Every day on twitter, blogs, the media, podcasts and just about every forum, we see some comparison or other between Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery. Every time another game is played we see some table comparing the first X number of games that Emery has been in charge, compared to the same number of the last games Arsene managed. The number of points, chances created, chances conceded, passing accuracy, areas of play, and on and on it goes. It really is the most pointless of arguments. Not simply because the teams were competing against have changed and the teams they were competing with has changed almost beyond recognition or even that one has a squad eager to impress while latterly the other had a squad waiting for the final curtain, but because it’s actually is an argument that is so subjective that it can never be resolved. Particularly when those arguing are so invested in being right, that they have no interest in hearing the other point of view.
Can Unai give a press conference as witty and entertaining as Arsene? No of course not.
Could Unai address a baying mob at the annual general meeting and have them eating out of his hand, when minutes earlier they were baying for his blood? No he couldn’t
Ten or twenty years from now will former players still laud him, will he be asked to speak all over the world, be given award after award , be offered job to develop FIFA itself ? I very much doubt that.
Will Unai transform the club and elevate it to once unthought of heights? No, not a chance.
Is it fair to expect any of these things from Mr. Emery? No it is not. Why? Because it’s unfair to expect anyone to fill those shoes ,,as only a handful of managers in the history of the game could have.
So let us not ask if Unai is as good as Arsene was. Rather let’s ask is he as good as we expected he would be?
Let’s ask why after 18 months we are playing unattractive football in a system that no one seems to understand, and that changes from week to week and even from half to half.
Let’s ask why our best and most creative player is not being picked, humiliated and excluded ,from a team screaming out for creativity?
Let’s ask why watching us play is a chore now , we can play 8 games of the season and not play well in one, let alone dominate any?
Perhaps ask why we go from insisting on playing out from the back, to lumping it up to a center forward that’s skill set is far from hold up play.
Ask why sometimes all eleven players can have decent games, and yet the team plays poorly.
Ask why our midfield is so dysfunctional despite every player being a good one.
Let’s judge him on what we see, not against a man that is now a fond memory, and a genius that he overall could never live up to.
Wenger has left the building, gone , and the comparisons are a distraction, we must judge Emery on what he is showing us, and has shown us.
Positively Arsenal 
If pushed, for me it would be neither. But what if it was someone even worse than those two?
Best would be somebody more dynamic and inspiring than either JM or UE; but JM over UE (at least for a while) but UE over many others.
Tbh (do you remember the time I write about “luck”?) I thought other elements in your post brought up complex and interesting points ie inside/outside and serenity. But decided not to bore everyone! (luckily) Maybe its more surreal at first till we see counter support structures and how they push things this way and that…
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Some reports suggest Jose is set on a return to London, if true, that will surely be North London or Middlesex. But wouldn’t rule out Real or PSG if they need a manager, couldn’t see Barca going for him.
I would personally prefer Arteta, Freddie, or to a lesser extent, Brenton Rogers.
But, the reality, with this squad, and the failings of others, Emery really should be able to put himself in a position where he gets himself a couple years extension, of he has any ability whatsoever.
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Big big no for me Mourinho. Conduct terrible over the years, especially towards Wenger. Would certainly provide absolute clarity for me though if we went for him.
I can’t see it. Crashed and burned last two jobs with bigger resources than we have, rubbish with youth. We’d be nuts to do it.
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steww I don’t know what WOB’s you are speaking about, as I see little support from them towards players such as Ozil, Mustafi or Xhaka
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VAR official Anthony Taylor believed Nicolas Pepe should have had a penalty but didn’t give it
By
Dan Critchlow –
Oct 13, 2019
VAR official Anthony Taylor reportedly believed Nicolas Pepe should have had a penalty against Bournemouth, but he didn’t overturn the referee’s decision.
Referee Anthony Taylor
Analysing the decision on beIN SPORTS after the game, the studio appeared to be in agreement that Pepe should have been given a spot-kick after being felled in the box. The incident was reviewed by the VAR team, but they stuck with the on-field call.
Richard Keys then claimed the match’s VAR official Anthony Taylor believed it should have been a penalty, but didn’t want to overturn the decision.
“Anthony Taylor in VAR today did think this was (a penalty) yesterday, did not overturn the referee’s decision. We’ve just seen close on an assault in the box that once again he didn’t feel he should overturn the decision of the on-field ref,” Keys said.
It’s worth bearing in mind this is coming from a second-hand source, and Keys is very outspoken about the way VAR is being used, so whether we can completely rely on his word here is up for debate.
