Mesut Özil

Is there any excuse for his second half performance tonight btw?

I mean I don't really rate him at the best of times, but he was playing like a sulking little child. It was completely embarassing. Imagine being on the same team as someone doing that.
 
No doubting his talent obviously, just a man devoid of confidence really. He's not that old, is he? Surely he'll grow into performing on the bigger stage.
 
Señor said:
Oh ffs I've heard this excuse a million times. This lay off Ozil, he's a part of a team excuse is torn to shreds when you come to terms with the fact that he, along with Cazorla, were the worst players on the pitch. Luckily for Cazorla, he was only on for 40mins so it didn't seem as bad.
Click to expand...

I just don't know what people expect him to do?

He obviously did his fair share of defensive work given, he like i said before covered the 3rd most amount of ground on the pitch. I think its his laid back expressions that cause people to overract in situations like this, not a single Arsenal player played well in the 2nd half, it was all Bayern, and thats what you expect when your facing a team of their quality and style when your down to ten men.
 
Snipers Breath said:
Did he really do that bad, he covered the third most km out of everyone on the pitch.
Click to expand...

He isn't a lazy player, it's just his body language that makes people see him in that way. He usually covers an impressive amount of ground even when he isn't playing well, which isn't bad for a player generally considered to lack stamina.

His real problems are a) the fact that he's very reliant on other players for supply, b) he is defensively weak, c) he lacks the combative personality that would allow him to impose himself in a game like this.
 
.Rossi said:
In all fairness, some of you lot were writing Mata off, saying he's not as good as people make him out to be, just as we signed him.

And Ozil has given people plenty of ammo to throw at him lately....And this is the first time all year I've said a bad word about him
Click to expand...

I've never written Mata off, your lot have been going on about Ozil for months now, only seen Mata play against our lot and he was pretty terrible to be fair.

Ozil had a bad game mostly in the 2nd half, I'm not gonna slate the guy for not being able to defend properly down the wing. He isn't a left winger and you have to accept he isn't the type of player who tracks back. Wilshere made two mistakes for both Bayern's goals so should we ignore that because he looked like he cared unlike Ozil who despite running over 11.5km is being labelled a lazy player. I don't think any Arsenal player needs to be ashamed tonight, every single one of them gave it their all but it wasn't our day and 11v10 we were gonna struggle against Bayern. Ozil's penalty miss was bad but it was his good play that even won the penalty, at least unlike Alaba he hit the target.
 
Snipers Breath said:
Right now he is inferior to Henderson, still wouldn't call Henderson a better player though.
Click to expand...

No but I know who I'd rather have in my team. When he players Arsenal play with 10 men most of the time. A few silky passes here and there do not make up Ozil being a total void as he enters the event horizon around the black hole which is his confidence and mentality.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
No doubting his talent obviously, just a man devoid of confidence really. He's not that old, is he? Surely he'll grow into performing on the bigger stage.
Click to expand...

He's played in the World Cup, a Euros and in the CL for years, he should need no introduction to the big stage. It seems to be mentality that is his problem and I believe he never wanted to leave Real Madrid and was forced into moving.
 
Keenst said:


He's got a point.
Click to expand...


No, hes just another player who looks good so people constantly make excuses for.

We can make players look good without top quality strikers, Ozil is responsible for his malaise, as is evident by the Arsenal team mates screaming at him.
 
Sooner or later the defiants will grow into accepting that he isn't a player permanently in poor form, he just isn't really all that good.

I reckon we've got at least another year of "not suited to that type of game" and "you just don't appreciate what he does" type excuses being thrown around yet though.
 
Did anyone suggest he was lazy? He just doesn't enforce himself enough in some of the bigger games. That'd probably be okay for your run of the mill player, but not Özil. Ronaldo had the same issue early on in his career, I'm sure Özil will grow as a player still.
 
ItsEssexRob said:
No but I know who I'd rather have in my team. When he players Arsenal play with 10 men most of the time. A few silky passes here and there do not make up Ozil being a total void as he enters the event horizon around the black hole which is his confidence and mentality.
Click to expand...

Your posts do amuse me considering how much your manager loves him.
 
noodlehair said:
Sooner or later the defiants will grow into accepting that he isn't a player permanently in poor form, he just isn't really all that good.

I reckon we've got at least another year of "not suited to that type of game" and "you just don't appreciate what he does" type excuses being thrown around yet though.
Click to expand...

Yes after 6 months he really isn't that good, of course it would be unlike a player to not be at their best in their first season when coming from abroad.
 
Sixpence said:
He's played in the World Cup, a Euros and in the CL for years, he should need no introduction to the big stage. It seems to be mentality that is his problem and I believe he never wanted to leave Real Madrid and was forced into moving.
Click to expand...
Would you want to leave Madrid for Arsenal? No chance.
 
Sixpence said:
Running means nothing in relation to hard work, he probably covered more because he jogged/walked it all. Others were mainly busting a gut at full speed with their running work.
Click to expand...

