By Walter Broeckx
The way the media has been trying to give Özil a failure tag is amazing. After Arsenal had stunned the whole world that they had been able to sign him they had to stop the mantra they had been using for the last years: Arsenal (and Wenger of course) doesn’t want to spend the money.
Of course they couldn’t use this slogan anymore. Özil was a record signing for Arsenal. Not bad for a team that refused to spend and a manager that only buys unproven kids. So they went down in their tone a bit and were looking for new angles.
You could smell from a country mile that their big hope was that Özil would fail. But he showed his worth almost immediately and did a good job for us.
But whenever he didn’t have an outstanding match the knives were out in an instant. All players can have bad days of course but whenever Özil didn’t perform at top level the media made sure that all would have heard about it.
And of course the ones that had been asking for the managers blood because he didn’t spend the f*cking money saw any lesser performance from Özil as a sign that Wenger has done it all wrong once again. They also had to change their tune after we had bought Özil last summer. But they wanted Wenger still out. Spending the money or not.
So the media trying to blame Özil whenever things went wrong was trying to pay back to Wenger and a nice way to trying to destabilize Arsenal and of course Özil.
When he missed a penalty against Bayern he was in the line of fire. And the first “flop” newspapers came out.
And when he got injured in the return leg in the first minutes all the media focused on was the fact that he had a poor first half. Forgetting that he was injured or even doubting that he really was injured. This was such a grotesque way of trying to put Özil in a bad daylight that it was amazing that they dared to do it. But in order to hit out at Arsenal all reason and fair play can be abandoned it seems.
Now with Özil out for a few weeks on top of the other important players we have been missing it is time to have a look at the influence that “flop” (=media view) Özil has had on Arsenal this season.
Yesterday I heard some people say that Özil was even on the shortlist of the flop of the season. A list put together by some journalists and pundits I suppose – one part of which has appeared in the English press already. Well how can you put someone on your list when you look at the stats I will show you now. Stats about the win % when we played with Özil on the field and the win % when he wasn’t on the field.
| Özil stats | Matches with | Without |
| Played | 32 | 14 |
| Won | 20 | 6 |
| Draw | 6 | 4 |
| Lost | 6 | 4 |
| Win % | 63% | 43% |
Just look at that. There is a 20% gap between having him on the field or not. With him we win 63% of our matches. Without him only 43%.
Now before you start thinking that I say that only the injury from Özil has hampered us and that all the wins were because of him: I am not saying this at all. It is of course a combination of other players also being injured or not.
But that still doesn’t take away the amazing fact that when Özil was fit we won 63% of our matches. Not on his own of course.
But what nobody can deny is that he has a big influence. Even when he doesn’t do anything directly leading to a goal. His presence on the pitch, his ball holding, his eye to see space and openings on the field is one of the best there is around in the PL for the moment. Wherever he goes he will attract defenders and thus making room for others and opening gaps by doing this. Even on his worst day he will produce a performance better than the average of the rest of the PL players in his position.
And yet the media are brandishing him as a flop. Or better said, they are trying to do this. And of course the non-thinking section of our fanbase will believe them. As they usually do.
Losing Ramsey and Theo in quick succession was a big blow for Arsenal. The fact that the recovery from Ramsey took 2 months longer than predicted was another blow and has cost us a lot of points. But from the moment we had to add Özil and Wilshere to the injury list, was the moment things went downhill completely.
The squad we have is good enough to win any trophy. The only thing we need is fewer injuries. And who knows what Wenger has up his sleeves for next summer? We can expect a lot of good things from our youngster who have been stepping it up this season like Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gnabry. And maybe some other youth team player might make it in to the first team next summer.
And after last summer….who knows what we might bring in. We are willing to spend top money on top players. So anything can happen. Even though I don’t even think it is that much needed. Just like Ramsey made a giant step last summer, others might do the same the next weeks and months.
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Hear! Hear!
I would suggest we could use a couple of squad players of the ilk of Kallstrom ideally one would be a versitile defender just to give a bit more room for rotation . Of course its a moot point if we keep everyone fit but this season has suggested we can’t take that risk. I would add a goalkeeper to the list with Lukas going and maybe one big money signing if only to motivate and reinvigorate the side.
