My point is that crosses swung into crowded boxes, free kicks swung into crowded boxes and corners swung into crowded boxes account for a decent proportion of Özil's 'assists'. In this sense, the stats are misleading since in my opinion, they are of a lower value than a threaded pass, a through ball or a dink over the top. Now Özil certainly has produced all those in his time with us but they account for a much lower percentage of his 'assists'.

If you weight the relative skill levels of their 'assists', DB10 and Özil are not in the same league.

Walk into any pub, Arsenal or non Arsenal pub and lay that claim, they'd think you are taking the piss.
Bergkamp first and foremost. Fabregas second to Dennis only. Henry can make an argument for someone who knows how to give a final ball and should be counted among the best, but not the best.

I've seen enough clips of Brady to see why he's got deity status with people from that era.

Vieira intercepts and lays it off to Parlour or Pires who break and find bergkamp in the final third “woah how did he spot that pass!”

Over and over and over and over ......

Don't think people in general rate Bergkamp as highly as Arsenal fans do so I'm not sure about that claim, but nice to see you try to interact with other posters on the forum for a change.

Cazorla was exceptionally skilful. A player who can score free kicks with either foot is very rare indeed.

There are others who you would never dream of categorising as great (or in some cases good) players but nonetheless had exceptional natural skills. Kanu - sublime skills for such a big lanky man with huge feet. I don't think I've ever seen a player like him. Hleb - fabulous first touch and ability to create space but then spends far too long deliberating and ends up passing it backwards. Gervinho - absolutely brilliant dribbling ability and body feints and not a notion in the world how to use it....and he couldn't kick the ball properly which is just bizarre for a pro-footballer.

Then you have other players with a slightly different skill-set. Overmars, like Henry, could dribble at a fierce pace. Maintaining control of the ball at that pace is not too common. I just love natural footballers. Sadly, dribbling is disappearing from the game as everyone plays the Pep/Klopp pressing and gazillion passes.

This is still one of the weirdest Arsenal goals I've seen.

There have been some cracking goals scored over the years by players who aren't necessarily considered Arsenal greats. This one by Eduardo always comes to mind when I think about great Arsenal goals. At first glance it looked like a mishit, but seeing the replay it's just a sublime finish, perfectly controlled.

Stuck in a massive queue back in the stand because my dad insisted he wanted a tea at halftime and missed the whole thing.

Brady was known for a sublime final pass ..or two!

So who’s paying £15 quid a throw to the premier league to watch pay per view games?

They may be in for a shock. Take up will be low.

I suppose you would want pay 15 quid to watch a Burnley game but only if u were strapped to that electric chair people talked about before, and your life depended on it.

Or a lifelong Burnley fan, plus those of who they’re playing?

https://www.247tvstream.com

Works incredibly all over the world...for me $80/year-ish)

Saw some stats for the average distance collectively covered per game so far by the big 6. Arsenal lead the way, 3km per match more than Liverpool in 2nd and 7km more than Man U in 6th

Everton being top of the table and Villa second is pretty remarkable after 4 games. City bottom half the table, equally so. This won't last and will likely change on the restart after the international games. No one would have seen that coming though.

But they are suggesting a per game price of 15 quid, 4 games and that’s yer 80 bucks. Is that good value ?

I assume its because I access British media for Arsenal related news, that I am getting clips of 'The Graham Norton Show'. Delightful show, based on the stories famous guests have told.

Really? That implies strongly that he has been conniving to get out of something he doesn't want to be a part of, when from what we know that doesn't seem the case. To use a more modern term it could be argued he is being constructively dismissed by his boss! Whatever the eventual outcome it will be good to see him back on the field somewhere playing his lovely football. Don't be surprised either if it is at a big Premiership club.

And this week (16 October), the guests include Arsene Wenger and Samuel L. Jackson. They ought to do a buddy movie together.

Not a chance that any top premier league club would risk a penny on him.

I will be, very! Perhaps the memories of his good play have faded for most of us a bit too much, but surely of all leagues, this one isn’t for him.

I’ll be very interested to see where his next move is, retirement FC the front runner for me at the moment. Destination cash Island.

Not much in the way advice. I read between the lines that Özil doesn't want to play defense, needs to be fulcrum in order to feel he is in the game.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... l-22823284
Arsene Wenger's advice to Mikel Arteta on Arsenal outcast Mesut Özil

So far my $80 gets me pretty much every PL game/Carabao Cup/FA/Cup/Europa league/Champions League. Links to UK/Canada/Oz/Caribbean/Middle East/USA Sports TV streaming websites..A lot of other stuff too. Need good bandwidth, but HD quality also. I was skeptical at first, but a scouse mate in Miami turned me on to it. Sometime it takes some hunting, but I 99% of the time find what I want..albeit with some manic middle eastern commentator!

Breaking news eh.

That looks remarkably good. I wonder if they block it in the UK.

One thing that does really annoy me is that I pay megabucks for Sky, BT Sport and Amazon Prime but am not allowed to watch it when out of the country. It’s like having a book or magazine that you can only read in the UK.

A VPN may be the answer if that happens..I use one in USA/Mexico so the missus can watch Corrie & 'Stenders...works like a charm!

