Ozil or Alexis- who will you choose? What next for Arsenal?

Arsenal is presently in a conundrum. Two marquee players entering their final year of contracts. There are rumors about rifts in the dressing room led by Sanchez,  and Ozil suffering from a never ending flu which has raised eye brows about his future as well.

But where do Arsenal go from here? Can Arsenal keep hold of both of them? Will Arsenal persuade at least one of them to stay? If yes, who would that be?

Sanchez for one has had a great season, used as a CF for most of the season, over 15 goals and 9 assists make him the undisputed player of the season at Arsenal. A gladiator who fights for every ball, wants to win the ball back and wants to score in every game. Considering he hasn't had a summer break since he joined Arsenal in 2014 because of his international excursions ( World Cup in 2014, and Copa America in 2015 and 2016), its commendable that he has sustained his power football for most of the season.

But is Alexis irreplaceable? I do not think so. Yes he is the best Arsenal have got and hence he will shine among st the mediocrity alongside him. He does have a huge selfish side to him. His attitude when he gets substituted, his overall demeanor on the pitch are some of my personal concerns. No question he is a world class player and I would certainly keep hold of him but not as a center forward but as a player on Arsenal's left. 

As far as Ozil is concerned well he has been an enigma since he joined in 2013. Had 19 assists last term and started this term with hosts of goals. The solo effort in Bulgaria comes to mind but his goal scoring start this season has been over-shadowed by instances of 'laziness' at the Etihad and the Alianz. 

I would keep Ozil. There's no #10 like him available in the market and genuinely Arsenal and Wenger haven't bought a CF who could have brought the best out of Ozil. Ozil is a power passer who needs runners when he has the ball in control. In the last 3-4 years Ozil has played with Giroud, Sanchez, and very meagerly with Welbeck and Walcott in front of him. 

After having played 104 games for Arsenal, he has scored 20 goals, an average of a goal every 5 games. Not bad for a player who has never been prolific. He averaged somewhat similar in a free scoring Real side (19/105 games). When we talk about assists, he has 37/104 matches in the Premier League( which is the best ratio ever in the Premier league era above Eric Cantona and Cesc Fabregas in the top 3) and he had an assist record of 47 in 105 matches at Madrid.

The most astounding statistic is the chances created piece. Ozil created 324 chances for his forwards in his 105 games for Real in the La Liga, that's an average of 3 per game and in the premier league he has created over 370 chances in 104 games. When you compare these numbers you'd feel Ozil individually has improved his game. His goals have increased and so have his chances created and assists have remained the same. Remember he has come to a much more physical league than what he encountered in Spain. Games are much more tighter and far more competitive. 

What has been missing for Ozil has been a couple of human arrows in the team. Human Arrows in the form of a Ronaldo. Ronaldo who always makes the run behind the opposition defense with a trust that Ozil will find him if he does make that run. Most of the current forwards in exception to Welbeck ( but he has spent more time on the treatment table) don't make that forward run when Ozil is in possession of the ball. This includes Sanchez who doesn't do it consistently enough. Sanchez most of the time wants the ball to be played at his feet. With Giroud its the same. 

I will make a claim which would mean I face the flack of many Arsenal fans from across the world. Ozil would have been better than what Bergkamp achieved at Arsenal. Consider this, Bergkamp had the privilege of working alongside forwards like Anelka, Henry, Reyes, and wingers in the shape of Pires, Ljungberg  who always trusted the 'Flying Dutchman' to find them when they made that run. 

My opinion- very simple. Keep Ozil. But before that what Arsenal need is a manager who can convince him to stay. Ozil is someone who needs to be trusted. I do not want him to tackle and run around like Sanchez does. that's not why Arsenal paid 42 million quid  for him. 

Jose Mourinho used Hazard in a 4-2-3-1 on the left wing and expected him to track back and help the left back. Conte uses Hazard in a 3-4-3 and doesn't expect Hazard to defend and support Alonso. You play your best players to do what they do best. Ozil's job is to play killer passes, get 20 assists and 10-15 goals to help Arsenal finish off games.

