Seems like we're "stuck" with Özil. He won't agree to any transfer offers it seems. Wonder what Arteta plans to do?

He seems to be leaving Özil on the shelf, hoping the player will get hacked off and move on? Truth is we are a club with just two world class players and the manager is ready to put one in the freezer. Possibly understandable if his team was full of young guys about to become world beaters but it isn't. Özil not playing is a sad waste of talent.

Arteta did start Özil in his first 10 league games in charge. he then didn't play a minute in Arteta's last 10 league games in charge. the 20 games split by the Coronavirus break.

In those 10 games he played he got 1 goal and 1 assist.

Özil also started 7 games in a row at the end of Emery and all of Ljungberg's games. A run of 1 win in those 7 games.

If Özil is still one of the most creative midfielders in the game he isn't showing it.

In the 18/19 season. 24 appearances, 5 goals, 2 assists and only 3 big chances created and 7 through balls. So it wasn't like he's putting them on a plate and others are missing them.

For whatever reason he's a spent force on the pitch and has been for some time. Maybe if he was racking up great attacking numbers you could forgive the lack of workrate and defensive side of his game - but he isn't and wasn't so he basically has been serving zero function in the team (I'm aware you could say that about other Arsenal players as well)

Özil has got 4 assists in his last 42 league games. If he was a young player he would have been sold long ago. He’s only here because of the size of his contract.

I can’t understand anyone lamenting why he isn’t in the team or why he’s been disregarded.

Why are national anthems played at domestic sporting events? What relevance does it have? Even at international level, it feels like an empty gesture to me or maybe a misplaced gesture. And to add to the theatre, we in Ireland have to have two anthems when we play rugby

Also I see our fans online defending Özil trying to compare it to the Bale situation

Entirely different, Bale has been playing very well when called on but is out of favour and being forced out by his club, Özil has been abysmal, had a bad attitude.

I don’t blame him for digging in and seeing his contract out but the continual stewards enquiry on why he’s not playing or the press interviews where he says he staying are boring.

Hi OMOH,

Özil has world class ability but he's long since stopped being a worldclass player, if indeed he ever was one.

It's clear that his application is not to the standards that Arteta has asked of the group and quite rightly he has been left out. He's a passenger without the ball and his dwindling influence on games no longer justifies us carrying a passenger.

He's not a serious footballer because a serious footballer would not flitter away the remaining years of what is a after all a short career. It's not like he's short of a few bob and couldn't take a pay-cut to play somewhere every week.

Özil is doing what Kanu did in his last years with us. Collect a wage packet. Özil has never been a person of strong character. I recall one of the scouting reports on him was that he needs to be man managed well. He takes perceived slights very personally.
I recall people complaining he wasn't more of a leader. That was never one of his strengths. He needs to be coddled and handled gingerly to get the most out of him. He has gotten tougher. The EPL does that to you. It is impossible to be a success in the British leagues if you can't take the fact that the referees allow more physicality than they do in other leagues.
So the question what to do about him? We have no choice than to play him. My guess is he doesn't train hard enough for a person of his talents for Arteta. From what we know he looks at how serious people take training as a major component of what he looks for in a starting XI.
With the money he's getting, we need to find a role for him or pay out his contract and start over.

Willian....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.u ... 26623/amp/

Amadou Diawara..

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... y-18766398

I cannot understand why the club doesn't just sack him and let him argue in Court that he is the player we agreed to pay £350000 a week for his services.

After all isn't a footballer a club asset, bought for a purpose for which he is no longer fit? What do we have to lose? He has been given every chance to improve his career but has made no effort to secure a place in the first team has he?

Sack him and see what happens......................

As long as he's physically fit and it's the manager's choice not to involve him in the squad, I don't see how the club would have a case. As far as I know, he's made himself available for selection and Arteta is the one choosing not to play him - probably rightly so, but it means Özil is fulfilling his contractual obligation.

This is such a weird article. So now we're counting signing on fees and potential bonuses as part of a players salary? If they want to do that, they should do it across the bord - Aubameyang is probably earning north of 300k/week then, and I assume they're going to mention Pogba's wage as 350-400k from now on?

Arseblog made a good point that a player who is serious about reclaiming his place in the team doesn't give an interview like this. Whether Özil thinks he's been treated unfairly by the club or not, it just sends all the wrong signals. Compare it to players like Xhaka and Ceballos who were out in the cold for various reasons, but managed to get back into the team by working hard and producing solid performances when called upon. Think that's the only way to do it.

I don't disagree with you but all legal cases are legal till someone proves they are illegal.

A player can work to rule can an employer not do the same? put some stress into the situation. Maqke him captain of the youth team. Make him play an away game every week. Make him train till he drops. There has to be somthing that will break him.

Willian confirmed on Arsenal.com and on Sky Sports News.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/arteta-gav ... me-arsenal

Willian officially announced.
Arteta spoke about his versatility in attacking midfield and wide areas

A Chelsea supporting friend said if he could only win one final, he'd much rather prefer the Europa cup final against us rather than the FA cup final. I had to agree.

