What difference will Mesut Özil actually make to Arsenal?

57 Replies to “What difference will Mesut Özil actually make to Arsenal?”

1. One thing i already know, that Özil must have some strength to have succeeded already, because he seems to be that type of person, a humble and sensitive type person, so i can understand why “Father” Arsense Wenger appeals to him. We will have to protect him as much as we can, for we know he will be a target by the “un-talented ones”. This goes for our midfield to protect him as well as the fans by making sure the ref is aware of our eyes watching him, and making noise when the ref gets it wrong.
   When i think of Zelalem waiting in the wings, to replace Özil when he retires then we already have covered that position for the next times. Just a thought, Cesc will have no place to come back to if he ever wanted to come back to Arsenal. This season was his last chance to come back to Arsenal, he has now been finally replaced, by not one but by two players, one for now and one for the future.
   Things are looking really good at Arsenal.

2. What everyone seems to be forgetting about the assists stats is that to be an assist you need to convert the pass into a goal. He had Ronaldo at Real to convert these passes. He has Giroud at Arsenal.

   Nevertheless, a great signing.

3. An interesting article and I do agree with what you say. More goals from set pieces needed. Not because they are anything special in themselves I just feel that we waste too many chances.

   (Of course ManU’s number of goals from set pieces was, it seems, ref-assisted, whereas ours was definitely NOT).

   Interesting too what para says, above, about Ozil’s likely influences on the rest of the squad. It can only be good :).

   Let’s get these blasted internationals out of the way and get back to some real football – it’s going to be tasty!

4. Mobot, that is a fair point. Now how many goals has Giroud scored this season?

5. @Tjekem,
   The last paragraph of your post says it all.
   The Emirates crowd must lose its “fickle” attitude and give 100% support to whoever Arsene selects to wear the shirt.

6. Tony, he’s certainly improved, and long may it continue.

7. Best in Europe for “chances created” as well (regardless of whether chance becomes a goal). AW has wanted to sign him for the past 7 years since he was 17. Finally got his man. Interesting to note that Giroud is now France no 1 ahead of the Galactico Benzema, but according to UK media Giroud is slow and poor. Hmmm.

8. Good piece, and the last paragraph is spot on. One team that’s helped by its home crowd is Liverpool; for all their faults the anfield crowd really is the 12th man for their side. Lets hope this signing puts those muppets in row 15 firmly behind the team.

9. Yes, the British media’s unkind view of Giroud is a bit puzzling; his performances last season(considering the amount of time he actually played) were quite good, and this year he’s even better. Maybe they want to turn him into another bendtner.

10. AL,
    As many discussed here, Giroud’s conversion (goals:shots) was poor last year, even profligate. So much better so far this season. And there’s now only one such striker, until Podolski makes an earlier than expected return or Theo blooms as a striker or AW decides to use the January window or some false 9 magic is woven.

11. The signing of Ozil will highlight how poor Ramsey and Walcott are.

12. In answer to the question about the poor defence and score rate at home. I think is because when RVP left there came an air of despondency around the ground. However not just the team’s late run last season but how it was done was an inspiration. We saw a determination about the team that didn’t seem to be there before.

    Then came the Villa game. The injustice against the team brought everyone together determined we will not be beaten.

    Then came the clash of the closing of the TW and the stop for internationals and out the blue came the breaking of our transfer record (and not by the odd million) and the purchase of Özil.

    The team showed us they play for the shirt, the management have shown they can deliver and merit their support.

    In my opinion before Arsene arrived on the scene the best manager since the WAr was is Bill Shankly. We recently saw that great clip of him saying to Liverpool supporters ‘Its an honour to play for you’.

    I believe in Arsenal we have a club who are an honour and a privilege to support. Our next home league game is against stoke pokers a great chance to get behind the team and showed our support.

13. I am on the same page with you pal. But one thing I’ve got to add is that this signing is a way of telling other clubs that we have the money to spend on ANY player we wish to however, we will only pay what the player is worth not the inflated Bale scenario. So if your player is worth 50m, we would buy not that the player worth 15m then U want 30m. Wenger said during the summer that no player will leave Arsenal for financial reasons again. Selling club tag, gone for good.
    PS: tony, are U back? Waiting for that info you got about the Higuain transfer PLEASE!!!

