Özil is a flop but Soldado needs time…some journalists are nicking a living
Many Arsenal supporters hold the belief there is a media agenda against Arsenal and based on the opinions printed and espoused on radio and TV shows by the British media who can blame them?
I do believe that the “media” has an anti-Arsenal agenda but admit that “media” is a loose term for a few bitter hacks. It’s not the entire media. It’s probably not even 10% of the UK media but it feels like much more, especially when so much of what is said and written by these people is about Arsenal and not the other 91 professional clubs.
And it’s not just what they say about us, it is what they say about other clubs that flies in the face of what they say about Arsenal. Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail is a fine example of this.
There was righteous uproar when he recently claimed Mesut Özil is “nicking a living” and he, and his ilk, have been lambasting Arsenal for their league position for years. So the hypocrisy of his latest piece is bile-inducing.
In Neil’s latest piece (which you can read here if you fancy ruining your breakfast) he discusses the Tottenham “Levy Out” protests before the North London Derby. He claims, amongst others, that Soldado “needs time” and “it’s unrealistic to expect [him] to settle straight away” whilst pointing to the fact “[they had] never played a game in the Premier League”.
Well guess what, Neil? Neither had Mesut Özil. In his Mesut-bashing post he pointed to the number of touches Mesut had compared to Bayern players. Bayern had 67% possession, Arsenal had 33% so 21 touches isn’t actually that bad. The fact he compares him to Alcantara is quite laughable. Alcantara was on the pitch for 90 minutes so in terms of duration they had the ball for around 60 minutes which meant Alcantara touched the ball 66 times or once every 55 seconds across the entire match. Özil, who was on the pitch for 45 minutes during which time, depending on how you calculate it, Arsenal saw the ball for a total of 7 minutes 25 seconds or 14 minutes 50 seconds, touched the ball 21 times. This works out to either a touch every 21 or 42 seconds he was on the pitch. And he was carrying an injury.
Of course Özil saw less of the ball, the entire team did – so why was he compared to players on the other team who all played 40-45 minutes more than him? To make and enforce a point that served Ashton’s agenda.
“Ozil, the highest-paid player in the history of Arsenal, is nicking a living.”
Özil also needs time. He also had not played a Premier League game before this season and it is unrealistic to expect him to settle right away.
But the hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. Ashton also claimed in his Spurs article that based on salary spend they are consistently over-achieving. Their revenue also means they are over-achieving. So why was Arsenal’s 3rd placed finish with the then 5th highest wage bill considered an under-achievement? Why was Arsenal’s 4th placed finish with the 4th highest wage bill last season considered an under-achievement? Surely Arsenal has been hitting par or slightly below par in league position every season?
There is no consistency in what people like Ashton write so how can people not feel there is an agenda against their club. Criticisms being levied at Manchester United are slightly unfair because the manager is new and the club does need rebuilding but they haven’t lost any big players season after season for the past few years and the current team that is struggling in the Europa League spots won the league last season. It is fair to expect more of United as a little drop is expected when there is such a change.
What is strange is the level of criticism United get now is nothing like Arsenal have been getting for years despite United not having anywhere near the exceptional circumstances Arsenal have had to deal with.
The entire media doesn’t have an agenda against Arsenal but there are a few people who make it abundantly clear that they do. And those people, with their unabashed hypocrisy, sensationalist headlines, agenda-laced statistic manipulation and Mourinho-sycophancy are nicking a living.
Do what you have to do to keep your job (click baiting) but at least have the professional integrity to be consistent in your opinions.
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Read a rubbish paper then you read rubbish. The Sun is also a rag ,I remember the early morning edition saying Arsenal sign Ince many many years ago
I don’t read any newspaper these days. I do see a few articles from the newspapers floating around on Twitter etc. Neil Ashton actually used to be a pretty decent journalist, as was Martin Samuel. Shame.
he is a flop
And U R failed abortion
Please,when you write about journalists, you should write, not won an award since….. Tossers!
Great article
Its disgusting what they are saying about ozil, lets look at the facts
signed a couple of days before window closed = no preseason with arsenal and how the team works
as a player has always had a winter break, massive factor. Thing about ashton is that apart from being a complete dick head who I wish the worst on, he has given more flack to ozil than torres has received at Chelsea. £50 million , 103 appearances = 19 league goals. why hasn’t torres been singled out? why hasn’t rooney been singled out new contract 300,000 g a week, has become undroppable- mentality and attitude stinks.