Assuming he’s right though, it’s not actually outside the current rules for Taylor to believe it’s a penalty and yet stick with the on-field decision. The call is a subjective one, and if Taylor would have given the penalty himself but doesn’t believe it was clear enough to overturn, they won’t overturn it.
Perhaps it’s in these kinds of cases that we need the referee to consult a video screen though.
If the VAR official is comfortable that the incident is clear enough to make the call themselves, they can make it. If they believe it’s a penalty but not an obvious one, maybe they should let the referee watch it again and decide.
Right now, all we’re getting is an acknowledgement that they maybe should have changed the decision, and that’s it. That doesn’t really help much in the final standings at the end of the season.
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Not like Anthony Taylor to stitch us up
But that was a strikingly clear penalty in the first place, if that had been on Harry Kane or a Liverpool player, it would have been given immediately
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Hello Steww!
I’d take Big Sam over the Spanish Pulis.
Steve Bruce?
Whose hand do I have to bite off?
Rodgers would seem like a charitable benovlance that frankly the club don’t deserve for it’s recent conduct.
I’d draw the line when it comes to the FA favourites and friends of the aforementioned Taylor and Krew: Pearce and Boothroyd.
Or with a coach who started a 19 year old Gunedouzi over a peak Ramsey.
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< but still had to resort to starting Rambo (& Ozil) when his job was on the line.
we've been watching cowardice on and off the pitch courtesy of Emery.
And it tickles me that the Billy Big Blaggers spent a year defending this tripe and destroyed their own credibility in the process!!! Every cloud…
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Wengers book will soon be out, should be interesting. In an ideal world, he would let Riley, and others have it with both barrels, probably wont happen at this stage, but who knows
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Would you believe it Petr saved his first penalty in his new career after only managing to save one in all his time with us.
Alot of the managers above shouldn’t be ever mentioned in the same breath as ARSENAL. Apart from a few of our former players Brendon would be the only one I would let near the place. However there are lots of young good managers around that could grow with us.
On Arsene’s book, I think Arsene is far to polite to dish much dirt on anyone so I can’t see it being very explosive although I’m sure the media will find a way to suggest he has blasphemed in some way.
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What’s up folks!
Great question
I would not like Mourinho to coach Arsenal but if you isolate your question…I would say yes. Maybe we could ask if we think he would get more out of the team than Emery? I would say yes again.
It is true Mourihno was very disrespectful to Arsene, I think he admitted that? However he bigged up Arsene recently. They seem to have moved on and forgiveness has taken place. As for Emery he is currently crapping all over Ozil in both playing time and public comments and has the team playing the worse football in the league.
Again, not a fan of Mourihno but I don’t think
Emery is better as far as character, it’s just towards a player.
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Great question, Steww.
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Mike Dean Monday. Think that means we’ve had one doing three games (Atkinson), and another two doing two (Dean and Taylor ) of our 9 games. All of them the Riley favourites.
3 refs doing 7 of our 9 games. You would never ever have something like that if following reasonable practices, ie of the type designed to take things like unconscious bias into account, let alone which permitted the faintest possibility of anything worse (and best practice would be designed to admit remote possibility of both)
Think when pgmol set out there were meant to be 24 refs, though of course they never got close to that.
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I bloody hate it when the Gunners arent playing. Even Emery- Arsenal is better than no Arsenal? Do you guys feel the same?
Ha!Remembered a game today from the past: Herford v Arsenal in the FAC. Anyone recall it/went to the game? Seem to remember Woodcock ( another forgotten hero)smashing in a great goal. Team had guys like Steve Williams and dear Tommy Caton. I also loved Viv Anderson and wasnt into it when the NB gave him poop for being an “Arsenal reject”. But thats just my opinion.
How would the mighty LG and aftv have handled that game? ( it was 1-1)…seems like now and then?
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Not only do we have to put up with Mike Dean away to a northern team who will no doubt resort to tried and tested tactics when mike Dean referees Arsenal away, but yet, again, for the second time this month,Arsenal playing a mon thur sun. A shame they couldn’t play this weekend after the international break
We all know how powerful the TV companies are, but shouldn’t the club have be having a word?
Could almost be forgiven someone somewhere doesn’t want Arsenal doing too well
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Not only do we have to put up with Mike Dean away to a northern team who will no doubt resort to tried and tested tactics when mike Dean referees Arsenal away, but yet, again, for the second time this month,Arsenal playing a mon thur sun. A shame they couldn’t play this weekend after the international break
We all know how powerful the TV companies are, but shouldn’t the club have be having a word?