14. Can’t help but comment about the attitude of our supporters in home games. The only contribution we can make to the team is our unflinching support. There is nothing else that we can do to practically help our team’s on-field performance. We must therefore give our support whether its raining or not. If we boo our own, then we are doing a dis-service to our own club. We need to make the best stadium in England a fortress.

15. @mohamed and everybody else that says we should have undying support at home games.If you dont show your displeasure at home games then what chance have the supporters got of voicing their concerns.The reason fans are showing and voicing concerns is because of what they are seeing on the pitch not the other way around.Above everyone else on the planet that supports arsenal the home fans that pay the big money to watch their beloved arsenal have the right to protest in which ever way they see fit(once it isnt violent).To somehow say its the supporters fault for the short comings of the team is disingenuous and way off the mark.

16. More taps in from Ozicl assist oh yeah! More world class fans please, 🙂

17. On the subject of last minute buys or ‘panic buys’ this is worth a read:
    http://www.theguardian.com/sport/that-1980s-sports-blog/2013/sep/04/remembering-arsenal-deadline-day-transfers-1980s

18. Mezut is one of the few players in the world who can operate in very tight spaces, very much like Cazorla. But unlike Cazorla , Mezut can also run away from players. He combines a mind bending trickery with actual speed, and ability to make a killer pass . That’s what makes him unlike any other player on Arsenal . @ Stax. I think you are being a bit harsh on Walcott and Ramsey, perhaps Ramsey especially . If the preseason and the first three games are anything to go by, Ramsey has shown some major improvements. Maybe he needed more time to get over his injury , than some people were willing to afford him. I was one of those people who doubted Ramsey’s ability to rediscover his previous form and I think he’s proven me wrong(I’ve never been so glad to eat some humble pie).

19. I am, of course, like everyone else here, thrilled that Özil has signed with us. Several things will be interesting to note over the next month or two:

    1) What will his immediate affect be? He will need time to adapt to the players around him and vice versa.

    2) Özil will need time to adapt to Premiership football and the refereeing standards; we do play Sunderland and Stoke next if memory servves.

    3) Özil’s signing has elicited mostly positive reviews by Gooners. Many of the conversations have been of the strange “I told you so” “No, I told you so” variety from people who still had confidence in AW or had lost patience with AW/Arsenal. The signing seems to be on the way of healing much of this rift. YET, there are some who are still unhappy with the club, and AW, and continue to bash the club. (I think these are your true AAA’s, Tony) What will be interesting, is if we play a poor game at home and what will the reaction of the media and that section of fickle fans be.

20. @ Mohamed. I think signing Mezut Ozil will go a long way towards improving fans morale at the Emirates. If nothing else , we’ve probably heard the last of ” spend some fucking money ” chant. Although I must say Arsenal FC must bear some responsibility for lack of proper atmosphere at the Emirates for pricing some fans out of games.

21. @ Soglorious.. I think you are getting carried away a bit with this Arsenal new found spending power. Saying ” no player will leave for financial reasons ” and actually going through with it , are two different things. Signing Mezut for fifty M Euros was a statement of sorts ,but it’s wages where Wenger will find it hard to compete with the mega clubs( and perhaps rightfully so). Paying any player double or triple what other starting players are making is bound to create problems. That’s why RVP was always going to leave ( titles or no titles)and Rooney was never going to come.

22. The signing of Ozil is a step forward in a number of ways. In the simplest interpretation the squad was short of bodies and we now have an additional player to cover injuries and rotation.

    Then we have the question of moral – to sign such an accomplished player will raise the moral of the other players and the fans. (With luck it will take some of the wind [pun intended] from the sails of the AAA).

    Some teams have recently thought that the way to stop Arsenal was to mark Cazorla out of the game. This was not really successful, but having Ozil and Cazorla will make it very difficult for the opposition to prevent us being creative.

