"Mesutoezil" Is A Superlative

Auba celebrates his second Goal (Arsenal's third) with Captain Oezil (Number 10) who netted the first

#YaGunnersYa! You can tell me all the Crap in the World about someone, but I will look for their strong Points coz they exist; that is my Defence of Arsenal's Turkish-German World Cup Winner and Europe's Assist Master! Manchester City Boss Pep Guardiola once said, "If you watch the Game, you won't see Oezil but if you watch Oezil, you see the whole Game!" What a Way to celebrate Arsene Wenger's 69th Birthday. Despite going behind to Leicester City in the 30th Minute via an unlucky Deflection off Rightback Hector Bellerin during the Monday Night Football Game at the Emirates on 22nd October 2018, the Gunners turned up the Style just before Halftime led by their Captain of the Day - Mesut Oezil! He did not win the Man of the Match Award (Alex Iwobi did for tireless Effort) but Oezil was the true Man of the Match for me because he equalised, pre-assisted to Bellerin for the second Goal and brilliantly set up the third, both scored by Substitute Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who became the Best Minutes per Goal Player in Premiership History (104.6 Minutes). With his one-Attempt Equaliser Goal which reminds me of Messi's three similar Shots on Goal (only one succeeded, the other two hit the Far Post) v Tottenham at Wembley in the 2019 Champions League Group Stage earlier in the same Month, Oezil overtook Tottenham's Jurgen Klinsmann (29 Goals) who shone in the 90s as the German with the Most Goals in the Premiership (Record now 30); he keeps breaking 1990s Premiership Records just like he did the previous Season for Manchester United Legend Eric Cantona's Fastest 50 Assists. Lukas Podolski who left in 2014 with 19 Goals is the 2nd Highest-scoring German Gunner in England though a few Places below in the Overall List. Furthermore, Oezil has created the Highest Number of Goalscoring Chances in all of Europe's Top 8 Leagues since 2006; I guess that's one of the Reasons he laughs at his Crap-spitting Critics whom he never listens to. Oezil knows when he is playing badly or producing a Masterclass. Rob Holding who had just been yellowcarded escaped a second Yellow almost immediately for Handball in the Penalty Box. It was not blatant though he had his Hand in the Air; an Opponent actually forced his Hand towards the Ball, so it could not be deliberate really! Leno made some good Saves and the rest also played their Roles. Lacazette was unlucky not to score. Nevertheless, the whole Game had Shirt Number 10 written allover it, this was Arsenal's 10th Win-in-a-Row, Oezil played in his Favoured Number 10 Position and did not even feature in the Last 10 Minutes; he had already done enough like 10 out of 10 Ratings. Commentators used to say that they ran out of Superlatives to describe Thierry Henry; well, Mesut Oezil himself is a Superlative. As one Word, his Name when latinised spells out a 10-Letter Adjective that probably means "scores and assists". In fact, according to Gooners, "oezil" is a Noun and Verb at the same Time; it means "assist". In this Special Game, the German who recently retired from International Football put up a perfect-10 Performance, a befitting Celebration for the Man who bought him to The Emirates with very lofty Expectations, protected and encouraged his Progress winning three FA Cups and three Community Shields in five Seasons with him. Safe to say, Arsene Wenger had a mesutoezil 1st Birthday in the Unai Emery Era...

Does Wenger Deserve Liberia's Highest Honour?

The Invincible One

Merci Arsene! Even though Football Fans at the Emirates wanted Wenger out, his Contribution to the Game is irreplaceable, probably irrepeatable and invincible. Opinions are not Facts; despite Questions from many Critics about what Arsene Wenger has done for Liberia or Africa, he still received Liberia's Order of Distinction and was knighted with the Highest Possible Honour in the West African Country by his former Player-turned-President George Weah on Friday 24th August 2018. The Knight Grand Commander of the Humane Order of African Redemption deserves his Status (alongside Coach Claude Le Roy) not only for taking Weah to Europe but also allowing other Black Africans to become Stars.