Could almost be forgiven someone somewhere doesn’t want Arsenal doing too well
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Mills, I haven’t missed it during this break, the NHL started and am enjoying those games, my Canadiens are playing an exciting game!
Re; refereeing, I don’t know if Untold has done the exercise for last year but my eye test tells me we are not being cheated out points as we were before. I don’t know that teams are\ need to be so physical towards us, we’re not the threat we used to be….
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Alot of the managers above shouldn’t be ever mentioned in the same breath as ARSENAL.
I’m sorry if I went overboard there. But it begs the question. How did Unai…nevermind we all know how. Shard has summerised that process better then anyone.
How about Carlton Palmer? Is he even a coach? Even if not surely he’d be able to coach a team better then…just kidding. I think. But it did strike me that Carlton Palmer is probably Emery’s ideal concept of a midfielder.
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I had hoped that Eddie Howe would take over from Arsene, and I still feel that of all the current Premier managers he would be the man most likely to honour that legacy. Now that we have no legacy to speak off I can understand the thinking that suggests we might as well go for JM than JM lite. Not that I would want that.
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This international break is killing me. I was kind of resigned to the September hiatus, but this one came (to me) unexpected. There was a time when Internationals meant seeing the best players, a real cut above the week in week out Saturday afternoon fare. Not any more. Now they resemble shambolic house matches. I can’t see any reason for them at all, encouraging as they seem to the very worst excesses of nationalist fervour. I hate them with a passion.
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This is such an ominous stat. For a team lacking creativity and actual defensive solidity we have to work twice as hard to eke out at least 2 goals for wins. It’s draining,… our players were tired after 22-match unbeaten run.
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I used to get bored watching international football.
But watching Southgate select a complimentary balanced midfield three (which he doesn’t always do, though it does seem to be an admirable aspiration as he comes back to it when he thinks he can…) felt like a blessed relief after the drivel we’ve been served up these past 14 months!!!
Barkley is no Wilshere (pre McNair career ending hack not even punished with a red card though he was clearly the last man!!!) but he hadn’t played enough earlier in his career. He’ll be a good player for a few seasons if he has the luck with injuries. He was never a phenom but he’s a better choice then that busted flush Alli FFS as an attacking 8!
Yes. Watching a coach who knows what a midfield exists for( even if Alli was the wrong choice!) is a lot more enjoyable then then watching the Arsenal at the moment.
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I don’t get the chance to go to many games in a season (2 or 3) for reasons of cost and availability so I tend to choose quite carefully, by and large picking League or FA cup games where I feel we have an above average chance of winning. It doesn’t always work out, but more often than not I have been able to celebrate decent play and good results. I haven’t felt much inclined to go at all recently, and have yet to visit this Autumn. Nevertheless, I was sufficiently excited by what I saw of Martinelli in our last Europa game that I have got myself a ticket for next Thursday. £22’s worth of top tier Clock End action, so while I am not expecting a miracle I find myself getting quite excited at the prospect. Mind you Sheffield away with Dean in charge is probably guaranteed to put a real damper on our collective spirits!
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Yep, if the kids and nephews were old enough to be allowed out so late i would be there too!
Hope you have a great night out at the Arsenal, in good company, with a good & spirited performance to enjoy and a decent result too (in that order!)
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so the one and only reason why Ozil is not in the team is cos he does not train as hard as others, so if Emery picks players purely on their work rate why didn’t Eleney get a run of games under him. Could this latest soundbite to try and discredit Ozil actually be a whole load of bollocks
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As far as I can see there can only be three reasons whey Ozil and Ramsey are not in the team, for this not training hard enough is surely a load of old Northampton Town.
That the manager genuinely thinks that they are not good players (I would not discount this view)
That he knows they are good players, but recognises that they are at a higher level than he is, and so threaten his authority. (well, they are certainly better at their job than he is at his)
That brilliant though they are, they cannot be relied on to play a full season without injury or to make a difference in games that are contested in a game-managed physical way – and as such, their wages stop the club signing midfielders who are equally skilled (haha) but more dependable.
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there can only be three reasons why Ozil and Ramsey are not in the team……….
Personally, i think it is to do with spontaneity and playing off the cuff. Even though they are different players they have that ability to play on the fly and take up no fixed position on the pitch.
At their best they are players that like to roam and get touches all over the attacking 3rd. That is wayyy too random for emery, he cannot have more than 1 player who lacks positional discipline on the pitch. Hence when you see Willock and Cabellos play it is straight jackets though these players are cable of playing with creative freedom.
