This is the sort of question that Arsene Wenger has had to answer ever since the rather fortunate but successful emergence of Francis Coquelin as Arsenal’s first-choice defensive midfielder. Over a difficult period in December 2014, with Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey all missing through injury, Arsene’s hand was forced in moving to […]
Tag Archives | Mesut Ozil
Is Ozil better than Silva or Hazard better than Alexis? How do we judge the relative merit of a player?
I was initially tempted to write an exploratory piece on Ramsey-on-the-Right but I think there are several quality posts lined up on that topic – including one already put up by Andrea and a bloody good piece by Dave Seager; so, I’ll do what I do in times like these and go off on a […]
The Curious Case of Mesut Ozil – Why the under appreciated genius?
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil has attracted plenty of harsh criticism for going missing in games, and has even found himself under attack for being in a 16-year-old’s pocket after his poor performance in the opening day defeat against West Ham. The condemnations of Germany’s World Cup winner are odd, given how highly thought-of Ozil is by […]
Wenger has switched to a Brazilian 4222 without telling us?
Hi fellow Gooners, I’d like to share some of my thoughts about a very important – although nervy – win at Selhurst Park, would you mind reading this blog? Playing Crystal Palace away from home is not ideal when you are already desperate for a win, therefore I wasn’t utterly confident about us getting the […]
Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal: Ozil pulls the strings as the Gunners get back on track
“Signed, sealed, delivered” Do you know where this phrase originated from? No? Neither did I until very recently. Until I started studying common law, in fact. The phrase refers to an agreement called “contract under seal”. This type of agreement is an unusual one: it places the written form above the consideration (consideration is that […]
No Giroud or Walcott but Ramsey, Ozil, Ox and Alexis to the fore
The activities and fallout from last Sunday’s agonizing derby defeat at the Emirates might still remain unclear and unparalleled but there’s a certain fact already established: This side still struggles when they go behind. That said it’s quite difficult to tell if this season’s opener was a one-off or a reflection of Arsenal’s recent […]
Arsenal Confidence Good but Over Confidence Bad as leads to COMPLACENCY
Complacency We were complacent. There was so much confidence going around before the game that no-one saw this result coming. Obviously the players felt it too and even when we went a goal down I was convinced that we’d pull one back and then go on to win the game. The problem is that whilst […]
Real Gooners Shake it off – Taylor Swift knows you know!!
Firstly, my apologies, my 4 year daughter has been singing this all week and it just stuck Music by Taylor Swift (possibly) Lyrics by TheSundayMorningGooner Don’t turn up to the first game Early season, just the same Wenger must be the blame, mmm-mmm Wenger must be the blame, mmm-mmm Not enough passes to our mates […]
Come on Gunners – There is No ‘I’ in Team so don’t blame individuals
It’s interesting how, considering football is a team sport, we tend to idolize or castigate individuals on a regular basis. Why is that? This thought and question entered my mind during pre-season when Arsenal Twitter went gaga over a certain Jeff Rene-Adelaide and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. I would have written about this earlier but at that […]
Wenger has turned my Arsenal Glass from half empty to half full ahead of the new season
It is easy to simply dismiss winning the Barclay’s Asia Trophy, Emirates Cup and Community Shield as insignificant successes achieved in meaningless pre-season tournaments and friendlies, after all, the silverware holds no prestige, however, there are positives amongst the performances and results that have raised my optimism levels for the coming season, Wenger finally beating […]