I’m sure you got the point.
Like you say, the sooner this saga is over the better for ALL concerned, but to insinuate that, because one sees the players point of view, deems said person as someone who supports the player above the club, is totally false, misleading and thoroughly dishonest.
Let me know about the Soks article my fellow Gooner!!!
Ken my friend, I think you’re doing a due diligence of missing my point. I never said having a different opinion should question your support for the club as a fan. My point for the umpteenth time my dear Ken is that, if a club’s fan takes the stance of a player every single time there’s something to be said about said player and despite that fan not really knowing what’s going on within the four walls of the club(being fed by the media is not enough reasons to take sides, because it’s pure bias to take sides without knowing the full story), then there’s a question that should be asked about the loyalty of said fan to be very honest especially when there are other players going through the exact same thing/s but the fan/s selectively turn a blind eye on others and focus on that player whom they favour over the club.
I usually try as best as possible to avoid Ozil articles Ken, because both sides of the argument never seem to concede to the other in any way. Reason why I really can’t wait for him to leave for good. So till then, I’ll just say, to each his own and hoping there’s a genuine fan in each person whether pro or anti Ozil. Have a great day friend.
Unlike Ozick, Sokraits is not better than what we have in the squad currently… that’s why no one is talking about him…
Well no because Ozil won the F A Cup and community Shield
Finishing 8th and being 11th is not factually better ?
It’s the opposite
I’d like to ask you my dear Dan how Ozil won the FA Cup and community shield by being an active player.? Also Dan, kindly remind me what position we were in, in the league table when Ozil was in the squad, right before he was frozen out.
But your argument is that winning the F A Cup proved that we were correct to drop him ?
I’m saying that’s standard we used to meet under Ozil.
I can’t say where we would have finished had Ozil no been dropped
I do know I have seen nothing on the Leauge which has justified the decision
Stop hating on him you loser 😜
When all is said and done, only one legitimate piece of reality emerges. Our beloved club is managed by incompetent and inept owner/board.
Well done sir!
ICW
I agree with you but you also have to include the former share holders who sold us out to SK for the love of money as well
This has been going on for decades and the slow decline in our football status has come more apparent over the years
Yes Alanball.
I would add the much venerated David Dein who brought Kroenke to Arsenal.
Ahmed73, then I think you are wrong.
David Dein did not bring kronkie to the club to become the owner.
He brought him in to become an investor and as soon as the board and kronkie joined forces and sacked him, he sold his shares to Usmanov in an effort to oust him out.
The board sold their collective souls for the dollar and DD has been on the outside ever since, especially when Usmanov also sold his (and it follows DD’s shares by proxy) shares to kronkie.
👍
Yes, ahmad73, Dean is often cited as the man who could bring Arsenal back on track, but he also gave us Kroenke and walked away with substantial renumeration. Washed his hands after that.
Joe. S, David Dein did not “walk away” from Arsenal, he was forced out by KS&E and the Board. Arsene Wenger offered to go with him as an act of support and unity, but Dein talked Wenger into staying for the good of the Club.
Yes David Dein made “substantial remuneration from selling his shareholding to Usmanov, but only after he was removed by the Board from having any involvement in the Club’s operations.
Dein did not “wash his hands” of the Club, but owns a private box, which he apparently attends for most home games.
Why I won’t agree with how the club treated him, the truth must be said.
Ozil was no longer a top player, if he was still one top clubs would be vying for him, not Fenebache or DC United
At 32, I’d say that’s why – he’s coming to the end of his career. People may look down on the MLS (as well as the Turkish super lig, at least he’ll get to see Podolski!!) – I quite like it.. and look at some of the players who have played over there – Rooney, Ibra, Becks, Henry, Vela to name a few…
And who wouldn’t want to end their career in their country of origin? He has options… and going by what is often said on here, I was expecting those options to be more like Bolton or MK Dons haha!!
Yeah, you are right. Also to think that people still see him as a valuable asset, to sign him even when he has not played for almost 10 months on a relatively high deal, speaks volumes about his ability and brand.
Nice one, Sid..
Arsenal have wanted to get rid of Ozil since 2018/19. He was still 29 years old.