I would suggest we could use a couple of squad players of the ilk of Kallstrom ideally one would be a versitile defender just to give a bit more room for rotation . Of course its a moot point if we keep everyone fit but this season has suggested we can’t take that risk. I would add a goalkeeper to the list with Lukas going and maybe one big money signing if only to motivate and reinvigorate the side.
I would suggest we could use a couple of squad players of the ilk of Kallstrom ideally one would be a versitile defender just to give a bit more room for rotation . Of course its a moot point if we keep everyone fit but this season has suggested we can’t take that risk. I would add a goalkeeper to the list with Lukas going and maybe one big money signing if only to motivate and reinvigorate the side.
The thing is, the newspapers are now mainly interested in driving advertising revenue via their websites. Arsenal in crisis articles drive clicks, if you keep an eye on the Guardian site for example you will see that Arsenal articles generate more comments than those about other clubs. Another factor is the changing demographic of the Arsenal fanbase, with the growth coming from the middle classes; this is highly desirable cohort to market to.
I don’t think there is an anti-Arsenal media agenda. Look at the narrative of the club of the last 10 years, it’s a great story full of ups and downs and you can’t blame journalists for exploiting it especially when you factor in the clickbait angle.
The broadsheets have changed, years ago you would expect the Independent and the Guardian to take a more reflective approach to football; however, caught in a spiral of declining print sales they are now driven to maximising their advertising revenue via clicks. I mean, the Guardian these days is basically a blog with the odd bit of serious journalism on the side.
We shouldn’t get so wound up by it, it’s designed to provoke.
we’ve been making excuses for failure for too long, living on hope that never materializes. Next season, we’ll find another excuse and hope for a better season after that. Ozil is world class, he simply got tired and Wenger continued to play him. It had to take an injury to get him some much-needed rest, that’s poor management. The sooner people realised that Wenger is ageing and can no longer adapt to the chaniging times. He was great back in days, not anymore. Gone are the days when he could use his scouting network to discover unknown gems.If we think that Wenger will soon unearth another Henry or Viera to shoot us back to the top, sorry to dissapoint u, that ain’t gonna happen. Besides, i believe that this squad is good enough. they may not be perfect, no team is, but with a better manager they’ll win the EPL.
@walter
I’m sure you realise England has no love lost for Germans/Argentinians. Argentina cheats, whilst Germans are boring.
If Ozil is a flop then I’d be interested to know what players such as Fellaini, Lamela, Eriksen, Soldado, Kagawa, etc., really are.
Staurt.
It’s not just about ‘getting wound up ‘ is it.
It’s about the very real negative, destabilising effect it has on our Club.
It helps perpetuate a constant, debilitating amount of ‘angst’ amongst our fans.
It could, and often has destabilised our players.
It creates a fertile landscape from which poor, biased Refereeing against us can flourish unchallenged.
Some don’t agree with this and think it’s all paranoia. You may be one Stuart. That’s up to you. I think you would be wrong.
Personally, yes, it does ‘wind me up’, but I genuinely think with very good reason.
Al
I think Spurs alone bought 5 flops to add to the ones they already had !!!
When Arsenal lose or play a draw, it’s because they are soft and lack character. When Man City, Liverpool or Chelsea do same, it goes to show that the Premier League is the toughest around. Funny that nobody is taking about how Man City are collapsing after promising so much this season.
Great to see the site back up again, someone somewhere badly wants to deny the pro Wenger supporters freedom of speech.
Re Ozil – the signing of Ozil is an indication to all and sundry that Arsenal no longer have to sell players. It means that more will be bought and most of our main players will be retained each season. Even though we will not be able to spend as much as the Oilers or Chelski or their ilk, we can compete much better than before. As such – those who want to promote certain brands fear the resurgence of Arsenal as never before – reaction by certain persons to this fear is partly responsible for the upsurge in anti Ozil, anti Wenger and anti Arsenal propaganda over the duration of this season.
Its baffling how the media constantly want to make Arsenal look bad,if we play beautiful football and don’t win,”our players don’t have the mental strength to win Dirty”, if we grind out results without playing that well,”we cannot convincingly beat a struggling team”.when chelsea won against a 10 man Swansea and the Media were praising them but if its Arsenal it will be totally different. I’m not surprise that most media house call Saurez a cheat(for diving) and when Matt Jarvis stay up and after a challenge from an Arsenal player in the box,they are saying he should have gone to the ground instead of them to acknowledge him for doing exactly opposite of what a cheat(Saurez) could’ve done. So hearing about them saying Ozil is not utterly surprising.
