A guest post by Kelly Woods @kmwoods02
Aaron Ramsey had his worst game in 12 months against Everton. He tried too hard. He forced things. Yes, he scored a goal, but don’t miss the fact that his performance was poor. And speaking of goals, I’m worried that he’s publicly admitted that he set himself a target of 20 goals this season. Whoa, there, son. Remember, it’s not about you. I know you want to start taking games by the scruff of the neck, but remember to just play your game.
These are all things that have come across my Twitter timeline since Saturday’s game. And I follow positive, considered people, who really do support our players. I know they do. And I respect and value all of them and their opinions – at least I do since I cleaned up who I follow. I cannot imagine what the rest of Twitter is saying, and I really don’t want to try. But if you will, let me articulate how I disagree with almost everything in that first paragraph. And to ask that we consider what it is that we really want from players.
First let me get this out of the way – Aaron was not at his effervescent best against Everton. I support, but I’m not blind. The whole team was out of sorts, and most of what he tried didn’t come off. Also true of other players as well. But let me point out a few things, courtesy of the stats-tastic 7amKickoff and his By the Numbers column for Arseblog:
Out of 69 passes attempted (the most for the team), 12 were misplaced. All but 2 of those misplaced were attacking passes, trying to create a chance. 5 of them were in prime areas, where goal conversion rates are high. One of the aforementioned 2 was just horrible – it went straight to an Everton player and almost gave me a heart attack. Only 4 tackles attempted, 2 of which were successful, and no dribbles. And no chances created. Also, there was that goal.
Ok, so what do stats show? Not the whole story, I’m well aware of that. Aaron’s defensive game was a bit weak and his attacking game was ineffectual on the whole. I think that had a lot to do with not having Arteta next to him, and trying to compete with Jack and Alex for space in the middle. But the question remains – what was he supposed to be doing in this game, and did he do it?
I think we should all come to grips with this fact: Aaron is a flair player. He will always try the Hollywood pass. Some seem to think that he’s changed somehow, that he doesn’t do that anymore. And they see yesterday’s performance as a reversion to a previous flawed way of playing. Nonsense. He has always been this player. By all accounts it’s been so since he was 8 years old. Stories of him demanding the ball from older teammates abound. “Let me do it” has always been his way. His off-pitch personality belies this fact, perhaps, as some don’t expect shy, quiet, introverts to behave this way. But it’s been said of him forever that he “expresses himself on the pitch”.
But, Kelly, I hear you say. Arsene said he told him to simplify his game. To go back to basics. True. But Aaron said this in an interview when asked about that:
“It was a difficult period for me where things weren’t happening the way I would like them to, and he called me in and just told me to simplify my game and get my confidence back that way…I did that for a few games, and then obviously you get more confident as every game goes on, and, yeah, I’m thankful for that.” (emphasis added)
That says to me that simplifying his game was not intended to be a permanent change. At least he didn’t interpret it that way. And Arsene had this to say Saturday:
“He has the engine and he gambles on getting in the box a lot and he has that timing to get where you need to be. He got rewarded like these kind of players do.”
“Gambles.” He gambles. He takes risks. He gets rewarded. He has a “can’t win if you don’t enter” mentality. He has said that he wants to improve his ability to take big games by the scruff of the neck and change them. He has goal targets that he has set for himself. But somehow, all that is now being seen as a potential liability, some sort of indication that he is putting himself above the team. Don’t we want a player that is ambitious? That tries to change games? That wants to score? What do we want, if not that? One of the biggest complaints I hear in games like yesterday is “Somebody DO something! Move, or something!” Yet Aaron tries to do just that, and he has a “poor” game, because it doesn’t come off.
I know I am really preaching to the choir here. This is a supporting group of people, many of whom told me yesterday not to worry, that he just had an off day. But here’s the thing. I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about us. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen. His miraculous exploits last season were a joy to watch. But they won’t continue – at least not like that. He is a marked man now. Teams have found out he is good, he will be given much less room to operate. And he is, by his own admission, still trying to improve his game. I’m confident he will continue scoring us goals. But all this means mistakes will happen. Do we really want to start down the road about how badly he’s played, how he’s struggling for form? Why do we do this? “Uh oh, the old Ramsey is rearing his head. Hope this doesn’t mean last season was a fluke.” It’s like we are always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the bad thing to happen to us. Optimism reigns, until it doesn’t.