    We also have the question of the squad being developed. AW had, by the end of last season put a a very good core together – despite his previous team being wrecked by departures. The signing of Ozil is an indication that we can now afford top players at the height of their commercial value – rather than have to spot them young and wait a number of years for them to develop. It is also a sign that Arsenal are now in a position to start to commercially support their ambition.

    Remember that AW thinks about the squad more carefully than most managers, it will be interesting to see how he continues to build on an already good core, but Ozil has to be a major step in the right direction.

    The most immediate and important thing now, as nicky pointed out above, is for the fans, esp at the Emirates, to really really get behind the team.

23. Quote: “no player will leave for financial reasons” means the club’s financial reasons” not the player’s financial reasons which of course may well still happen.
    //
    AFC are now on phase 3 of their plan and it’s time for all fans and supporters, to forgive the club, forgive AW and forgive one another, and get down to really supporting the club in every way, WE’RE ON OUR WAY again, and this is what EVERY fan and supporter wants. Of course there will be little fights in every family, are they not? But in the end we are family, we are Arsenal Football Club.
    //
    Shhh, don’t tell everybody, Arsenal has guaranteed much more money that it appears. They know how to invest money, believe you me they have invested in/for this plan of returning Arsenal to the football club and business that is needed in the modern age. No one tells you exactly how much money they have, if one says “i have £70 m to invest” well one can guarantee it is a little or much higher than that.
    You know this, everybody knows this.

24. Alan Lawless.

    You can’t be stopped from moaning at home games. But the fact of the matter is that it impairs the team’s performance. You may find that an acceptable price to pay. Many other fans do not.

25. Wenger is a cheque book Manager who can’t achieve success on limited budget. Abramovich broke up the duopoly of Man Utd and Arsenal and exposed Wenger’s tactical naivety when facing superior opposition.

26. @para. Can you really separate club finances from player finances!

27. Nice article ,Tjekem – We seem to slow down in the last third of the pitch and move the ball around quite a bit to find the right ‘killer’ pass and sadly many a time it is intercepted or goes astray .We allow their defence time to recover and get more bodies back .
    Hopefully with this buy we get a player to thread the proverbial ‘eye of the needle’ passes to create more chances for the strikers .
    And as someone pointed out , hopefully more fouls and freekicks around the penalty box and maybe even more penalties! But am not holding my breath though !

28. Just think this might be suitable here !

    The Cynic of the Woods -Arthur Patchett Martin (b. 1851)

    COME 1 from busy haunts of men,
    With nature to commune,
    Which you, it seems, observe, and then
    Laugh out, like some buffoon.

    You cease, and through the forest drear 5
    I pace, with sense of awe;
    When once again upon my ear
    Breaks in your harsh guffaw.

    I look aloft to yonder place,
    Where placidly you sit, 10
    And tell you to your very face,
    I do not like your wit.

    I ’m in no mood for blatant jest,
    I hate your mocking song,
    My weary soul demands the rest 15
    Denied to it so long.

    Besides, there passes through my brain
    The poet’s love of fame—
    Why should not an Australian strain
    Immortalize my name? 20

    And so I pace the forest drear,
    Filled with a sense of awe,
    When louder still upon my ear
    Breaks in your harsh guffaw.

    Yet truly, Jackass, it may be, 25
    My words are all unjust:
    You laugh at what you hear and see,
    And laugh because you must.

    You’ve seen Man civilized and rude,
    Of varying race and creed, 30
    The black-skinned savage almost nude,
    The Englishman in tweed.

    And here the lubra oft has strayed,
    To rest beneath the boughs,
    Where now, perchance, some fair-haired maid 35
    May hear her lover’s vows;

    While you from yonder lofty height
    Have studied human ways,
    And, with a satirist’s delight,
    Dissected hidden traits. 40

    Laugh on, laugh on! Your rapturous shout
    Again on me intrudes;
    But I have found your secret out,
    O cynic of the woods!

    Well! I confess, grim mocking elf, 45
    Howe’er I rhapsodize,
    That I am more in love with self
    Than with the earth or skies.

    So I will lay the epic by,
    That I had just begun: 50
    Why should I scribble? Let me lie
    And bask here in the sun.

