Ozil and Walcott have played just five games together for Arsenal
Mesut Ozil seems to be the favourite scapegoat at the minute with some suggesting that he might go down the Andrey Arshavin route of eventually fading due to being played out of position, not tracking back etc…
Now I’d be the first to admit that Mesut’s displays have been a tad underwhelming for a few months now however I’m convinced he’s still the man.
What annoys me is that it seems my fellow Gooners didn’t know as much about Ozil as they thought they did upon his arrival therefore misinterpreted what they were going to get from him. It’s like they thought they’d get a No. 10 who picks up the ball from his own half, drives into the opposing half and hit it from 25 yards out.
I’m sorry but you’re mistaken. Mesut Ozil is a team player, he’s a player that enhances the performances of others therefore his game will only be as impressive as his team’s performance. If Arsenal do not turn up, don’t expect Ozil to shine.
If you look at Ozil’s finest displays it’s always been when the whole team’s been on song. Galatasaray last week, Everton in the FA Cup, Liverpool at home etc… He’s a supplier and his work needs to be finished by others.
What annoys me is that it’s almost like Arsene Wenger doesn’t really know much about the player himself which you’d assume the way he’s been used of late.
Ozil can play wide if needed but should always be off the right and must have runners surrounding him to thrive in that position. This means his right back should be on the constant overlap, whilst all the options to his left should be making reverse runs whilst he drifts towards the left.
He seems to be placed in that position with no real instruction or planning, it’s just like ‘yeah you’re creative play on the flanks and make sure we dominate the ball’
Injury means that Ozil and Walcott won’t feature together until 2015 at least
Santi Cazorla is perfect for Wenger’s brand of football, he is a tippy-tappy player who can play in tight spaces and distribute short passes and constant one-twos with other creative players.
Ozil’s direct! Mesut doesn’t appreciate when everyone is coming to the ball. This is why he suffers with Santi, suffers with Olivier Giroud and sometimes Jack Wilshere, even Alexis Sanchez and him haven’t fully clicked although the Gala game showed signs.
Ozil is great for counter-attacking teams who attack with speed. One of Mesut’s greatest skills is always picking the correct pass when everything is moving at pace. He makes the right decision in counter-attacking moves nine times out of ten and if we played to such a style he’d benefit.
Look at Real Madrid where Angel Di Maria, Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo were all players that liked to break and get beyond Mesut. His hardest decision to make was ‘what player do I choose to assist’. We lack goal hungry players in our team that will break a sweat to get into the box.
Aaron Ramsey helped Ozil a lot, Danny Welbeck has the potential to improve Mesut’s game as does Sanchez but I’m of the opinion that Theo Walcott will be the making of Mesut Ozil. If you think Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas are a joy to watch then wait till our little Englishman is back.
Until proven otherwise Theo is still our most statistically productive player and any team would miss him the way we have. Theo isn’t the most skillful player but he’s very routined. Give the ball off and dash, play the ball right in between the left-back and centre-half and he’s in.
Ozil will pick him out for fun and there were signs of the two linking up well before we lost Theo to injury. Sanchez and Danny both offer pace but they’re also very unpredictable I’m sure even they’re both unsure as to what they’ll do next, this makes Mesut’s job a little difficult but in Theo you know exactly where he wants the ball and if you play it right you just know he’ll get there.
Mesut Ozil has been dubbed the best No. 10 in the world for a reason but we won’t see why until Wenger builds the team around him and gives him enough protection.
Fabregas and Costa have struck up an impressive partnership at Chelsea
Robert Pires was just as weak on the ball and also lacked work ethic defensively but Patrick Vieira even acknowledged ‘we worked twice as hard for him because we knew what he could offer us offensively’. He was protected by Ashley Cole behind him, Gilberto Silva and Vieira were dominating any midfield battle so he was fine.
Now Mesut’s got to be one of our fighters because he’s pretty much the tallest man in our midfield when Abou Diaby’s away – that’s a joke!
Mesut will need a solid base in midfield to give him the platform to attack ever so freely, he’d need quick players from left to right which we can offer him as we now have Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo to come back, Alexis, Welbeck and even the likes of Joel Campbell and Serge Gnabry so why we’re still forcing No. 10’s out wide I don’t know.
In conclusion I’d say we are very lucky to have such a wonderful player who proved to be the most productive passer in the league last season according to some very precise stats released on the Premier League website but his better days will only come when Wenger utilises him and the players he surrounded by correctly, unfortunately I couldn’t tell you when.
Mesut’s showings on the ball is artistry, the way he gets the ball onto his left foot every time is really unique. He’s got a very deft touch to and reminds me of Zinedine Zidane at times. We have a wonderful player and some of you guys really just don’t know it yet.
Ozil will not single-handedly win us games and maybe his price-tag should suggest otherwise but that’s not the type of player he is, however if the team turn-up he’ll certainly be one of the biggest contributors to victory.
Subomi Oguntoyinbo
I am Subomi. An Arsenal supporter throughout my lifetime currently in my early 20’s. I am a graduate of West London’s Met Film School and an aspiring screenwriter. I do like to write about various topics that interest me and that tends to swing towards matters concerning Arsenal, it’s a passion of mine.
I was born and raised in North London, moved out to Essex but I am now back in North London for university of course.
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