Guenduzi (who I like but is massively over rated.) appears to be the best at following instructions.
Emery is a micro-manager of a coach and some people don’t like to or cannot be micro-managed.
This is where he fails badly for me as he is not an adaptive or compromising coach. Its either his way or no way.
Separate question on Guenduzi – does anyone think that he is better that AMN or Willock. Good to see he is getting some shine but is it deserved?
I have seen better performances from both AMN and Willock.
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The fourth reason relates to who the player’s agent is.
Which explains some of what we saw with Koscielny and Monreal too.
Or say Ravel Morrison and Allardyce at West Ham.
Or George Graham &: Limpar, Davies, Thomas, (The Outs) and Jenson etc as the Ins. And you all know that story as he got sacked for it before Levy took him up to spend his Wonga.
Why would the Head of Football Relations only want to work only with agents that KowTow in his stable? If you don’t know the answer, you can ask Goerge Graham! Or Fizman. Etc. Or forgetting all of them you can also ask Neymar and Neymar Jnr. Or the judge involved in the court case that finally saw Daddy Raul booted out of Barcelona (Luckily for us eh?)
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The fourth reason relates to who the player’s agent is.
Which explains some of what we saw with Koscielny and Monreal too.
Or say Ravel Morrison and Allardyce at West Ham.
Or George Graham &: Limpar, Davies, Thomas, (The Outs) and Jenson etc as the Ins. And you all know that story as he got sacked for it before Levy took him up to spend his Wonga.
Why would the Head of Football Relations only want to work only with agents that KowTow in his stable? If you don’t know the answer, you can ask Goerge Graham! Or Fizman. Etc. Or forgetting all of them you can also ask Neymar and Neymar Jnr. Or the judge involved in the court case that finally saw Daddy Raul booted out of Barcelona (Luckily for us eh?)
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Can someone please post transcript of Mesut Özil’s exclusive interview on The Athletic.
Top paragraph says he intend seeing out his contract. The juicy bits behind the paywall.
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I havent looke at it as its a purchase other websites are talking about it, some about he racist shite he had to put up with, and that racism isnt just a extremist right wing attitude that its now moved to central areas in society, he says he stands by his descision to oull out of the national team, and that many agree with him.Yet no-one in the National set-up was really on his side, they were a bit silent.Also he was pretty worried for his wife in the attack, and she was so scared afterwards that even if they let the dogs out in the garden she wanted to go back inside again, also that he does train but doesnt train for the sake of it, but still has the utmost respect for Emery. Ö says he respects UE choices but its personally dissapointing for him. and watching at home makes him feel helpless ( fkin come onto PA mate, we will look after you!!!)He intends to see out his contract at Arsenal, he will not run away. Hes hoping to play again SU on Mon.
There might be more on the original website but thats the best I can give translating from other sites.
CÖYG!
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I also enjoyed the Switzerland Denmark game more then any Arsenal football match ( not inc. any the second string, ladies or u-23s)
Great shots from distance by Xhaka, great save from LCFC keeper, lots of saves in fact their keeper is in good form.
Can’t remember any shots from Xhaka for the Arsenal this season? Must have been one or two.
But less frequency would probably not a surprise as the coach wants him to play as some kind of part time sweeper… hey when you have Daddy Raul’s Phenom Guendouzi to control the midfield (by ignoring it!) you might as well chuck Xhaka at LB eh?
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Fins
Pretty sure Kos stated explicitly he wanted out. Laid out his reasoning- wanted slightly less intense football; wants to give himself best chance of avoiding injuries in final years; suits family. I see zero reason for him to say all that if truth was something else.
He was probably overplayed last year but he was previous season as well
So whatever else is going on with Raul or whoever, Kos’ name should be left out of it as charge against them. just doesn’t seem correct.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7583745/Barnsley-football-coach-two-agents-plotted-bribery-bid-profit-players.html
You never know ey? Ferguson, Redknapp, McLaren, Warnock. For a (foreign?) guy making stuff up he picked quite plausibly.
No comments section for the article, so I couldn’t leave a little note saying how easily I found something about an Italian of the same name who was once director of Venezia and was pulled over by cops in 2005 with 170,000 grand in car 3 days after his team had played a suspicious game they were investigating. Would journo’s not do a quick google search, or did they not want to give claims any credence?
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/genoas-top-flight-dreams-rest-on-a-case-of-cash-l7grdppk6vh
Giuseppe Pagliara. Doubt it’s a very common name.
