I agree with all of that and top players should perform to a high level in all games, not just the big matches. You missed my point though. What about the top players from other top teams? Should we assume that they shouldn't be match winners because Arsenal's top players should be? Ozil cost Arsenal about £42m but Di Maria cost Man Utd £65m. Which one of them will be the match winner in the cup? If it is Ozil does that mean that Di Maria is no good because he can't do it in big games? No it doesn't, it just means that another top player had a better day. I think you are wrong to judge players on how they do in big games because on average they will always do worse than in the other games because they are up against better players. Taking some of the players you mentioned, none of them have always performed in the big games. they have done well in some and poorly in others. Messi is not so good for Argentina, at least not like he is for Barcelona. Bale failed to get Spurs in the CL positions and often failed against the bigger teams in the PL (much as I love him now!). Manchester City have not performed well in the big games this season including losing to Arsenal twice and drawing once. What does that say about their world stars. Henry was often on the losing side in big games as well as being great in some. His Champions League final against Barcelona was a disappointment missing two great chances. Henry did not build his career and reputation on that game or even a collection of big games. Every game in the league is worth 3 points for a win and no more. Finals and semi finals are really big games where points do not matter just winning. I can tell you that Mesut Ozil has a terrific record in those games for clubs and country including FA Cups, Copa del Rey, World Cups. If you have a vision of him or Sanchez winning the big games for you though you are going to be disappointed as often as happy.
Who has covered more miles since February 1st, when Ozil started to play again - Alexis Sanchez of Mesut Ozil ? Looks like a no brainer, isn't it? But wait a minute Mesut Ozil ran ALMOST TWICE AS MUCH as Alexis Sanchez. Actually our lazy Ozil covered more miles than any other Arsenal player since he came back from injury. http://www.footballtransfertavern.c...ransferTavern (The Transfer Tavern Home Page)
Does anyone actually think he's lazy though apart from the media? So they're just dispelling their own created myth...
We have the worst record against the bigger sides than any other of the big 5. That is definitely cause for concern. Obviously you're not going to win every big game, but there have been countless occasions where we didn't even look in the same league as some of these sides. And in any case, that's no excuse for being hammered 8-2, 6-0, 6-3 and 5-1. Absolutely none at all. But the point is that we always seem to come up short against the bigger sides and it is a recurring theme. In each game, we see the same problems and nothing is done to rectify them. I just don't get how this is so difficult for you to accept. Again - with us, it seems to be more of the latter than the former. 1. Bale single-handedly had to get Spurs out of jail with regular wonder strikes and they ended up accumulating their highest ever points tally in Premier League history. You can't put that sole responsibility down to him, especially as he was surrounded by players that were evidently not as good as him. 2. Manchester City have beaten Manchester United, Liverpool, drew with the current league leaders both home and away (one of which they were down to 10 men for 20 minutes) and hammered Spurs. They may not have a impeccable record, but that is still pretty respectable. By the same token - we beat Spurs three times last season and couldn't put them away once this season. It's a circular argument, but City have performed better in these 'bigger games' than we have.
How comes Bale is not responsible for the failures of Spurs to win anything and constantly fail in big games whilst Mesut Ozil has to win us big games or he is not any good? Is that not double standards? There is a lot in your post that points to the team overall, not individual players, which I agree with. But singling out Ozil and deciding whether he is good or not based on how many big games Arsenal win is not fair at all for the reasons I said. I have always found the 'has to perform in big games' argument to be nonsense. It is often used by opposing fans to take pot shots at players like they did with Henry and Fabregas when the truth is they performed really well in some and not others, like every top player. Ozil performed well in the Cup final and also on the road the cup final. He also performed very well in champions league games both this season and last season for Arsenal. he also performed very well against Manchester City in the 2-2 draw. He did not do well in the loss to Chelsea or the loss to Monaco and in some other games Arsenal lost like the loss to Spurs he was one of Arsenals best players. So a few good and a few not so good. I am going to leave my argument there though as it has been done I think, but just think it wrong that I hear a lot of Arsenal fans behaving like opposing fans by constantly looking for reasons why Ozil is not very good as opposed to enjoying the benefits he brings to a team as a player.
When did I say Ozil was responsible for the failures of Arsenal and that he isn't any good? Please, show me where I have claimed this. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is we did buy Ozil and spent that much money on him - smashing our transfer record by £30 million fricking pounds - to get him to raise our performance levels and make us more competitive. Obviously he himself is only one man and can't do it all himself, but he has to accept that there will be responsibility on his shoulders to perform when we need him to and to provide a moment of quality. Wenger chopping and changing his position obviously hasn't helped, as well as trying to shoehorn both Cazorla and Ozil in the side which I find a bit silly, but at times he hasn't helped himself either. What I will say is that he has looked good generally since coming back from injury. But he still has moments where he has lapses in concentration and can lose the ball a bit cheaply. Still think he needs to make more of a mark in the bigger games, though. Let's see how he does in this run-in till the end of the season.
I think he is on good form at the moment , yes, so hopefully Arsenal will beat Manchester United and Mesut will create the goals!