Rashford did a great public service for the nations kids. I don't know how the system works or the standard but does it rise to the standard deserving on an MBE? I don't know. I have a Brit friend here (for the record hates Man Utd) who said while worthy of praise, is not worthy of an MBE.

Ah, that explains it. VPN is the answer.

But the thing is, for someone with obvious footballing intelligence I don't see why Özil can't do what's required? Surely closing down and pressing is merely an awareness thing that may require a higher level of fitness but isn't anything too drastic that couldn't be learnt quickly if Özil was willing to apply himself. I see Pépé being pretty lazy without the ball and gives up easily but somehow he's still getting in the squad.

I think he could do what Arteta wants but can't be bothered.

van Persie is on one of the biggest 'what ifs' for Arsenal. What if he had stayed healthy? What if he didn't leave? He's turned out to be one of the biggest Judas we have. I recall at the time of his move even a voice on here was saying he wasn't. Not sure how you call yourself a gooner and come to that conclusion. Anyway, he was one of my favorite players, second after Fabregas in the post invincible era. I was an early fan of his when America had eredivisie matches on. He played in the wing but looked good doing so.

A shame.

https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/06/glad-to- ... -13378614/

I don't believe for one second the LA Rams stadium was built totally with private funds. BS. No structure in LA of that size and cost goes up without the city, county and state involved financially. It's what they tell the public.

The likely truth is public funds were used in such a way to give them cover. The usual ways, tax abatements, tax credits, utility costs at deep discounts, money hidden in bond financing for another purpose but diverted ultimately to the project, the city guaranteeing the bank loans behind the scenes, etc. LA has a myriad of ways to fleece the public. Experts at it, like most major, global cities.

Its football madness to expect Özil to close down and press - it is not what anybody expects him to bring to the team - he never did in his career before at other clubs. If defending is what Arteta wants most from Özil, then it is no surprise he leaves him out in the cold!

You may think it's madness, but the whole team have defensive responsibilities when the opposition have the ball. This is modern football. Özil is either unwilling or incapable of doing his bit in this regard. When you see Aubameyang busting a gut to get back and support the left back you wonder why Özil can't show a similar level of commitment to his team mates.

When we bought him people were complaining he rarely tracks back. As you say, it was never part of his game. When he first came in the league he would get fouled and pout while the run of play went on and he'd sit there. Later, he toughened up and rode tackles better, accepted hard fouls, even cynical fouls were part of the British game. He changed, but there are some things he just is not going to do willingly or be committed to and that is defensive duties.

We are playing a style similar to City and Liverpool, pressing from the front and you need all the outfield players to do it. It won't work with one person who isn't going to. So, it makes sense he's being left out. Not hard to see that. But then again, these are some of the same fans who complained about Giroud's lack of pace as if he had some control over that.

I can't believe that any footballer is incapable of being able to learn a press, it is a bit of intelligence and a good level of fitness - you could teach it to a bunch of U14s. No player can come in with a certain skill set and just get a free pass not to do certain things. The important thing about the high press is it is only as strong as its weakest link. If one player if off then the press is easily passed and the team are hugely vulnerable. If Özil is unwilling (I won't say unable because of the point made above) then his position in the team would ultimately either harm the team and leave us too open or mean the manager cannot play his choice of tactics. We can't have that.
Far more talented players than Özil have managed to execute a high work rate and high press and carry out the manager's defensive plan whilst still delivering on their main creative or goal-scoring skills. Just look at any City or Liverpool forward player over the past 3 seasons

Nobody expected Giroud to get quicker - what is detractors wanted was for us to replace him with a more speedy striker. Anyway, it's completely different to the Özil scenario, because Özil can control his pressing. Being able to press your opponent is a tactical thing you can learn, not some innate quiality you either have or don't have. Özil has decent pace. He reads the game better than most - if not all - players in our squad. If he's not pressing as well as Arteta wants, it's simply because he's not putting the effort in.

Arsene, having heard of the growing discontentment on the Steve Gleiber forum, with American Gooner's comments apparantly being the last straw, bows to public pressure to weigh in on the growing/neverending debate:



https://www.football365.com/news/arsene ... mesut-ozil

I saw a stat this morning that Arsenal run more kilometres per match than any other Premiership side. From memory Liverpool were second. I strongly suspect Arsenal’s kilometres run would be significantly less had Özil been in the team this season.

There’s nothing to stop skilful or creative players working hard. Ceballos, Saka and Willian all do. That’s one of the important reasons why, in my view, Özil clearly isn’t part of Arteta’s plans this season.

I saw Wenger’s quotes about the technical skill diminishing in footballers with more of a focus on physical attributes. I think he’s right and the evidence can be seen in the Premier League with the number of teams whose biggest threat is the counter attack or their biggest weakness is the counter attack.
City and Liverpool are both vulnerable to the counter
Arsenal under Arteta have used it as a great tactic, Spurs with quick forwards do it well and Man U’s good results at the back end of last year came from quick counters.
Even further down the league, Leicester have done it for years, wolves have had success with it and more and more teams are working towards this tactic, especially coupled with a high press. Southampton, Brighton, Leeds, villa all go for this tactic.
I wonder where this goes because we could get to a point where neither team actually wants the ball