Here’s my fear. Suppose it doesn’t change? Suppose the next game is the same as Everton – he does a few things brilliantly, but at the same time lots of things don’t come off? What will we say then? Because the haters and naysayers will start in – they’ve already started I would imagine. Despair that we thought we had a “world-class” player, but of course we can’t have nice things, so look, he’s being shit again. I’m steeling myself for that, and I’m ready to defend him. I hope you are, too.
Positively Arsenal 
Conditioning is everything.
Özil is systematically improving in that area as he needs to, as was obvious before he even arrived! But you bet your life that I won’t judge him this year on how well he’s doing two weeks after he has started training. This should not be difficult for anyone to understand.
The Dutch physio whose comments filter down off twitter is not a million miles away with his groans about football dinosaurs. I met the PT for the last two former Arsenal Captains, very good at his job. So when I heard that Moysie had forced the delicate Dutch skunk into with an old skool pre-season fitness programme I nearly wet myself, because it was obvious what was going to happen. Too funny.
I have every faith in Arsenal’s physios, given their track record with my previous favourite Rosicky (I’m a fickle fucker).
Looking forward to his comments on Costa’s injury.
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DC
You weren’t. I just wanted to hear some sense! Gotcha (IBSF)
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Who the fuck moans about our players after such a tight victory?
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well loser69 i saw schweisteiger mueler and lahm as germany’s key players…why dont you explain what you saw of ozil in the world cup ? …
ozil aint fit to lace cesc’s boots….let alone bergkamp’s
oh and a person who calls rodriguez unknown and hummels worse than djourou has nothing to tell me about football so you can keep your “fucking imbecile” comments for your family …….
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Gainsbourg69
August 28, 2014 at 3:42 pm
we were talking fine till you showed up mate….now we have to deal with insults and swearing….
dont forget to blame me though…..
lol..
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You can tell when Hunter is talking “facts.” He accuses you of having an agenda and then writes a wall of text to prove that he’s right
All I have to say is DAV1D LUI7.
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oh and fins…check 3:39…the definition of trolling….
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yes gains what about him?
last time i checked i asked you to explain what his fault was for that game but you went hiding unable to explain your position
im used to it now…its what you do…..quite well too!!
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Well I see a lot of lack of understanding , but I didn’t expect to see if here.
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No you weren’t talking fine. I came here to share in the glow of victory with my mates and I find you talking shit about Ozil. And since I’m not as kind and patient as Finsbury, my first instinct is to tell you to fuck off to Le Grove with that negative shit.
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neither did i expect cunt trolls calling us fucking imbeciles but what do you know……..
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you came here and you went on the trolling with david luiz and also swearing/provoking……is that not what happened?
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What about him? When left to his own devices the Brazilian NT suffered the worst loss in its history.
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I called you fucking imbeciles because you clearly don’t understand how Ozil operates. And the only reason I called you fucking imbeciles is because I don’t want to come to our home and see some uninformed idiot talking shit about one of our players after a victory. Capisce?
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yes ozil is poor and looks like defending/helping is beneath him …..and i was here discussing it with fins bootoome and even dc briefly and foreverheady and at no point did it stoop to your level….but perhaps being a ‘fucking imbecile’ runs in your family …..
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Whatever, you fucking mug. You can count on me to never address one of your asinine posts ever again. The only thing I ask is to hold off on your ramblings until at least two days after a victory. Don’t be the dog that shits on the carpet and you will get only silence from me.
Costa is fucked and Gazprom play Spuds. It’s going to be interesting to see how Cesc does when Mourinho goes full defensive.
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Sorry, they play Everton which is even worse.
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george are you for real?
you moderate me when you have IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES gains comments provoking and trolling and calling us names ?
wtf ……
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listen gains……when you grow up and learn to explain your positions/statements maybe i take you seriously….hows that?
a person who holds djourou better than hummels and a person who claims ancelotti cant work with tens and a person who can not explain luiz faults at the 1-7 demolition is and acts in forums like some football guru is the real fucking imbecile ….
now get lost before i really get mad and you see me shitting on anything you hold holy in your miserable sodding life …not just the carpet.
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You just won’t take a hint , will you Hunter?
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hint for what george? what the fuck did i do wrong this time ?
read from above from the start and you will note that fins got agitated for no good reason and started calling us groaners and basically stupid but still there was no problem ..just disagreeing on ozil…can we not do that ? and then you will spot this cunt69 showed up to raise the stakes
yet its all my fault again? ….some weird logic there mate….