And for that Arsenal need a new manager. A new manager who will not bottle big signings like the way Wenger has done in the last 2-3 years. Not bidding higher for Suarez when he was available at Liverpool, or pulling out in the last minute when Higuain was leaving Madrid only to see him thrive at Napoli. Arsenal need a personality who can come in the dressing room and shake things up, a place where mediocrity will not be acceptable.

As I conclude I want to quote Patrick Vieira, " Wenger's biggest strength is the trust he has in his players. His biggest weakness is that he's too nice, because players "need a kick in the arse." 

Arsenal need a Conte-style revival. A new personality who will do everything which Wenger failed to do. It has to happen now.

Well Wenger Should Go

www.standard.co.uk

A 2-2 at White Hart Lane,
Another hard fought draw.
Another insipid result,
certain to raise more eye-brows.

They always say,
at the top rises the cream.
But the invincible s are long gone,
what remains is an unfulfilled dream

With 9 more battles to go.
The scene is well set.
Unfamiliar it might seem,
but its a title race very few would forget.

The foxes lead the way,
with the spurs sniffing behind.
Gunners as usual loitering down,
but 'top-4 trophy' inclined.

You need money to win the lot,
is what the history suggests.
But the present is a different story,
as Leicester mount a title quest.

It was Arsenal's so called 'season',
with Chelsea down in the dumps.
But the vardys and kantes and mahrezes,
have made Wenger look like Donald Trump.

Another season, another failure,
is it really ' in wenger we trust"?
As we look ahead to another dismal outcome,
its more like 'in wenger we rust'.

For how long should we bear,
and for how long will this continue?
Maybe the summer might just see us,
changing the chef and the menu.

Wenger should go now,
It is the right time.
Continuing with the same,
would now be seen as a crime.

His dishes are too stale,
too predictable too salty for our wounds.
With him at the helm one more year,
we are sure to be doomed.

Thank You Monsieur for the service,
For 3 titles, and umpteen top-4 finishes,
but you are on 15 million quid a year,
At that rate we should've won more than repeated anguishes.

Many suggest its a tight race,
with the North Londoners sandwiched between the blue cities.
But what I am expecting for Arsenal is,
the same as every year- PROFITABLE MEDIOCRITY.

We will finish fourth,
And the excuse would be the injuries.
But keeping Wenger post this season,
would be a REAL INSULT TO INJURY.

WHY Arsenal need to win the title and get Pep Guardiola?

The minute Arsenal was a touted as a destination for Aubameyang in the JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW, I thought of it as a joke.

That is not the way Wenger operates. One might argue that Ozil and Alexis were signed. But Aubameyang is not in that class. And never will be.

Wenger either goes for CHEAP POTENTIAL or goes PURE WORLD CLASS. Nothing else in between. The latter bit changed in the last 2 summer transfer windows. But the former did not turn well every time. He bought Reyes for 9 million quid in January 2004. We all know how it turned out. He let an arrogant Thierry Henry kill the kid within 2 years by constant staring and non-verbal abuse. Wenger also bought an over-rated Evertonian in Francis Jeffers at the turn of the millennium for 8 million pounds. A huge amount of money at that time and that too turned out to be a huge loss.

The next 6 months are very pivotal in Arsenal's future. ARSENAL NEED TO WIN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. The television/sponsorship deal with SKY kicks in a lot of moolah will get spread around the Premier League. Wages will go up and so will the transfer fees. It might take Arsenal another 12 years to be where they are right now.

It is estimated that the team on 20th position in the league table come the end of season 2016-2017 will earn around 100 million pounds. Chelsea who were Premier League Champions last year earned around approx. 95 million pounds. That is a huge amount of windfall and it will get increasingly difficult for Arsenal and especially Monsieur Wenger to continue the way they are now.




And the need of the hour is of course PEP GUARDIOLA. Arsenal have everything that Pep can yearn for. To coach The Biggest Club in the Biggest City in the World. Loads of Money in the bank plus with more coming in. World Class Players like Ozil, Sanchez, Cech, Kochielny to build the team around. Attraction of living in London. A huge Stadium with over 60000 capacity. Excellent Heritage and tradition. A challenge of never have won the Champions league.

Will Arsenal FC do it? Or will it choose to remain Arsene FC? Only time will tell.