Before he signed his 2018/19 extension how many clubs evee came in for him?
Ozil ran down his contract to about 6 months and I never heard or say any big clubs making any noise for him.
Sanchez and Ramsey did the same, they rans down their contracts and were snapped up by the big clubs on massive wages.
Ozil has not been an attractive player for big clubs. Madrid got rid of him and only PSG and lowely 4th place strugglers (Arsenal) came in for him.
Arsenal have made so much noise about willing to offload Ozil and paying a chunk of his wages, but still all the big clubs have kept looking the other way.
You only ever hear of MLS, Turkish, Chinese and Middle Eastern retirement club that come in for him. Never any big European clubs.
Why is that?
😊
What makes me laugh is how for so long the usual suspects on here have harped on (& on) about wanting him gone.. now he finally is departing, all that’s mentioned is why one of the ‘big’ teams haven’t come in for him!! 😂 You couldn’t make it up! He’s going, end of. Does it really.matter where to?? Oh and don’t be daft, China wouldn’t have come in for him. You of all people should’ve known that!
Just had a thought – what will you talk about in the future???
Good luck to him in Turkey!
👍
Ozil is 32 years old, and has declined from his prime, so no top clubs come circling.
Among the top clubs, the Arteta-Willian affair is usually not allowed.
Mate, Ozil is still better than 80% OG your midfield…
DAN AS EVER A WONDERFULY CONSTRUCTED AND DEEPLY THOUGHTFUL ARTICLE . Leaving aside for now the fact that you and I are on polar opposite polar sides of the Ozil question, I will return to that subject at another time.
I wish to speak in earnest about your Piers Morgan contradicting himself remark you make. I want to speak far more deeply about the whole notion of humans contradicting ourselves, which I contend happens constantly to all of us, though very often we are blissfully unaware of that. Your paragraph about NASRI and Ozil perfectly illustrates that point, though I disagree that other clubs fans are laughing at us, OR if they are, they are being hypocritical too and showing it by that very reaction , thus proving my whole point on hypocrisy being common to ALL. It seems absurd to me to imagine that we Gooners are fundamentally different from fans of any other big club We are surely not differnt!
THAT is the whole reason I have long contended that we, all of us , are hypocrites. I do not say that in a critical way at all; on the contrary. To do so would be to criticise human nature and I do not wish to do that, as we humans are wonderful, enigmatic, changeable, excitable, passionate OR we are dead!
That seems, to my observant mind, to be profoundly true and I very much include myself in that description and I do with personal relief and a degree of comfort, as it shows me to be a perfectly normal human.
What always tickles me is how so many of us, myself very much included, blithely accuse others of hypocrisy(esp politicians, who are human too, let us never forget) while failing to recognise that hypocrisy is a perfectly natural and normal part of our shared human condition. If anyone doubts that, then I suggest they scan back through this JA site for previous threads and note how contantly we all contradict ourselves.
Another critical quirk we humans have is to “shoot down” those who profoundly disgree with us , esp on subjects where both parties share a subject(Arsenal FC!!!) about which we are both passionate and involved. I would claim to be almost certainly the most guilty person on JA who does this regularly. Notably though, when we are not personally involved nor interested , we tend not to even notice what others think or write and we certainly don’t challenge things that don’t matter to us. Perhaps we ought to but we don’t. And perhaps too, that says something about our shared human nature that we would rather not have pointed out to us. I only say “perhaps”, as the thought is there.
This is not good but it is truthful and I comfort myself, at times with the notion that being truthful to oneself and about oneself is one antidote against turning into a Donald Trump type, where you have a lifelong aversion to ever admitting a mistake – or as he would call it “a weakness”!
Present goings on in Washington are very much in my mind as I write and is a deeply troubling thought. But it will move human reaction to this debacle ever forwards, once the next fortnight is over. A mature mind admits weakness and doing so IS a strength, Donald, though sadly you will never learn that.
This alarming state of mind that Trumpites have is very close to something that has led to world wars and the arrogance of thinking ourselves infallible and incapable of ever being wrong.
