You watch that tape and you think Cristiano Ronaldo might as well be Bendtner for the sake of all those tap-ins Ozil served him on a plate.
I still remember that reverse pass to Khedira in that game against France earlier this year. One of the best passes I've seen.
Ozil will almost certainly slot into our current lineup as a straight swap for Rosicky. Problem is Rosicky has been extremely good at pressing and pestering our opponent's midfielders into making mistakes. So I am not sure if Wenger plans to do anything to counter the lost of Rosicky's presence.
While I am extremely hyped by Ozil's arrival and his future contributions on the pitch, I am even more pleased by the message it is sending to the football community : Arsenal is back in business. No doubt that Ozil is a wonderful footballer, huge talent and has the potential to lift the club to the highest level in the next few years. He is entering his prime at 24 yrs old, and with a young core of talented players around him, (Jack, Theo, Ramsey, Kos, Ox), he can be the missing piece to winning trophies. Having said that though, the biggest impact is off the field. Signing Ozil is a MAJOR statement of intent. Players and clubs are taking notice, Arsenal has the financial means to compete and bring the very best players to the Emirates. We all knew and understood the financial limitations of the past few years with the building of the Emirates stadium and so on. We are finally getting out of this era and are ready to flex our muscles on and off the field. We can be proud to have done it the right way as well. As aptly mentioned by Amy Lawrence in the Guardian this morning: "Potentially, Ozil can be that zeitgeist signing for the post-Highbury generation". PS. Good article. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/02/mesut-ozil-arsenal-emirates-era
Stolen from Arseblog: Cazorla + Özil… Cazozil? Özorla? Lizorla? Whatever we call it, it’s a mouthwatering prospect that.
Arsenal players reacting on Twitter last night. By the way, check the times, these guys were wide awake like all of us last night awaiting the news! Lukas-Podolski.com ✔ @Podolski10 Aha !! Welcome Bro. London calling!)) #arsenal #mesutözil #afc #podolski #lukaspodolski #poldi #aha http://instagram.com/p/dxgkMyOJ-E/ 10:49 PM - 2 Sep 2013 Santi Cazorla ✔ @19SCazorla Bienvenido al crack @MesutOzil1088 !! Welcome @MesutOzil1088 such an amazing player! #crack #Arsenal 10:43 PM - 2 Sep 2013 Alex Ox-Chamberlain ✔ @Alex_OxChambo What a signing that is for us! @MesutOzil1088 Welcome to Arsenal! 11:37 PM - 2 Sep 2013 Aaron Ramsey ✔ @aaronramsey Welcome to Arsenal @MesutOzil1088... great signing for us!! 11:57 PM - 2 S Jack Wilshere ✔ @JackWilshere Signing of the summer! Easily! Fantastic player, plays the 'Arsenal way'. Welcome @MesutOzil1088 absolutely buzzing! 10:55 PM - 2 Sep 2013
Yes, that is the exact concern that I had as soon as we signed him. I was so pissed. I sat there thinking "sure we signed the world's best playmaker, who is only 24 years old and could give us 8+ years of world class football, but DAMN it what does this mean for our 16 year old Ethiopian-German-American kid?" Then me and hippster-Wenger hugged out and had a good cry for the future of 14 year old south east asian attacking mids that will now never see the light of day in the Arsenal line up.
Poldi gets injured so, unable to play, he's sent by Wenger instead of DLaw to the German camp to negotiate the transfer. Nailed it. A-ha
Thanks...on Mac it's the mac button + U, then O or whatever letter you want umlauted. On ipad it's easy...hold down the letter. I don't think we'll see Areteta starting for a while. I'm Ramsey's biggest critic, but he's done really well without Areteta so unless we collapse defensively while he's out, I'm not sure he walks in to be honest. I also love BFG as captain. Plus, Jack is getting back to good form and it will take a while for Areteta to get up to speed probably. Also, has jenks pipped sagna? What I expect to see for now... Giroud Santi, Ozil, theo Ramsey, wilshere Gibbs, kos, per, sagna Szcez I also think we'll see a lot more of flamini than most probably think especially with Özil in, we could be a bit more conservative and carve out a lot of chances. It's a good problem to have whatever the boss does. Bendtner would have blocked more of those shots than he would have scored. Love Poldi, the German flavor of our squad is looking good...no doubt he and per we're a big reason Özil made the switch. Maybe we can snag one of pep's bench warmers in Jan.
