You know it’s true. When it comes to sports, people rarely argue about petty things as long as the team is winning. For example, when was the last time you thought about Stan Kroenke? My guess is that it was before the start of the season. Or maybe the first few matches in. But the point is that his ownership, which has been such a lightning rod of criticism for so many years, is barely mentioned at the moment. And the reason for that is because arsenal are playing well. They are the perfect distraction.
I’m not saying no one is talking about Kroenke (I am!). There are always a small percentage of people who are weird. Seven percent of Americans believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows so I’m sure that someone, somewhere, is blogging, vlogging, or podding, about Stan Kroenke and god bless them for it. How else would Squarespace get their brand name out there?
The point is that if Arsenal weren’t playing as well as we are, this whole Ozil/Ramsey thing would be all that we could talk about. The Ozil side of the controversy is just more of the same from last year. He’s not playing, when he does play, he looks like he’s going through the motions, he doesn’t show “pashun” on the pitch, etc. etc.
But let’s be honest, the only reason this is a topic is because of his salary. If he was on 50k a week there would be no discussion. No one had a problem paying Tomas Rosicky his £4m annual salary for the last 3 seasons of his career where he played the equivalent of 47 matches. Because Rosicky wasn’t the highest paid player.
“That money could be going to…” is the refrain and I guess I see that but let me give you an alternative position: Arsenal have the money, if they want to buy another player they could easily afford it. Whatever Arsenal are paying Ozil in salary isn’t stopping the 6th most valuable team in world football, a team with annual revenue of 488m Euros (and rising annually), from buying players, or paying salary.
Now, obviously, Arsenal need to be fiscally prudent and not waste a bunch of money on bad players. But, and here again is the counter point, Arsenal have always wasted a bunch of money on bad players. If you want to talk about waste: I believe Arsenal are currently still paying Arsene Wenger for his final year.
If Ozil’s contract starts to hurt the team, then I got a problem. But this team looks pretty well constructed and they are playing well. There are some changes that the club could make: we need some fullbacks, need to swap a CB, and buy some more dribbly midfielders but the club have the money to do all that even with Ozil/Mkhitaryan on the books.
What’s going to happen with Ozil? Well, the club will either find a way to move him on, find a way to motivate him to play up to Emery’s level, or just drop him. What I really hope here is that the club find a way to solve this problem. Not because of salary or anything but because I don’t want Mesut Ozil to end his football career as a hate figure: lingering around the club like a bad cough. Both for him, and for me. Because I just don’t want to have to hear people complain about him for the next three years.
On the other side of all this we have Aaron Ramsey. Here we have a guy who is NOT making 300k a week and who is literally fighting for the club. In a lot of ways Ramsey is a similarly controversial figure to Ozil. Neither player is considered the complete footballer: Ozil is often described as a luxury player who “doesn’t fit in modern football where we don’t use a number 10 anymore”; and Ramsey is often called “Hollywood”. I will admit that both of these players frustrate me as a fan for the exact reasons listed above.
I know why Ozil’s been dropped: because he doesn’t put in the shift defensively. I said at the start of the season that his defensive work was substandard compared to other forwards on teams like Man City and Liverpool and that Emery would either get him to play defense or he’d drop him.
Ramsey had the opposite problem. Ramsey was deployed earlier in the season as the number 10 for his defensive work but the team struggled to create when he started. But as the season has gone on, Ramsey has grown in a more creative role, he’s gotten better, and his two assists against Spurs show a player who is gaining confidence in his creative ability.
We don’t know why the club pulled out of the Ramsey deal. Maybe they see him as a bench player, an impact player, or a bit part player, and he wants starring player money? Maybe he asked for live crocodiles in a personal dressing room? I do know that it’s a real shame Arsenal are going to lose him. He’s not perfect but he is a huge talent and he plays with his heart on his sleeve. Whichever team signs him this summer (rumors say Bayern Munich) is getting both a good player and a good man.
Anyway, what I’m hoping for on Wednesday is another big win. Do that and both of these “controversies” will be out of mind for a few more weeks. But even if they aren’t out of mind for you, I’m not going to worry about either of these things. Both players are under contract until (at least) the end of the year. If Arsenal can get Ozil to get on board with the Emery revolution, great. If not, they have time to figure out a solution. If Arsenal decide to offer Ramsey a new deal, great. If not, well, I guess I get to enjoy this as his last Arsenal season.
