Mesut Özil remains a conundrum at Arsenal. From where he should play in the Arsenal lineup, whether or not his first season in England was a failure, to what Arsenal should expect from the German, the “Özil code”, if you will, is still yet to be cracked by the Arsenal team (regarding the first of those three matters), the Arsenal faithful and the British media alike (regarding the latter two).
Özil received a shocking amount of criticism in his first season at Arsenal; certain English tabloid newspapers began to actively hound him towards the end of the season and even during the World Cup. Whilst this article isn’t dedicated to defending the World Cup Final man of the match, it is worth discussing some of the claims made against him. Mesut was described as a “flop” last season, which probably isn’t worth humouring, seeing as he created the second most chances per game of anyone in the Premier League last season, scored five goals and made nine assists in the Premier League alone last season, despite missing twelve games through injury. Another claim is that the German is “lazy”, despite the fact that he generally covers the about 11km per game.
Certainly, Arsenal did not see the best of their £42.5m man last season, but how often do we see the best of players in their very first season in a new country? Once Mesut Özil starts to produce his very best football for the Gunners it will be absolutely spectacular. Yes, there are elements of his game he can improve: it would be ideal if he could shoot more often, be more selfish; as he himself admits, his heading leaves much to desire and he would be able to get even more assists should he improve the accuracy of his killer passes in the final third. However, he is already one of the world’s best players and is the man for Arsenal to build their team around, and if he can add these factors to his game and build on last season he can lead this Arsenal side to the glory which everyone expects of them.
Many people have criticised the German because he doesn’t track back enough. This stems from the English stubbornness regarding midfielders; every midfielder has to be of a certain mould- effectively like Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard- otherwise it’s very difficult to be pleasing to the British media; David Silva gets nowhere near enough credit for all he does. If Arsenal wanted a midfielder who could bustle up and down the pitch and do all the defensive dirty work they could’ve easily signed someone playing in the Championship. Özil is a luxury player- he doesn’t need to track back and Arsenal’s other players must bare that burden for him. Lionel Messi does not track back for Barcelona, and before you crow that the German is nowhere near as good as Messi, Mesut Özil can and should be Arsenal’s Messi.
“Nemo”, as Özil is nicknamed, referencing his resemblance to the Disney character, has found himself on the left-wing for Arsenal in games this season- a good idea in theory, considering some of the great runs he’s made down the left in the past- which hasn’t quite born fruit. Özil himself has admitted he’s not keen on playing on the left:
“I’m one of the best players in the world in that No 10 position,’’ said Özil. “Fans, coaches, players and everyone knows that my best position is playmaker.
“It’s different playing on the left. When I was in Madrid, I often played on the right. I enjoyed that because I’m left-footed and I was able to cut inside to give assists and get shots on target. On the left, it’s more difficult.”
Where does Mesut fit in at Arsenal? I’m intrigued by the idea of him playing on the right: when he played there for Germany against Portugal in the World Cup he was very effective, not only because he had more space than in the centre, but also because, as he said in the above quote, he was able to cut inside and create chances- regarding the earlier point about whether or not he is a flop, it was interesting to see how keen the Germans were to get the ball out to the right every time they got the ball. However, it is in the centre where Mesut Özil’s Arsenal future lies.
Arsenal have a host of quick and talented players ready to play around Özil and feed off his sensational balls through all sections of the field. I’ve already suggested that Özil’s style of play is akin to that of Robert Pires more than Dennis Bergkamp, but could Mesut Özil be used in “The Bergkamp role”?
Both Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck are players who like to get back to help the defence. If Özil were to stay up on the halfway line- pushing the opposition back four further back- when Arsenal are defending, and then hold the ball up and wait to make the killer pass to various Arsenal players breaking on the counter-attack then that would become and incredibly effective move for the Gunners. Instead of treating Özil like a midfielder like Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal should view their star man as a supporting forward instead.
Mesut Özil is the top assist maker in the world in the last five years and has the capability to score plenty of goals as well. He doesn’t have the pace of Theo Walcott but he is pretty quick and able to move forward with speed and put any kind of Arsenal attack together. Without having to worry about defensive responsibilities, Özil would have even more energy to move forward and support the likes of Sanchez, Welbeck, Walcott, Wilshere and Ramsey bustling forward looking to score on the counter attack. Arsenal have never really replaced Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal, particularly as they no longer use the 4-4-2 system which Wenger used to win seven trophies in his first eight years. Özil shares plenty of qualities with Bergkamp: he can see any pass on the pitch; creates endless chances and is technically almost perfect. Can he play in the Bergkamp role and have just as much success as the Dutch master?
Mesut Özil is Arsenal’s future: they just need to find out the way to get the best out of their talisman.
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