A certain Austrian born man, born in 1889 did this in Germany and the world is still paying the price for what he did. (Apologies for my long winded description but I AM TRYING TO AVOID AD Pats spam filter from banning the words I would have preferred to use – I think you all know to what I refer).
Back to Arsenal (hooray and if you are still reading this nonsense, then I pity you) – a lie of course – and I will soon be writing a very detailed article on how I see our club and us fans reacting once this enigmatic season and hopefully, Covid too, is over.
Things can and do change very quickly in football as in life when all the stars are aligned, so to speak. HOW WE can help those stars to align and QUICKLY is a matter of great concern to us all, surely? Please forgive my verbiage and if you have actually got to the end, then I admire your concentration a great deal.
Jon Fox, I don’t always agree with your opinions, but your writing style is admirable.
Yes, I read the whole ‘nonsense’
Really enjoyed reading that.
JON FOX, this has to be the very best “nonsense” that i have ever had the pleasure of reading.if this is nonsense , then, write on please, sir.
“It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it.”
Of course there are many difficult decisions that the club has to make, but we are far from the aloof, but ethical club, with the marbled halls, that we once were. Many ‘Snide’ methods are being used….players scapegoated. Is it Kroenke, is it Edu, or is it Arteta? The problems of the dressing room are down to Arteta for sure, but is it even more down to the loveless, Stan Kroenke……absent abusive father?
Sean, love the comments – if only we could all look at it without our own personal Ozil tinted glasses,then what you say is 100% sensible.
By the way, thanks for pulling me up about calling another Gooner an idiot – I apologised of course and put it down to me being the idiot and my own stupidity PLUS the heat of winning 4-0!!!!
Onwards and Upwards!!!
Ken1945
I bought the Arsenal Book you recommended some time ago. I was ‘In love’ with the Highbury Arsenal. Somehow we were an ‘ethical’ club….whatever that means. To me, and I am not an Ozil fan at all, but the way Ozil was scapegoated was disgusting. There is more ‘scapegoating’ at Arsenal than ever before. And….. how could anybody on Planet Earth pencil in Willian, Willock or Xhaka in front of Ozil. Must have been decided in Absurdistan, by Borat.
Sean, hope you enjoyed the book, I often refer to it when making claims or facts.
I find it very difficult to understand why the board, who were involved for decades with our club, sold their souls so easily – they are the real villains for me, kronkie was/is a business man who saw an opportunity and flashed the almighty dollar!!!
👍
Sean Williams: Sad to see our beloved club embrace everything unethical, illegal and immoral.
Sadly some people called good business practices.
Sorry call it
Guys
Ethical or not ethical
Treating our players and staff correctly
I do remember a certain George Graham being caught red handed and having to leave
Allegedly it had been going on for ages and it was standard practice
for all top coaches..Alex f. Terry v. brian c to have a share
I am sure the board turned a blind eye the league certainly did.. all.lip service.. we will investigate and then it went dead
Poor George or rich George copped it and took a wak
it went public and I didn’t see the board stand by him then
My point is regardless of what king or queen sits on the throne at the time….its about the bucks
It happens in all walks of business and football is no different
So I agree with you ken
On wards and upwards
For some of us who grew up and started following Arsenal in the great era the great Arsene, the era of honesty and integrity (and beautiful football), the current board reputation will never recover.
I am still an Arsenal fan and will be for the rest of my life but I do not identify with the current Arsenal like I did with Wenger’s Arsenal. The great Arsene’s Arsenal made me feel Arsenal was part of my personality.
For the rest of the world it is doubtful the Mesut treatment will put even a dent on Arsenal’s reputation. Players will come and go and people are quick to forget. Mesut bad treatment from Arsenal will be forgotten as soon as leave unfortunately. Just like no one remembers thousands of people who have suffered injustice in different parts of the world at different time periods. Its how the world works.
People will react and write a tweet there, a like there and go back to their lives and what worries them most whether it be putting food on the table, finding a job, losing weight, fixing those crooked teeth, spying on the neighbor, corporate politics and the likes.
HH, well said and sport on
Thank you Dunchirado. I like your name.
Highbury Hero
Well put. Shame there is not a like button on the posts. I’m very much like you, and, just IMHO, get no joy from the modern Arsenal’s ethical behaviour.