Either way you slice it, there isn’t anything we can do right now. Might as well just enjoy the ride.
Aw. It was nice to see Tomas’ name again.
Another name we already see anymore because they’re winning: Wenger.
I remember, literally, years (and years) of arguments on the old Arsenal America about how difficult he’d be to replace and we would really know suffering once he was gone.
2018: enjoying Arsenal more than I have in a decade. In the end, most of would rather just enjoy the football than argue about the stuff we need to distract ourselves from losing.
“Might as well just enjoy the ride.”
that describes ramsey’s demeanor to a t. he seems content to enjoy his football and seems to be playing with no pressure at all. i quite like him this way.
ramsey’s problem was created by arsenal when they gave him his last contract. they’ve overpaid him based on his form in 2014, thinking that was his level. now that he’s resorted to the mean, the club recognizes it but ramsey thinks he’s worth what he’s been paid and was due for a pay raise. if he leaves on a free, he’ll get his money but if he stays, he’ll be shortchanged. bottom line, arsenal can’t cut his wages like they tried to do with wilshere. i would offer him an extension for the money he’s currently on. we’ll see.
as for mesut, whenever he doesn’t want to travel or is dropped from the starting lineup, he always seems to have an injury and we’ve all caught onto this over the past year or so. i just think it’s all a shame because he’s missing out on the emery team-building process that appears to reach something of a zenith on sunday. someone mentioned that the camaraderie is better there and it started with lacazette welcoming aubameyang. what also happened, simultaneously, is alexis left and mkhitaryan came in; arsenal lost a divisive feature and added another welcoming component for lacazette. the point is mesut needs to become part of the process.
…err, a welcoming component for aubameyang, not lacazette.
“when was the last time you thought about Stan Kroenke? ”
In September, when the Ramsey contract talks broke down. I fear that Kroenke is trying to rebuild Arsenal on the cheap and I’m very worried when I look at what’s happening to Monaco.
How so? Monaco club income was just 144m Euros. Arsenal earn over 300m more per year. It’s a much less tenuous situation for the London club.
Let me give you the whole context. When the Russian owner bought Monaco, he started pouring money into the club. Then he divorced and decided to take money out of the club (see Football Leaks), basically seeing players as assets whose value had to be increased before a sale. Monaco won the French league title a year ago and now they are fighting relegation because they have sold most of their best players.
The comparison is flawed at best. Monaco was never going to be a powerhouse Megaclub, it was always meant as a transient club where they’ll refine the best french talent and sell them on. They can barely fill their tiny stadium. They’re nicely located and the players live tax free, that’s why it’s attractive. That business model was always the end goal. They went too fast too soon excarbated by the financial situation of their owner probably, but the squad turnover was always on the cards.
Arsenal and Monaco don’t have the same size as clubs, I agree. But Monaco are not coming out of nowhere. They won the French league title 8 times. Only Saint-Etienne and Marseille have done better. Today’s French powerhouses, PSG and Lyon, only have 7 each.
Disagree on the squad turnover. It was normal before the 2014-15 season. Then, when the wife of the Russian owner won a big divorce settlement, that squad turnover became crazy, robbing the team of its stability. That’s why they are fighting relegation just a year after having won the league. Even Borussia Dortmund or the Arsenal of 2007-12 didn’t have such a crazy squad turnover.
Last but not least, now that Kroenke owns all the shares, he can take money out of the club, just like the Russian owner does at Monaco (see Football Leaks).
“Whichever team signs him this summer (rumors say Bayern Munich) is getting both a good player and a good man”.
Great quote.
Think of the players we DIDN’T want to leave and fought to keep who behaved abominably towards the club. Van Persie, Nasri. Even Fabregas and Vieira, who are my favourite gunners of all time, did not endear themselves to the club by the manner of their departure. But the one we’re shoving out the door is behaving the model pro and with impeccable manners.
And we wonder why modern players dont play for the shirt anymore. It’s not the getting rid (club and player look after their own self interest, and that’s fine), it’s how they’re doing it.