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I have read it, And he was right to be upset about the tone of your criticism.
Once again, everyone is marching out of step, bar you.
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I am glad I opted out of this because it has become very toxic now.
I have fought several battles (mostly at Untold) against those who denigrate our players and call the manager names but I have no problem with stating that a player needs to improve one aspect of their game or the other. In this regard, I am firmly in Hunter’s corner. Ozil needs to do better in terms of effort – both offensive and defensive.
This has absolutely nothing to do with how great a talent he has. Personally, I rate Cazorla ahead of Ozil and while not adept at, the Spaniard gets involved when things start getting ugly on the pitch.
Gainsbourg69 wrote:
“Not me. I wanted Campbell to come in for the Ox in order to run at Besiktas’s tired defence. Why the fuck would anyone be relieved over one of the best creative players in the world coming off in a situation where keeping possession is imperative? The only reason Ozil was taken off is because he was spent.”
Are you kidding? We have lost a defender while trying to save a slim lead with 10 men and you will bring in an attacker? I am just glad that you are not Arsene Wenger or do you think that the manager got it wrong?
BTW, can we just cut down the Ozil accolades a notch please? What the hell does “one of the best creative players in the world” have to do in a conversation about players contributing to the team defensively at a critical time? Or does the fact that he is “one of the best creative players in the world” mean that he does not help in defence when the team is struggling in that area?
Ozil is a good player but his unearned god-like status amongst some of our fans is sickening.
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no he is not right and nor are you ….if you want to call it “criticism” when we call a spade a spade then maybe you should stop doing the ostridges…….
i explain everything i fucking say…i give reasons for saying what i say on ozil…WELL DEFINED TOO.
rosicky 33 years old runs his socks off when needed…santi too…sanchez too ….who the fuck is ozil? and who the fuck is gains to be upset about us talking about it ? …..
since when is ozil the holy totem of arsenal ?
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PG,
I think that you should be more sympathetic with Hunter on this issue. I recall that only a few days ago some here were giving you grief for talking about Flamini as a “liability” because of his tendency to get booked from poor challenges. I was on your side then just as I am with Hunter now. Being positive fans does not mean that we cannot talk about our players’ weak points while hoping and supporting them to get better.
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fucking well said bootome !!!
and the part about cazorla/talent…( 3rd paragraph i think) and the two last paragraphs…
ON THE SPOT!.
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key word : unearned
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Once again, everyone is marching out of step, bar you
yes George…a clown who never explains what he says and is always swearing and mocking/dismissing reasoned and defined takes on players abilities/contributions is the one MARCHING OUT OF STEP….
calling ozil out on his diva attitude is NOT marching out of step.
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Boo, no one is buttering up Ozil.
He can play shit in every game for the rest of the season if he likes but he still seems to have enough GOODWILL amongst his peers in the game, very good players no less, to be considered a good ‘un. Their words, not mine.
Hunter lost a fair amount of GOODWILL with his poorly disguised pining for the F Word and Suarez
Did someone say a bad word about the Flamster? Another one of my favourite players (told you I was fickle).
I must have missed it. I only saw praise for the Arsenal captain, fair enough.
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“Hunter lost a fair amount of GOODWILL with his poorly disguised pining for the F Word and Suarez”
poorly disguised? lol …..i do it as open and bviously as i can…what do i have to be afraid of?
they are both tremendous players/footballers and they would both put arsenal on another level.
if you deny it…show me your reasoning…dont just say “hunter lost goodwill”…..
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I remember when gains was banned from elsewhere for having the temerity to highlight the importance of conditioning and fitness. Fun times!
Some felt that Pato was a player who looked like he had a good attitude. Gains tried to explain that the player had fitness issues. They didn’t like to hear it. One thing led to another…
…Pato wasn’t fit enough, hadn’t played enough to even be considered for the recent WC.
I always have time for what Gains has to say on the footy and on players. His track record has given him a fair amount of goodwill from me.
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ah so because id want cesc and suarez in my arsenal ….. im unworthy of your blog now fins?
hehe so nice of you ….
