By Tony Attwood
When you sign a new player and he says, “yes we can win the league this season”; when people associated with the club he is leaving express total shock that he’s going; when one of your ex-players, still held in high regard by many says the new guy will “kill” the opposition, then I think it is time for a bit of licking of the lips.
That last comment was from Cesc. Here’s a bit of one Mesut said…
“I don’t want to say anything bad about Madrid because I had three wonderful years there. I have great friends there. We achieved a lot with the club and [won] trophies. That is why I don’t want to talk a lot about it.
“People who know me know how professional I am and I think [through] the past years, you can see how many games I played – 159 games. If you are not professional in your life, then I don’t think you can play that many games.
“People know how professional I am and this is what counts. All the rumours, I don’t care about them. I have a new task here. I am just looking ahead. I am in London now. We have big goals here and we will work very hard to reach these goals.”
“You can see by the reaction of the fans and the players that they didn’t understand the move but this is football. You always have to look ahead and I have made the next step. My time there [at Real Mad] was great but that topic is over. I will have wonderful years here, hopefully I will win many trophies and stay healthy and this what I look forward to.
“I am in the strongest league in the world and have to prove myself here to continue developing here. This is why I am at the right club. I cannot promise to win trophies, but I can promise that as a team we will give our all to win trophies.
“Arsenal is a very well-known club, a very successful club with very young players, and the young players develop very well here. This was one of the reasons why I chose to come here, I want to continue to improve myself. I am really happy to be here under such a great manager. That was most important for us, what he [Wenger] thinks about me, what his plans are with me. I decided to come to Arsenal because I have the trust in this familiar environment.
Of course it is very physical here, but it is a man’s sport and I am really glad to play in the best league in the world. I want to prove myself in England, therefore I look forward to playing here. I also played in the Bundesliga and Spain and always proved myself. I know that I will prove myself here as well.
“I would have come here without a fee, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Of course I am proud of this [being Arsenal’s record signing], but the most important thing for me is that the manager trusts me, that I can get trust from him. This was the crucial point for me and this is why I have come here.”
As for Cesc he has played against Mesut six times and speaking on Spanish radio he said: “He is going to enjoy the Premier League an awful lot. It is a league with much more space and Ozil is a player that, given time and space, he will kill you.
“As we have already seen from his time at Real Madrid, his final ball is brilliant and I believe that he will really enjoy himself in England.”
So now we have a team that buys Germans, just like we used to buy the French. Per Mertesacker said,“I think he is worth what we paid for him. He is a phenomenal player and I think he has not reached his best at the moment. I think his contribution to this club will be massive.”
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
- Royal Arsenal: from the Common to the Manor. Coming next.
And from the same team…
- The Arsenal History Blog from the AISA Arsenal History Society
win the league this season? What’s Mesut been smoking over at the Emirates?
but seriously, if you’re an Arsenal fan and not excited about a talent like Ozil then you need to check your pulse…you could be dead.
he’s not short either (check out the photo of him next to Podolski)..so, altogether now: “we’ve got a medium-sized f***in’ German!”
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!
If giroud turns out to be half. As good as he looks now we keep our focus determination and spirit ozil fits and no noise from the boo boys . We will be there or thereabouts COYG
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssss. COYG
Tony,
The best point about all this, and I’m surprised your not banning on about it more is how much respect and influence Özil has given to the personal touch of one certin Mr. Arsene Wenger (fluent German speaker of course).
If a proper world football superstar thinks Wenger is going to make his future better that some others should believe it too.
I am liking Cesc’s comments a lot, with Flamini back, maybe the boy will begin to feel homesick.
At least good on him for telling manure to jog on with their offer for him to be their next carrack.
*banging-on about, of course!
Mathieu Flamini believes the current crop of players share a similarity with the strong side of 2007/08 – their team spirit.That season Arsenal were favourites to win the title until that fateful day at Birmingham when Eduardo had his leg obliterated and captain William Gallas lost his nut. It all went pear shaped and Arsene Wenger’s side ended third despite many of the squad having a close relationship on and off the field.That was the last season where the Gunners looked like title contenders and majority of that quality squad then moved on over the next couple of summers.
Flamini is having a laugh Arsenal’s Premier league form capitulated between February and April 2008 winning only 1 in 8 games the title was long gone before the end but Arsenal won their last four and made up 5 points in the last few games to make it look closer than it was.
Yes, lots of UNTOLD news about Ozil. Thank you for not telling me stuff everybody has read over and over. Will Özil prove himself, you betcha socks he will. I am so excited about Özil.
I just worry about an injury to Özil, or Cazorla, or Flamini, or Koscielny, or Mertesacker, or Scezzers. Any of these missing then my Arsenal are going to be a hill to climb during this proving period.
The worrying thing is our season can be over after 5 games and now it can be over after 4 more games. Özil has his work cut out due to the depth of the squad and the very under par medical team.
Indeed, very excited about Özil but having a constant worry about injuries is spoiling it too.
At least I have UNTOLD telling me untold stuff to keep my head above water.
Thanks for not posting my comment Mr Blogger.