I wanted to write my thoughts yesterday under your “all in” post, but I think they would fit here just as well.
I have to admit that right now I have a problem with the Arsenal management (I don’t mean ownership, unless by some miracle Stan Kroenke didn’t get involved in the managerial decisions all of a sudden). I cannot be sure on who to focus my dislike because I am not sure what exactly has happened, but for the moment I tend to blindly blame Raul Sanllehi. I am talking about the Ramsey situation.
I don’t mind if a player is dropped for footbalistical reasons. It is sad to see that happening with Özil simply because I know he is capable of being a marvelous footballer, but I would understand and support Emery’s decision to leave a player on the bench until the right time and the right form comes, or if this never happens, until he is sold.
I also don’t mind the club to hold its ground in contract negotiations. If a player wants 1 million per week, the club has to be able to say “Sorry, but no. ” We have seen that happening with Sanchez and I don’t that anyone can say that the club played the situation wrong.
But what has happened with Ramsey is something else. If Ramsey has asked for crazy conditions, the club could have just said “This is our offer, take it or leave it”. And then it would have been Ramsey the one to walk away from the negotiations. Even if we have initially offered too much, we could have just made a new, lower offer. But to pull out the offer altogether?! My simple mind sees only two explanations for this:
1. Sanllehi simply doesn’t like the player. Maybe he was against the offer in the first place and maybe it was entirely Ivan’s decision, but at the moment he got out of the triumvirate and emerged as a sole Emperor of Football, he pulled out of the deal. Childish. And stupid.
2. Ramsey’s agency have screwed up something really bad. They have done/said something so unacceptable that has ruined the whole deal. But even if so, it was Raul that has reacted like an offended child. “Give me back my toys, I am going home!”
Therefore I am not all in. I am all in for the players, I am all in for the coach, but I am not in support of the current management of the club, until somebody clarifies exactly what the hell has happened. Until then I can watch Ramsey, thank him for still being literally ready to fight for the Arsenal, and hope that this is all some sick negotiations game and it will all end in a deus-ex-machina style with a new contract being signed. It’s advent time, I can allow myself to dream a little, right?
Ramsey going to Bayern???? LOL!
Chamberlain, Theo, Jack, Giroud, Alexis the list goes on…. I am still waiting for that established player from Arsenal to move out of England.
Cesc? Viera?
Brady? (Yeah, I’m an old fart).
Not necessarily going to defend Kroenke, but on the other hand, the Rams now have the best record in the NFL. So maybe he is interested in driving clubs to success.
As far as Ramsey goes, there aren’t too many other British midfielders at his level. So that alone probably drives up his value to Arsenal or any other team in the PL. And he does seem committed to Arsenal, which is a big plus.
Hard to say with Ozil. I’ve defended him a lot. But it does come down to the salary and whether we are getting value for a salary that’s nearly double the next highest one on the team.
I’m not bothered at all by Ozil’s salary. Wasn’t being able to pay such salaries the point of the stadium move? Considering what some other players in the league get, I don’t think it’s exorbitant for someone of Ozil’s profile. Like I mentioned in the previous thread, a large component of his salary would be his image rights. (And maybe some tied in to appearance/performance bonuses) No other player at Arsenal has won the World cup and been at the level Ozil has been for many years. He deserves to get paid.
Now if he’s not playing much or not in form, that bothers me, but it’s separate from his salary.
The Ramsey situation really bugs me. The only way it can be the right decision to let him go is if we can get someone else better for cheaper, or the hyphenated boys (AMN and ESR) can become world beaters.
I’m not sure why I’m supposed to dislike Kroenke, and at this point I’m too afraid to ask.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/dec/04/manchester-city-may-face-champions-league-ban-uefa-ffp-investigation
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/12/03/manchester-city-could-face-champions-league-ban-next-season/
I didn’t think UEFA would have the cojones to actually do this. Will see if they follow through but appears that a 5th place trophy will be a prize this season.
Also, hopefully this potential sanction dissuades the likes of Frankie De Jong from signing for City come January. I really don’t want to see him terrorize PL midfields for the next decade unless he’s wearing the R&W of course 🙂
I’ll be physically ill for days if De Jong ends up there.