They plainly see that Ozil is lifting the team just by being there, and the thought that if Arsenal buys another two “world class” players makes them really fearful, they are so afraid of another “invincibles” team.
This team is a top team, and full confidence in themselves all the time is all that is missing.
Only this morning I was reading on a site called thinkfootball.co.uk/ about how much Cazorla is over rated by Arsenal fans, so it’s not only Ozil being dug out for critcism.
Here is probably the best writing on why people struggle to appreciate what Ozil brings to the team:
http://www.futfanatico.com/2012/06/21/ghost-ozil-haunts-defenses/
Marine biology researchers have developed a new method…
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Mick.
Don’t forget:
Wilsheres over rated.
Theos all speed and nothing else.
BFG’s a lumbering oaf.
Girouds just not up to it.
Koz is rubbish….Oh no they’ve changed there tune on that, so now of course he wants to leave…..
And that’s how they work. They’re either not good enough, or as soon as it becomes indisputable that they are actually pretty damn good they start trying to move them on.
F**king Media !!!
Walter, by some accounts The Arsenal are contracted to pay Özil, probably £7.3 millions p.a. for 4 years. This contractual obligation has priority, over the Bond Holders “not to be touched cash”.
On a £300 millions turnover/12 = £25 millions per month, cash being banked (on paper). With salaries at £12.5 millions and the Bond Holders £2.67 millions per month, plus other operating costs of £4.5 millions per month.
Even a brief back-of-the envelope calculation proves that the £100 millions transfer budget is an AST “lie”. Based on the Cash in hand as audited. Trust the gullible Jeremy Wilson of the DT, to swallow it hook, line and sinker!
Notoverthehill
I have no doubt these people in the media know the EXACT state of our finances, but like with many other things Arsenal related, if it doesn’t fit there agenda they just ditch the facts and print what they think the wider public want to, or in fact already do, believe.
Damn the truth just print the story !!!
1st can we stop calling these muppets ‘Pundits’? Please lets not devalue this very honourable title.
Gouresh, you are right.
I always liked the Muppet show so yeah lets stop calling them like that.
Idiots would be more appropriated…
Off topic, just put the television on ITV4 Arsenal v Chelsea youth cup match second leg is playing live from The Emirates. We are 0-1 down at the moment, 1-3 on aggregate.
I would describe Ozil’s first season as OK. He’s done extremely well in some games but tired as he is just not used to the PL. With a full pre season and knowledge of what the league is all about, I am backing him to shine next year. I am generally pleased with his season and it obvious to all but the blind that he is a class act. When you look at first seasons of many players they can be characterised as inconsistent. David Silva’s first season was average at best, Navas the same. Hazard hardly set the world alight last year. The list goes on. I would say that Ozil has had one of the better first seasons of all the creative midfielders that have joined the PL over the last few years.
Looking forward to seeing him next year – hope fully with Theo fully fit!
jayramfootball
I am also looking forward to seeing Ozil and Theo in tandem.
How many times did we actually see them play together this season ?
Not enough times to my liking Jambug
@jambug – Theo and Ozil have only featured in 7 Premier League matches together this season. Four of those they both started the match. Ozil started the other 3 matches with Theo coming on as a 2nd half substitute.
I think Ozil catching Theo is one target, and another is Ozil catching Ramsey. If the Ox moves into midfield, it could be Ramsey and the Ox work in similar ways in the future. Looking at other stats, it seems that Jenkinson is not quite the speed daemon of Theo or the Ox. But, one of the early reports on Jenkinson was that he was good at crossing. So perhaps Ozil picking out Jenkinson, who then crosses to the front of the net (Giroud, Sanogo, Ramsey, …) might develop. Lots to look forward to for next year. Who knows, maybe the Independent goes bankrupt, or burns down over the summer?
Ozil: out OF ALL the really big transfers this year was the 2nd worst. Worst is ERIC LAMELLA.
I am a Gooner. But that is just the way I see it.