Off topic, But i gotta get this off my chest. Love the great job Tony, Walter, and all the other lads who write for Untold Arsenal are doing. Keep doing the good work. What i find puzzling is all the AAA and spurs fans who post on the comments section. I am almost sure that Tony created this website for pro arsenal supporters who have the same positive thinking as himself. You can’t read the comments page anymore for all the negativity. If it isn’t the AAA spewing venomous bullshit, then it’s all the spur morons commenting on a pro Arsenal website. Here’s a thought, Let all the AAA assholes post on Tottenham sites and leave us alone. Nobody wants to hear their bullshit anymore. After we took care of those cheats from Turkey, Beat the spuds, and signed the best number 10 on the planet the AAA crept back into their rat-holes. I am sure they will crawl out the next time we play badly. I am wondering if there is a way to edit out their bullshit. They try to justify their nonsense by saying it’s good, honest debate. Any one can really see that its just small thinkers who are unhappy with their lives. So they go around spreading negativity. Let the Arsenal win another double this year and the AAA will whine about not winning the Champions League. AAA and spur morons, Please leave us alone.UP THE ARSENAL COYG AND IN ARSENE WE TRUST. TRUST.
@Bill
Like you I am grateful to Tony and Walter and all help make this website possible. From this point on I disagree with you.
Yes its a site for Gooners to have intelligent discussion about the club we love. However if others want to come here and respectfully show us why they disagree or even agree (it does happen) with us then they are more than welcome.
What is not welcome is personal abuse of those we disagree with which is common practice on many Arsenal and Tottenham sites. I come here to escape that type of post and those sites that carry them.
There is much that is good and great about Arsenal and better than Spurs. However in all their history THFC have never deserted their fan base in N17. Arsenal did that when they moved from Kent to north London.
Their fans have every right to tell us to go back from whence we came.
Tottenham unlike us are English owned so show some respect for your fellow English men! To quote our ‘silent’ owner: ‘Have a nice day’.
Bill from NY, ironic that yours is the only negative post I see here!
This transfer was all about Wenger’s stature in the game, intelligence, integrity, and talent at communicating. If it wasn’t for these things, we wouldn’t have Özil. I’m very pleased for the man! It’s gotta be tough dealing with the amount of criticism he has had to over the last 5 years or so. Then again, it’s been tough for us too!
But really if you watch today’s press conference on arsenal.com, his smile at having potentially the best midfielder of his generation beside him as a new signing was great to see. Yes, he could be that good. He’s only 24, and that’s what I believe Wenger said to him in the phone call.
A new era is on the horizon , I still cannot believe we have Ozil. Sounds like he may start against Sunderland. The ref for that game i think is Atkinson, I am trying some uri geller distance hypnotism stuff, the idea that Atkinson will imagine Ozil is Hazard, and jack , assuming he plays, is Oscar….and protect them accordingly.
That Cesc is tipping his former rival to do so well is telling. In fact, everyone (players & managers) is saying this guy will be a success for us. And not only is it Ozil thinking he will benefit under Wenger’s tutelage, Klinsman said that Wenger was the perfect gift for Ozil, and Loew said he will be in very good hands. It almost feels as if those in football management in Germany are grateful that he joined Arsenal. And all the people who are respected in the footballing world are saying this partnership is going to be a very good one. I’m excited, and can’t wait too to see him in action for us, esp in the champions league.
AW is leaving at the end of the year I am very sad to report
Please Marcus, don’t say that about Arsene. It is unthinkable, though a feeling inside inclines me to think Arsene will take his very rightful place on the board where I expect him to be influential right into his 80’s and longer. My only quibble with him has been the selling of Merse really and the occasional odd team choices during play, but I have never considered him replaceable. My parents were great but I have whined more about them than anything else in my life, it doesn’t mean I felt less about them.
Stop taking the piss Arsenal1Again…..
“I am in the strongest league in the world and have to prove myself here to continue developing here. This is why I am at the right club. I cannot promise to win trophies, but I can promise that as a team we will give our all to win trophies.”
That is all you can do Mesut and that is all that I want from you.
Welcome to Arsenal!
It is ironic because of an incoming player from spudland Mesut loses the certainty of a game so he is transferred.
Where to? Arsenal. Who would be a spud supporter? 🙂
On the other hand though £42.3 million of our money is winging its way to N17. Worth every penny of it! 🙂
I like ‘ I am not going to speak bad about my former club.’
Sounds good to me.
Come on fans/supporters, thought creates reality so all together now:
We are going to win the PL, the CL, the FA and that other cup this year.
We are going to win the PL, the CL, the FA and that other cup this year.
We are going to win the PL, the CL, the FA and that other cup this year.
We are going to win the PL, the CL, the FA and that other cup this year.
Every night before you go to bed, every morning you wake up.
Come on Gunners.
Arsenal1again: I am not an Englishman mate, do I have to show respect?
Well yes I respect all fans of all clubs, just not for 90min and maybe not the few days leading up to the game. Also, if they are rude to me then no, oh and also if we get beat by them and they rub it in. Actually if they beat us and don’t rub it in too. Then there is the times that we win but don’t do it pretty, can’t give respect then no siree bob!