....not that I'm not happy about the win.

If the stories about 32 year old Willian earning 220k a week on a 3 year deal with an option for a 4th then I want to know exactly whay they are smoking over at Arsenal because I want some of it.

Willian is a very good player but you can't tell me there is not better value in the post covid market than this.

You can debate his wages and us becoming a chelsea retirement home but when all is said and done whenever I’ve Watched chelsea he’s usually the player likely to get on the ball and make something happen.

His band the black eyed peas are pretty good too

I read the 220 includes bonuses for winning the league and qualifying for the champions league.

If that happens I’ll gladly pay him that !,

Some definite question marks regarding age and money, but Willian also ticks a fair amount of boxes looking at our needs. He's a class player, experienced, can deliver right away, creative, versatile, and the most important point for me is that Arteta seemingly wanted to sign him. That means he probably has a good idea about how he wants to use Willian, and I'm all for letting him build the team. Hopefully more to follow now!

Accusation emerges Arsenal signed Willian for the wrong reasons

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... s-22520360

"But the Sky Sports pundit has questioned whether the Brazilian is actually an Arteta signing, or whether he has been snapped up for business reasons."

Wow! The new Arsenal way...

The SG forum way (a few), don't blame The Arsenal.

Edu’s comment about “squad rebalancing” is key

I’d expect Lacazette to be sold, Willian as a cheap way of adding experience in the final third and the money to be re invested in midfield.

Could also refer to offloading some of the excess centre halves we have acquired, Sokratis, Holding or Chambers.

No it’s called workplace harassment and discrimination Einstein

Hi bubblechris. I suspect Hazuki is right. Özil presumably turns up for training and makes himself available for selection, even if when he played before the lockdown Arteta wasn’t satisfied with his performances.

As an employer I doubt the club would be able to make him train differently to other players, if that’s what you mean by making ‘him train till he drops.’ You also suggest making him the captain of the youth team. I don’t know but I would assume there’s a maximum age at which players are allowed to play for the youth team. If there is, he will surely be way above it. But even if there isn’t, I don’t see that breaking Özil. He will do everything he formally has to in order to get his £350k a week until the end of June next year.

If we're linked with a player I go and look who his agent is. Sergio Reguilon is the latest one linked and lo and behold his agent is Kia.
He's a Real Madrid left back - certainly an improvement on Kolasinac but the money should surely be invested in other areas of the team. If we don't sell AMN then we have Tierney, Saka, AMN and even Cédric can play LB and that if we sell Kolasinac and don't replace him.

Yeah but his band disbanded and most retired so not sure that's what we need.

In seriousness I've liked him as a player to beat his man and will provide competition and backup for Pépé. just hope he can stay injury free. Can't recall too much about his final ball though which will be vital once his pace starts to go.

Frankly I can't wait.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke and team chief operating officer Kevin Demoff are on the list to be deposed, as well as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners of the rest of the teams in the league, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

The depositions are set to start in September, and wrap up four months later with the trial beginning in 2021.

If St. Louis could prove "unjust enrichment" against the Rams and the NFL, they could come away with more than $2 billion. That's the difference between the Rams' value now, and the Rams' value in 2015 in St. Louis.

Emerson the chelsea left back (remember him) is meant to be going to Inter Milan for £23m. Is he actually any better than Kolasinac? It can't be that our players have extraordinarily high wages because our total wage bill is still the 5th biggest in the league.

How do other clubs manage to still get proper fees for the players they want to discard but we cant shift anyone unless it is on a free?

https://www.chelsea-news.co/2020/08/wil ... ol-player/

William earning more than any Liverpool player. Bizarre if true.

From the points Man U signed Bruno Fernandes here are some stats of Fernandes v Willian

Ignore goals scored for the moment because both took a number of penalties

Chances created: Bruno 30. Willian 29
Big chances created: Bruno 3. Willian 6
Touches in the box: Bruno 42. Willian 46

Of course football isn't just stats but worth highlighting to any Arsenal fan who might be a bit deflated by Willian's signing. Yes we can moan about age and wage - but he's still a very good player who does give us something we're missing

It isn't, it's a bad interpretation of even worse journalism. The original article mentioning the 220k per week thing even stated that the basic wage is 100k, and 220k is the figure they arrived to after dividing the signing on fee over the length of the contract and adding potential(key word) bonuses. That figure is now being compared to other players basic wages without adding their bonuses and signing on fees.

Well no doubt Kia made out pretty good as well. Just saying.

It is click bait and inflammatory journalism. Willian on a pay decrease from Chelsea doesn’t make headlines or get clicks, so let’s put his signing on fee and all his bonuses and call that his weekly wage so it rules up Arsenal fans.
I don’t mind players topping up wages with big bonuses or bonuses for winning things. If Arsenal are winning trophies then the bonuses are justified

Rumour going around twitter Raul Sanelhi has been sacked for making an excessive 10 million payment to Jorge Mendes for the Pépé transfer.

Interesting reports yesterday about an investigation. If true it’s never ending the problems we have off the pitch. Endless circle of different incompetent arseholes