I don't buy that really, maybe it's true to an extent but what were the other players doing when they weren't busting a gut? Just standing still?
 
Considering 3 players were subbed off, 1 is the goalkeeper and the back 4 spent the entire second half camped on the edge of the box, covering the 3rd most ground doesn't really say much.
 
Keenst said:
I don't buy that really, maybe it's true to an extent but what were the other players doing when they weren't busting a gut? Just standing still?
Click to expand...

If you're being kept in your own half like Arsenal was today you don't run THAT much. Jogging all over the pitch I can see anyone having that kind of great stats. Flamini for example covered 2km more than him and you could see it on the pitch. Great statistic for him but if you watched him carefully, you really saw him mostly jogging back after Bayern already have been a long time in Arsenals half.
 
Keenst said:
I don't buy that really, maybe it's true to an extent but what were the other players doing when they weren't busting a gut? Just standing still?
Click to expand...

His position is a factor in that. When the defence is pegged back the defenders don't cover as much ground as the defensive line doesn't alter very much. In that scenario the midfielders cover a bit more ground as Bayern are moving the ball around trying to find some space. I don't know what everyone else's stats were but I'd guess the CM's were high on the list.
 
Tarrou said:
Considering 3 players were subbed off, 1 is the goalkeeper and the back 4 spent the entire second half camped on the edge of the box, covering the 3rd most ground doesn't really say much.
Click to expand...

He consistently covers a lot of ground though, not just in today's game. He has plenty of flaws but laziness really isn't one of the major ones.
 
Anderson18 said:
If you're being kept in your own half like Arsenal was today you don't run THAT much. Jogging all over the pitch I can see anyone having that kind of great stats. Flamini for example covered 2km more than him and you could see it on the pitch. Great statistic for him but if you watched him carefully, you really saw him mostly jogging back after Bayern already have been a long time in Arsenals half.
Click to expand...

In fairness to Ozil though, he is an attacking player and Flamini is a defensive mdfielder; it's no more than you'd expect. You know what you're getting with a player like Ozil and when you don't have the ball for the majority of the game he's really not going to have much of an impact. Rather than criticise Ozil for being lazy I think Wenger should take some flak for not taking him off; it made no sense keeping him on the pitch as he's only really effective when he has the ball.
 
I didn't think it was a case of lack of effort. I rarely subscribe to this line of thinking. Why on earth would Ozil, who is already under-fire from the media, purposely walk around and refuse to put in his very best effort against his German compatriots? I don't buy it.

Simply, he was crap. His passing was all over the place, his defensive work is non-existent in that he clearly isn't very good at it at all. He was just awful, and that's more to do with his football as opposed to his effort. He ran with the ball at pace on plenty of occasions. He was almost too persistent in his attempts to get the ball back - some silly fouls in there. Lack of effort wasn't his problem today, which for Arsenal supporters, is perhaps more worrying?
 
JazzG said:
Yes after 6 months he really isn't that good, of course it would be unlike a player to not be at their best in their first season when coming from abroad.
Click to expand...

I haven't been that impressed whenever I've watched him, either for you, Real Madrid or Germany. He looks classy on the ball, but in terms of his actual performance and contribution to a game, I've not seen anything to justify the reputation at all.

I was saying this when you signed him and he's hardly done much to make me think I should shut up/sneakily change my mind.

The only thing I've learnt about him this season is that he apparently likes to sulk.

A number of your other players have stepped up this season, and Ozil's signing and slightly mad fee has meant he's managed to worm away with some of the credit for that.
 
sullydnl said:
He consistently covers a lot of ground though, not just in today's game. He has plenty of flaws but laziness really isn't one of the major ones.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't think he's lazy in general, I just felt like today he was.

A couple of times it looked like he saw the run from Rafinha and just didn't bother. Maybe this was just lack of awareness but it really looked to me as if he couldn't be arsed.
 
I am sure Pete and Ali will be in here clearing this matter up, there will be some really obvious reason why he isn't actually going missing that we/they haven't dreamed up yet.
 
noodlehair said:
I haven't been that impressed whenever I've watched him, either for you, Real Madrid or Germany. He looks classy on the ball, but in terms of his actual performance and contribution to a game, I've not seen anything to justify the reputation at all.

I was saying this when you signed him and he's hardly done much to make me think I should shut up/sneakily change my mind.

The only thing I've learnt about him this season is that he apparently likes to sulk.

A number of your other players have stepped up this season, and Ozil's signing and slightly mad fee has meant he's managed to worm away with some of the credit for that.
Click to expand...

He has the most assists in Europe over the last 5 years, his contribution is incredible.
 
Keenst said:
In fairness to Ozil though, he is an attacking player and Flamini is a defensive mdfielder; it's no more than you'd expect. You know what you're getting with a player like Ozil and when you don't have the ball for the majority of the game he's really not going to have much of an impact. Rather than criticise Ozil for being lazy I think Wenger should take some flak for not taking him off; it made no sense keeping him on the pitch as he's only really effective when he has the ball.
Click to expand...