Then if I read a media article and they are not fair to us (normal) then no respect sorry.
So just bout covered it all then?
1 more sleep to go!!!!
(FYI – I said the sand about the Villa game, gulp)…
COYG!!!
Para: been doing it for years now bud, its fun to imagine though.
I reckon he will take some time to get to grips with EPL specially the ‘rotational fouling’ but he might really be useful in champs league games. We are in a tough group no doubt, so will need him at his best. Hope Giroud can put his chances away now. I fear that if England play Germany, the English boys will try to injure him or refs won’t protect him when fouled which helps England out, but England so bad and Germania so good it’s a moot point I suppose.
I always wondered why people said Hazard is so great and drooled over him when he was bought by CFC while playing in the French league with Lille, the French league! And he was so great everyone loved him!
BUT, Giroud also came from the very same French league and yet he wasn’t good enough despite being top goal scorer. It just shows up people’s perspectives doesnt it?
COYG!!!
Giroud, top goal scorer at a title winning side!
follow follow,
we will follow the media drivel and clueless pundits!
I read elsewhere, Mr Wenger quotes: “We were close to singing Ozil on the NLD day…”
That explains the “surprise you” and that cunning smile of his……
Stupid media: How fast has the narrative changed from Arsenal have fucked their fans to Ozil, they dont need Ozil.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-ozil-move-has-echoes-of-bergkamp
Well it seems as though the Ozil transfer was a lot less conspiracy laden than as was presented here over the last week or so. Others not buying into the elaborate theory of months and months of collusion, diversion, media/blog deception saw the transfer for what it was. Madrid bought Isco and then later Bale, and the two most vulnerable players as a result were going to be Ozil and di Maria. As confirmed by Zidane in his quotes yesterday and as many non conspirators thought, Dimaria was more accepting of Isco and Bale coming in and Ozil was not (something Ozil’s earlier quotes suggest too in that he said it became clear to him that belief wasn’t being showed to him at Madrid). And as confirmed by Wenger in his quotes things developed pretty quickly within a relatively short timeframe, something that Ozil’s earlier quotes suggested when he said something to the effect of still expecting to be a Madrid player on the weekend of the deadline. We did well to convince him with time running out, and had numerous advantages that made us a more suitable destination versus a PSG setup that was closer to the things that made Ozil feel the need to leave, and more importantly we didn’t dither on price and paid the going rate of someone of that calibre. That’s pretty much it, simply another of several clubs before who took advantage of top players becoming makeweights from Florentino Perez and his galactico desires, nothing unprecidented really. Also given that Wenger’s, Zidane’s and Ozil’s own words suggest far more that it was a quickly developing fluid situation rather than the months of conspiracy laden theory here, the Media was NEVER fooled at all, because in the week and slightly more leading up to the deadline it was widely reported that Ozil and/or DiMaria may become available as a result (basically confirmed by Zidane that it was this specific two) of Isco and finally Bale, and that Arsenal was the most likely or one of the leading destinations for either or even both! Moreover in the final 10 days there was widespread discussion in the media about Levy allegedly stalling on selling Bale specifically to prevent us from getting a Madrid castoff who was likely going to be either Ozil or DiMaria. So the media (including what you would likely describe as AAA blogs)was always on top of this as it developed quickly, as opposed to some long-winded complex months long conspiracy with several parties where they (the media) were allegedly used and fooled. Welcome Ozil, good job Arsenal and Wenger by taking advantage of this situation at Madrid in quick time and paying the big money for and landing a top quality player! Well done!
@A.Stewart
Too long!
Gunz,
Are you kidding? That was one of his shorter posts!
@Bootoomee
Still too long!
bjtgooner,
I feel you brother but A.Stewart is the resident ‘intellectual’ and ‘philosopher’ at Untold. He needs to use lots of words for us ‘simpletons’ to understand. You, sir, need to cut him some slack.
I never read most of his comments though. And it is not just because of their lengths; I have problem reading texts without proper paragraphing. He rarely (if ever) uses paragraphs. You would think this aspect of his writing would be better developed but it isn’t.
@Bootoomee
I know! He always has a lot to say, amounting to the same negative AAA drivel.
I prefer his shorter piece’s, quicker to scroll through.
COYG
@Bootoomee
I am glad to hear that you, like me, skip past A Stewart’s posts, life is too short. I used to wade through them but soon came to realize that he is the kind of person who uses several hundred words to make a point where the average person would use a couple of dozen.
@Bootoomee,
He is definitely not a writer! It is universally accepted that ALL writers have a middle name or an initial for one! Lol!
@A Stewart …Great wind up keep the words flowing!!
Arsene Wenger (Arsenal): “Ozil was perceived by the whole world as being a huge success at Real Madrid so of course the noise made by a signature like that is big. They (people) were questioning my desire to spend money, maybe the ambition as well because today the ambition is linked with the amount of money you spend. We are very ambitious, we went through a few years where we had less resources and there is no shame to say that because we have built a new stadium. Now we are back with the ambition as big as everybody else, if not bigger.”. This is excellent from Wenger.
A. Stewart reminds me of an old quote from my industry:
You shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which…