Duane you’ve forgotten Soldado for some reason, but to put Ozil in that list well that’s lunacy Duane lunacy.
@Dwayne Fowler
I don’t like your attitude, but let’s ignore that for science. Okay?
Ozil coming to Arsenal happened about the same time Bale going to Real Madrid. I’ve seen articles saying that it is only this week, that Gareth Bale has proved himself worthy. Ozil is known for assists, and in the EPL he ranks on assists. Even with the (2 months?) he has been out.
Should Bale and Ozil get the same length of time to prove themselves? Even though Bale is twice the price of Ozil (nominally). What do think Ozil’s statistics should have been at this point, in order for him to have been a good transfer?
Just posting this here as it reminded me of some of the people who infest here!
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Ozil is class. Idiots have unrealistic expectations and as a consequence get disappointed. Wenger gives an honest assessment of the player and like many of our recent great players have struggled in their first season with the pace and physicality of the premier league.
On what is you opinion based Duane? On the media?
How do you decide if a transfer was bad or good? What are the criteria to decide this?
Far too often there is an belief that players who are very often quite young men can move hundreds if not thousands of miles often to a new culture, often to a city where the only people they know are their team mates meaning that they don’t have the support systems of family and friends that they are both comfortable with but more important they are used to.
In Ozils case my guess is he had a nice home in Madrird but almost in the blink of an eye he was probably living in a hotel room somewhere in North London.
I don’t know how many of you have worked and lived away from your family, I have, and to be honest its a very lonely existence and its very easy to slip into the routine of a couple of drinks too many. Not so much because you want to drink but more you want the company. Lonley if you like
Now I am not suggesting that Ozil is on the pop but he probably is taking time to settle . He is a wonderful talent who with the right team set up, with the right players alongside & the right support from your club has a great chance of succeeding.
Having said all that there is absolutely no guarantees for some players just cant settle and everyone including the press really would be better to wait a 12 month before they jump to the conclusions as to a player justifying their transfer fee.
Here endeth the lesson !
Great to have the number there but really no need.
Arsenal crashed without Ozil and Ramsey even with Carzola back. That speaks a lot.
Carzola and Ozil haven’t develope the understanding necessary to make things work out. They are injured in turns and were not able to play many games together.
Giroud is not the type of forward that can make the best use of Ozil’s passing and Walcott is out. OX came back but Ozil is out too early before OX gets to 100%.
He does not need to do too much under the current set-up. Giroud can balance out his lack of defensive work. As long as he creates two assists in his game, he has done his job.
If Ozil is a flop, during his first season at Arsenal, I would like Wenger to buy more flops like that.
Ozil is one of the best players in the world at what he does. Receiving the ball at speed and computing in his genius -like footballing brain what weight and force to put on the ball and which pass to pick before defenders can realize they are beaten. There’s not another player I have seen , who can do all those things quicker and more precisely than Ozil can but in order for him to be successful , he needs certain type of players around him to showcase his talents.
At Real Madrid he had players like Ronaldo , Benzema and Di Maria who could all make deep runs into channels ,triggering Ozil’s deadly passes while at Arsenal the only players who are capable of making those runs , Walcott and Ox , hardly had a chance to play with Ozil for any stretch of games due to injuries.
Add to that his lack of preseason with Arsenal, a different style of football played in EPL which is by far more physical than anything he would’ve been used to , lack of the Winter break and being played more often than he probably should’ve been , due to injuries to other midfield players , and you will see why his first season at Arsenal hasn’t been as good as it could’ve been .
To say however that he’s been a flop , is ridiculous to the extreme.
For me just watching him glide with the ball at his feet , is worth at least half the money Arsenal paid for him this Summer.
I think even without any new players, given a fair ‘rub of the green’ with injuries we would still be in the shake up for the title.
I’m not saying we may not still of took the odd thumping. We are prone to do this. But if I recall United took a thumping last year, yet still strolled to the title, assisted or not, so it’s not necessarily catastrophic in a bid for the title.
Nor am I saying we would of won because the quality fighting at the top for the title is, for all it’s flaws, very good.
City: For me, have the best squad, but they have a fatal flaw somewhere in there make-up. I think they had the best squad last year as well, but again came up short. Maybe it wasn’t the manager after all?