I don't know, we haven't been pushed with a strong, aggresive counter like Villa had since ... Villa. And our biggest failure against Villa was the shambolic midfield defending. No true dm cost us the first goal. Neither Wilshere or Ramsey have the ability to really read the game defensively or the patience to sit in like Arteta does. I think until they show that, we NEED Arteta walking strait back in. You are right about Ramsey earning his spot, I would put Wilshere to the bench. Let him fight for his spot. I do also love BFG as captain though.
Arteta will start. Its probably Jack who will be relegated to bench status. Its probably best for his development and his health. Mind you, they all will play a lot of games this year.
Actually, you know who I wouldn't mind making a run at to tighten our d up ... Sergio Ramos is apparently best, best mates with Ozil ... as in very close ... and with a spanish contingent here ... wonder if we could unsettle him and get him here. Unrealistic I know, but hey ... I saw some posts Sergio made after Mesut left and a bloke can dream ya know ...
That could be a good tactic. Apparently Per did his part as well. In any case, this deal was apparently done since last friday. Wenger is a master poker player! Samuel @samuelj29060 37m So Khedira confirmed Ozil deal was basically done last Friday, as Balague said. Also confirmed Real rejected Man Utd bid for him
Agree. Mikel is invaluable to this team with his tactical acumen and positional sense. He is the glue keeping things together. He has Arsene's trust as well. Until proven otherwise, he is a starter. By the way, watching the game again, (w/out the stress, so much more enjoyable), I was totally impressed by Flamini. The dude was just all relentless, showing his usual tenacity and combative edge not to mention leadership.
You're probably right, but from a spectators point of view I like the one-touch stuff that wilshere-santi-rosicky play a lot. Arteta and Ramsey seem to need a little more time on the ball, so having Ramsey-Wilshere-Santi-Özil has a bit more pace and decisiveness to it that helps against those park the bus teams. In any case, since Arteta is out and Santi/Ramsey will need rest at some point we will see all kinds of MF combos this season as you said.
No. Zelalem is 16 years old and is still learning to play. Also, based on the preseason, he plays a lot deeper than Ozil does. Most importantly: THIS IS FREAKING ARSENAL. You earn playing time here: you aren't given it to develop simply to develop. We haven't given playing time for development for anyone. Even Walcott. The only teenagers we've given substantial playing time to have ended up looking really good or screwed up due to circumstances beyond their control. Here's a brief list from the past few years: 1. Fabregas. Needs no explanation 2. Walcott. He might score 25 this season 3. Gibbs. Nuff said 4. Sneezy (was he 19 when he first started at OT?) 5. Ramsey. Looks like he'll be the reason we won't go after Gundogan. 6. JFW. Considered England's great hope. 7. Jenks. Considered our future at right back. 8. AOC. He'll probably be England's best player in five years. Theo plus technique. 9. Song. Who we sold to Barcelona. 10. Diaby. Can't stay healthy. But was considered France's best prospect for a LONG time. 11. Denilson. Lead the league in passes and interceptions before he got hurt and lost his head. What happened to him? 12. Bendtner - he scored at the friggin Nou Camp. It's a shame that his dad screwed him up. Those are the teenagers who've gotten substantial playing time here in the past seven years. At least 8 of those guys have gone on to look really good. All of them are internationals. A teenager who gets substantial playing time here has to earn it by looking like he belongs in the first team. If Zelalem wants to get playing time, he has to look better than the likes of Arteta, Ramsey, and Wilshere.
I think it'd be an excellent learning experience for Zelalem to play and train alongside a more experienced player like Özil, especially considering Özil's game is so similar to Zelalem's, albeit much more refined. There's a ton of matches to be had in the PL, so if Wenger really wants to give Zelalem a shot, there are no doubt opportunities to be had.
Poldi is a true professional. Guys like Bendtner would not be holding up our jersey with a world class talent especially after he's been under utilized. Poldi looks genuinely happy with us and our squad. Here's to hoping he can come back and get playing time and bang on a few goals with Ozil.