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Final bit, and it is the same fella, who it appears may have relocated to UK at some point after his Italian ban. From another report, where he says he made up the stuff about managers’ being dodgy as it was what they wanted to hear.
“They named the managers based on their research,” he said. “They went to look at the clubs that I had involvement with and they obviously picked the managers in accordance with those clubs.”
If they did research and picked clubs he was involved with- and those clubs presumably include those managed by Ferguson, Redknapp,etc- why were any clubs working with a guy banned from football for five years for match-fixing back in 2005?
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Rich
I can’t agree.
Koscielny decided he wanted to leave for a number of reasons.
Our Head of Football Relations (including PR) tried to shut that move down.
And he lost out to Kozza and his agent who got the move that they wanted.
So although in some sense this was almost the inverse opposite of what they’re trying to do with Ozil our head of Football Relations was yet again outfoxed by an agent who wasn’t or isn’t in his stable.
Therefore this Koscielny story only underlines what a bodge merchant that this fraud truly is. He couldn’t even do what he’s supposed to be good at.
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I’m at the AISA AGM with guest speaker Joe Montemurro but I can’t tell you about it because ARSENAL have asked us to not release anything without their approval.
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< To date every single time Raul and Unai and their gibbering PR consultants lay into Ozil, the good Dr picks the perfect moment and place to knock them and their bile out of the park for six.
I wrote here or on Shotta's blog after the head of Football Relations latest ejaculation last weekend that the Dr had his next move already planned.
The Ornstein article? Highest number of clicks ever for that annoying website? You betcha!
Did Raul not like that.
*Doffs cap towards The Master*
(not Little Daddy Raul )
Ozil's agent has moves almost as silky smooth as the player himself.
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From the Athletic….
Mesut Ozil exclusive: If we don’t do well in a ‘big’ game, it’s always my fault. But I’m not leaving Arsenal
David Ornstein Oct 16, 2019 160
He is one of the most enigmatic footballers in the world, dividing opinion like few others, especially among Arsenal fans.
On and off the pitch, his highs and lows generate endless debate, praise and criticism. In recent months, he has been a peripheral figure for his club, attacked by thugs near his home and increasingly divorced from Germany, the team he helped to win the World Cup in 2014.
Until today, he has also kept his counsel, declining to speak publicly about any of those issues. But in an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Mesut Ozil breaks his silence.
During a wide-ranging conversation, the 31-year-old discusses:
His intention to stay at Arsenal until “at least” the summer of 2021
Why he believes condemnation of his performances is “ridiculous”
The moped attack that left his wife feeling “scared” in their own home
How “racist abuse” forced him to quit the Germany national team
A feeling of “respect” that led to his association with Turkey’s president
Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 and signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract worth £350,000 per week in January 2018.
But the end of that season saw the departure of Arsene Wenger, the manager who signed Ozil, and since then his role has diminished.
Ozil has featured in just two of Arsenal’s 11 games so far this season and last season became a peripheral figure away from home in particular, playing just 600 minutes in the league. Fifteen players were used more.
Only Christian Eriksen, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne have made more assists in the league since Ozil joined Arsenal — his talent is doubtless. However, the playmaker has not been as effective in recent seasons (his chances created per 90 minutes for Arsenal was 4.31 at his peak in 2015-16 and just 1.27 this season) and he is being heavily linked with a January move away from the club amid indications that he does not figure in head coach Unai Emery’s plans. Despite this, he was still named as one of Emery’s five captains.
But when asked if he is heading for the exit, Ozil replies firmly: “No. I have a contract until the summer of 2021 and I will be staying until then.
“When I signed the new deal, I thought about it very carefully and said it was one of the most important decisions of my footballing career. I didn’t want to stay for just one or two more years, I wanted to commit my future to Arsenal and the club wanted me to do the same.
“You can go through difficult times, like this, but that is no reason to run away and I’m not going to. I’m here until at least 2021.
“I said that Arsene Wenger was a big factor in me joining Arsenal — and he was — but ultimately I signed for the club. Even when Arsene announced he was leaving, I wanted to stay because I love playing for Arsenal and that’s why I’ve been here for six years.
“When I moved from Real Madrid, it was a really tough time for Arsenal. But I always believed in what we could do and together we delivered. More recently things have been difficult and a lot has changed. But I’m proud to be an Arsenal player, a fan and I’m happy here. Whenever people see me in the street I always say, ‘This is my home’. I’m going nowhere.”
Ozil has been left out of Arsenal’s last three matchday squads and after one of them — the Europa League win against Standard Leige on 3 October — Emery revealed that others “deserve it more” than the World Cup winner.