Chelsea: They too have an expensively assembled squad. A very good squad, but with one obvious flaw. A lack of a top top striker. Alas and annoyingly Mourhino is THE perfect manager for a team like this. Setting up to not concede. Patience. These are Jose’s trade marks. And it is perfect for this squad.
Liverpool: They have a fantastic, dynamic attacking first 11. Beyond that there quality falls sharply. They are very fortunate that they have been almost injury free, especially in the offensive department, since the turn of the year. Such is life.
I don’t want to come across as churlish because I think both City and Liverpool, on there day, are irresistible and fantastic to watch, in fact the closest to the ‘Invincibles’ I have seen, and would be worthy winners. Chelsea on the other hand? Nope, not at any price.
But my point is, when we have discussions like this, pontificating on the quality of our players, indeed the depth of our squad, you cant help but think what might have been without the horrendous run of injuries.
But we really do have reason to be optimistic for next season.
AS I said, even without additions, although they would be welcome, this squad is very good and capable of competing for the PL. I think we have every reason to be optimistic.
Ozil is the kind of flop that Mourinho would love at Chelsea. Watching Ozil is worth the admission money alone. His skill is sublime. The team should be re-built around him- and we are not just a couple of players away- we are 4 or 5.
Tom.
Another very good piece (you are a quandary).
I believe Ozil, rarely, if ever, played a full 90 minutes for Real.
To say his first PL was probably a bit of a shock, would I feel be a gross understatement. He looked like a rabbit in the headlights on occasion.
But taking everything into account. The intensity of the League in general. More playing time. Different roll. Lack of pace to ‘feed’. He did pretty well. Certainly not a ‘flop’ as some imbeciles are suggesting.
I’m sure given the experience gained this year he will step up a level next year.
Goonergerry.
4 or 5 players short, are you sure?
Those 4 or 5 wouldn’t be Theo, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Diaby, Rosicky et el by any chance would they? All of which have missed considerable chunks of the season.
If Liverpool had lost Suarez alone for the time we lost Theo they would NOT be competing for the title.
If City lost Aguaro and Ya ya for the same time we lost Theo and Ramsey they would not be competing for the title. Oh I forgot, they aren’t.
I’m sorry but you just don’t seem to appreciate the massive impact that our injuries have had.
Of course new signings would be welcome. One or two essential. But our squad is very very good and would still be at the top, or very near, with less injuries.
To say we are 4 or 5 short is, I believe, a gross exaggeration.
Jambug
Thanks. At least you can’t say I’m too predictable 🙂
Another thing about Ozil worth mentioning is his sensitive demeanor . It’s almost silly to say that a player costing £42.3M should be handled with special care but in his case I think it’s of at most importance that the fans get truly behind him.
Winning the FA cup this season should go a long way in quieting the section of dissatisfied fans ,as should getting another quality player or two over the next summer as well.
Tom
We’ve had to weather yet another storm of media abuse, but fingers crossed, despite all of it, and the injuries, we may come through it with an FA Cup and the obligatory CL place.
You would hope a massive step forward in terms of belief for this group of players.
So going into the new season with:
An FA Cup Triumph.
A Champions League spot.
The heart of the squad still in place.
2 or 3 new buys, one of which will hopefully be a ‘Marquee’ signing.
Would be a massive foundation to push on from.
Lets hope all that comes to fruition !!
COYG
Typical media backlash on Arsenal. These journalists make me sick, I only read fan blogs and fan articles now. The reality between their opinion and what is factual has been abandoned for flash, misleading headlines. Ozil is a fabulous player. I was so made up when he signed! So what if he has a few problems settling in. Who does seamlessly slip into a new job? AW is right, he will be sensational next season. I agree with Tom about Ozil’s sensitive nature and would hate it if he felt any of this rubbish came from real fans.
“would hate it if he felt any of this rubbish came from real fans.“
Afraid that’s the agenda behind this media campaign to.paint his transfer to Arsenal as a flop. It’s designed to get the fans on his back so he leaves, and then they start praising him again when he’s ‘performing’ elsewhere, like they did with Gervinho who they wrote derogatory article after article till he left, only to start praising his performances at Roma.