Why doesn’t ashton do a piece on why England wont win the world cup? or is that too complicated for him. Its really easy, lack of winter break , over hyped players by the media etc.
Soldado has no excuse ,lamella anyone, david Bentley? The vast amounts spurs have spent but cant break into the top 4 ?
I’m sure he is a closet spurs fan, micheal owen is also a little asshole, he seems to have a issue with arsenal.
regarding levy? i’m pretty sure that’s dennis wise. dennis wise and levy look a like. maybe dennis rocks a wig? either way if he is levy or wise he is a pratt
In this day and age of click bait , the reason for these hacks posting crap again and again (not to mention the “pundits” on tv) is clear . Arsenal are the club with an wide fan base who are very active. Writing crap stories about Arsenal gives more clicks than crap about chelsea or ManU .
I doubt there is anyone with an IQ above 85(100 being average) who really agrees with Neil Fuckton .The problem is that people like sensational stories these days . ‘The most expensive player is the laziest , worst ,etc’ is better than this cheap buy has proven to be a very solid consistent player’ (Arteta ?)or this unknown player from an unknown club for a decent price has performed very well in a team performing better than it’s wage bill would suggest'(cazorla) …
TL;DR version : Don’t Feed The TROLLS . stop clicking Arsenal bashing articles . NEVER COMMENT on the posts . I repeat DON’T FEED THE TROLLS like sun , daily Fail , etc.
I understand the sensationalist headlines and the click baiting. I don’t agree with it but I accept the reasons for it. What I do not understand is the blatant and unabashed hypocrisy. The article calling for time for Soldado wasn’t about Arsenal so it technically wasn’t Arsenal bashing but it was written by the same man who quite recently criticised Arsenal and their players for the exact same thing he is defending Spurs for. I don’t get it. Do what you have to do to keep your job (click baiting) but at least have the professional integrity to be consistent in your opinions.
Part of this is bias, I’m sure, but there’s also an element of trying to find a story. For better or worse, we’re experiencing a bit of success, but we are after all one of the bigger clubs, and there’s probably more to be made from criticism or through salacious headlines than through calmer insights or plaudits. Most sources seems to be only after a headline and story in order to generate ad revenue and are willing to forgo consistency along the way.
Agreed but it’s the lack of professional integrity in printing two conflicting opinions. The hypocrisy of it is astounding. The same stick that he uses to bash Arsenal and employees of Arsenal with he is using to defend the honour of another club and its employees.
That was really very well written Daniel. I agree with the points you make even if I do consider myself a very level headed, see both sides of the argument person.
It’s long been the situation of hatred for our club. I recall back in the late 80’s and early 90’s it was the complete norm by nearly all news hacks, but back then, Journalists could get away with it a lot more as we were not in the position to dig them out as we didn’t have ALL the facts as they supposedly did. However, in this post today, you have proven that you have more knowledge than the man who has written this bile, by simply getting your facts straight and not going for the sensational.
Well done Daniel, keep up the good work.
Thanks buddy. How Özil can be considered a flop by the same man who is defending Soldado I will never understand.
Sky definitely has a agenda against arsenal and have done for many year the mess m u are in is not mentioned yet when arsenal slipped it sent crisis around screen or blog on every chance
Özil is not a flop he shows that from the beginning of the season. He just playing too much he need a rest to charge batteries.
Its most unfortunate. men like Owen, Hansen and the Redknapps of the this world get their kick out of Arsenal bashing. With them noting good is Arsenal. from the much over repeated 9 years without a trophy and still counting, to the ozil is a 42.5m flop, to sack Wenger now or arsenal will never win a trophy. The sensational headlines detailing the decline of arsenal as an European superpower has become a reoccurring story . When arsenal lose a game the smirking, snide comments and back patting I told you so is sickening. No mention of Liverpool whose record of trophies is not too different from arsenal, nor the fact that chelsea spent about a billion to nick the Epl after 50 years. I really don’t understand the Arsenal bashing. Even some Arsenal fans have been suckered in and brain washed by the negative press and have joined in the chorus of noting good is Arsenal. This negativity has caught on with our fans in Nigeria where i live. Our less discerning fans have joined the bandwagon of Arsene must go. But one thing is certain, no amount of biased criticism or unfair articles and headlines will rob us of our belief and pride in who we are and our place in the history of the Epl nor where we are going or what we want to be. We promise all our bashers one thing and that is that we won’t end this season trophy less and if want to rub their noses on it we will add the premier league title to our trophy chest this season. COYG.