A week later, the club’s head of football Raul Sanllehi suggested Ozil needed to apply more effort in training and “contribute 24-7” to earn a recall.
“All I know is what has already been said,” Ozil concedes. “It’s disappointing, of course. But as a professional footballer, I have to respect the decision of the coach. Not being involved, watching from home, makes me feel helpless.
“I want to be part of the side, I want to support my team-mates to succeed. I’m not training all the time just for the sake of it, I’m ready to play. This should not be about me or the coach, only the club. I have to give everything, be fit and focused, and I’m training hard to be ready.
“Pre-season went very well and although things were disrupted by the [moped] attack, since then I’ve been fully available and when the coach has selected me I’ve been ready, played and always tried to give my best.
“I’ve trained at the same level my whole career but because I’ve not had minutes recently, I’m doing extra work with the fitness coach and in the gym to get even fitter than normal. I know what is needed and believe in myself.”
Ozil’s mention of Emery is in reference to a reported breakdown in the pair’s relationship, but the player expresses no negative sentiment: “I’ve worked under some of the biggest coaches in the world — Arsene, Jose Mourinho, Joachim Low — and always I show respect. It’s the same for Unai.
“We might not see eye-to-eye on everything but that’s normal, it’s life and it’s the same with my family and friends. You have to accept it and go forward.”
What if Emery, also contracted until 2021, never selects Ozil again?
“I don’t think that will happen. I will play. I believe in myself to do what he asks of me and I want to help the club to reach our goals.”
Ozil has been the source of constant scrutiny, be it his performances since signing the new deal, his contribution in the so-called ‘big’ games, his body language on the field or his fitness record.
He describes the notion that he may have downed tools after putting pen to paper on such lucrative terms as “ridiculous” and “total rubbish”.
“If that was true, why did I work so hard and positively during pre-season this year? And why, after the World Cup last year, did I return from holiday early for the first time in my career to start training three days before I was expected back? I did it for the new coach, the team and the club. Maybe people don’t like that I have a good contract? I don’t know or care.”
What Ozil does care about is the impression that he both struggles against superior opposition and too often blames poor health for his absences.
“It always happens that an ex-player stands there on TV and criticises me,” he says. “Others just continue the theme and it gets in everyone’s heads.
“If we don’t do well in a ‘big’ game, it’s always my fault. If that’s true, how do you explain our results in the ‘big’ games when I wasn’t involved? There’s no real difference. I know people expect me to offer more, dictate play and make the difference — I do, too — but it’s not that straightforward.
“I’m not the only player in the team and, don’t forget, some of our opponents are simply better than us. Also, what is a ‘big’ or ‘small’ game? In the Premier League, anyone can beat anyone. Look at Wolves and Norwich beating Man City, or Newcastle and West Ham beating Man United.
“So you can’t say my good performances only came in ‘small’ games because these games don’t really exist. The intensity is there in every match and often the ‘small’ teams raise their standard against the ‘big’ teams.
“I also get really frustrated when I miss a game through illness and people question if it is genuine. Yes, it happened a few times — usually in the winter — but what am I supposed to do? If you knew me, you would know it takes a lot for me to miss a game and I have never used sickness as an excuse. Actually the opposite. I played many games when I was ill or had injuries. Before the Champions League game against Bayern Munich [in March 2017], I was sick and Arsene told me I was not in the squad because of that. The next morning, the guys from Arsenal called me and said, ‘Listen, you have to come to the stadium, you have to be in the squad’. Despite my illness, I joined the squad and played the last 20 minutes.
“Most players don’t play when injured or sick — it influences your game, you can’t give everything — but I was always available unless it was impossible.”
Ozil is similarly robust in defending the demeanour — head bowed, shoulders slumped, arms flailing — he regularly exudes if something is not to his liking.
“It’s my personality,” he counters. “People want to change me but, since the day I started playing football, I was always like this. If a game is not going well or I play a bad ball, of course I get frustrated because I know it can be better. It’s the same when I come off the pitch looking angry. I’m a perfectionist and sometimes I want too much perfection.
“It doesn’t take me long to get over — I’m not going around the pitch or sat on the bench pissed off for the next five minutes or anything. It’s just in that moment and then we continue. I realise afterwards it’s not good to show this, but it’s instinctive, so I don’t plan it and it’s not easy to change.
“This is me. I’m the same person at Arsenal as I was at Schalke, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid and the German national team. People may want me to change but I’ve been successful everywhere and I never will.”