It’s ridiculous to even mention Ozil as a flop. Meanwhile, Gerrard nominated for PFA player of the year, for having done what exactly? Score from 12 penalties? These are the same people who can’t define what a world class player is.
I can’t believe how the media is treating with us, while Tottenhams spent 100 million on useless players and ended up mid table, they are all talking about Özil day and night!
How much Man city spent on almighty players!? And they are third with only a Micky mouse cup in the pocket!
It’s all about “the Arsenal way”
They hate it, the way we are always in top 4 position without doing he usual ways of spending crazy amounts of money on advertised players
Persian Gunner
Don’t know why you’re surprised it happens every day, every week, every year.
Our media are a bunch of W*****s.
As you say, Spurs ‘invested’ there £100 Million Bale money on what?
City had a NET spend of £100 Million last Summer, but for all there great play and promise have a micky mouse cup to show for it.
The problem the media have is there 2 main sticks to beat us with are both looking like disappearing yet again.
Stick one: This is finally the year when Arsenal will drop out of the top 4.
looks like it wont happen.
Stick two: No Trophies for 8 years.
Looks like that might change.
So they have to change tack and find something else to bash us with, and this is how they do it.
A) Deride us for falling out of the title race, even though they’d confidently predicted we’d finish out of the top 4 in the first place.
B) Start to devalue our (possible) FA Cup win due to having ‘Not left London’ ‘Struggled’ against Wigan, blah blah blah
C) Starting to go down the ‘Just ONE trophy in 9 years’ route.
D) Focusing in on individual players for criticism, however flawed there arguments are.
The medias hatred for us is ridiculous.
@Tom
A couple of nice posts today – whatever you is smokin’ (or not smoking) stick with it! 🙂
Persian Gunner.
AND I never even mentioned Manchester united and Felani.
A Catastrophe of a season.
YET……It’s like it never happened. Nope lets not dwell on it, let’s start talking about how they are going to sign this player at £30 Million, that player at £20 Million. Every time I watched a Champions League game all I heard was how this players on United’s shopping list, or that players on United’s shopping list
All we hear is what a spending spree they are going to go one. I makes you sick.
F**k me, I’m surprised they haven’t nominated Moyes as ‘Manager of the year’ for keeping them up !!!!
The difference in the way United are ‘Mollycoddled’ in the media compared to how we are castigated at every turn is pathetic !!
These muppets (anti arsenal media) are aware of the potential he (ozil) could inject to our team, with the world class striker no one can stop Arsenal. Bunch of fools they can’t tolerate the point that we have managed to reach the FA cup final despite of high profile injuries and teams like Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea have got nothing despite of their tremendous spending.
But i’m not agree with this fact that ‘The squad we have is good enough to win any trophy’ walter, we reached final in penalty shootout (50/50 chance) we shouldn’t ignore our weaknesses, look at our strikers! how we can manage to win the champions league with theme?
Jambug
🙂 Champions League notice was really good mate!
Common! They are talking about like of Tony Kroos! And they look really confidence 🙂
Besides Fellaini and Mata, united signed the craziest contract with Wayne Roony and it would be no surprise to see them do the same for the Dutch traitor RVpee and where are they on the table!?
And we need no telescope or something too see that in other leagues, situation are the same, Barcelona spent that amount of money on a useless player, tax and contract issues aside, while they have likes of Pedro and Alexis even Deloufo and ended up empty handed, out of CL, beaten by the rivals at the cup final and with no realistic hope for league title!
But, let’s not criticism Barcelona, they are cool, they are something bigger than a club! Let’s talk about Arsenal and Arsene Wenger!
Bjtgooner
Oh yeah?
Just try calling me a plonker and see what happens 🙂
@Tom
I haven’t called you a plonker….yet. 🙂
So don’t take any offense, none was intended, I do like to encourage the positive and today your posts were positive.
Bjtgooner
I was just kidding!!!!!!!
@jambug:
“Stick one: This is finally the year when Arsenal will drop out of the top 4.”
They went as far as to say “this year arsenal should move over and give everton a chance in CL” as if 35 mil is chump change and the invaluable prestige in participating in the premier club competition in the world means nothing to them, and that was the day I stopped visiting a particular website that posted this as an “article” by a “pundit” , the nerve of some ppl.
