07 Oct 2020 09:56:55
As you know I occasionally look on other teams sites in particular if they get thumped like Surrey Utd and the Scousers did last weekend. If nothing else it shows how passionate football supporters are and sometimes it's good to look at the other side.
Over the last day or so the Gooners site has been particularly interesting. The conversations between fans and Ed have been very illuminating in regards the signing of Partey and shall I call it politeness.
The main thing of interest for me was the comments about Mesut Ozil.
Obviously the media and fans focus on his reported £350k per week salary. My view on that is. don't blame him. He just negotiated the best deal he could from his employer and my guess is we would all try and do the same thing.
His comments about the treatment of Muslims in China also seems to be an issue and maybe with clubs management rather than anyone else.
Also, his rationale for not taking a wage cut was portrayed in some quarters as if this was just him being greedy or selfish. Again when you look into the issue the reasons a little bit more complex but understandable.
It would also appear he does a lot of work for Charities, again this isn't often reported.
His latest offer to pay for the club mascots salary is rather trivial to me but still a nice gesture.
All in all he seem like a decent bloke to me who just happens to be a footballer who gets paid a lot of money.
07 Oct 2020 11:52:12
I do feel sorry for Mesut Ozil. I think you have covered the main points in your post. He comes across as a very decent bloke.
07 Oct 2020 16:33:56
I do feel for ozil as it seems he's been hung out to dry almost, and as a muslim, his comments on china were amazing to see considering very few have spoken up on what is truly a shockingly awful and shameful situation and i only hope and wish others would find the courage to speak up also.
08 Oct 2020 07:07:15
Every club has an Ozil, that they've overpaid for with little, or no return, see Bogarde lol. It happens, every transfer is a "punt", no matter how much "due diligence" is undertaken. The last couple of years, I feel, our club has started to get it right! All our transfers this year I feel are "potentially" great, thank you Marina! Whilst I expect our team to perform and gain some "success" this year I feel that next year our club may become (dare I say it) a juggernaut.
Time will tell' I still believe!
08 Oct 2020 12:38:11
Ozil has with little, or no return? Really?
I think you need to look at that.
08 Oct 2020 13:16:01
I was also interested in Ed's reply about Partey - it seems that Arsenal really screwed Atletico over. I wonder what the consequences of doing business in bad faith will be - Ed mentioned that Liverpool also have a tarnished reputation in this regard whereas I think Chelsea tend to conduct business in a more respectful manner (obvious historical issues about recruiting youth players notwithstanding) . Let's hope it leads to us being able to beat these clubs to more of our targets like we managed to with Werner!
08 Oct 2020 13:48:48
dihanio, I’m not sure what you mean by “return� We do know the Gooners wanted him to sign a new contract rather than him leave for free. He was entitled to negotiate the best best deal possible for himself and his family. Him negotiating a good contract doesn’t make him greed as portrayed by some media.
I don’t think it’s clear why he isn’t playing now! Maybe MA doesn’t fancy him as a player but just maybe, the club owners are angry about the comments he made about the treatment of Muslims in China and how those comments could effect their merchandise sales in that region.
09 Oct 2020 10:00:27
Sorry Tom, wires crossed here.
I was referring to Kiwi Pete comparing Ozil to Bogarde and saying Ozil has had little to no return.
Not his fault Arsenal offered him the big contract. He's languid and probably needs others to do some of his work for him. But there's no denying is goals and assist tally is impressive.
He may rub the wrong people up the wrong way, but what he's saying isn't untrue. All that doesn't take away him being a decent baller.
09 Oct 2020 13:17:18
Very true dihanio.