Well, unless you don't think there is a major problem, you sit back and support the team as normal. But a lot has been made of the perceived under-performing of Arsenal's record buy, as Mesut Ozil has been singled out in the press and the stands for, as some put it, stealing a living.
It is clear that this superstar of a player has not, as yet, found his feet in the Premier League or indeed at Arsenal itself. Although it is fairly understandable, considering the transitional process required after moving to the Premier League, good progress being interrupted by untimely and lengthy injuries and returning from a victorious World Cup.
To say Ozil has not found his sharpness this season is an understatement. I'll go with his critics (who can't wait to get on his back, by the way) on that one. But why is he being personally targeted? Aaron Ramsey, for example, who became the darling of every Arsenal supporter after becoming the one who ended the long wait for a trophy at the climax of a major breakthrough year, had no World Cup, a full pre-season programme, and has started the new campaign as sluggishly as the rest of his teammates.
Let's be honest, Arsenal have not played well in one game this season. If you discard the albeit impressive Community Shield success as pointless and pressure-less, the only game we have really turned up to was last Saturday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City, although we agonisingly switched for the last 5 minutes, gifting our rivals a point, and dropping two ourselves. All from one set-piece - pathetic.
And despite this, we have only lost once this year. Quite incredible to think that Dortmund's demolition of us - which could have been so much more than 2-0 - was our first loss of an unconvincing campaign thus far - and the main reason for that, apart from the 11+ individual below-par performances on Tuesday night, was down to Arsene Wenger's failure to buy enough players of a good enough quality - and they must be out there. They must be.
So who does the attention turn to? With a team that has only seen the newbies turn up (and two of them have already spent time on the treatment table), the criticism and frustration has been absorbed and collected by some fans - the kind of fans who just feel like there must be someone to blame, someone to justify their anger to vent abuse towards to get it out their systems. And it all ends up, quite sadly, at the feet at Mesut Ozil.
I mean, why the hell was Mathieu Flamini barely mentioned in the aftermath of Saturday's draw? I'll tell you why; because he's not worth criticising. But Ozil? I'm certain that any performance of little influence from our record signing leaves pundits licking their lips and journalists rubbing their hands with glee.
Especially at The f*cking Mail. Especially.
And from fans who were crying out for Arsene to spend in order to compete with the likes of Chelsea and City (who we simply can't do based on money alone), it is rather rich and incredibly ignorant to complain that our £42m man is not good enough without looking at the bigger picture.
Mesut Ozil is one of the best players in the world. And he plays for Arsenal. I still can't believe it, a year on. He has just won the bloody World Cup. He has the trust of arguably the most important man at Arsenal in the manager. Why are the supporters, or even the neutrals, so oblivious to the fact that we have an absolute superstar at the club and it's the entire team that are playing so, so average at the moment.
Players aren't machines. They don't play exactly how you want them to like they do on FIFA. I will still admit that Ozil isn't hitting the heights of his "honeymoon" period before Christmas, but there are many possible explanations for his dip in form - something that all players go through. One that has been much-publicised recently has been Wenger's odd insistence not to play him in his best position.
Playing CAM is a million - or should I say, a "gillion" miles away from left-wing, or anywhere else. Tracking back is a massive part of the game of latest marquee signing, Alexis Sanchez, and his work-rate gets him plaudits even when Arsenal are nowhere near their best.
Ozil doesn't compare to that level of defending - he's just not that type of player. Of course, you expect your winger to help out, but - newsflash - he isn't one. Add to that, the left-back he often has to cover is Nacho Monreal, it's no wonder that City were so effective down that flank last week. You have to play your best player where he is most effective.
That said, Wenger doesn't strike me as the kind to bow to public pressure and play him in the number 10 role - at least straight away - so I do expect him to be shifted to the wing tomorrow once again, to the dismay of all Arsenal supporters.
Now, Theo Walcott is a winger (whether he likes it or not). He also doesn't have a history of tracking back - all his best efforts are spent attacking and it should stay that way - especially if you think tracking back was the last thing he did in an Arsenal shirt to date.
And funnily enough, something that had only occurred to me fairly recently is the effect of the as-yet short-lived partnership between Walcott and Ozil. In fact, I read an incredible stat that claims Mesut and Theo produce a goal every 36 minutes when they're on the pitch together. That may go some way to suggesting the true effect of Walcott's injury. Within a month of crocking his ACL, Arsenal were being thumped at Anfield and Ozil was being widely slated for the first time since his move from Madrid.
Considering what has gone on since then, I'm starting to wonder whether this might not be a coincidence.
Whatever is behind Ozil's "slump" in form, there is no denying the presence of talent and class in this player. And in any team in the world, players that are out of form don't get in the team. A spell on the bench was even suggested after Tuesday's sorry team display in Germany. But I would doubt that, given Wenger's enormous faith in the player, which is perfectly reasonable.
I hesitate to bring it up, as it still brings me a bit of pain, but his penalty miss against Bayern Munich in February showed just how fragile his confidence is. This is obviously great for critics, as it makes him an even easier target. But given what we know he can do, I would back him all the way to rise above it. One good game, and they'll lay off.
And if you remember all the players to bear the brunt of criticism in their early Arsenal careers - it happened with Bergkamp, it happened with Henry, it happened with Pires - should we be worried? Of course not. We have another world-beater on our hands, and it's only a matter of time before he shows it.
And speaking of Bobby - someone I have compared Ozil to in the past - whose arguably greatest Arsenal moment came at Villa Park, wouldn't it be sweet if Ozil did something just as heroic to get Arsenal's season back on track and silence his critics in the process?