Yeah, teams can only start 11 players at a time, and there’s a great crop of young players all over world football we could recruit to complete a midfield unit led by Torreira – but that boy is something special.
If UEFA tap out and issue another pathetic fine then big European clubs need to band together and form a united legal front against City (and PSG), because they’ve been taking the piss for too long now.
I think the stark difference between Ozil and Ramsey is the professionalism on display recently. Ramsey has accepted that because of his contract situation he will be relegated to the bench which we’ve heard no grumbling from him about. But despite the risk to him financial were he to incur an injury, he still goes out there and busts a lung and gets stuck in. I wouldn’t say that one of his assists on Sunday was due to “creativity” – rather he bundled Foyth off the ball and got his head up, the assist was a reward for his commitment, not creativity.
Contrast that with Ozil – for years we’ve heard that he regularly would beg off training and Wenger would relent. Every time he’s in a run of bad form, even in the Wenger era, he would have a mysterious illness or injury. That he doesn’t even show up to the stadium on Sunday is really unacceptable.
I was OK with letting Ramsey go because in my humble opinion, Ozil and Ramsey occupy similar roles in the roster – offensive minded midfielders that you have to build your game plan around them because both have either tactical or defensive failings that can be exposed in the modern game. I just figured that Ozil was un-moveable. Are his wages a big problem? Not in the sense that we can’t afford them, but more in the sense of accountability – you want your highest paid players to be the most accountable because its the example that gets set for the first team and all the way down to the junior teams.
If Inter wants Ozil for next to nothing (which is probably what it would be since they’d need to inherit his wages) I’m OK with that. Emery wants an intense and emotional team, those are not two adjectives I would ever use to describe Mesut Ozil.
With regard to Ozil, I’m going to envision the following: He sees the new spirit and determination in the team; he feels a bit left out; he decides that maybe he COULD tackle with a bit more grit and determination; he tries it and finds that not only do his teammates rally around him, but the disruption they generate results in more balls popping loose in volatile situations (just like what happened so often against the Spuds); with more balls popping loose in volatile situations, he has more opportunity to serve up the caviar for his teammates and himself; we score a shedload of goals…
It could happen…
This exactly! It’s our best case scenario as a squad this season IMO.
I accept the point that the club can probably afford to keep Özil and sign Ramsey if both parties put a deal back on the table (looks highly unlikely but you never know).
My other concern over Özil’s salary opportunity cost. He’s not earning his keep at half those wages. He is not worth the money he’s being paid right now when other choices are available and waste is waste. Whether Arsenal can afford it or not or whether there is other identifiable waste – we are wasting our money in an obvious and visible way with Özil and it should stop. Opportunity cost: the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.
This is exactly right. Whether or not we can afford to pay Ozil, the question is whether or not that 350k could be better applied elsewhere. Like replacing Monreal with an Aaron Martin or Ben Chilwell, finding a more long term prospect to share RB with Bellerin and upgrading on Mustafi etc.
Jack, I don’t think Chilwell makes us a significantly better team if he comes at the expense of Ozil. I’m not even sure he starts over Kolasinac on current form. But if we’re talking about options at left back, I really like the look of Lucas Digne over at Everton and we would do well to sign a player like him, strong on both sides of the ball.
Ozil’s salary comes to about 15.6 million per season which would only really account for part of the transfer fee for an up and coming English lad like Chilwell. Everton paid more than that just in transfer fees for Digne. I would say that 15.6 million is better invested in Ozil than in a LB prospect.
I realize the 15.6 adds up to a lot over the next 4 years but if we are framing the conversation to ask the question of where does that money give us the most benefit this season, I think it’s difficult to argue that keeping a creative force like Ozil is a pretty nice investment at that price. That’s assuming he plays and is productive of course.
“Could that money be better applied elsewhere” is a false narrative. We can afford to pay that money plus any other money.
Yes but no. The question of whether or not you are deploying your resources in the most effective way is always relevant, it’s not a false narrative. There is always an opportunity cost, it’s one of those iron laws.