Sean we can only hope it will change and if not we will wait until a time when the club will be run with people with club best interest at heart.
HH such a welcome and wise post that shows your rich intellect so well. I could not agree more with your last two paragraphs, especially. On your Wenger era being so attractive to you versus todays team not being so , well yes I canof course agree.
But we older ones who go back to when Wenger was still a child in France had to go decades before coming across the thrilling football of the early Wenger years and we also realise that all good things pass. So do bad things.
The passage of time allows great perspective on the whole of existence and I respectfully suggest (and believe) you will keep the faith and we will all see what I see so very clearly; that things are now on the up again and ere too long that will become far more apparent to us all.
Arsenal is about football not politics. We have enough of that 24/7 a week that is why we support our beloved teams to escape the hustle and bustle of life.
I’m sorry to say this but Ozil is the architect of his own downfall. He will not be missed. He’s departure is the best thing that could happen. I just hope that he will not able to exert his influence on this team after his left. We wanted a manager that would not accept mediocrity and we got one. It seems like some people just love mediocrity and mediocre performances. You can even see in the choice of transfers. Brandt who is sidelined, Isco who is not performing. Wake up this is the Premier league, we do not need overpayed and overhyped players. We need players that are hungry and have a point to prove. Bye Bye mediocrity. This is a new dawn at Arsenal get used to it. Ambition has returned.
Arsenal have no ambition with arteta.. They need someone better
Arent the targets decided by Edu and Arteta though? Because if they were decided by the media then of course we would not be worried.
Isco is better than every midfielder Arsenal has.
To say that “Arsenal is about football not politics” is somewhat naive. While it is setup as a footballing club and organization, many of the decisions and positions it holds are political. It chooses when to distance itself from the ‘opinions and actions’ of some players which maybe construed as political, and when to ignore those by others, be it Mesut Ozil or Hector Bellerin. Taking a stand to Support Rwanda would certainly be considered a political statement to those critical of that country’s Government. Arsenal FC has taken a stand on such issues as the fight against racism, slavery, you name it. So let’s not delude ourselves in thinking that football clubs don’t make politically motivated decisions for their benefit.
On whether Ozil is the architect of is downfall, that is debatable. He has made some decisions that have worked against him, but has equally been the unfortunate beneficiary from a lot of unfair decisions and statements of others. His portrayal by the media has certainly been more negative than positive, largely because he’s been made the convenient scapegoat. Being singled out in the pay-cut debate even though there were other dissenting voices was wrong, but we all love to hate the ‘villain’. Will Ozil be missed? Maybe not by you and a great many others within the club, team and fan base. But like it or not, he will be sorely missed by a far greater majority in the EPL and worldwide. Such is strength of his follower-ship and brand. I don’t know what you mean by the ‘influence he exerted’ but will assume it has negative connotations. What evidence of this secret cult of Ozil do you have? If by this you lump people like Smith-Rowe into the group, you’re too late. He already said it.
No manager, be it in the Premier League, the Championship or Lower Leagues welcomes mediocrity, but it is a fact of life that people will have lower than average performances in sports, their jobs, and life. Lord knows many posts online are below mediocre in structure, content and delivery. The job of the Manager/Coach is to take a mix of poor, average, good and great players; and get wonderful performances from them in every game. Sometimes it works well, sometimes you get beat 7-2. That’s football! Choice of transfers? Whose choice? Arteta and Arsenal. or as reported online? Surely, you don’t believe everything you read. If you do, we’d have signed Lionel Messi at the beginning of the season. How come you didn’t mention other speculative interests like Buendia and Houssem Aouar? Maybe because you can’t slag their performances, but heck; I maybe wrong.
Compared to many other national leagues there are lots off overpaid and over-hyped players in the EPL. That’s a lot of people you have earmarked to shift to Siberia. And let’s not limit your labeling of mediocrity to Mesut Ozil; start from Big Stan and KSE, and work/walk (dunno which one really) your way down each department, from Contracts and Recruitment, Scouting, Merchandising, to the Manager and Players and demand for excellence from everyone.