Ok let's say that as an attacking player he is rather useless without the ball. That's simply not it works these days. A key player has to be atleast that good that he doesn't become a liability in the big games, because one part of him isn't good enough. Wenger has to keep him on, because he is the player that could've least done some damage. Wenger has to build a system for him or to teach him how to be better against the top teams. If he is that useless when they're under pressure, how will he ever be a good player in the big games? Should Wenger start to drop him like Mourinho did in certain big games?

He needs to work on his mentality and defensive ability. We could face the same dilemma with Mata. In these times an 10 also needs to be good when they don't have the ball, or atleast be useful. He gave himself up after the penalty and was even worse after the sending off.
 
If I was an Arsenal fan I really wouldn't be worried about Ozil. A foreign player widely said to lack physical robustness comes to the far more physical PL and still has the third most assists so far in the league? Despite not actually playing to anywhere near his best? He is also young enough to develop further. Nope, Ozil will be grand.

Arsenal fans should be more worried about their options up front and the lack of balance in midfield. Both of which impact directly on Ozil btw.
 
I said when they signed him I thought he might struggle being a big fish in a smaller pond and I think thats been the case.

If Arsenal get in a big name striker then, with the pressure off in more ways than one, I think we'll see a lot more from him.
 
sullydnl said:
If I was an Arsenal fan I really wouldn't be worried about Ozil. A foreign player widely said to lack physical robustness comes to the far more physical PL and still has the third most assists so far in the league? Despite not actually playing to anywhere near his best? He is also young enough to develop further. Nope, Ozil will be grand.

Arsenal fans should be more worried about their options up front and the lack of balance in midfield. Both of which impact directly on Ozil btw.
Click to expand...

Finally. Common sense.

I find it odd how people say Ozil hides.

If he'd hidden away today, he'd have come out of that game better than he has. Despite clearly being awful at penalties, he volunteered after no-one else wanted to take one. That's not hiding.

He covered the 3rd highest amount of ground of any player out on the pitch as well, but that doesn't fit the narrative that he's lazy and doesn't bother to track back.

There's more to come. I'm still far more inclined to blame other far more obvious factors though.
 
Anderson18 said:
Ok let's say that as an attacking player he is rather useless without the ball. That's simply not it works these days. A key player has to be atleast that good that he doesn't become a liability in the big games, because one part of him isn't good enough. Wenger has to keep him on, because he is the player that could've least done some damage. Wenger has to build a system for him or to teach him how to be better against the top teams. If he is that useless when they're under pressure, how will he ever be a good player in the big games? Should Wenger start to drop him like Mourinho did in certain big games?

He needs to work on his mentality and defensive ability. We could face the same dilemma with Mata. In these times an 10 also needs to be good when they don't have the ball, or atleast be useful. He gave himself up after the penalty and was even worse after the sending off.
Click to expand...

It would be naive to think Arsenal were going to get anything from that game once the 2nd half went on. Wenger should have realised he could be a liability defensively and taken him off and replaced him with someone with a bit more energy or defensive nous. It's not every game your going to be hanging on like that so I don't think it should be a worry that he didn't perform to well under those circumstances. As someone else has mentioned, I'd be a lot more worried about his passing etc. tonight which was pretty dire at times. He looks like a man who needs a rest.
 
One thing that's annoying me is how Wenger is running him into the ground. I don't want him starting v Sunderland. I want him to have ten days off to give him some break. I really don't get the plan of using him - surely he's going to do a muscle at some point?
 
JazzG said:
I've never written Mata off, your lot have been going on about Ozil for months now, only seen Mata play against our lot and he was pretty terrible to be fair.
Click to expand...

You're blaming people for criticiseing Özil and in the same post you are saying that Mata was terrible against you, even though that was better performance than pretty much any of Özil's big game performances this year.
 
alastair said:
One thing that's annoying me is how Wenger is running him into the ground. I don't want him starting v Sunderland. I want him to have ten days off to give him some break. I really don't get the plan of using him - surely he's going to do a muscle at some point?
Click to expand...
Yea, bet RVP can't wait to pull the shirt back on next year ;)
 
alastair said:
One thing that's annoying me is how Wenger is running him into the ground. I don't want him starting v Sunderland. I want him to have ten days off to give him some break. I really don't get the plan of using him - surely he's going to do a muscle at some point?
Click to expand...

He was struggling a lot of the time with 60 minutes + for madrid, plus he had a winter break. First season in the EPL and he has done a full 90 minutes 20 out of 34 games, so well over half this season which hasn't finished. For Madrid he completed a full 90:

12/13: 18/52 games
11/12: 14/52 games
10/11: 13/53 games

And us as United fans criticized Anderson for not completing a full 90? Ozil never got injured for Madrid, and hasn't at Arsenal either. So in a total of 191 games, Ozil has finished 65 times; that is shocking. The fact that Wenger has already forced him to play far more than he ever did at Madrid is showing in his performances, and he is putting more and more risk on sustaining a serious injury. But the fact of the matter is Wenger can't afford to rest one of, if not the best attacking player he has.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.