There is a hard limit on the number of places in the squad, and there is a hard budget constraint somewhere even if it’s arbitrary and even if you’re right that we are not up against that constraint yet. Ozil takes up budget and takes up a spot on the roster. It’s a fair question to ask if that’s the best use of resources.
If it were true that there was no opportunity cost then we would have an infinite number of infinitely expensive players and play them all in every game.
I’ve just seen the way this conversation went while I hadn’t refreshed and would like to back away slowly.
FWIW Ozil is a lovely player, probably a great one, and I love the fact he’s a Gooner. It’s all down to Emery and what his plans are. If Ozil is not a great fit for those plans then he becomes less valuable to us, and at some point his value to us might go below what he’s worth to another club, at which point we accept an offer.
But yeah, you can’t really talk about measurable waste when it comes to football players.
Ok, fine. Let’s get into the maths here.
To determine the opportunity cost of Mesut Ozil you must provide me with the actual return of the most lucrative option. Ok, so, you have to show me exactly which player Arsenal turned down to sign Ozil. If you can’t provide that player, with evidence that we turned him down to sign Ozil then the only actual option we had was: sign Ozil/not sign Ozil.
So, let’s look at the opportunity cost of that choice. Not signing Ozil = 0 return. Singing Ozil, current return = 9 points, 4th place, 5 goals, 20 key passes.
Seems like the opportunity cost formula is heavily in favor of signing Ozil. Thanks!
Never mind
God this is so wonky and unnecessary.
A player is worth more than what they do on the pitch. Ozil is valuable for image rights, for his work with Adidas, and also for what he adds to the team on the pitch (which is a not inconsequential 5 goals already this season, and a team leading 20 key passes). In real terms, Mesut Ozil won the match against Newcastle away (3 points), scored the only Arsenal goal against Watford (3 points), and somehow we have completely forgotten about how he absolutely eviscerated Leicester on October 22nd. We are barely 6 weeks away from that performance and once again we are talking about how much money we should be paying for this player. HE WON NINE POINTS ALREADY THIS SEASON. I don’t even know if we can demonstrably call it “waste”. If he sits out this month and then is available next month and wins us two or three more games and then sits out another month and comes back and wins us two more games, is that really waste? Sure, maybe he could have played more, maybe he could have helped us win more (we are winning without him), maybe not.
As for “using his money to do something else” first Arsenal are not poor. Arsenal have the money. If they want to buy a young player as a backup to Ozil they absolutely can afford to do that and they should be doing that regardless of whether Ozil is on the books. Second, you have to apportion whatever percentage of his salary that you deem is waste. Let’s say 50% is waste (that’s a ridiculous figure based on his return so far this season, but let’s just say). Ok, you have £8m in waste every season. So what? So he isn’t 100% fulfilling his contract. By that logic, Xhaka was a massive waste for the last two years, still is in my book. Mustafi has been an egregious waste. Lichtsteiner is a waste. Mkhitaryan is a waste. Iwobi was a waste for years. Bellerin was a waste. In fact, most of these players have been various levels of waste for so many years because none of them have lived up to the expectations. They haven’t fulfilled my expectations 100%.
And that’s it. That’s really all that you are arguing. That Ozil hasn’t filled your expectations this season. Cool story bro. But it doesn’t mean that Arsenal are objectively wasting his salary that could be objectively spent on something new that will objectively be as good or better and that Arsenal are objectively unable to spend the money because of his salary. All of those things that you are assuming are simply opinions that you have and expectations that you have. Which you are free to have. But don’t come in here talking about “identifiable waste” when the dude has OBJECTIVELY WON THE TEAM THREE MATCHES THIS SEASON. We would not be in 4th place right now if not for Ozil’s actual goals. And his imagined waste? Hasn’t cost Arsenal even a single point.
Dang Tim.
Great commentary on that topic.