Love him or loathe him, Mesut Ozil is/was something truly special, and deserves better treatment than what he’s been given in recent times.
Absolutely loved this article – very thoughtful and unfortunately also very true
Of late, I have generally chosen to steer clear of Ozil debates because I find that they mostly go nowhere. It’s basically a club vs player debate that’s ultimately up to how much one likes or dislikes Ozil or the club.
Given how well the points in this article have been conveyed by Dan, please allow me to share my thoughts on some of the questions he raised. After which, I will return to my break from Ozil related comments.
“Are you disloyal for demanding a move away or disloyal for signing a new contract? How can you in one breath call Ozil greedy for staying yet call Nasri the C word for not?”
I find the above are brilliant questions posed to direct us, fans, to some much needed self-reflection.
We are the ultimate bearers of double standards. If a player pleases us, not signing a new contact is deemed as disloyalty. Yet if a player irks us, signing a new contract becomes a sin.
In my humble opinion, no self-respecting person should hold such double standards and still have the cheek to be critical of the players. It’s ludicrous to behave that way.
“Why do you care if it just saves a Billionaire some money?”
As fans of the club, we don’t have to care about saving or wasting billionaire Stan’s money, but we ought to care about the financial resources of our club.
Like it or not, Kroenke sets the spending budget of the club based on our earnings and cashflow, like all companies.
When we waste money, we are not just wasting Kroenke’s money, but also our budget, which is a portion of what the club makes. Don’t ever think that wasting Kroenke’s money has no implications on our club’s spending power.
The club is run on a self-sustainable model. Kroenke has not and probably will not pump in his own money via concealed transactions to circumvent Financial Fair Play regulations, like some sugar daddy clubs that were investigated by UEFA.
Under such circumstances, every pound we save, even though it ultimately belongs to Kroenke, is a pound that goes towards our earnings and cashflow, which our budget Is based upon.
“They leaked out how the player refused a pay cut even though they knew they were lying to the first team and had zero intention of protecting jobs.”
This statement is not just highly debatable, but also not supported by facts.
Firstly, it’s still up for debate whether the club leaked out Ozil’s refusal to take a pay cut because there’s no evidence to support the claim.
If you are an evidence oriented person, you reserve jumping to conclusions until evidence is presented. If you are an assumption oriented person, then you think and arrive at an answer in your head and make that your reality.
Secondly, the club did not make any representations that the pay cuts were for protecting jobs, so there was no lying involved.
I’ve just reread the official club statement on the wage cut and it does not mention anything about protecting jobs. To now accuse the the club of lying about protecting jobs is simply not factual.
Please pardon me for the rather lengthy comment. I’ve said my piece and will leave it at that
Great response Winston.
This debate has run its course. Folks who feel Ozil has been treated poorly will gravitate toward evidence that confirms this.
Folks who think Ozil is a greedy, lazy sob will do the same.
It was ever thus. I for one am pleased we can soon find other things to tear us apart.
Winston, I love the sheer thinking power that has gone into you post. I do not need to necessarily agree with ALL you say to admire your deep thought, which I DO immensely!
Beautiful Winston
Thank you Trudeau, Jon and Dboy.
Hopefully the divisiveness over this issue will come to an end soon. Then perhaps like Trudeau humourously said, “we can soon find other things to tear us apart”. Lol
There nothing wrong with the article. Nice write up. People should just learn how to extract information from a good article. Ozil or no ozil Arsenal fc still remains.
Hmnn.. so it appears comments are allowed here as long as they agree with the author..good to know!
My goodness, the Ozil melts are cringeworthy. Always get emotional and sensitive about their cult hero (Ozil) is criticised. What a joke group.
You wrote: “Do I feel sorry for Arsenal? The same company that charges me a ridiculous amount of money for tickets, merchandise etc? No!
You can’t have it both ways.”
So you don’t feel sorry for our Club (Arsenal) and are very proud of that, but at the same time you are here crying and hunting for SYMPATHY VOTES for our IDLE MULTI MILLIONAIRE RESIDENT VICTIM (ozil)?.
