Mesut Ozil has a frustrating habit of following up a good performance with a pants one. He was electric against Aston Villa, collecting a Danny Welbeck pass, charging through on goal and finding the back of the net with a controlled finish. Moments later, the German ace turned provider, whipping in a cross from the left that Welbeck dutifully converted.
Against Spurs, however, Ozil was anonymous. Like the rest of the Arsenal team, he struggled to break down a defense that had been well marshalled by Mauricio Pochettino.
Next up came Galatasaray, where Mesut Ozil put in one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt. He bossed possession, laid on another assist for Danny Welbeck and looked like he was enjoying his football again.
This brings me right up to one of Mesut Ozil’s worst performances in an Arsenal shirt: last Sunday’s encounter with Chelsea. If Arsenal fans were trying to keep up with the number of times that he lost the ball, I’m sure they would have lost count. The £42.4m signing was clearly putting some effort in (offensively at least), but he looked clumsy and ineffectual.
A moment when he took the ball in field from off the left-wing and ran into Cesc Fabregas just about summed it all up. I’m sure you can imagine what so many Arsenal fans were thinking at that precise moment in time.
This brings me to a recent Tweet from ex-Liverpool defender, Jamie Carragher: “Everyone knows he [Ozil] is better there but last season wasn’t good in there. Obvious Wenger doesn’t trust him central in big games.”
I’m not sure what to make of these claims. Part of me feels that Arsene Wenger is trying to incorporate as many of his best players as possible into his starting line-up. Wilshere’s not fast enough or tricky enough to play out wide. Santi Cazorla is even less effective that Mesut Ozil in that position. Mathieu Flamini needs to guard the back-four. Ozil out-wide looks like the logical decision.
What’s more, it’s clear that Arsene Wenger does trust Mesut Ozil. He dragged off the likes of Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla against Chelsea, who were performing significantly better than their German team-mate. He clearly felt that Mesut Ozil has a moment of magic lingering somewhere within him. As it happens, he didn’t.
Still, there’s no denying that Mesut Ozil’s best games have been played out through the middle. If he’s to be played back into form he’s going to need to some serious game-time in this position. That means giving him a chance against the big teams (it’s not like Arsenal are doing a good job in these games any way, is it?).
Arsene Wenger spent £42.4m on Mesut Ozil, so he needs to make this deal work. I’d argue that it’s time that he gave his record signing his full backing.
What’s your take? Where does Mesut Ozil fit into this Arsenal team?
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i like ozil becouseozil is a best boy
Arsene is only being stubborn playing Mesut out wide. One, when Wilshere is played in the middle he attempts alot of dribbling without finally nailing an accurate pass and thus loses possesion probably b/c of his short stature. Two, he cannot create scoring chances or give assists like Ozil b/c Ozil is more tactically gifted than him. my suggestion is that Wenger should not play the two together in big games, and I will go for Mesut in the middle for big games while Wilshere should be benched.