Little better but not quite there - 2020 Summer Transfer Thread

I guess

Did it really seem like Ozil's effort was a problem when playing for Arteta? I thought exactly the opposite--in fact his form was really good under Arteta which is what makes his exclusion during the restart extra suspicious.

Let's not frame taking a pay cut as demonstrating loyalty. That isn't how it works. And besides, in this interview Ozil claims that other players also rejected the paycut but were not singled out in the same way. That may not be true, but even if he stood alone, he was not less loyal than other players just because he wanted them to honor their end of a contract they signed. That is, of course, the reason d'etre of capitalists: to assume the risk and reward of financial projects they carry out. You shouldn't just be able to shove that risk onto your employees once it arrives, that's bullshit.

 

The technical director Kia Joorabchian speaks to TalkSport (via Arseblog):

My favorite bit is when he refers to Sven as ‘the previous guy’. I’m sure he means previous to Edu, but it reads like he’s referring to himself.

 

It’s been reported prior to the Ozil interview, in fact as far back as the announcement of the teams acceptance of the pay cuts, that two point other players refused the cuts. Yet in the months that followed, the only player identified as not accepting the pay cuts was Ozil.

 

Thank fuck Lucas Torreira’s fans aren’t this organised

— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) August 13, 2020

 

It is what it is.

Just hope Arteta calls Ozil into his office and hash it out. Give Ozil a road to redemption. We know ozil is capable of being world class.

 

The thing is, this nonsense with Ozil cost the club on the pitch. We probably make CL under Emery last season if it wasn't for this nonsense, and we probably have a few more points this season as well.

It's malpractice on the club's part. Were you the agent of a good player who has options, you'd take note of this.

 

This was a huge red flag, though he was recovering from COVID at the time.

 

I think what some of us are saying is that the freeze out has been because of wages. It's not that Emery and Arteta didn't want to play Ozil - it's that the club wanted to force Ozil out because of wages.

Arsenal aren't above briefing the press about players they don't like - witness what they did with Alexis. That largely hasn't happened here.

 

The reasons why Torreira didn't play are somewhat obvious. With Ozil, you're not playing the guy who, until two weeks ago, still had more chances created than any other player on the squad, on a squad that had fewer chances created than like 15 other teams in the PL. If it was because of his lack of effort, why was he playing consistently in Arteta's teams before the restart? The reason I (and I'm assuming others) are taking Ozil's side in this is because it's pretty obvious that him not playing and being frozen out of the side has very little to do with on-pitch stuff, and is drama of the club's making.

 

If you’re a player at Arsenal and you’re not sure what’s going on, you take note of it, I know I would.

 

I have high expectations of Arteta, so if this has come down from management, I hope he’s being straight forward with Ozil. It may be significant that Ozil has said he won’t talk about his conversations with Arteta.

 

If Ozil had played, Arsenal could have defeated City and Chelsea to win the FA Cup and qualify for Europe.

 

"What is the sentence example used in the dictionary for hindsight bias?"

 

I assume you meant to add a ? at the end of your sentence.

Maybe had Ozil played they could have defeated Brighton, Villa and Spurs and made the Champions League. Maybe he just plays those three games and Arteta goes more defensive in the games against other teams, lots of maybes. But the most important maybe is that maybe when the team is struggling to create chances, it’s a good idea to at least have your most creative player on the bench, so if you need someone that can help change the game, he’s available.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.us/mesut-...ails/spieler/35664/wettbewerb/GB1/saison/2019

Arsenal got 1.33 points per match when he played this season. Overall, Arsenal put up 56 points in 38 matches, 1.47 points per match. But yeah, probably would have won the league if he played every match.

Ozil isn't worth the 350k a week he makes and the club isn't playing him to try to convince him to leave. If he was good, Arsenal would be giving him a contract extension like they are about to do for another 31-year-old who is entering the final year of his contract but who plays regularly and almost won the Golden Boot.

 

I didn’t say win the league, I didn’t say he

I can use stats too. Ozil started all 10 games between Arteta’s first game against Bournemouth and the shutdown. Arsenal averaged 1.7 points per match during that period and suffered one defeat. After the restart they averaged 1.6 points per match, but suffered four defeats.

I didn’t say Arsenal could have won the league if he played every game, nor I did I say he should play every match. What I suggested in the post you appear to have responded too, is that it made no sense to not to have had him on the bench when Arsenal were struggling to break down teams.

I agree that Ozil hasn’t been worth £350k per week, but that shouldn’t matter to fans or the coach, it’s between the player and management. All that matters, is whether on a weekly basis Ozil is better than his replacement. With respect to creativity it isn’t even a close call.