If you don’t feel sorry for Arsenal, that’s fine, it’s your opinion and you are rightly entitled to it. But just know that on the other side some of us feel the exact same way about your CULT HERO, we absolutely ain’t got any sympathy for him. He has taken our club for a ride by underperforming and continually undermining it from the moment he signed that extension in 2018. Becoming a complete IDLE.
Arsenal agreed to pay him £350,000 a week in return for consistent good performances. But the BIG VICTIM IN CHIEF has failed to even perform to 20%. Instead he has kept undermining our club and managers.
Our little victim has consistently failed to perform. Undermined and disrespected his manager (Emery) on a consistent basis. Using his social media to consistently undermine him..
Remember word coming out that ozil had told Emery to his face: “WALLAH YOU ARE NOT A MANAGER”.
Undermined Ljumberg. Failed to perform.
Undermined Arteta.
But we are all expected to continually ignore this guys poor attitude, mentality and instead bow down and worship him like his loyal followers want us to do.
Please spare us your cringeworthy sobbing about how your cult hero as always the biggest victim. We have had enough of it for more 7 years.
Let’s not feel sorry for Arsenal football club but we should all feel sorry for your dear leader?
Mustafi, Sokratis, Kolasinac etc have had it worse than Ozil but I am yet to see you guys writing long winded sobbing stories defending them. It’s only Ozil that you always seem to favour.. Smh
So irritating. 🥰
do we not pay all players to perform better then they have ?
So I’m supposed to feel sorry for you for having to pay high prices for merchandising and tickets then?
Here’s a solution for you – don’t buy them.
Then you won’t have to blame the player for you spending your money will you?
Who’s asking you to support any Arsenal player?
We’re all giving our views and I find yours irritating, condescending and full of juvenile unintelligent assumptions. 🤣😂🤣
Still, as we’re all Gooners, let’s just tolerate each other 👍
Goonster, I am lost in admiration for your total truth and for anyone who has the guts to stand up fearlessly, despite opposing snide and hostile comments, for the whole truth. This divisive character – deliberately divisive too, as you and I agree – is about to leave, finally, SO LETS REJOICE.
So Jon, can I assume that you are lost in admiration for Ozil, as he stands up for the total truth regarding his contract AND despite the opposing snide and hostile comments from a section of the fans and certain hierarchy within the club.
SO LET’S REJOICE that he is mentally strong enough and fearless in the way he has stood for the truth regarding contracts – unlike many footballers of today – despite the clubs efforts to behave differently regarding said contract offered to him.
“Has Ozil justified his salary? No.
Yet the only way he ever would have justified 350,000 pound a week is by winning the Premiership. How many times during his time as a Gunner can you say the ambition existed from the owner to be anything else than a side who finished top 4?“
Who the hell ever said that Ozil is expected to win us the EPL in order to justify his ridiculous £350,000 a week? Stop with throwing red herring. Smh
All we have ever asked for from your cult hero was to show a bit of fight and a bit of care etc. Show a that you are willing to compromise, adapt for the team like everyone else. No one was asking for him to win us the EPL, score 100 goals and assist each season.
Some of us accepted that he was overrated/ overhyped and that he was never going to do much. So we have been not been asking for much. We lowered our bar and expectations for him: “Just showing fight, a willingness to adapt, a willingness to be open to learn new things in order to help our his team and club. That’s all.
But he has even failed to do the minimum. What do you want us to do? Just be delusional and in denial like you his superfans?
but we finshed 8th and now made our worst start in decades so that tells me hes not the only issue
And about these cringeworthy catchphrases that his fan crowd keep spewing.
“Ozil showed loyalty”.
“Ozil well within his right to refuse to leave and just honour his contract, blah blah”.
May be Emery should also have refused to leave. He still had more than a year left on his contract.
May be Arteta should also refuse to leave if things don’t turn out great for him and our club.
Hope you guys were encouraging Emery to stick it out like Ozil has done.
Hope you guys would be here defending and encouraging Arteta to also stick it out if results don’t improve. Hey, he has a contract to honour.
May be all the other players that you have deemed not good enough in the time you have supported Arsenal should have refused to leave before their contracts ran out.
But those managers and players had more self respect. They just moved or move on. They don’t behave like a bad smell that won’t go away.