And I was very upset that the club did not follow a legal route or atleast ban that website/paper from any arsenal press conference, like some northeast clubs are doing to a few papers for derogatory remarks on their club/owners.
r.iris
RE @ 4:42pm
This 4th spot thing does your head.
When we look like we may miss out we get told it will be a ‘disaster’ for us.
When we look like qualifying all of a sudden it’s no big deal.
When we look like winning a Trophy all of a sudden CL qualification is more important.
When we look like qualifying we get ‘it’s not a Trophy’.
Move the goalposts why don’t ya !!!
RE @ 5:02pm
I’ve been banging on about our Clubs passive attitude to the media for ages.
TalkShite regularly accuse our Club and players of cheating without any evidence or proof whatsoever.
No other ‘business’ would allow there Name, Management, or Employees, to be ‘slandered’ in the way we allow ours to be, on a daily basis.
I love our Club deeply, but on this issue I believe they not only let themselves down, but let us, the fans down as well.
As I said yesterday, ban the w*****s, it can’t get any worse !!
7 Things To Do When The Shit Hits The Fan .
From…
http://www.dragosroua.com/7-things-to-do-when-the-shit-hits-the-fan/
Excerpts and salient points .
I know you’ve been through this, we’ve all been. Minding your own business, peacefully, things going on smoothly and then, out of nothing, something incredibly bad happens. The shit hits the fan.
1. Assess, Don’t Stress
It’s very easy to give in to panic when something goes wrong. Instead, I focused on what exactly happened.
And stress, as dangerous as it may be, it does have this incredible access to energy. It can literally release (or block) tons of energy.
2. Decide So It Won’t Collide
Moments after I realized what went wrong, I started to plan.
Our ability to identify and follow up decisions during a crisis is drastically affected. But despite that, it’s vital to step back and choose.
Avoidance won’t work either. It takes a while to turn your face to the fan and take all the shit upfront. But it’s the only viable solution.
3. Communicate
Nothing is happening just by itself. ……. Information is there, reach to it. Each time you face a crisis, try to communicate.
Every crisis can reveal something about you (or the others) that you weren’t aware of. As long as you stay on track and communicate. Don’t isolate in a “I know better” pattern. If there are other persons involved in your crisis, try to understand their point of view too.
4.Rebuild Carefully
The worse had already happened. So why worry now?
The emphasis here is on “carefully” not so much on “rebuild”. You gotta rebuild anyway, but just do it very carefully.
Again, when we’re under pressure, we have this huge urge to speed up.
Accept the current disaster and focus on avoiding the next potential one.
5. Leverage
…… started to manage the process. ….. explaining what’s going on. It wasn’t only about fixing some bugs. It was also about informing other people.
Using as many tools as you can get a hold of is incredibly useful in time of crisis.
Leveraging means reaching out to whatever you have, own or can use in order to smooth the crisis. And that stands true for any type of crisis.
6.Keep Your Fingers Crossed
Fact is you never know if something is going to work or not. You can only hope.
In any crisis, there is so much you can do. Anything over that level simply won’t matter.
7. Learn
Write down what happened. Well, not necessarily in the form of 7 items list blog post, like I did, but do write it down. See where was the glitch. And then repeat it. Rewind in your mind all the phases of this unfortunate crisis. That’s how you can prevent it later on. That’s where the “unpredictable” I was talking about in the beginning of this post is turning into “obvious”.
We learn from mistakes, not from successes. We remember the dangerous and hurtful events much better than the happy events. I guess it’s wired into our survivals patterns. We do this in order to avoid a similarly dangerous situation.
Or at least that’s how you can cope better with it next time the shit hits the fan again.
@Brickfields
An excellent post, many of us could learn from that organized approach.
Jambug
Too easy to blame injuries for consistently bad defending in key games.
The players you mentioned were both playing against the 2 Manchesters away. For all their crap season we only took one point off United. We have no grounds to gloat when we can’t actually beat them.
The way we were hammered against Liverpool and Chelsea away cannot be attributed to injuries to a few players-but to a collective failure to defend across the back four and midfield. If a team concedes 5 and 6 goals away it has virtually no chance to win any game of top level football and it has become a habit in key games.
YAAAP!
goonergerry
I’m not gloating at all.
You said we are 4 or 5 players short.
I beg to differ and explained why.