OFFICIAL: Mesut Özil joins Arsenal

Fotospor: Mesut Özil has put his house in London sor sale in an indication that he is on his way out of Arsenal.https://t.co/nHZpBQ2V85

— Arsènic (@MrArsenicTM) October 11, 2019

“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.”

“All I know is what has already been said."

“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.”

“It always happens that an ex-player stands there on TV and criticises me.”

“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.”

Jay29 wrote:Emery said today Ozil has been better in training the last two/three weeks, so we'll see if he's involved against Sheffield United.

Tbh though, I believe Ozil is done at this level. His vision and technical quality are still unmatched in the squad, but the game has changed, and now speed and athleticism are the most important traits. Every team wants to run harder and faster now. Unfortunately, you're just not going to get that from Ozil. He's a modern day Riquelme/Valeron.

Mata at United has the same problem. You watch him play and see all the technique and creativity others don't have, but he's so much slower than everyone else on the pitch.

I kinda wish Emery just admitted it, rather than dance around this issue with fitness. He doesn't use an old style no. 10 and, in fairness, neither do a lot of managers at this level. If Arsenal replaced Emery tomorrow with a more attacking coach - like Tuchel for example - I feel he'd run into the same problem.

Ultimately, that huge salary means Ozil can never justifiably be a sub or rotation option, either. So the only solutions are for Ozil to change his game (not impossible - David Silva transitioned from flighty no. 10 to hustling no. 8 in his 30s) or go somewhere where his style of play would be more valued/useful.

Duronto-Roddur wrote:Hi! I'm new in this forum. I just read an article that says Ozil have missed over 100 games. Now that can't be all due to injuries? What's the issue with him?

urbaNRoots wrote:

Duronto-Roddur wrote:Hi! I'm new in this forum. I just read an article that says Ozil have missed over 100 games. Now that can't be all due to injuries? What's the issue with him?

It‘s a combination of injuries and Emery leaving him out in the last two years for whatever reasons.