FA Cup Preview: Sunderland @ Emirates

With Arsenal traveling to Anfield mid-week this is one fixture Wenger would have specially loved to avoid.

Arsenal are clear by a couple of points at the top of the premier league, FA Cup means more of an avenue to rest your stars for the grueling schedule which is coming up.

Ozil, Mertesacker, Bellerin, Giroud,  and Walcott got no break during the Christmas and New Year fixtures that you can assume they would be playing no part at Emirates on Saturday.

The fixture because it is at home makes it competitive as Wenger will look to win.
Hearing Wenger's press conference yesterday ahead of the game it is clear Sanchez, Rosicky are not ready. I think even if Sanchez was ready he would not have been involved for obvious reasons. It is an FA CUP. Arteta will start and will captain the Gunners.

For Wenger, the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup has always never been a priority. He always has been quoted before as considering TOP-4 as a bigger trophy.

He LOST the capital one cup at Hillsborough but it came at a cost. Walcott and AOC both hobbled off with hamstring injuries. Wenger will not make the same mistake again. 

The team would obviously feature Ospina, Arteta, Joel Campbell, Gibbs, Chambers, and Debuchy. Debuchy is rumoured to be looking to make a move this transfer window to Italy.

The players to watch out for on Saturday:
1. Krystian Bielik
2. Alex Iwobi

The two of the brightest young players who will be seriously knocking the doors of the first team in the coming years. 

It would have been great if Arsenal had finalized the work-permit of our new signing Elneny. A FA Cup home fixture would have been an ideal  debut game.

Sunderland on the other hand would be in a positive and a buoyant mood after their first win in 6 matches against a beleaguered Aston Villa. Looking forward to seeing their first January Window signing Jan Kirchhoff. A towering defender, the German arrives from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee.

I predict a narrow Arsenal win because Sam Allardyce does not want a prolonged stay in the FA Cup which will end up ruining their Premier League stay. Ask Wigan and Birmingham. It is a fixture which will allow him to make necessary changes and give opportunities to his squad players. The last thing Sam wants now is injuries to his key players.

Both teams do not want a replay for this one.

Arsenal 2007-08 vs Arsenal 2015-16 & Pep to The Arsenal?

Arsenal enter 2016 top of the pile and with the obvious pressure of not winning the league title in over 12 years. Yes the last one was a memorable one…P38, W26, D12, L0. No one will forget that in the next 100 years possibly. 

In the last 12 years, Arsenal came close only once to winning the title. The Year 2007-08. Arsenal had just beaten Blackburn at the Emirates 2-0 with Adebayor banging in the goals and Hleb, Flamini and Cesc playing triangles around teams and winning games.

 

Until Birmingham happened.Eduardo broke his leg. Gallas imploded like a cry baby on the center circle and suddenly Arsenal lost the plot and with it lost everything that season. 

 

The team that Wenger put out that season:-

Goalkeeper: Alumunia

Defence: Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy

Mid-field: Walcott, Flamini, Cesc, Hleb, Van-Persie/Eduardo

Forward: Adebayor

Average Age: Approx. 24

The only so called leaders in that Arsenal team then were 2- Gilberto and Lehmann. Unfortunately Lehmann had a injury-filled campaign and Gilberto found it increasingly difficult to get into this vibrant, strong, pressing Arsenal line-up. The repercussions were obvious. Whenever the going got tough, Arsenal just got hammered.  Arsenal had lost their talisman Thierry Henry in the summer  and no one gave them any chance. Chelsea had lost Jose Mourinho in September/October 2007 after a 0-0 at WHL. Manchester United was on the up. Tevez, Ronaldo and Rooney were good but Arsenal had set the pace and was well on course come February with 5 points clear. They were in the FA Cup quarters. Champions League quarters too after beating a great AC Milan side 2-0 at the San Siro. But Arsenal just lost all the momentum with some key results. Also volatile characters like Gallas, Lassana Diarra did not help the cause.

