The Ozil Money Pit: Page 79 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

The Ozil Money Pit

dreamlord

Another decent game, think he's playing himself into form now.

GooneriC

He was ok today, i felt we should have taken him off. Against better equipped sides his last 15 minutes or so wont do. But fair play , he stuck it out until the end and didnt hide today.

flobaba

Yeah I’m glad he went the full 90. For himself if not for anything else. His confidence must also have taken a bit of a knock over the years, and just knowing he can still hang the full 90 is great for everyone.

tazmania

90 minutes because he was half decent to be honest. other players should've been subbed off first and they did

Clrnc

GooneriC wrote:
He was ok today, i felt we should have taken him off. Against better equipped sides his last 15 minutes or so wont do. But fair play , he stuck it out until the end and didnt hide today.

If we took him off we would be playing with 10man. Lacazette couldn't continue

Good performance today. Baby steps but nice to see him motivated and fit for a start

11.56km ran today, the most for almost 3 years for him

Mirth

It also helps that the game goes through the middle instead of the primitive fullback cutback style we adopted for 18 months.

Ozil's not the long term answer but if Arteta can manage a six month swansong I think most of us will be ok with that.

Ricky1985

He needed that last 15 minutes after he started to flag badly around the hour mark. He ran and battled, and tried to do his bit to lead the team. I even saw him gesturing to the crowd to roar on the team in the final 5 minutes.

I think suffering and coming through will have done him good.

Ray

He’s playing like how I imagine he would be playing if he was in Man City’s midfield. Not sure how long he can keep this up though.

Sicario

Qwiss! wrote:
Clrnc wrote:
Please refer to the Auba thread for our biggest moaning culprit without reasons.

The guy basically keeping us out of the relegation zone is a total fraud but our creative hub, highest paid player and star number 10 who has 1 league assist all season, well you better not criticise him.

Star number 10? What’s the alternative, Wilcock?

Come on, you can’t compare our actual talisman and captain (Auba) with a guy that has past his peak (Ozil).

In actual fact under Arteta I have really enjoyed Auba’s performances and long may it continue as he has been a proper team player and has led from the front which is what I’ve always asked of him esp when made captain.

Famousno10

Played really well, making a good effort under Arteta.

Gazza M

I think his past playing relationship with mikel, and the fact he's been entrusted with the number 10 has provided him with some wind in his sails. We'll see how long he puts the hard yards in for

Claudius

Ozil has always put in actual yards. So the idea that he doesn’t run is just a nonsense that English commentators with their degrees in body language have cooked up. He will do well under Arteta. It’s not just about being played. It’s about being played in a compact system that values connectivity. Where the wide areas are less about lateral interaction and more about diagonal interaction with the midfield. That makes him a hub again. You can see it in our passing maps. The midfield matters again. It’s not being bypassed as it was under Emery where we played in very shallow “u” patterns.

QuincyAbeyie

It's not about running vs. not running, it's that he ran more than he has done for several seasons.

Claudius

It’s easy to run more than you have for several years when a) the whole team runs a lot on the night and b) you play a full game for once.

Anzac

His recent efforts have been very positive - the 'real' test will be to see if he can turn the corner re Away performances (along with the team - perhaps the two are not exclusive to each other?).

Gazza M

Claudius wrote:
Ozil has always put in actual yards. So the idea that he doesn’t run is just a nonsense that English commentators with their degrees in body language have cooked up. He will do well under Arteta. It’s not just about being played. It’s about being played in a compact system that values connectivity. Where the wide areas are less about lateral interaction and more about diagonal interaction with the midfield. That makes him a hub again. You can see it in our passing maps. The midfield matters again. It’s not being bypassed as it was under Emery where we played in very shallow “u” patterns.

That was more a comment on his age, the declining amount of territory he covered in recent years, which predates the hiring of emery.

Clrnc

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
It's not about running vs. not running, it's that he ran more than he has done for several seasons.

It's a big plus the commitment and effort he put in, since it's always lacking.

But if you want a good structured pressing team he still don't quite fit. He runs a lot but his intensity of runs and sprint still don't have the power required to effectively press and win possession. Players run rings around him easily.

Hope Arteta can get him useful next half a year at least before we decide in the summer

Claudius

Clrnc wrote:
Quincy Abeyie wrote:
It's not about running vs. not running, it's that he ran more than he has done for several seasons.

It's a big plus the commitment and effort he put in, since it's always lacking.

But if you want a good structured pressing team he still don't quite fit. He runs a lot but his intensity of runs and sprint still don't have the power required to effectively press and win possession. Players run rings around him easily.

Hope Arteta can get him useful next half a year at least before we decide in the summer

This more specific critique is more accurate, but I think it also applies to many more of our midfielders and forwards. Really only Torreira, Lacazette and Aubameyang are defending with rigor. The rest are somewhat lax about it or lack the physical intensity

Ricky1985

Clrnc wrote:
Quincy Abeyie wrote:
It's not about running vs. not running, it's that he ran more than he has done for several seasons.

It's a big plus the commitment and effort he put in, since it's always lacking.

But if you want a good structured pressing team he still don't quite fit. He runs a lot but his intensity of runs and sprint still don't have the power required to effectively press and win possession. Players run rings around him easily.

Hope Arteta can get him useful next half a year at least before we decide in the summer

Özil not only covered the most ground, but also had the highest average speed and most ball recoveries of any player on the pitch yesterday.

Aside from the extra effort stemming from, in my opinion, a belief in the ideas and the competency of the coach and a belief that running hard is part of a wider plan that will bring success, I think Özil is playing better because he is one of the best transition players I've ever seen and now we are winning the ball in midfield and also moving quickly from back to front again. That has always been his style and his strength.

Qwiss

If Ozil can give us that work rate every week he'll be worth his place in the team for the rest of the season. Still needs to go in the summer though as work rate alone isn't enough to play number 10, you need to start getting goals and assists too. Otherwise we may as well just have a proper midfield 3.

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