You heard it here first – I’m going on loan to Barcelona for the next little while. I’ve done a deal with the city whereby I’ll drink their beer, eat their food, swim in their sea and walk around the place soaking up actual sunshine until it’s time to return home. Negotiations were tough, but I managed to find the right deal.
This morning, we can start with some stuff from Mesut Ozil who spoke about last season being the most difficult one of his career so far. Returning from the World Cup with a winners hangover, he struggled for form before succumbing to a knee injury that kept him out for three months.
He says the reception he got from the Arsenal fans helped:
My best moment was the first game back after my injury against Stoke City. The fans cheered a lot when I was brought on. That was a brilliant feeling and helped me a lot. From then on I understood: no matter what happened, the club and the fans are always with me.
And like so many of the players in the wake of the FA Cup win, has set his sights higher for next season:
We had bad luck with injuries this season, but next season we can win the Premier League and go further in the Champions League.
You can argue if it was bad luck or not, but they did have an impact. And from the top of my head that’s Ozil, Alexis, Cazorla, Ramsey, Mertesacker and Wilshere who have talked about wanting more from the next campaign, it feels like the squad has been imbued with a positive mentality that hasn’t always been there. We’ve often spoken about doing better, achieving more etc, but now it feels like there’s genuine conviction behind it – as there should be after winning a trophy for the second successive season.
It baffles me that there are still people who remain unconvinced by Mesut Ozil. To have such a graceful, intelligent footballer in our team is fantastic. He’s a joy to watch, his movement, the body shapes, the quality of his passing – and I think what’s interesting about the second half of this season is how much the other players have got used to playing with him.
They know more what to expect, where the pass we don’t see might go, how he will look to use the ball etc, because he does things that other players don’t. If you’re assuming he’s going to do something straightforward, then it’s easy for wires to be crossed. I think part of what made our midfield so effective since January/February was the fact that Ozil, Cazorla, Ramsey and Alexis were all on the same wavelength, and Coquelin, sitting deeper, provided them the platform to do their stuff.
I’m excited to see what he’s going to do next year. If we can get a full season from him and Alexis (more or less given the Copa America and the latter’s probable late return), I think we’re going to see more than we did last time around, and that’s definitely something to look forward to.
Meanwhile, something to ponder – what if instead of buying a new goalkeeper, we did something like this: Bring in Jens Lehmann as goalkeeping coach to work with Szczesny and keep Ospina as a decent number 2. In the poll the other day on Arseblog News, it ended up with 81% (give or take), saying bring in Cech ahead of either of our current keepers.
So here’s another poll, which you can answer below:
I’d love to see Lehmann back at the club. I mentioned the winning mentality above, but his desire to win at all costs might bring it to another dimension altogether. Having improved the fitness regime behind the scenes last summer, it’d be interesting if the manager addressed an area of the coaching staff over which there have been worries in recent seasons.
And can you think of anyone better than Jens Lehmann to do the job? He’s done all his badges, he knows the club, and he would demand the absolute best from whoever it was under his tutelage. Plus I think Lehmann + Szczesny is the perfect mix of talent and potential, as well as that little sprinkle of mental that the goalkeeping position needs. Maybe that’s just me though.
Finally for today, if you haven’t seen it already, the video of Arsenal fans around the world enjoying the FA Cup win can be found here.
Right, gonna leave it there for now. I’m off for a little while, a break to recharge the batteries and get ready for the new season which will be upon us sooner rather than later. I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Arseblog Tom who’s got the enviable task of finding stuff to write about until I get back. Good luck, Tom! Andrew Allen will also be keeping things going over on Arseblog News – so make sure you keep checking in for all the latest, including the exclusive announcement of Abou Diaby’s new 7 year deal.
Thanks to all of you for reading/interacting over the course of this season. I’m now looking forward to waking up every morning and reading Arseblog, then having a deliciously cold Estrella for breakfast.
¡Hasta pronto!