Some key results from that year:- 

1. FA Cup drubbing of 0-4 at OT. ManUtd played a so called second string with Fletcher and O’Shea pulling the strings and they hammered a full strength Arsenal side that looked like getting tired. No squad depth and the season was suddenly taking a toll.
2. Birmingham Away: A 2-2 draw after being 2 goals up and that too against 10 men. The red card shown to a Blue after the tackle had broken Eduardo’s leg. Gallas lost the plot in a penalty incident in the 93^rd minute to further complications as Gallas was the so-called leader of the group.
3. A couple of draws against average opposition at home after the Birmingham result meant the chasing pack was on to them.
4. A bad bad result at Anfield in the champions league. 2-2 after a majestic run by Walcott after 84 minutes, and Arsenal were ahead on away goals but Eboue conceding a penalty after 60 seconds of Adebayor’s goal. 

The inexperienced Arsenal team showed loads of promise but the Final result in May 2008 was Arsenal finished  3^rd on the table behind eventual champions league finalists Chelsea and double-winners Manutd.

So why am I dwelling into the past and talking about something which happened 7-8 years ago. Well that was the last time when Arsenal genuinely challenged for the title. And 8 years later they are at the same street again.

Some similarities, well Mourinho has been sacked but only this time Chelsea are way off the pace. ManUtd are more like a Liverpool of the mid-nineties, loads of signings but not much impact on the ground. But the real obstacles for the Gunners come in the shapes of Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Let us look at the line-up Wenger has used this season:

Goalkeeper: Cech

Defence: Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koschielny, Monreal

Mid-field: Ramsey, Coquellin, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez

Forward: Giroud

Average Age: approx 28.

 

What strikes me when I look at this line up is the team has WINNERS and EXPERIENCE.  It also has the energy of the 2007-08 season but as a collective it has those winners who have done it all. Sanchez, Ozil have had tough times in Spain competing for titles and have won them too. A Mertesacker , a Cazorla and a Monreal who have been in fights before in their respective pasts and have brought their experience at vital times. And most importantly a Cech who has been on the top of the ladder and won things playing the hard way and has given the confidence to the rest of the team. Plus a Flamini whose name is not mentioned there who is the only surviving member of the 2007-08 implosion who left Arsenal the same year to Milan and has come back with a calmer head and has till now played a pivotal role.

Yes Arsenal have a clutch of away games to come this year. WHL, OT, Etihad, Anfield (the next one) to name a few but also some games like Upton Park, Goodison, Britannia Stadium where the mettle will be really tested. And not to forget the home games will not be any easier in a league where any team can beat any team. 

But somehow this year you'd think Arsenal will win the Premier League. It will not come easy and there will be some hiccups along the way the wealth of experience that Arsenal has in their line-up and the bench coupled with Manchester City’s existence in all competitions, Arsenal do stand a very very good chance. Experienced heads coupled with great squad camaraderie mean that Arsenal can withstand the pressure. I also think that Arsenal's draw in the UCL against Barca is also good news. It might mean our early exit and considering Man City's draw against Kyiv gives us the advantage in the run-in.

Also something that history tells us, no team has won the league after getting beat 5 times or more.City losses till date: 5

 

Humor aside Arsenal do have a real chance and I think they’re going to grab it with both hands, and just maybe we might see a certain Pep walking down to North London to take over the biggest club in London. The system Pep likes to play as illustrated by Thierry’s analysis on Sky Sports.  Arsenal’s squad can cope with Pep’s demands and above all make Arsenal an irresistible force in the next 5 years.

This is the YouTube link which I found fascinating where Thierry talks about how Pep demands that his players trust him till the final third and post that they can whatever they want: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svh5lMUfotc

Looking at Manutd post Fergie is a cause of concern and I know Arsenal will eventually be facing a similar dilemma soon. But if there is anyone who can grab the bulls by its horns and step into Wenger's shoes and maybe even outdo Wenger it has to be Pep Guardiola.

 

With Arsene in entering his final few years of contract I do reckon that  Arsenal’s board will attempt the biggest coup. It would be bigger than Pep joining Bayern after Bayern had won a treble. (At least that is what I hope).

Picture Credits:

1. www.arsenalarsenal.net

2. www.guardian.co.uk

3. www.dailymail.co.uk

4. www.telegraph.co.uk 

5. arsenal.com

6. gettyimages.co.uk