    And let me own, were I endowed
    With your fine humorous sense,
    I, too, should laugh—ay, quite as loud, 55
    At all Man’s vain pretence.

29. @Brickfields G.,
    Your 4.25 sums up one of our most irritating ploys of recent seasons. The “pass too many”.
    One would hope that Ozil (and others) will now spawn the killer pass earlier in the attack, thus allowing space for a quicker finish.

30. What difference will Ozil make?

    We will start to get our reputation back for scaring the s*it out of the opposition. We will score more goals, we will retain possession more. He will give others more freedom on the pitch, Confidence will grow, Walcott will benefit from a quicker mind, we will move the ball quicker, the point of attack will change more frequently. We now have more options on how we set up.

    Down side, teams may drop deeper, but good luck with that.

31. @Adam

    I always thought that the invincibles had limitations when it came to breaking down teams that came to park the bus. Having Cazorla and Özil to pick the lock will be important.

    I agree with your comment about scaring the s*it out of teams. In the prime of the invincibles we probably took 8 or 10 points a year because teams were afraid of jumping into the attack and being caught up by our fast counterattacks.

32. @ Nicky – While I understand the need to keep possession , not
    at least taking a shot at goal while in the vicinity really irks me .Moving it backwards till it goes all the way back to the goalkeeper , who then punts it up for the opposing defenders to control makes no sense to me.
    I’ d rather have someone take a shot , which may fortuitously rebound off their keeper to an onrushing striker ;be deflected into goal or we get a penalty, freekick or a corner.

33. Just on the issue of atmosphere, the atmosphere against Tottenham in our last match was sensational. You might say, “well so it should be” but the fact was that things were so bad in terms of atmosphere in the Villa game, that I wondered before the Tottenham match quite what would happen.

    But it was there 10000% from before kick off, and it never once faltered. I am certain that helped our players – the sound was dynamic and endless.

34. GGG, most footie fans know that sometimes a player can force a team mate to make a run with his quality of passing, Ozil I think is one of those players, as is Jack and santi, Ramsey even, but we need that consistency and confidence that Ozil can give. Walcott makes good runs in behind the defence but is not found enough, that will change.

    The options at Arsene’s disposal is becoming frightening, whether a team pushes up or defends deep.

    I think Rosicky will dust off his shooting boots as well.

    I used to think it would be impossible to get the ball off of Cesc, Nasri & Rvp, but I’d rather be shot than chase Cazorla, Ozil, Rosicky & co about.

35. Thanks for the nice comments guys!

    I tried to look at the team needs in a way that I think Wenger would. The more that I poured over last seasons numbers the more convinced I became that Wenger knows!

    There is so much data on team performance and most of the time the conclusions are counter-intuitive. Who would think that an attacking midfielder would help?

36. Tjekem, I was very impressed with the article. Makes you look at things slightly differently.

37. @MoBot,

    The more apt comparison would be Giroud and Benzima, Walcott and Ronaldo.
    In our 4-2-3-1, I believe the ‘3’ behind Giroud would be Cazorla [he had 95 chances creatd, more that Özil’s 91], Özil in the center and Walcott on the right.

38. Nice to see Giroud currently have the form Chamakh had, but even I knows you cannot assess form after 3 league games.

    Of course we know about Ozil from having watched, La Liga football, CL football and the World cup 2010 and Euro2012, but I understand why many people only know how good he is after reading opta charts. If you look at the 2008-09 season Denilson was our best player according to the stats but everybody hated him but whatever. Ozil is a good player but all those passes and assists can be wasted by players who consistently miss chances. Just keeping it real. Ozil is tiny and weighs a little more than an empty crisp packet which is why he gets knocked off the ball so easily, they don’t show stuff like this on youtube and sorry for keeping it real.

    The stats in the article have some point I guess but I have really looked and cannot see what it is. The League table tells us what we need to know at a glance at any given time. No fan should need to look at opta stats to find out we had the 2nd best defence last season. I don’t know when the article was written but it oddly doesn’t mention the defence should be improved because of Flamini covering it as a DM or that he can play both left and right full-back position. It doesn’t even mention Sagna covering well as a centre-half. It just mentions it should be more cohesive than it was last season when it was the 2nd best defence in the league, lol.

