Absolutely lost the plot. He's definitely knackered but sometimes he looks like he couldn't give a monkeys either way.
Mesut Özil
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He's a very talented player, but he needs a rest. He's not the 1st foreign player to struggle with adapting to the physicality of the Premier League; Mata and Silva both had big dips in form the the 2nd half of their debut seasons. Apparently before tonight's game he'd played 81.3% of all of Arsenal's league and Champions League minutes this season, compared with 61.3% of Madrid's last season.
The other day I was thinking he was going to have a strong finish to the year so he can get ready for the World Cup. But I don't know anymore. It looks horrible for him at the moment. He looks shattered. Not looking good at all.
In a more physical league too. No wonder he looks shattered.
And that's my issue with Özil.....he has a mental problem.......world-class players have forgotten a penalty miss after 1-2 minutes
He isn't world-class in the head.....like for example his german team-mates (in the attack) Müller, Götze, Kroos or even Reus
Other position but Lahm's football brain is outstanding....really outstanding!!!!
Germany will not win the World Cup if Özil is in the starting XI
You really love Mourinho, don't you?
Spot on. Ridiculous overreaction.
Not a big deal. Happens to various players. Doesn't make Ozil any less good than what he has shown. Trouble is people get too excited when players have good or bad games.
Mourinho loves Ozil but in the same situation as yesterday, he would most likely have subbed Ozil off for the keeper.
Yep. It wasn't that long ago people were saying similar things about Silva, then he plays well in a game his team loses and he's quality again.
I'd be more inclined to blame Wenger then Ozil. You know what he offers, and what he doesn't, and he should have been taken off after they were down to ten men. Plus he has been played way more than he is used to. I agree with the post that says he'll do better once he has a better striker to feed the balls to, somebody making those runs behind the defense that the likes of Ronaldo and Higuain made at Madrid. He is a much better player than he has shown so far this season. Even Walcott coming back should see much better performances from Ozil.
I don't think anyone has doubted his quality. It's his desire and mentality that has been questioned. Rightly so, imo.
He was worse yesterday than in the weekend game, but Arsenal didn't have much of the ball for half the game after the red card. I suspect some people would've been hailing it as a genius display if Arsenal had won with him putting in the same exact performance. Results influence perception of individual performances on here.
He's a lazy player. Does little for the team.
He's a lazy player. Does little for the team.
What he's shown is that he's a lazy flat track bully who frequently goes missing in big games. Last night means we can add mentally weak to his list of flaws.
The argument with Flamini was strange, how frustrating could that be? He must be through a very difficult patch... failing at Madrid and now being exposed daily by the British rags.
He wasn't a failure at Madrid, he went there after a great world cup, established himself as one of the best number 10s in the world and left for 3x then amount of money he was bought for. His current struggles don't make his time with Madrid a failure.
So basically what you're saying is he left for Arses cos' he was too good at Madrid?
Definitely wasn't a failure at Madrid. Did fantastically well for them, improved as a player, was eventually sold for a multiple of the price they paid as a result of their obsessive need to have the shiniest new toy, a decision that was then lamented by the Madrid players and fans.
Criticizing Ozil is fair enough but saying he was a failure at Madrid is simply ludicrous. Where do you think he built his reputation as one of the best No. 10's in the world?
No. You know full well why he left Madrid, but it certainly wasn't because he was a failure.
He's in a slump, but he'll be back. I'm sure the training programme Arsenal have supposedly devised will benefit him in the long run. Also, when they get Ramsey back.
I agree that he wasn't a failure, but did he really improve? I still see exactly the same player with exactly the same strengths and flaws, that we all saw at the worldcup in 2010. There's no development so far, imo. His finishing is as bad as ever, his workrate hasn't changed, same with his defensive awareness and his mentality. It's still all about movement and great passing. That's the most annoying part (from a German perspective) about him in the last 3 years, especially if you look at how players like Reus, Müller, Kroos improved.
So do we still want to buy him?
Nope
Probably still getting used to the pace of the PL.
I'm a bit fed up with the responses of the ones in love with Özil saying those criticizing him are overreacting, that he's still adapting to English football, etc. when the major criticism is actually him disappearing in big games, which has been an element talked about way before he came to Arsenal, and that is just being continued.
What has adapting to English football to do with a CL game against a German team? Arsenal is hardly a typical English team?
Lack of bottle is a fair criticism, IMO. It's certainly not the first time we've heard this directed at Mesut
Ozil is a really good player, no doubt. Shocking penalty miss though, and I think that knocked his confidence badly. He was probably desperate to impress against Bayern in particular with all his friends/international team mates and the German fans watching, and as the game wore on got more and more despondent.