Go get 'em, Mesut.
Come On You Reds!
It is clear that this superstar of a player has not, as yet, found his feet in the Premier League or indeed at Arsenal itself. Although it is fairly understandable, considering the transitional process required after moving to the Premier League, good progress being interrupted by untimely and lengthy injuries and returning from a victorious World Cup.
To say Ozil has not found his sharpness this season is an understatement. I'll go with his critics (who can't wait to get on his back, by the way) on that one. But why is he being personally targeted? Aaron Ramsey, for example, who became the darling of every Arsenal supporter after becoming the one who ended the long wait for a trophy at the climax of a major breakthrough year, had no World Cup, a full pre-season programme, and has started the new campaign as sluggishly as the rest of his teammates.
Let's be honest, Arsenal have not played well in one game this season. If you discard the albeit impressive Community Shield success as pointless and pressure-less, the only game we have really turned up to was last Saturday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City, although we agonisingly switched for the last 5 minutes, gifting our rivals a point, and dropping two ourselves. All from one set-piece - pathetic.
And despite this, we have only lost once this year. Quite incredible to think that Dortmund's demolition of us - which could have been so much more than 2-0 - was our first loss of an unconvincing campaign thus far - and the main reason for that, apart from the 11+ individual below-par performances on Tuesday night, was down to Arsene Wenger's failure to buy enough players of a good enough quality - and they must be out there. They must be.
So who does the attention turn to? With a team that has only seen the newbies turn up (and two of them have already spent time on the treatment table), the criticism and frustration has been absorbed and collected by some fans - the kind of fans who just feel like there must be someone to blame, someone to justify their anger to vent abuse towards to get it out their systems. And it all ends up, quite sadly, at the feet at Mesut Ozil.
I mean, why the hell was Mathieu Flamini barely mentioned in the aftermath of Saturday's draw? I'll tell you why; because he's not worth criticising. But Ozil? I'm certain that any performance of little influence from our record signing leaves pundits licking their lips and journalists rubbing their hands with glee.
Especially at The f*cking Mail. Especially.
And from fans who were crying out for Arsene to spend in order to compete with the likes of Chelsea and City (who we simply can't do based on money alone), it is rather rich and incredibly ignorant to complain that our £42m man is not good enough without looking at the bigger picture.
Mesut Ozil is one of the best players in the world. And he plays for Arsenal. I still can't believe it, a year on. He has just won the bloody World Cup. He has the trust of arguably the most important man at Arsenal in the manager. Why are the supporters, or even the neutrals, so oblivious to the fact that we have an absolute superstar at the club and it's the entire team that are playing so, so average at the moment.
Players aren't machines. They don't play exactly how you want them to like they do on FIFA. I will still admit that Ozil isn't hitting the heights of his "honeymoon" period before Christmas, but there are many possible explanations for his dip in form - something that all players go through. One that has been much-publicised recently has been Wenger's odd insistence not to play him in his best position.
Playing CAM is a million - or should I say, a "gillion" miles away from left-wing, or anywhere else. Tracking back is a massive part of the game of latest marquee signing, Alexis Sanchez, and his work-rate gets him plaudits even when Arsenal are nowhere near their best.
Ozil doesn't compare to that level of defending - he's just not that type of player. Of course, you expect your winger to help out, but - newsflash - he isn't one. Add to that, the left-back he often has to cover is Nacho Monreal, it's no wonder that City were so effective down that flank last week. You have to play your best player where he is most effective.
That said, Wenger doesn't strike me as the kind to bow to public pressure and play him in the number 10 role - at least straight away - so I do expect him to be shifted to the wing tomorrow once again, to the dismay of all Arsenal supporters.
Now, Theo Walcott is a winger (whether he likes it or not). He also doesn't have a history of tracking back - all his best efforts are spent attacking and it should stay that way - especially if you think tracking back was the last thing he did in an Arsenal shirt to date.
And funnily enough, something that had only occurred to me fairly recently is the effect of the as-yet short-lived partnership between Walcott and Ozil. In fact, I read an incredible stat that claims Mesut and Theo produce a goal every 36 minutes when they're on the pitch together. That may go some way to suggesting the true effect of Walcott's injury. Within a month of crocking his ACL, Arsenal were being thumped at Anfield and Ozil was being widely slated for the first time since his move from Madrid.
Considering what has gone on since then, I'm starting to wonder whether this might not be a coincidence.
Whatever is behind Ozil's "slump" in form, there is no denying the presence of talent and class in this player. And in any team in the world, players that are out of form don't get in the team. A spell on the bench was even suggested after Tuesday's sorry team display in Germany. But I would doubt that, given Wenger's enormous faith in the player, which is perfectly reasonable.
I hesitate to bring it up, as it still brings me a bit of pain, but his penalty miss against Bayern Munich in February showed just how fragile his confidence is. This is obviously great for critics, as it makes him an even easier target. But given what we know he can do, I would back him all the way to rise above it. One good game, and they'll lay off.
And if you remember all the players to bear the brunt of criticism in their early Arsenal careers - it happened with Bergkamp, it happened with Henry, it happened with Pires - should we be worried? Of course not. We have another world-beater on our hands, and it's only a matter of time before he shows it.
And speaking of Bobby - someone I have compared Ozil to in the past - whose arguably greatest Arsenal moment came at Villa Park, wouldn't it be sweet if Ozil did something just as heroic to get Arsenal's season back on track and silence his critics in the process?
Go get 'em, Mesut.
Come On You Reds!
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