Isn’t it?
not sure if your aware , Emery had zero choice .
Managers contracts are different to players .
Which Arsenal were fully aware of when they offered him a contract
They want rid , they either sell him or release him
If it were other way round and a player demanded to leave but the club forced him to see out his contract is that okay ?
Facts! Which Mr. Goonster has chosen to ignore obviously.
He’s on a self dilusional trip – let him rant and rave, there’s nothing much on the television and it’s quite entertaining 📺😁
So very depressing to see that even dear Ken, man of the world, a wise and experienced man in life , has now regularly succumbed to this juvenile emoji craze.
What next Ken? Wearing a hoodie perhaps! Perhaps even playing “fortnight” around the clock like the KIDS all do? Perhaps you are attempting to become Ken 2005 INSTEAD of Ken 1945!
That’s actually a savage reply, lol.
But Jon, I am a progressive and realistic fan….something you lauded yourself as way back in the days of Arsene Wenger.
If you know see yourself as an old fuddy duddy who is incapable of embracing the 21st century, so be it my OLD friend.
The only thing cringeworthy @Goonster is your post and mr Bandwagon agreeing with you.
And, of course Dan, the “fanboy” type cringeworthy phrases that Goonster loves to use, but finds objectional if others use such phrases. LOL
I also note that Jon is not the “progressive realist” he once was and objects to anyone using emojis, as a way of expressing themselves, but insists on using CAPITAL LETTERS to express himself – it seems that time has stood still for my OLD friend Jon!!! LOL
Ken, I hope you have ‘M10’ on your hoodie 😂
Sue, I never thought of that, but what’s a hoodie for heavens sake!!!
I used to ride around on my scooter when I was a “mod”, with THE ARSENAL on the back of my parker – does that count?!?!
No emoji on this post Sue,as i’m using my old tablet.
They only appear on my MODERN SUPA DUPA PHONE MY DAUGHTER BROUGHT ME – hope the capital letters will suffice? LOL
As long as you’re using the capitals correctly, Ken 😉
Three managers Emery, Ljumberg and arteta dropped Ozil for a reason, fans can’t know better than the managers. to be sincere with ourselves Ozil performance is too poor to justify his £350k weekly and no employer will be happy paying such amount for less outcome. If ozil had been performing fine and he has not been having off field issues with the club he wouldn’t have been in this situation. Arsenal want ozil out but ozil wants his money although he has right to his contract but he has failed to consider his employer stand.
I agree with your article, Mr. Dan. It is unfortunate that the issue between the club(higher-ups)and the player escalated so quickly that the dirty laundry was hanged to dry in public. The parties that suffer due to such actions are obviously the club as a footballing entity and the fans. That leads to further divisionism, and fall of value.
To me it seems that some people are disappointed that Arteta was not pressurized into calling Ozil back to the team, instead he’s out the door. Or maybe they were expecting Arteta to leave and Ozil to stay. It will be a said day if players found a way to use their social media accounts to minipulate fans just so they can have power in the team. I wonder what privileges those puppets would have🤔 Hope this doesn’t happen though.
Ozil had a go at China…so was dropped from the team.
oh dear, i cant believe somebody got so traumatised on hearing KING Ozil (former assist king by the way) is leaving, he had to write a lengthy article about him and his misfortunes just to pay homage to his highness. one thing is for sure, he is leaving for good and not as a legend in any way so get on with it. Now i wonder , when this dude leaves what will the admin be left with to post to fill the dry spell of articles. Ozil articles here on JA are like the amount of money he earns compared to his colleagues. I always feel like Ozil fans here are being tormented . I may not like him but i appreciate the little exploits he mad for us . As for OZIL FANS you need more let and more go, he left. Be kind on ur comments.
Didn’t understand last two lines ?
Kroenke empire is loosing fortune post COVID19 our club just borrowed £120m , believe me guys if our club doesn’t make top 4 this year we will decline massively
Great article. Too many comments to read above so dig straight in. Why should we fans have blind loyalty to a club which is badly run. Ozil is not blameless. His form was not good enough for someone who should have been the most important player in his team, however the end result has left a sour taste both in confidence with the manager. Was it because of his pay cut stance? Was it because of his political views regarding China? Good on him if so. Was it because Arteta can’t deal with players who have attitude? Was it to make a statement to the other players? Probably a combination of the above. What ever. Ozil will be moving on. But unfortunately the mismanagement won’t.