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. $¬£$”£$¬”£% ….
what the fuck has conditioning and fitness got to do with attitudes and behaviours which originate from the mind/personality/character ????????…youre pissing me off now !!!! sorry for swearing …..
i told you before youre moving the goalposts
fitness is irrelevent
none of them were fit
yet all bar one gave everything they got while one of them was jogging and falling down when 3 against two in the fucking contra attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and then wouldnt track back either….
even if ozil was 100 fit wenger would still take him out….. he also knows ozil is not one to count on when defending a fragile scoreline
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Boo
You see? Only a prized idiot would have trolled an arsenal blog in order to moan about Suarez in the days after Arsenal signed Sanchez. The same Sanchez everyone was praising above.
That’s why I’m addressing you, DC, George, Gains…etc. anyone else and I’m not the only one to do so.
Many of us only come here to read the thoughts of Gains, Passenal etc. and that is because they have lots of goodwill.
I hope you can understand.
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“Right, now some in house matters.
As you all know we have a very tight door policy in the comments section. Its supportive opinions only.
We set this blog up for like minded people to have a safe haven , away from the misery of other places you might visit. Once in you are free to use any language that pleases you. However, at the risk of being accused of “poacher turned gamekeeper” I will not tolerate aggressive posting towards others on the blog. Its not on and anyone doing it will be history. No matter who they are or how much I like them.”
Last warning. I shit you not.
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which makes your fucking sorry ass lame excuse about fitness null and void and totally irrelevant to the subject me and bootoome are touching upon………..
hallo?
how more clearer do i have to explain it?
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so if you two (gains and hunter) do not abuse each other, you cannot communicate that you do not agree on the opinions being stated by each party? I am at a loss… i guess it keeps you guys feeling manly? or what exact value does it add?
Ozil should improve on his contribution to defending…rather should we say further improve, cos actually he’s not that bad in contributing in the games i have watched both for us and Germany… i think he wanes when he starts getting tired… the PL being generally more intense than la liga.. just a thought… which is likely what is being said about him having a fitness regime which i for example was not aware of and probably explains to an extent how his immerse talent is deployed… No one has to be absolutely right and we can actually learn from each others comments… Like i said, just a thought!
And hunter, i hope i am not introducing a new dimension to the argument just that i saw something on this in one of your comment – i loved Cesc though unhappy with how he left us i consider him a great player still but he is not miles better than Ozil at all… Ozil is a great replacement for him, no loss in talent )though different styles) and he is younger too. you did not have to say that just to annoy those saying ozil is great cos i doubt you believe that… just a thought
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Ooops! Correction:
“Many of us only come here to read the thoughts of Gains, Passenal and George etc. ”
Phew!
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finsbury,
I must confess that I have cringed at some of the things that Hunter posted here in the past. I don’t think that Arsenal players are the best in the world but I don’t engage in any discussion comparing them with others, especially when that comparison is unfavourable and aimed at belittling them. I recall the Cesc debate (which I agree with but wouldn’t exalt) and that of Suarez which I find bizarre as we have no business with him.
But on this particular discussion, I stand firmly with Hunter. I don’t think that the fact I disagreed with him on some topics and don’t approve of his general tone mean that I must oppose him on all issues.
If we are using 10 men to protect a slim and absolutely important lead AND the manager chose to replace a particular player, I think this says a lot about that player’s contribution to our defence.
Again, I do not have any agenda against Ozil, I just HOPE that he can improve his attitude when it it comes to getting down and dirty in difficult games. He is great when Arsenal are not pinned down at the back but when we are, he does not do enough in my opinion.
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so if you two (gains and hunter) do not abuse each other, you cannot communicate that you do not agree on the opinions being stated by each party?
wow mate…..saying hummels is better than djourou is not an opinion. its an objectve and realistic assesment of the two players status/level in the game. somethign 9/10 would agree to. the one left being gains obviously…..
saying djourou is better and that hummels is overrated is just a biassed opinion….an opinion which was never backed up.
in the above same manner, words have been thrown around about rodriguez, ancelotti, suarez, luiz etc etc
so yes forgive me for being able to explain my positions a lot better than that fucking clown.
as for cesc/ozil….cesc all day. and i can explain that too if you like…
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Boo: “Ozil is a good player but his unearned god-like status amongst some of our fans is sickening.”
Again, if you don’t understand how Ozil plays, when you had an entire summer of watching him at the world cup, then you’re an effing, fracking fucking imbecile.
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Boo
You think Ozil needs to up his attitude. So did my friend who treated lucky little me to the game last night.
I think he needs to improve his stamina.
You say potato…
…I don’t say “I love Cesc Fabregas No.4™”
How hard can it be?