    Good point about the negative effect the crowd might have had on the team, let’s see if our home record improves with a continuance of the Kop atmosphere we produced against Spurs.

    Oh well, I’ll leave you guys to all your speculation about the coming season (why not spice it up a bit with a ref conspiracy). I am more excited about Ozil (just incase => Özil) because I actually know how good he is without looking at stats, hype, youtube vids which can make Jenson look like Thierry Henry and gushing articles on blogs written by people who don’t have a clue about Ozil.

    As always, I love seeing the opinions of ALL Arsenal fans, not just those by a few hand picked sycophants. They are the only opinions which count in my world.

39. @Para, thanks for the clarification.
    @Tom, pal I think one can separate the two from each other in the sense that the club will not sell any player(s) again because they are in need of money as we’ve been made to believe in the case of Nasri and R.v.Persie. However, just like Para suggested, the player might want to leave for financial reasons to clubs that could tripple his wage e.g PSG, Monaco. And if the second scenario happens, the club is not to be blamed in MY opinion.

40. “Ozil is tiny”

    Yeah, really short for six foot. But you know just keeping it Real Mad, sorry, I mean real man.

    Condescending twat. You attack others and highlight your own superiority.

41. Alan Lawless,
    Your point of view that buying a ticket entitles people to boo is ridiculous, can tell you read The Sun or Star. If buying a ticket gives you the right to boo, it equally gives me the right to expect no booing. Once again, all a ticket entitles you to is to watch the game – nothing else. It doesn’t entitle you to see a win, it doesn’t entitle you to see a draw, it doesn’t entitle you to see a loss, it doesn’t even entitle you to see a goal or a certain player. It entitles you attendance to watch a game of football. If you don’t like it then don’t turn up and don’t renew your season ticket. Next you’ll be telling me you complained in an Indian restaurant because they didn’t have lasagne on the menu.

42. There was a pattern emerged over the past couple of seasons where we would have a bad game then the next match, the boo boys would make some noise at the slightest of mistakes knocking the teams confidence and we’d lose the game. The Boo boys didn’t turn up to the next game (if you noticed all the empty seats) and we would win the game or at least give it a bloody god shot. Then the boo boys would return because they liked what they saw on TV but they would boo at the slightest of errors again……and so on…….

43. @Adam,

    I have found that the best way to deal with those who try to elevate their low self esteem by putting down others is to ignore them!
    Their behaviour has nothing to do with superiority, but low sense of self.

44. Tjeken,
    Ditto

45. Yeah sorry, I shouldn’t bite.

46. It’s not my fault you have a persecution complex and inferiority complex. Get help for both since there is something wrong with your perception. I should have just said paranoid but your sensitivity has been stretched enough I think. Sorry about mentioning your omittances about our defence, when I see your name in future I will consider the fragility of your feelings.

    Interesting about Ozil being 6′. He always seemed smaller. 11st too. Not sure if that frame has anything to do with it. Even so, no longer being ignorant serves to make me more hopeful for his effectiveness in the EPL.

47. Good for you fella, mind how you grow.

48. @Adam

    Ha!

    Tjekem said it nicely, then you had it confirmed… Don’t feed the trolls!

49. Apparently, AW said “no thanks” to Benzema twice during the TW. After agreeing on Higuain, but holding him until Ancelotti came in, and his final Italian destination, Fiorentino Perez felt obligated to sell one of his “surplus” players to his friend AW. AW kept saying di Maria with also Ozil being an option; note that the first target was stated to be di Maria all the way. Ancelotti blessed Ozil’s transfer over di Maria, possibly because the formation he envisioned would have dropped Ozil to the bench frequently.

