You sold Bale and we signed Mesut Ozil, Mesut Ozil, Mesut f***ing Ozil!!
Honestly having been a huge fan of his before I even thought it was possible he could play for my club, I still rub my eyes in disbelief that he sports the mighty red kit of Arsenal!
What a player he is and I’m glad Arsene stayed patient with him unlike some sections of support who had given up on him and believed Cazorla’s recent form made Ozil surplus to requirements. Santi Cazorla is a stunning little player but I can tell you right now he’s not in Ozil’s class, in fact there’s only a few No. 10’s on the planet that are… David Silva…. and well that’s pretty much it. I’m talking out & out No. 10’s here. Not Mata, not Rodriguez, not Isco, not Goetze, not Oscar.
Mesut Ozil has similarities with Zinedine Zidane in some ways and although he’s not as physically dominant, his touch is so silky as he glides across the field very delicately. His vision is second to none and Theo’s presence is giving him more to aim at up top. He’s a player I like to watch closely when in possession and rarely do you appreciate his productivity until you watch his performance again, Arsene said something along those lines and that is exactly the case.
The German retains the ball so well and is one of few players that can travel long distances with it for us, it was the main reason Wenger kept him on against Bayern last year when we went a man down, even after his penalty miss. Before making a pass Mesut Ozil rarely looks at his target, this always fools the opposition and sometimes even the target ends up surprised when the ball arrives at his feet. The disguise pass isn’t always particularly used to showboat despite what clowns like Phil Neville will tell you, the better players use it productively and Mesut Ozil is one of them. It’s not as blatant as Rosicky or Sanchez when he looks away however.
The cries for Ozil to play centrally are starting to die down a bit and credit must be given to Wenger for sticking to his principles and making it work for him. I don’t think Arsene trusts Mesut’s presence in the middle and tried to protect him a bit by sticking him out wide. Regardless of opinion on Wenger what we can’t deny is his ability to improve talent and he’s done that with Sanchez and now Ozil’s developing well.
It’s the fluency we have in the attacking 3rd that allows Ozil to blossom although defensively Mesut still slacks he’s doing more going forward on the flanks. It was always down to personal belief and character that would allow him to succeed in that role. What Arsene has to prevent is having too many similar players in order to let Ozil peak. Mesut’s best pairings are with Ramsey, Walcott and Welbeck because all these players have drive. He thrives off movement and quick attacking football. When the game is fast in motion, Ozil will more often than not make the correct forward pass.
This is why he thrived off Mourinho’s counter-attacking football at Madrid. Ronaldo’s eagerness to sprint the length of the field to score goals was a blessing for Ozil. Benzema and Di Maria are also direct players. When we play lacklustre possession football and everything is laboured his handiness becomes less useful and he often frustrates.
I understand what Wenger tried on Tuesday night in attack but we lacked a CF that that made the ball stick up top. If we had a stronger MF base or an in-form Ramsey/Arteta alongside Coquelin, I’d love to see Ozil playing in the No. 10 role with Akpom/Welbeck leading the line, Theo right, Sanchez left. It’d likely lead to a stellar performance from the World cup winner.
Nevertheless the lad is gaining form and confidence and looks like he’s more willing to fight for the shirt, which is exciting as it’s one of few positives we can take from the campaign.
Excuse Me While I Rant
Cesc Fabregas is not a true Gooner and quite frankly I’m sickened by those that still long for him whilst Mesut goes the extra mile to please the supporters on social media and shows genuine love to the club.
Cesc Fabregas gave Arsene Wenger 48 hours to decide who he was going to sell to make room for a return to Arsenal. Just proves he was already in heavy consideration with other clubs despite his lies that Arsenal were special to him. After everything Wenger gave him from 15 years of age, he gave his so called footballing father an unfair ultimatum and went on to play for the ONLY existing person in top level football that shows a constant disregard to Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
The inspirational captain also faked an injury to get his beloved move to Barcelona and some of you still drool over him? I’ve criticised Wenger as much as the next man this year but strangely I applaud his refusal to bring Cesc back. We are a world class football club not a whore and should never let anyone walk all over us.
