Knowing our luck Ozil will sign a contract

I wouldn't blame him if he just kept walking

Top of the league to nine points adrift in eight days. Only Arsenal could do that. And they did. Two defeats, both having taken an early lead and been in a position to go on and put the game away. There was no spirit, no fight, no bottle, no desire - all with the notable exceptions of (for me) Alexis, Coquelin and Gabriel. There was one point in the second half yesterday where Alexis ran from one defender, to another, to another in order to close down high up the pitch. When the ball got shifted on to a fourth defender Ozil was stood no more than fifteen yards away, and there he stayed. Sanchez threw his arms up in frustration and disgust. Ozil then had the temerity to start waving his arms at everyone else behind him. 

I don't care how good Mesut Ozil is at football. He is lazy, cowardly, disinterested, frightened and refusing of responsibility. He makes Arshavin look like someone who gave 100% every week. I hope now more people are coming round to seeing the problem with Ozil as they have with Arsene Wenger. It is easy to realise, with the benefit of a few years hindsight, why Real Madrid didn't mind seeing the back of him. He currently has his agent getting Arsenal to bid for him to sign a new contract. I don't want to see him sign a new contract. I want to see him shown the door for as much money as we can rob from Paris St Germain (no German side would touch him) and get him out of the door as soon as possible. Maybe PSG might take him and Wenger as a job-lot.

Alexis was pictured towards the end yesterday crouching and looking beaten down. I don't think you needed to be a master of body-language to see what he felt. I don't know how any professional footballer possessing of just a little personal pride could watch that guy work his backside off all alone yesterday, yet not feel they should be doing the same. It was only when Coquelin would step forward doing likewise that he got any support. Walcott, Iwobi, Xhaka, Bellerin, Monreal, Ozil - where were they? If you were Alexis Sanchez and Real Madrid or Bayern Munich (or Manchester City or Chelsea) came in for you offering the big bucks, would you stay at Arsenal? He isn't a fan, he has no reason to be "loyal" when he sees his mates failing to back up his efforts against a team we are supposed to be rivalling for the Title this season. I wouldn't blame him at all if he left Arsenal.

Our players reaction to the Manchester City equaliser summed up their lack of passion. The goal was offside, simple as that. If Monreal was offside (which he was) for Iwobi's disallowed goal just before half-time then so was Sane for City's first. Yet there was no reaction from the Arsenal players. There was no proper offside appeal. And then when the goal was given there was not one outraged reaction towards the officials. Adams, Keown, Bould, Dixon and Winterburn would have first of all got the decision anyway because the linesman would have known from their arms being up that the guy was offside - make the decision for him as he clearly isn't capable of making it himself. And if by some unfortunate miracle he hadn't put his flag up then their reaction towards him and the referee would have made damn sure he put it up every time the opposition went forward from then on - not least for the second goal where the linesman could have no idea whether De Bruyne was in Cech's eyeline or not. And there's another thing, what was Monreal doing there? My eldest son is 11 and I hammer him for letting people in like that and not making a challenge, yet Monreal is an international full-back, apparently showing a dangerous striker on to the inside in the penalty area! Then Cech was beaten at his near-post having spent the whole game seemingly kicking for touch like a rugby fly-half.

At 1-1 Wenger and Bould just sat there. City were coming forward totally unchecked, just like Man Utd did until they scored at Old Trafford against us. It was as clear as day to anyone watching the game that change was needed. Giroud had to come on for Ozil to give us an outlet up front. Fine, change Iwobi for Oxlade-Chamberlain, but maybe Ox would have been better in place of Xhaka (albeit he went off injured just like at Sheffield Wednesday last year within minutes of coming on - if he didn't warm up properly again then he should also be heading towards the exit door). Then, when Ox went off at 2-1 down, with Lucas Perez on the bench, Wenger brought on the latter day Ray Wilkins in the shape of Elneny. Tactical genius to bring on a defensive midfielder when you're losing. And still we played with just one up front. Still, with Ozil playing the invisible man role we didn't exactly have 11 on the pitch anyway.

I suppose it sounds like I'm picking on Ozil and blaming him for yesterday. I'm not. I totally blame Wenger for it all. However, I expect a "star" player with the ability he has to take this kind of game and win it for us. Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, even Overmars or Vieira used to do just that. Even if Bergkamp was having a bad game you didn't really feel that he was hiding, and he certainly never came across as being scared on a football pitch. Ozil needs the Keown treatment in training that Henry got when he first arrived in order to toughen him up. It's too late for that now. It's also too late for our league season which has come to an abrupt end before we even reach Christmas. 

We shouldn't be that surprised by what has happened at Everton and Man City. First of all it's been happening to Wenger's bottlers for the last ten years. I hated it when the likes of Shearer and Neville banged on about our lack of "leaders" and how we were "flat track bullies". I hate it even more that they are right. Even the unbeaten run this season was pock-marked with awful results like the 0-0 at home to Middlesbrough in a game we should have lost, or lucky last minute goals to beat Burnley and Southampton. Like I say, why should anyone be surprised? With maybe four or five exceptions Arsenal's performances this season have been woeful. It's going to be this way for a long time to come. Even when Wenger finally goes it will take a new manager (and the next one won't get long enough to make the difference) years to clear out the awful mentality that pervades our pampered superstars. If only they all had grown up in a village in Chile where they had nothing - then maybe they'd understand why Alexis Sanchez and his effort is so well appreciated by the supporters. And yet there are still idiots out there singing about Mesut Ozil instead.