I thought he was way too nervous actually, was scared of skying it and resulted in him putting no power, similar to Lukaku's against Bayern in Super Cup.
Indeed. He usually takes penalties that way (he's Germany's first choice penalty taker) and he's never ever missed one, so I guess nervosity was really the issue here. (Not to mention that it was a good save by the keeper. He was going for the corner and if it had gone in, it would have been an amazing penalty.) He seemed nervous quite/under pressure to perform the whole first half actually, or at least until the penalty. I feared it would destory his confidence, but he completely turned it on after that. And the game was won, so no harm done. I liked Arsene's reaction later on, "That's good news for England".
Özil's had two very good performances in a row now. Can't believe how so many are unhappy with the way he's performed.
His stats from yesterday are amazing: 1 assist. 2 tackles, 1 interception, 5 key passes, 2 shots on target. Tbf I think many (who are unhappy with him) don't know the way he plays well or don't know much about football. I guess his price tag and "more assists than Messi" stats require him to give 3-4 assists or score 2-3 goals each game in the eyes of some. The only game where he really performed badly was ManU (the first half particularly). Other than that he's been decent to brilliant, albeit the fact that Arsenal's current system without true wing players and "too many cooks in the kitchen" is a bit destructive for both him and Cazorla and the fact that he hasn't adapted yet. This is extremely underestimated by some, switching from la liga to EPL is hard anyway, but Özil especially has never been the most physical of players. Not to mention that Bergkamp (or any other player) started with a so-so first season too. He will eventually prove the trolls wrong. Not to mention that he went there to improve, which he will and already has, defensively especially.
The question for me is whether he will be as good for Arsenal as he is for Germany. Because at RM he always seemed a little hindered, compared to how he played for Bremen, Schalke and Germany.
For the Napoli game, I hope Theo will start. He should be fit enough by then. And Ramsey should be rested beforehand.