Double Happy-iness

I'm not a Liberian, but as a Black African Gooner, I can understand what Wenger did against Racism by asserting that Blacks and Whites can live together. I saw that with Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira and it registered in my 14 year old Mind that Racial Harmony is possible after being brainstuffed with Stories of German Nazism, American Segregation and South African Apartheid. The 68 year old Frenchman shaped many African Gunners to excel throughout his 22 Years in London including another Liberian named Christopher Wreh, the Invincibles Nwankwo Kanu, Lauren Etame Meyer and Kolo Toure, plus French-born Guinean Kaba Diawara (talented dribbler), Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue, Emmanuel Adebayor (should never be forgotten despite leaving behind a very negative Taste among Fans), Gervinho, Emmanuel Frimpong, Alex Iwobi, Mohamed Elneny and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. Some Ugandans actually became interested in Arsenal FC because it had Players from the Continent even though from outside their international Border. Nevertheless, I believe many Senegalese, Nigerians, Guineans, Cameroonians, Ivorians, Ghanaians, Togolese, Egyptians and Gabonians approve of Weah's Decision. On top of that, even President Paul Kagame, a Rwandese Gooner and his Government were inspired to sponsor Arsenal's Shirt Sleeve with the "Visit Rwanda" Marketing Label. Some of us did not even know Gervinho nor Iwobi but they brought their own unique Shine to the red hot Squad; it may not be the Most Lethal but it still applies. Besides Kanu, Wreh and Lauren, I strongly think another great African Addition Wenger made to Arsenal will be Auba. When the Gabonese Striker finally achieves his Star Potential, Arsenal Fans must remember and appreciate the Knight Grand Commander! George Weah is the only African to win FIFA's World Footballer of the Year Award; he's literally in the League with Argentine Lionel Messi (touted as the Greatest Of All Time), Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (The Goal Machine) and a very selected few in terms of brilliant individual Performance. If Weah could give his Ballon d'Or Winner's Medal to Wenger in 1995 because he deserved it more than him instead of bringing it to Liberia, then Wenger really did something great for him. Weah was and still is an image of a peaceful Liberia, emancipated Blacks and summit-topping African Continent, it's not Treason to thank those who made it all possible...