Not that I’d ‘want to have your baby’? 😉
But would like rights to reproduce this comment elsewhere on occasion?
jw1
It’s definitely too early to conclude that Ozil has been a waste or that Ramsey should’ve been signed instead. Sure, if the season were to end today, that might be logical. Fortunately for us, it doesn’t end today. I’ve long said that it’s not a case of either/or, particularly with a manager who has proven himself as tactically flexible as Unai. We don’t know the full truth of the Ozil situation. Even if we presume his injury was falsified or exaggerated and accept that the facts as they stad suggest that he is not part of Emery’s plans AT THE MOMENT, all of that could change. Contrary to the old adage, old dogs can learn new tricks. Ozil can and does step up in a big way for big games defensively, but he cannot be consistent with that and Emery has made it clear that is not good enough for him. To that I say: Splendid! Ozil has a choice, and the choice is clear: get on board fully or get off the bus, salary, marketing and status be damned. I love that. BUT, we have not definitively seen Ozil make that choice either by utterance or by performance. He may come back with vengeance to prove his doubters wrong. I recognize he is probably more likely to remain inconsistent and fade to the periphery given what we know about him. But that choice is yet before him and we as a jury must abstain from premature judgment.
The converse is true for Ramsey. Yes, he has a bunch of assists now. Any idea how much his two passes vs. Tottenham contributed to the chances of a goal being scroed in either case? Both shots were from well outside the box. Ramsey finished 5th on the team in that game for xAssists with 0.10, meaning that the shots on the end of his passes outperformed expectations by 1.9 goals. And I’m not saying this to rain on Ramsey’s parade but the narrative of Ramsey > Ozil based on that game is simply too shallow and too instamatic. Ozil has always been the superior creative player and that hasn’t changed. Ramsey has always been the more complete player and that hasn’t changed either. Which one you value higher depends at the end of the day on what you care about. My take is we will need both players for this to be a successful season.
Agree with Doc that it’s not either/or, and on Emery’s preference at the moment. We need both skillsets. Ozil is Arsenal’s best technical craftsman and creator, Ramsey its best all-round midfielder in an attacking and defensive sense. It’s a squad game. I find the either/or talk to be perplexing. I fear that the Ramsey decision is irreversible at this stage, but for Mesut, he needs to decide whether he’s happy being part of the new collective, because the coach isn’t prepared to give him special treatment. The size of his wages is really not Emery’s problem. Stay/go is down to Mesut, and I hope he stays. He’s a magical footballer on his day.
Couldn’t disagree more with Doc last paragraph. We shouldn’t discount a guy’s performance to make a point. I’m not into xG and all that jazz. I used to report sport, believe I have fairly decent powers of analysis, and understand the game. Therefore I apply an eye test, not a stats test. Here’s what I saw…
On the equaliser (what a hit), Bellerin hit one of the passes of the game — a defence splitting pass — and Ramsey made one of the runs of the game, between 2 defenders. Having made that superb in/out run, he made a first-time touch-off to Aubameyang. Bang. Goal.
Yeah, the pass contributed all right.
On the go-ahead goal, he pressed Foyth, won the ball, fed it instantly to Laca.
Yeah, the pass contributed all right.
In both instances, it was the quick offloading of the ball. I saw the hand of Emery there. Quick pass. Offload, don’t dwell. Get it to the forwards or the runner right away. We were doing it all 2nd half. Three players, 3 touches on the equaliser. And something else this game confirmed…. Ramsey and Auba can find each other in the dark. They’re the league’s joint leading assister/scorer combination with 3. The Fulham game provided the best example of their chemistry.
Very astute analysis.
What Emery’s done is implemented an attacking system based on width, directness, hard running and crucially, positioning (he specifically complemented our positioning in his post-NLD comments). It’s designed so that players who lack the God-given creative talents of Ozil can be just as effective. Ramsey has benefited enormously.
But Mesut has played 10 of 14 league games and his goals have been a crucial part of the unbeaten run. He’s an intelligent player so he’ll adapt to the new dynamic and make us even stronger.
I still think the club made the right call on both contracts because Ramsey’s industry can be replaced, but Ozil’s genius is a much rarer commodity.
That’s a fair point, losing Ramsey and keeping Ozil. Fair point.
To add to what was said about tactics, did you notice that Ramsey’s run for Auba’s goal also took 2 defenders out of the game? So if Ramsey passes it it first time (he did) and Auba hits it first time (he did), there’s no time to get their defensive shape back.
