to be fair, without Chinese investment the English Premier League, the NBA, and their clubs would probably be insolvent. it really is disconcerting - and not just a little - how (in both cases) such fundamental 'Anglo-American' values can be co-opted by not necessity*, but by grotesque excess. a fair observation, generally, and a pedantic counter on my part; but clubs like Wimbledon, FC United of Manchester, and others almost certainly would not. naming a couple of German clubs that wouldn't break under such pressures is even easier. and the common denominator is those clubs' fans and their roles in the cultures of their clubs. if Arsenal Fan TV wanted to do something more worthwhile than bitching, moaning, and mobilizing the same, they could weigh in on something like this and mobilize in a far more meaningful way. *not that scarcity would make it more acceptable, but you know what I mean.
more than a kernel of truth in that. and as the saying goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. mortifying, if thought through.
Doesn't Erdogan have some money he needs laundered? Funnel it through Fenerbache by funding the purchase of Ozil!
Maybe, maybe not. As you know both leagues survived quite well without Chinese investors for years and years. Personally I'd rather take a lot of money out of the EPL (Chinese or otherwise), and out of football in general, and don't get me started on how capitalistic greed leads to so many of the worlds problems. (right @thebigman?) EPL, UCL, et al have become a vicious cycle of ever increasing costs, revenue and greed. I'd be quite happy to go back to smaller, less glitzy stadia whose names aren't companies or products, with dodgier pitches (like we faced in Liege last week), and with smaller staffs and much less expensive rosters. I know, I know, that's not modern professional sports, so it's very unlikely to happen. Unless maybe we have some sort of worldwide financial depression and investors flee, and clubs are forced to make major cuts. Honestly the one thing that's at the top of my list as being indisputably better about the modern English league, and one thing that I really really don't want to ever see go away, is the ability to watch your team play live, for reasonable money, regardless of where you live in the world... OK maybe not in the UK! So the main economics trick as I see it would be to somehow still fund global video broadcast of the EPL, whilst taking money out of the game overall... less sponsors, less advertisers. The genie's out of the bottle now... can we put him back in, and still watch our teams play? You know, when BSkyB (and Fox) first started the trend towards awesome TV coverage in the mid-90's, the overall sums and budgets related to the EPL were a pittance of what they are in 2019, but it was still a pretty damn good show back then (arguably Arsenal's greatest years came shortly after that)... and even without the streaming infrastructure to show every game. Whoa, quite a detour in this Ozil thread! That's enough!! TLDR? @yossarian feel free to relocate this post, if you can find a better place for it!!
unless I'm missing some heavy sarcasm, here, I think you've missed some heavy sarcasm. my point was that both the EPL and NBA would still be obscenely profitable without Chinese cash. just less so. offending the Chinese is hardly an existential threat to those organizations. stifling the free expression of concerns for things like religious oppression is an existential threat to our established cultural values. toss 'em each on the scales, and if the former weighs heavier than the latter, we've got a problem.
Yup I missed your sarcasm. Sorry. And I whipped through the rest of your post and honestly didn't grok it too well TBH. Anyway, I agree that "we" should not sell our souls to the devil, or even just the highest bidder. I am always saddened when someone who speaks the truth is silenced by those who are in power, or who control the purse-strings. We have way, way too much of that going on right now, especially in the Good Ole US of A. It's high time to stand up, call them out, and resist. Past high time actually. Sorry to get so political and philosophical on everyone tonight. Maybe I can blame it on the ice storm and resulting power outage. (the latter seems to be over now, lest you be concerned for my well being)
interim manager Freddie Ljungberg has criticised Mesut Ozil for his unacceptable behaviour after being substituted against Manchester City. The Swede told reporters he would have dropped the midfielders for Saturday's clash with Evertonhad he not been injured after he reacted angrily when taken off against the Premier League champions: "For me, I got asked after the game about Mesut. He walked off the pitch [in the Man City game] and then kicked his gloves. The fans were not happy. "I got asked about it and said, 'At Arsenal, that's not how we behave and not what we do'. I stand by that. Mesut was injured, but I would not have picked him for the squad because I want to make a stance that it's not what I accept from an Arsenal football player.
Fair enough from Freddie. Arteta has said he'll give Mesut a chance, but I bet the leash is short. If he's not happy with the commitment, work rate, tracking back, etc I don't think there will be much coddling. Ozil outlasted Emery, but I'm not sure it would be wise to bet on that happening twice. The player's days could be numbered here.
He's a brilliant player, who needs other brilliant players around him to truly excel. Sadly, add to that, he's also now a bit of a relic, who doesn't seem to have a perfect role in the modern game. I don't lament us buying him, I loved watching him play for us during those first few season, but he certainly should no longer be a focal point in any of our squad building from here forward.
A. I use the phrase a lot myself but if I'm being honest I also am growing to feel this could apply to anybody. Mustafi could possibly look decent if surrounded by 8-9 all-stars. So my evolving thought process is "Yeah, he could work with other talents but does that make him an erstwhile 1-trick pony?" B. I also loved the acquisition and we've seen him excel in an Arsenal shirt. One wonders what could've been had the club only been more thoughtful in shoring up the defense and midfield after Per begun to fade.
Perhaps, I'm misunderstanding your point, but I disagree that Ozil could be characterized as a one-trick pony. In his hey day Ozil makes those other superstars in a squad even better. He sees passes and anticipates their runs like few others could do. Mustafi can be hidden and not be liability if he's surrounded by other really good players. There's a difference between those two things.
Well the turn of phrase may not be the best fit but my angle is that some players may only be great within one system, which is almost as limiting as that player being a true one-trick pony. Take Robben. Talented player but depending on his teammates, positioning, etc, he can be rendered an average asset on the field. Or Alexis Sanchez. With his free role for Chile and decent defensive coverage he was an effective player. Put him in different sides and he can be a laibility. Bottom line, to me there are some players that only work at their best in very specific circumstances. If you can't replicate those circumstances then those players' values go down notably. Ozil may be one of those players.
Robben is a Dutch all timer I don't really get the idea of him being rendered average He had a lot of injury issues
As for Ozil be coddled the club spent the last year trying to force him out Is that really a serious issue?
Ozil was always less than the sum of his parts. His lack of versatility really hurt him. That's why Kroos is a better player than Ozil even though Ozil is more skilled. Kroos could change his play to fit the game.
This is nonsense. Ozil was a dominant player and the best playmaker of the last decade after Messi. “Versatility” had nothing to do with it. Kroos is in his prime now and this is the worst German team since the early aughts with Kroos as the main man.
Kroos's club teams always performed better than Ozil's. When Ozil left RM and Kroos came in the team got better.
Özil and Kroos are more or less the same age group (31 and 29). Özil declined ever since the 2014 WC as if the guy was saturated. Kroos obviously wasnt and went on to win 3 CLs in a row. Özil's problem is that he is saturated and satisfied with playing with Arsenal for the golden pineapple on a ridiculous EPL wage and banging his super model gf/wife. He's just seeing his contract and remaining years as a footballer out.
Ozil was key to Real winning the league again in 2011/12 and breaking Barcas dominance Kroos did well in the cups but it is clear real have under performed in the league throughout that era. So yeah the 3 cups is huge but the league is a better gauge of the quality of the team and there is not much evidence real got better
This is the problem with posting about Ozil based on the German national team narrative Being in decline simply doesn't fit with his arsenal league data including a record setting season after 2014 On the other hand his data really did collapse in the last 2 years and it is no coincidence that arsenals collapse maps to the decline of ozil and loss of alexis