The Scorpion King of the Air

Superhero

I deleted WhatsApp from my phone because of numerous reasons but the hugest ones were my disagreement with the vulgarity of some users plus the criticism or insults hurled at Arsenal players by people (including group admins) who claim to be fans yet sound like haters (from India to Europe to Nigeria and across Africa) though many others were kind in their analysis. I quit six Arsenal Fan Groups without apology before they infected me with their nasty negativity. The Biggest Target of vile opinions was Olivier Giroud even though he netted at least 15 times in his first five seasons at Arsenal, 2016 being his individual best with 24 goals plus a 2nd place finish behind Premiership Kings Leicester City FC. I'm a Diehard Gooner from head to toe and have been a Giroud believer from Day One because I knew what he had done at Montpellier in 2012, something like the Leicester of France or maybe Leicester is the Montpellier of England. It took Giroud some games to score his first Arsenal goal but still reached the Centurion milestone faster than Robin van Persie who is the 13th Fastest basing on games played and only 56 games longer than Thierry Henry in 11th though the minutes played might be closer. He is the 5th Gunner under Arsene Wenger to notch 100 Goals after Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Van Persie and Theo Walcott. "GIROUD IS A GOOD MAN!" He may not be fast at dribbling like Lionel Messi nor flashy and lively like Henry but he adds something different to the beautiful game. Critics blame him for wasting many of Ozil's created chances but he still netted some. Others say he is very slow yet his majestic hold-up play allows other teammates to run into goal-scoring positions, Aaron Ramsey (a living Arsenal legend) can agree with that. Oli has never disappointed me: he broke the Premiership Record for the Most Headed Goals. In my mother tongue (Lugbara language) spoken in East and Central Africa, "oli" means air or wind; Giroud is definitely the King of the Air. His height favours him greatly and sometimes he backtracks to defend opponent corners plus setpieces. Oli looks menacing in size plus strength and there are no opponent players that made me feel intimidated because I knew the Frenchman could match them anyway. In 2014, he set up Rambo with a neat backheel for the third goal that clinched Arsenal's first trophy in nine years. Then he unleashed a cracker against Man City in the consequent Community Shield, moreover as a substitute; Arsenal won 3-0. In the 2015 FA Cup Final, Oli scored the fourth Arsenal goal just as I had wished, again as a substitute (Be very careful what you wish for, you might receive it). Two years later, he assisted Rambo again for the 2-1 FA Cup Final-winning goal against Chelsea; it was Oli's first touch as a substitute. In the Community Shield rematch against Premiership Champions Chelsea a few months later, he netted the winning ABBA penalty after a 1-1 comeback draw earned by a Kolasinac equaliser; Arsenal won 4-1. That was the last team trophy Oli won at Arsenal fulfilling a dream I had seen a few years behind where he scored a penalty and Arsenal won a trophy. Another dream was Man City handing Arsenal a trophy but that probably happened in the 2014 Community Shield. After Christmas in 2016, one of my much older cousins who is a staunch Manchester United fan (his friends used to call him Coach Ferguson, then Moyes, then Mourinho) told me that Henrikh Mkhitaryan had just scored the Greatest Goal of All-Time. When I viewed it in the Match Highlights he was watching, I was amazed but also noticed that Mkhi was offside. I swallowed the possible fact a bit but a few days later, New Year's Day to be exact, the BBC World Service top-of-the-hour Sportsworld intro started with a clip of how Giroud had just scored a wondergoal better than Mkhitaryan (glad he moved to Arsenal exactly 12 months later). Interested, I waited patiently for the highlight on the Supersport Blitz Channel and was totally blown away. Without any further hesitation, I downloaded the frightening goal and repeatedly watched it eight times but could not prevent myself from smiling through all those eight times - I just had to force myself to stop somewhere. The FIFA Puskas Award which Giroud won later in the year proved that this was truly the Best Goal in 2017. By the end of the same year (10th December), Oli equalled Man Utd's Ole Gunnar Solksjaer (17 goals) as the Most Lethal Substitute in Premiership History. Oli was not assured of starting games at Arsenal but took it in his stride and became a reliable supersub in the final 15 minutes. Three years earlier, the 1-1 home draw against Everton in the 2014 Premiership proved to me how golden his late game-reading skills are; he frantically hit the woodwork just before the final whistle in attempting what would have been a classic winner (Luis Suarez was unbelievably on fire for Liverpool around that time). Nevertheless Oli got a chance to redeem himself against Everton in the FA Cup a few months later; the Gunners won 4-1 after the score was a 1-1 deja vu at some point, Oli netted twice for good measure and the rest is history. He transferred to Chelsea for the end of the 2018 season where he won the FA Cup again (one more than Thierry Henry) and then the World Cup in Russia with Les Bleus of France (equal with Thierry Henry); Oli made about three assists in seven matches. I guess Giroud fans wished he would score (even just one) against Croatia during the Holy Grail of Football before being substituted but am still thankful that Didier Deschamps always gave him playtime. Football is not all about scoring too many goals; Belgium, Harry Kane and Cristiano could have won the World Cup in 2018 then, but it's about scoring "just one more" than your opponent for the day. The winning goal can come from anyone including the goalkeeper, roger that Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay) and Abubakr (Ivory Coast). I appreciate the many goals Thierry scored for Arsenal but I still like Robert Pires and Olivier Giroud more than him, the heart wants what it wants. I became a Gooner because of the 1998 FA Cup Final, so enjoying three extra FA Cups with Giroud is still a great memory even though he never won the Premiership, League Cup nor UEFA Champions League at Arsenal. A trophy is just an empty cup, enjoy the assists, goals, celebrations and records...