Second half, Emery’s Arsenal played something resembling vintage Wengerball — one touch football. When Ozil and Laca bamboozled Leicester for Auba’s tap in, it was the same speed of ball circulation. It left a good defender like Maguire chasing phantoms. Some games (halves! this is Emery we’re talking about) will call for Ozil’s surgical scalpel; others for directness.
There was very definitely a plan to zip the ball around after the break. In the first half, Iwobi had license to ferry, driving forward. The coach tore up that script and went one-touch, which suited Ramsey and Laca.
After we played them off the park for the opening half hour, they adjusted to limit raids by Kolasinac, having already given Bellerin on the right no room to run. So Emery adjusted, with our most incisive runs coming through the middle (Ramsey).
It was a good game of football chess, and Emery was too clever for Poch. Plus we’re better than the scum.
Discounting the performance was not my intent. Putting the two assists into context, which have been getting a lot of reps, was. Ramsey made a terrific play on both counts to give the strikers a chance but there was a lot that still had to go right after that in both instances. It’s hard to claim Ramsey as one of the most creative players in the league on the basis of his assist totals isn’t a reach. There’s a lot of randomness in what ends up as an assist or not and it’s a rare event so that randomness is very meaningful. Which is why I prefer key passes or xA as metrics. They give you a better sense for the creative impact of a player. Our xA leader per 90 is Sead Kolasinac and our total xA leader is Hector Bellerin, and it’s not particularly close. (source: https://understat.com/league/EPL/2018)
No one claimed that Ramsey is one of the most creative players in the league (he’s not).
What we’re saying is that he’s joint assist leader in the league, which is not the same thing. That’s a significant contribution. And interestingly, last year he was 2nd both in assisting and scoring. So creating chances for others is something he’s got in his locker.
If you start asterisking assists with a “randomness” metric, where do you stop? And do you wind back tape and apply it to everyone? xG is an illuminating stat, but we dont need it to tell us what we can see with our own eyes about a player’s impact. The key, as I said and that Kaius picked up on, was quick ball circulation, which he executed brilliantly.
Trying not to pick a nit– but I’ve got to agree with Doc on xA and xG versus your ‘own eyes’ perspective. Where I’m fine with expressing what I’ve seen– and confidently (I’m more with you than not on this)? In a fashion of comparative analysis with other players/clubs those are useful metrics (dilution not required). Can’t watch ’em all!
jw1
Oh and Ozil IS a better creator than Ramsey. Far better. It’s not even close, actually. Totally agree.
But that makes his sub-par contributions so far this season — having had significantly more minutes than the Welshman — all the more glaring. He simply hasn’t done enough, consistently enough given his considerable talents, so far this season. He’s being out-created by a guy a playing less, and who’s nowhere close to him as a creator.
This is turning into a kind of annus horribilis for Mesut, and I hope he responds. I’d actually like to see him play against United.
If Ozil plays tomorrow and orchestrates a beat down of the Mancs as a midfield maestro then he will have be back on the road to providing some value for his wages.
If we see him tomorrow, it is up to Emery of course and we have no choice but to trust his judgement. Counting the hours to what I hope is another scintillating outing and 3 points against Mourinho’s pouting and sulking. Coyg.
Doc and Claude are right – we need both Ramsey and Ozil. We will have different kinds of games and opponents. When teams park the bus, we need Ozil’s creativity to help us pick the lock. And when there’s a more physical, pressing match we need Ramsey’s energy and smart runs. We will have injuries, players will have bad days and we will change tactics mid-game. Great teams have options. We all have to stop with the “First XI mentality”. This coach will use any player in any match where and how he believes it’s helpful. Would we want to get more from Ozil’s salary? Absolutely. Would we like Ramsey to stay? Of course. But unless January sees enormous activity, this is the team we have. And we can win with this team. We can make Top 4 – maybe even win EL or a Cup. Let the maestro conduct his orchestra how he sees fit. Emery has earned that right at this point. Hopefully everyone will get on board as Ramsey has, and give everything when called upon.
So, the thing about not really seeing anything anti Stan online…
You said several months ago that you don’t read any Arsenal blogs (you worked for one btw). Is this coming from your twitter feed? Stan’s name is looming all the time and Aaron’s renewal re. Stan’s new policy was mentioned on the Arsecast last week.
You love attention grabbers.