Such an uncompromising, non-conformist mindset has become increasingly evident, not only in Ozil’s football career but his life outside the game, too. His decision to pose for photos with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia caused huge controversy.
Ozil was born in Germany — the country his grandparents emigrated to from Turkey — and earned 92 caps, won the World Cup and was voted their player of the year five times between 2011 and 2017.
Amid the fallout from that meeting with Erdogan and Germany’s shock opening-round elimination from last year’s tournament, Ozil announced his international retirement via an extraordinarily explosive statement in which he said he was ‘a German when we win, but an immigrant when we lose’. Talking about that period for the first time, Ozil appears to have no regrets.
“[Erdogan] is the current president of Turkey and I would show respect to that person, whoever it was,” argues the third-generation Turkish-German. “Although I was born and raised in Germany, Turkey is part of my heritage.
“If the German president or [Chancellor] Angela Merkel are in London and ask to see me, to speak to me, of course I would do that as well. It’s just about showing respect to the highest position of a country.”
Describing himself as “really happy” to have moved on from the national team, Ozil adds: “With time to reflect, I know it was the right decision. It was a very difficult period for me as I played nine years for Germany and was one of their most successful players. I won the World Cup and more, played a lot of games — a lot of them really good — and gave everything.
“I don’t say people must love me but just show respect about what I’ve done for Germany. The team was always competitive but they wanted to play a more attractive style, all age groups using the ball better. A bit like Spain. My generation changed German football. It became more fun to watch.
“But after the photo, I felt disrespected and unprotected. I was receiving racist abuse — even from politicians and public figures — yet nobody from the national team came out at that time and said, ‘Hey, stop. This is our player, you can’t insult him like that’. Everyone just kept quiet and let it happen.
“It felt like I was expected to apologise for the meeting, admit I’d made a mistake and then everything would be fine; otherwise I was not welcome in the team and should leave. I would never do that. Racism has always been there, but people used this situation as an excuse to let it out. They are free to have a personal view, to dislike a photo I’ve taken. Just as I’m free to make a personal decision to have the photo taken. But what followed exposed their racism for everyone to see.
“There are major problems in Germany — just look at what happened in Halle last week, another anti-semitic attack. Unfortunately, racism is no longer only a right-wing issue in the country. It has shifted into the middle of society.”
Specifically citing the World Cup, Ozil elaborates: “When we were knocked out and I came off the pitch, German people were telling me, ‘Go back to your country’, ‘Fuck yourself’, ‘Turkish pig’ and stuff like that.
“Before the tournament there was a friendly in Leverkusen and when the ball came to Ilkay Gundogan [who was also photographed with Erdogan], most of the stadium was booing him. I heard them shouting, ‘Goat fucker’, ‘Fucking Turkish boy’ and other insults that I can’t repeat.
“Before the World Cup I was supposed to be the face of some commercial deals, but suddenly they cancelled everything and removed me from their campaigns. Some of my German charities dropped me as an ambassador and advised me to distance myself from the photo. But what upset me most was the reaction of the school I went to in Gelsenkirchen. I’ve always supported them and we decided to do a year-long programme together. At the end, I was going to attend a ceremony and meet all of the staff and children, many from immigrant backgrounds.
“Everything was planned. But then the school director told my team I should not come because of the media attention and the rise of the right-wing AfD party in their city. I couldn’t believe it. My home town, my school. I gave them my hand but they didn’t give theirs back. I’ve never felt so unwelcome.
“After Russia, I went away to give myself space to make a clear decision. I talked to those I’m closest to. But in keeping with all of my decisions, I had to follow my heart and decided, ‘It’s time to go, time to move on’.
“I didn’t need to do any of this and things could have been easier for me if I hadn’t, but I’m strong enough to stand by my beliefs and decisions. I’m not an opportunist. No career chance or fame will change that. I still have strong links to Germany, I still have a marketing company there which means I employ people and pay millions of Euros in tax. I could have moved my interests elsewhere, but I wanted to give back and I continue to.
“I’m proud to still work with one charity, who provide operations for children worldwide, and they stood by me. But the national team chapter is over.”
A year on from that photograph, Ozil was back in the spotlight for different reasons when — with the 2019-20 season fast approaching — he, his wife Amine and Arsenal team-mate Sead Kolasinac fell victim to an attempted carjacking in London.
“I drove from my house to Sead’s,” Ozil recalls. “He was outside and we spoke. My wife was sitting next to me. Then these guys came. We were looking at each other for 10-15 seconds. We were thinking maybe they want to take a picture or something — that’s happened before. Then we noticed that they had a weapon and something was going wrong. They obviously saw the big car and because Sead had just handed me something, they must have noticed he was wearing an expensive watch.