He looks tremendous right now at Chelsea but they have a perfect setup for him, with a goal machine upfront and one of the worlds best DM’s protecting him in midfield. He’s struggled in the quicker games like Liverpool and City for instance and believe me if he was back here he wouldn’t be improving our most pressing issues whatsoever. Creativity isn’t a problem for us it’s the platform to express it that is and Chelsea currently have that.
Ozil is more gifted than the Spaniard and it’s only a matter of time before he proves every single doubter wrong!
“Ozil is the best No. 10 in the world, when he touches the ball the ball smiles – Jose Mourinho.”
“He doesn’t stick to one position, he moves along the line. He moves in behind positions in midfield, he can score and assist goals. He’s a fantastic player.” – Wayne Rooney
“Yes, Mesut has made me better. If you have great players around you, your play becomes stronger.He can read the game and knows when he needs to play the pass, when he should take a dribble – that’s simply class. I love to play with him, he is fantastic.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
“With all the respect to the other Arsenal players, I think he is the one who can make a difference.” – Dennis Bergkamp
“I would love to have played with him.” – Thierry Henry
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.
Amen brother, he is the reason I watch Arsenal now. I agree with you, Arsenal need an attacking scorer. Other teams have that kind of player that, with no hesitation put the ball in the net. Until they have that player, they will be an average team.
Good, article about Ozil coming into form. However I didn’t like the Cesc hating at the end. As a our former captain we should be respectful of his choices for his career. Like most Gunners I was VERY disappointed when he left and again when he joined Chelsea. But, he still played a good part in the clubs history. Therefore, he will still be one of my favourite Arsenal players, even if he wins trophies with Chelsea .
You’re point is valid but even for now I think we have solutions within that will allow Ozil to shine. Akpom for example. I know Giroud is first choice but for the bigger games we need a quicker frontline. Against Liverpool, Spurs pushed very high up the field and Sturridge had a couple of one-on-ones whereas we rarely got in behind them.
I’m a great believer in Chuba’s talent and whilst we’re a long way away from the summer window we should utilise our most suited options to our style of play and I believe Akpom has all the ingredients, Kane’s proven himself so don’t see why our youngster can’t!
At the minute Theo & Alexis offer good outlets however and long may Ozil’s form continue!
Just because Kane (the best player in the premier league on form) has had had an incomparable whirlwind season as far why does that mean an Arsenal youth can do the same? By that reasoning, Ibe is going to be as good as Kane too? I’m a gunner but that kind of talk is mad. Do you really think Akpom is going to bang in 23 goals and be anywhere near as talented as HK next season? No, because Kane’s obviously a special player. Maybe Akpom will come into it for our sake i hope he does we need a great forward. But your point to suggest that because a potentially great player has emerged at a rival that MUST mean one of our reasonably good players can too just has no basis in fact. Again, love to see it happen, but i’m realistic. It hurts to see them have Kane, but we’ve got Sanchez. No point trying to play who has the better striker, because i’m afraid they win.
Andy.
I understand and respect that however I can’t take players deceiving the supporters as Cesc has done. Wenger doesn’t think twice about recruiting creativity into the squad given the option and the fact he passed up on Cesc said a lot to me!
Cesc has slyly disrespected the shirt on a number of occasions but managed to cover it up to maintain his relationship with the club clean but I for one can see past all of that and you’ve only got to look at who he currently plays for to know he’s not really a ‘true gooner’ as he claims.
I also respect his decision to play for Chelsea in my opinion he made the right choice but I just can’t accept his pretending that Arsenal mean so much to him otherwise he’d be here.
I’m sorry if the last paragraph offended you but he’s shown minimal respect to the club since departing and I don’t think he deserves the affection some Arsenal supporters still show towards him.
He is absolutely beyond comparison. As long as you have realistic expectations. He will not track back and play tremendous defense. He will not take a player 1v1 and get the goal. But if you want to see perfectly placed, perfectly weighted passes, this is the guy. If you want to see fantastic movement off the ball, this is your guy. He struggled last year because there was no one making runs behind the defense. He absolutely needs someone to pass to and the quicker the player the better he is.