For me it’s a lot easier to gauge a players condition then it is their attitude. I haven’t the foggiest idea what JW’s attitude is like on the pitch or in the dressing room. I don’t care. But I can see incremental improvements in his stamina, hell, everyone could see it yesterday.
The only pro footballer I have seen who has an obvious attitude problem on the pitch just signed for Liverpool. If you want me to comment on Ozil’s attitude, well, he had enough attitude to help his control a number of games last season. Especially when he was fresh before Feb, when Arsenal were in their best form of the season. That was not a coincidence.
Please note:
WE HAVE LOTS OF QUOTES FROM HIS TEAMMATES PRAISING HIS ATTITUDE.
Their words, not mine.
We’ll have plenty of time to think what we like about Ozil’s attitude in the upcoming games against Dortmund, Gala and Ander. Fortunately he will, touch wood, be in better shape. Can’t wait to see him play in Turkey.
It would have been nice to have discussed the draw.
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I never said Djourou was better than Hummels. What I said is that Hummels and David Luiz were way overvalued. If you recall, my very first comment on this topic was about keeping Djourou instead of buying Hummels and David Luiz for so much money. It was always a discussion about value for money, you’re the one who barged in and made it about who is better. I only followed your insanity because I enjoyed taking the piss out of you. Having said that, I’ll never forget the night of the 7-1. Never in the history of arguing about football has god shone a light so brightly on someone. David Luiz for fifty million pounds will forever be an example of paying through the nose for hype.
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Not a bad champions league group for us……
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Praise be to the football gods!
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Pedantic George,
Please read Gainsbourg69 reply to me @6.17pm and kindly let us know if it is okay for him to do that but Hunter is the bad guy. I think I see here why Hunter sometimes feel victimised. Do you, PG, approve of that kind of commenting style?
Gainsbourg69,
I won’t call you “an effing, fracking fucking imbecile” just because you think that Ozil as “one of the best creative players in the world” who need not contribute his part when the team is pinned to the back and under pressure.
I will call you “an effing, fracking fucking imbecile” because what you did @ 6.17pm is what “effing, fracking fucking imbeciles” do when they lack the intelligence to defend their position after being showed up for the illogicality of their opinion by their intellectual betters.
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Dortmund, third time in a close succession. Should be very interesting. They made a big deal out of their victory in N5, because it was a big deal for them.
Be nice if that senile old coot Vengargh could be kind enough to give my favourite player Rosicky (told you I was fickle, that’s three favourites in one afternoon!) some minutes against his old team. The bastard. And stop all this obvious conditioning of St.Jacky that everyone is following, because we’ve been reliably told above by the genius of his royal majesty that “fitness is irrelevant”.
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I was just coming here for that, Fin.
Arsenal
Dortmund
Galatasaray
Anderlecht
Good group. Not too much traveling and we have a very good chance of progressing. The trickiest tie is going to be Galatasaray away if we need points. I see us beating Dortmund both home and away. That team is at the beginning of a rebuilding phase and ours isn’t, for the first time in about a decade. I think we’ll be able to cope better with injuries this year and we’ll have at least two players of equal quality in every position.
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting
Maribor
The names aren’t as flashy as the ones in our group, but Maribor are going to present Chelsea a lot more problems than Galatasaray are going to give us. Sporting is better than Anderlecht in my estimation. Depending on fitness and who they face on the week-end, these two can prove to be very tricky ties for The Specialist in Failure. I think Chelsea will have a hard time topping this group.
Bayern Munich
Man City
CSKA
Roma
I haven’t seen Bayern Munich play this season, but they just bought Xabi Alonso to fill the hole left by Toni Kroos. I expect some nasty tiki-taka from this midfield. They’re my favorites to win the group. City are going to fight for that second spot with a Roma which has a pretty good little team at the moment. They have youngsters like Pjanic, Iturbe, Strootman back from his knee injury and a wealth of older, experienced players like De Rossi, Totti, Keyta, Cole, Maicon and Labont. Oh and their coach is Arsene’s eventual replacement, Rudi Garcia. Enjoy your trips to Russia, suckers.
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Boom, what on earth make you think I approve of of Gains saying that? The difference is when Gains does it he is prepared to admit he overstepped the mark.
Ozil is not,nor should not, be immune from criticism. Its all about tone.
Personally I don’t see him as being a target. I’m with Gains in as much as I think I understand what he brings and how he brings it.
So I take it that makes you my intellectual better?
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Bootoome, TL;DR.
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