    After watching Georgia-France yesterday, whereby Deschamps had a formation with two defensive midfielders (Sissoko and Guilavogui), two creative wingers (Ribery and Valbuena), one striker (Giroud) and an attacking player free to roam, you get to the following conclusions:
    1-Benzema movement without the ball is odd, and possibly suspicious, not to say inexistant; the French press lauded the introduction of Gignac who at least combined better with his teammates.
    2-Why do you need two slow defensive midfielders when you have better options in Pogba and even Cabaye. A fit Matuidi is very valuable, and even dropping to only one pivot is fathomable.
    3-Nasri did well when he came in as he played as a true attacking midfielder; despite my poor opinion of Nasri from an AFC point of view, he actually transformed the team. Of course, a fully fit Diaby would be a definite starter.
    4-The service that Giroud was getting was really awful; it relied on Ribery or Valbuena trying to thread a killer pass without good interchanges.

    In summary, AW declined Benzema for very good reasons, Ancelotti wants to sell Benzema ASAP, and Benzema’s skills have dwindled. AW wanted Ozil all along but put di Maria on top of the list to fool Ancelotti and Perez.

    And we still have clueless amateurs and wannabe managers bitching and moaning about AW… But not for long; with the Grove Duster, a giant vacuum engineered by AW, our thoughts will be read at our own stadium by a group of experts trained by AW; the vacuum will suck out all bad thoughts (and excess fat outside the cranium in some cases) from the mind of previously feeble-minded AAA supporters; instead, these supporters will chant more positively and more passionately about our team.

50. @Ray: I wouldn’t be shocked to find out some day that you’re very accurate with that assumption you made. Importantly though, can the Grove Duster be tweaked to work on the Internet as well? : )

51. Arvind,
    @Arvind,
    With AW, anything is possible.

52. @ Ray – Is a portable Grove Duster in the pipeline ?

53. eh none of this matters…. the scousers have taken their fated position atop the table and that means the season is over! i read some scouse math in a post the other day that said all they need to do is manage whatever points they can get from the top 6 and they’re easily going to get their ~75pts/4th place finish, most likely at our behest.

    the luis suarez transfer debacle, something i dont think was ever going to work (once the cheeky 40mil+1 bid was made anwyays) was an attempt at cognitive subterfuge against the headstrong brendan rodgers and that team chock full of “top top quality players” who are going to come from nowhere and become an instant problem for europe, if not the world.

    so yeah, being new to the mighty arsenal it’s a bit hard for me to realize that the season is over and the scouse has defeated us, but hey, this is 2013 and from everything i’ve read we have no chance of top 4, let alone… hahahahahahahhahahahahah contending for a title! what are we smoking @ the emirates?

    so yeah, whilst liverpool continues on being the classiest lot of the bunch (ask lukaku about his car sometime. welcome to liverpool, lad!) it’s going to be a hard adjustment to watch arsenal slip and allow both spurs and liverpool, if not everton too cuz why not i mean only mesut ozil? yeah arsenal is done….. we didnt need ozil and whats getting a little non-finishing playmaker going to do for a fluid open attacking/countering football team? nada.

    he’s no aspas… he’s no coutinho. and we’re no champions league team. so this discussion is essentially the core of sports talk: mental masturbation (phil jackson came up with that one, btw) and as we wank our mentals, it’s only to muster up the tears for our beers as we come to the inevitable realization that we live in a scouse world (especially if you fancy massmedia football punditry( and therefore there is nothing else to do but submit to the will of our scouse overlords. it is inevitable after all…. getting willian or ozil wouldn’t even have helped liverpool that much cuz they’re quality everywhere. best team in the league by a mile….. why didn’t i get into liverpool when i got into footy? plenty of time to cry in my beer.

    DISCLAIMER: NO SARCASM WAS HURT DURING THE POSTING OF THIS POST. SHOMER SHABBOS, GENTS.

54. Sarcasm ? Try this for sheer size and scope !

    http://www.motifake.com/facebookview.php?id=121094

55. This would be so me !

    http://www.motifake.com/facebookview.php?id=167957

56. while the atmosphere at the emirates might be a factor in conceding extra goals at home, more likely reason is the different way the team is set up home and away, leaving us more open to counter attacks at home. whatever the cause, Flamini may be as important as Ozil in improving home defensive record

57. Man u with lower number of chances but highest conversion rate. aka RVP won them the title