Felt sorry for him. If he had scored that penalty it could all have been very different for Arsenal last night, and that was probably weighing on his mind.
Felt sorry for him. If he had scored that penalty it could all have been very different for Arsenal last night, and that was probably weighing on his mind.
Dunno if you were referring to my post, but a few have said he's struggled with the pace and physicality which might explain his fatigue at the moment. Which is fair enough, and even though it was Bayern last night, fatigue accumulated in the PL will be carried into that game, but the main criticism is what FC Barça says here:
And that's got nothing to do with the physicality of the league or so on, and it's not people 'overreacting' or 'writing him off', it's just underlining a trait which has been noticed before. 'One of the best 10s in the world' is also meant to be one of the best 10s in the world in big games. Even more so, I'd say.
A bad patch doesnt suddenly make him a shit player. Yes he is a luxury player and he is pure class. I'm sure he will prove the doubters wrong in time.
Good point. Even "still adapting to English football" is a really weak defense imo. Reason being, his troubles have hardly been with the pace or the physical aspects of English football and more to do with not being motivated enough.
Love watching him for Germany. Not so much for Arsenal. Is he destined to become like Arshavin for them?
This is an interesting post. You can certainly argue that Ozil is chronically fatigued after playing much more football than he is used to. You could also argue that the lack of effort he puts into tracking back indicated a lack of application in general, with regards to the effort needed to put in to his physical conditioning. Which fits with his long-term inability to see out 90 minutes. United fans can understand better than most how incredibly annoying it is to have a supremely talented young footballer whose lack of application is his achilles heel.
Can't help but thing about this.
I just hope Löw sees enough sense and starts Kroos over him in this summer WC. Everything else would be a farce considering how both their season have gone at this point.
Imagine if Roy Keane was Ozil's teammate, that would be funny.
And you know, I think back to when he was first linked to Barcelona and I was reading up on his background. He grew up in the Bismarck district of Gelsenkirchen and the 'cage' he played in with older kids - it made me think he had steel in his game that would make a difference on the professional level.
But after years of doubts on many clubs & NT level in big matches, you'd have to question whether there isn't indeed something to this lack of big match ability.
He's still 25 y.o. so perhaps he will elevate his game still but I believe you tend to see these 'big game' qualities in a player much earlier. That ability/desire/hunger to raise your level against the best. I think it's a fair criticism of the player, for now
Superb player.
Just didn't look comfortable trying to help Monreal out. Not sure anyone would.
Just didn't look comfortable trying to help Monreal out. Not sure anyone would.
This thread may well be joyous next season.
People just watch a different game and get hysterical about things.
Ozil does track back. He's been doing it all season when he's been asked to. He did everything he could last night physically. There probably isn't a player in the league who has covered more mileage than him this season - and I'm not exaggerating.
As I said before, there is a really nasty media campaign slating him for absolutely everything at the minute, and when he does actually make a mistake, like last night, it goes up to fever pitch.
Wenger's man management has to be top notch here. He has to do something to try to take him out of the firing line.
People just watch a different game and get hysterical about things.
Ozil does track back. He's been doing it all season when he's been asked to. He did everything he could last night physically. There probably isn't a player in the league who has covered more mileage than him this season - and I'm not exaggerating.
As I said before, there is a really nasty media campaign slating him for absolutely everything at the minute, and when he does actually make a mistake, like last night, it goes up to fever pitch.
Wenger's man management has to be top notch here. He has to do something to try to take him out of the firing line.
There's no campaign or plot against him Alastair. And most aren't especially slating his workrate or tracking back, you're just isolating the comments that suit you. People are underlining his inability to perform in big games. Do you feel that's unfair criticism?
I really don't see it as fair criticism, no. What's interesting about last night was how him and Cazorla discussed who would take the penalty and Ozil was the one that stepped up to the plate and did it. No mention of his 'bravery' or his 'desire to help the team' there. Thought not.
Most are slating his work-rate. All I ever hear is how he doesn't run, and this is from serious journalists. When they invariably discover that he does run, they come up with some stupid line like 'oh yeh but it doesn't count because he's just going through the motions' or some such rubbish.
This is as clear a media witchhunt as we've had in this country for a long time. Whenever we lose a game, there's only one person to blame. There's only one player trending.
It infiltrates into the ground as well. It's like bloody E-Coli. You get Arsenal fans slating him for not winning the ball back whenever he goes near a player. Some of the cretins we had in the ground last night were an embarrassment.
It's hatchet job after hatchet job and it shows no sign of abating.