“They told him directly, ‘Give us your watch!’. Sead’s reaction was really, really brave because he attacked one of the attackers. The second one was in front of my car on his moped so I couldn’t drive.
“We were newly wed and I was scared about my wife. I was scared about Sead. I wasn’t thinking about myself. I was worried they were going to open my wife’s door and they tried, so I reached across her to keep it closed.
“I saw one chance to drive. If they got to my wife, something terrible might have happened to her. It was going so quickly that you can’t think properly. I drove a little bit forwards and backwards to try and get the moped away. I told Sead, “Jump in! Jump in!” and thankfully he did. The second guy tried again to get in. Sead closed the door and I made a U-turn. There was a construction site there and they took bricks and stones to throw at us.
“I started driving but they followed. I was driving very fast but they kept coming close on the moped. I tried to move the car, block them, escape, but each time they would be there. My wife was extremely scared.
“Nothing happened to us, that’s the most important thing. We were worried these guys had been targeting us, but the police said they found them and a few hours earlier, they tried to rob other people nearby in a similar way.”
Although all three escaped without physical harm, damage was done. “My wife wanted to get away immediately,” Ozil admits. “She didn’t feel safe. Even if I let our dogs into the garden and went out with them she would say, ‘Come in, come in, stay in the house!’ She was very concerned.
“Something like this has never happened to us before. She told me — and Sead’s wife told him — let’s go back to our families, to be safe and let everything calm down. It was a bad couple of weeks but never made me want to leave London permanently. Now, even for my wife, everything is OK.
“I returned to training and my football was fine, but my mind was always at home with my wife. She was alone in our house and you never know what happens. So I was thinking, ‘OK, just train and go back to your wife.’”
That brings us back to the original topic and, ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Sheffield United on Monday night, Ozil’s hope that he can put these issues behind him and recapture the sort of form that underpins his stardom.
“I had some tough times when I was younger and that helps me in periods like this because I’m mentally so strong and can deal with it,” he concludes.
“I have the support of my family and friends, and also whenever I don’t play or things are not great, look at how the Arsenal fans react. They make me feel amazing. When I go out in the street, when I’m at the stadium, when I look on social media or in my post at home, the supporters tell me, ‘We’re all behind you’, ‘You’re one of us’, ‘Keep strong’, ‘You’ll get your chance’.
“I’m very thankful. It keeps me happy, focused and patient to wait for my chance. I remember in 2014 when I hurt my knee — the first bad injury of my career — the fans never stopped supporting me. Even the songs they wrote, I’ve not had that anywhere else and that backing is important to me.
“I have faith in myself and I know my quality, as do the club and my team-mates. This is the reason why, for nearly 14 years, I’ve been in football and at a high level. If and when I get the opportunity, I will show it again.”
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George, I assume you’ll tell me if this was a no-no….banned face palm
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Mesut Ozil, so dignified and intelligent, in sharp contrast to the chancers currently ruling the roost at AFC
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Emery wont like it though. More big games for Guen.The article basically says whats going on, but looks at other events to deflect it a bit.
You can just see it, squad team gets to the league cup final and Mesuts dropped and Guen gets a start, like the other players that will have got the cöub to the final only to be dropped.
What other team would drop Mesut?
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Arsenal u23 team to play Chelsea U23’s this evening
Hein
Swanson, Mavropanos, Clarke, Bola
Smith, Burton,
Cottrell, Coyle, Tormey
Balogun
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Arsenal Academy
@ArsenalAcademy
·
1h
Confirmation of our bench tonight against @ChelseaFC
👊
Olowu, Hillson, Omole, Medley, Greenwood
🔥
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Arsenal Academy
@ArsenalAcademy
·
2m
HALF-TIME: @ChelseaFC
2-1 #AFCU23
@BenCottrell8
pulls a goal back after Charlie Brown and Clinton Mola had given the Blues a two-goal lead
😅
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FT: Chelsea u23s 3-1 Arsenal u23s
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very clear once again today that the PGMOL are trying to sabotage VAR, some of their decisions today were inexcusable
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Arsenal U18’s drew 2-2 at home to spurs U18’s today, our lads had a 2-0 lead and dominated the game but a goal late in stoppage time seen spurs level it
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VAR, or not, Spurs “ luck” with penalties, in terms of those they get given, and those they should concede, but magically don’t, continues unabated
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