Mesut coming out of his shell?: Page 34 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Mesut coming out of his shell?

Qwiss

Clrnc wrote:
http://www.sport-magazine.co.uk/features/who-are-you-calling-lazy

Fantastic interview with Ozil. He mentioned about how PL is the best league in the world, and he couldn't adapt to the physicality of the league at the start. Since then after his injury this season he really worked in the gym and as we noticed, is now considerably stronger on the ball and harder to dispossess.

Well, Ozil knows nothing about football or his own game compared to some of the posters here, so he must clearly be wrong.

innervisionscm

Doesn't mean he wasn't putting in very good performances last season in spite of that. He's not gonna say La Liga > PL in an interview.

jones

It's blatantly obvious he'd say that when he's playing in England now, every player calls the league they play in the best in the world.

Clrnc

Not really, there were quite a few Spanish players who moved to PL and says the La Liga is better.

Klaus

Yeah, Özil has ben fascinated by the tempo in England since day one. I think he likes it better than the slowmoving southern leagues. It fits his playing style too.

Gunner89

Why would he say La Liga is better anyway? You have the likes of Cardiff buying the better players of Sevilla like Medel.

Rohit

I don't think he would care about who clubs in England are buying. Sevilla will have the beating of most clubs outside the top 4/ 5 teams in England on most days.

The physical competitiveness of the Premier League and the hustle through 90 minutes appeals to a lot of fans and I think the same goes for players.

Qwiss

Rohit wrote:
I don't think he would care about who clubs in England are buying.

Of course he does, thats who he has to play against every week.

As for Sevilla they'd be below Spurs.

Rohit

Spurs? I try and watch most Spurs games they play in the Europa just to see how poor they are every season, whether at the beginning or towards the end.

There is a massive technical gulf between teams like Sevilla who have players from the continent and South America where as teams like Spurs and Everton have mostly British players.

In my opinion this Spurs side won't finish in the top 8 in La Liga and Sevilla is 5th. Sevilla is a really good side. The problem with La Liga is the gulf in quality between the top 2 and the remaining teams, not competitiveness between teams below Real and Barca.

I do think that players enjoy the physical competitiveness of the Premiership where the work rate of most teams makes it really difficult in every game. Ozil does allude to it in the interview.

Qwiss

Spurs don't take the Europa seriously. They didn't even start Kane in the games against Fiorentina.

Rohit

It wouldn't have mattered. It isn't about one game anyways. Year on year they just aren't good enough against teams from the continent, irrespective of who they play. Even their best teams over the last decade since they started challenging us for the 4th spot haven't stood a chance against decent opposition.

Anyway, I don't want to digress. Big weeks coming up for Mesut. The semi tomorrow and then the match against Chelsea. The litmus test of whether he and this team have progressed.

Clrnc

qs! wrote:
As for Sevilla they'd be below Spurs.

I wonder if you watched Sevilla recently? I watched them yesterday against Zenit and honestly, they would give anyone a game in PL. Technically their team is way above Spurs and they have a superb manager. They and someone like Valencia would finish in the top 5 easily in the PL.

Rex

No, they would not. They could certainly give any team a game, but the PL is a lot more competitive, where even team 20 can beat team 1 in a one off game. I am certain they wouldn't last 38 PL games here and be in the top 5. You are vastly underrating the PL IMO.

innervisionscm

The only people who think that La Liga is uncompetitive and behind the PL are those who don't actually watch Spanish football bar a Clasico or two. Spanish football is at a higher technical level and its teams are far better tactically constructed (which has resulted in its dominance of European competition in recent years). That the bottom half PL teams put up a bigger fight sometimes is a mark in favor of England, but there's no reason to blow that out of proportion. When it comes to playing great football the top six in Spain are a lot better than the top six in England.

If/when La Liga gets a more equitable TV deal the Premier League (and its obsession with work rate and goal scoring over technical ability and tactical intelligence) will fall further behind. Although in fairness, work permit rules and the ability to recruit young South American talent does wonders for La Liga.

Rex

Yeah, let's just disregard that all of Alexis, Mesut and Cesc have said that it's an easier ride in La Liga. That teams give up when they go a goal or two down to the big teams, and that it is a lot less physically demanding. I think you underestimate the standard of the PL, and how hard work and discipline can often compensate for lesser technical ability. The gulf in technical ability between Arsenal and Reading for instance is massive, and yet they gave us a hard time. As with the other top teams. In the PL we see this almost on a weekly basis. Personally, I think the PL is the most difficult league in Europe to be consistent in, because if your level drops a few percent - you will drop points. If you think Sevilla or Valencia could compete for a whole season in the PL and both finish in the top 5, then that's fine of course. Myself, I don't think so.

innervisionscm

In terms of physicality and high tempo, sure. But Cesc has also spoken about how there are acres of space for creative players to exploit in the Premier League. And La Liga teams are a lot more disciplined in midfield - it is a lot easier to get in between the lines in England. We would struggle to control midfield against teams like Valencia. The fact that Spanish teams have been superior in Europe since ₂₀₀₉ suggests that maybe teams that run around frantically aren't the hardest thing to play against. Nothing teams get results off of us every season in the CL group stages.

Premier League exceptionalism doesn't make sense to me. English teams are not doing anything in Europe and the English national team is terrible, and still there must be some reason why English football is the best and most challenging. It's such a provincial attitude.

Rex

I am not from the British isles; I just call it as I see it. I also never said that English football is the best. I did say, however, that the PL is the most competitive and physically challenging of the top leagues, and I stand by that. Using the English national team in this context would have been valid if the PL was made up of almost exclusively English players, but that is hardly the case.

Qwiss

Rohit wrote:
It wouldn't have mattered. It isn't about one game anyways. Year on year they just aren't good enough against teams from the continent, irrespective of who they play. Even their best teams over the last decade since they started challenging us for the 4th spot haven't stood a chance against decent opposition.

The one game was an example, its the same with pretty much all English teams in the Europa, they field weakened sides because they don't care. Its not a fair measure of their standard. Spurs, Liverpool and Soton are all better than Sevilla, they'd be midtable in the Premier League.

Ricky1985

Think it's difficult to make definitive statements either way.

Spurs wanted to win the tournament because they don't win fuck all, ever, and because this year it gets you into the Champions League for next season. Which is massive to be fair. The only reason they didn't play Kane against Fiorentina is because they had a Wembley final a couple of days later so that's not really much if an argument.

Mirth

Liverpool are a better team than Seville, when they're not going through their annual slump, but Spurs and Southampton are on par with a team like Seville. Which, considering the amount of money that Tottenham in particular have by comparision, is fairly impressive.

Where the La Liga really let themselves down is the bottom half of the table who are effectively cannon fodder but the top 5-6 teams in Spain are comparable to their English counter parts, there's plenty of quality there.

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