My last late night post before bed e byes. As of right now Ozil is still with us and no one, not me, not anyone, not even MA knows for sure whether or not he WILL leave this month. We MAY all have jumped the gun – hope not of course but we MAY have done, me anyway!
I have got to the stage where I don’t care much any more , PROVIDED that whichever way it goes we get fewer OZIL articles on JA than if the alternative happened.
I also notice that I personally never miss an opportunity on ALL these Ozil articles to have my say.
Bloody hypocrite and goodnight!
Dan’s write-up on the Ozil saga is spot on and will remain an avoidable blemish on the club for a long time. Ozil did nothing to deserve the way he has been treated by the club and it is obvious the club is paying for that. I wish he had towed the line of the RVP’s, Nasri, Thiery, Fabregas, Sanchez, etc…..
It’s plain stupid, shameful and selfish to reward loyalty with such treatment. If anything, Mikel heightened the hypocrisy
“Arsene Wenger warned us that we as a club were in danger of losing the values we were famous for. The ‘Arsenal way’ used to mean ‘The Right way’. We have lost those principles and that’s what the Ozil saga will represent”
Nice try Dan…another clickbait article to awaken former AKBs and Wenger apologists…if you think we didn’t lose our “way” until Arsene left you need to get your blinders surgically removed…it was his failure to live up to the very high standards he himself set that ultimately led to our devolution…Ozil has simply replaced Wenger on your flag of misplaced ideals…btw, Ozil, like Arteta, were both 11th hour second choice options for Wenger…I’ve got the perfect slogan for your Wenger revival tour…Make Arsenal Great Again
What do you mean nice try ?
You read and commented so it was a good try
Under Wenger we didn’t finish 8th and were not 11th at Xmas
This was clearly a Trojan Horse article…firstly, the Wenger you hold in such high esteem has not existed for an extremely long time…those values or the “Arsenal Way” were forever sullied by the decisions he willingly made following our move to the Emirates…he was undoubtedly our absentee landlord’s Pied Piper as the fan’s deep affection for him was vitally crucial for this rouse to work…after that time he continued to prey upon that fact whenever the club made financial decisions that were detrimental to the footballing success of the club…what made matters worse, even after he was finally forced from the building, he never even had the decency or moral fortitude to finally payback the loyalty that had been shown by so many by ever offering even a modicum of truth about the obvious lies that were being perpetrated by the club during his tenure…so as such he was, in many respects, the actual orchestrator of the slow demise of the ‘Arsenal Way”…as for Ozil, like I said before, he’s simple the de facto Wenger replacement for your baseless argument about a fictitious Arsenal ideal that continues to stifle our ability to really turn the page
You should be ashamed of yourself for talking about Wenger in such regards
I’m not sure if I should waste my time with someone who waited two days before commenting then provided no basis for such a blanket statement…think back and give me even one example when Wenger spoke honestly about what was truly going on behind the curtain…ever since they claimed that the Emirates was built so that we could compete with the big boys, that has failed to materialize, in fact the opposite has occurred, yet the only thing you ever heard from Wenger was that it was never about having the available funds, he just had a difficult time finding good enough talent…now think about all the sub-par players he brought into the team since 2007, compared with who we sold off or even worse lost without any reasonable profits for the club’s coffers
Admin, I am not sure but I think the article is lengthy because, it was copied once and then pasted within the original article? It shows two articles on my screen.
No, it wasn’t fair! the way he was treated isn’t fair at all while benching him they brought Willian who travelled to Dubai and enjoyed his life and when he came back he was still playing!! and MA said, “it was handled behind the scenes!!!” and kept him as his first choice in many games until he heard someone whispering in his ears Smith Rowe I guess!
Saliba and Ozil weren’t treated fairly, Guandouzi was sent away and some other players keep having their chances over and over, this rings some bills, is it MA call? or someone else from top