What is wrong with Mesut Özil?
In reality, the closest Özil has got to the kind of players he had at Madrid (Benzema, Higuain, Ronaldo) is probably Theo Walcott - and it is telling that in the one (and only) game where both Özil and Walcott have played 90 minutes together, at the Stadium of Light, Özil created 3 clear cut chances and got an assist, a performance fully deserving of the man of the match accolade on his debut. If next season Arsenal are able to sign someone who can thrive off of this, as well as keeping Walcott fit, we may well see a whole new Özil. Of course, the natural counter argument to this is that "if Özil was truly world class he wouldn't be dependent on the players around him" - and there is an element of truth here, but consider his, who are the top number 10s in the world?
Make a mental list of three. I suspect Silva, Koke, Isco, Mata, Fabregas are all recurring themes. Now ask yourself how many of these have flourished without fast, clinical players in front of them. Very rarely, if ever, will you find these any of these players without significantly better support in the team than Özil was left with when Walcott, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Wilshere et al all seems to simultaneously get injured. Yes, the best players in the world look good even in average team, that is why they're the best - but for playmakers especially, it is important not to underestimate the value of the players around him. At the moment, for both club and country, Özil doesn't have the right ones.
The third factor, and the greatest of all, is that Özil hasn't actually been that bad. Now this isn't hypocritical, as I accept that against Algeria he was well below par - most notably in the second half - and the same can be said for many of his Arsenal performances. He's probably only replicated the 'Madrid Özil' on about five or six occasions for Arsenal, and only once against a big team. That said, despite what you will probably hear, Özil was absolutely not the worst player in that Germany team on Monday. Schweinsteiger was anonymous, Müller was barely a 2/10, the two full backs were failing in both their attacking and defensive duties, leaving Mertesacker and Boateng massively exposed to such an extent that Neuer was operating as a third centre back on occasion.
When criticising Özil, a sense of perspective is needed I feel. It is right to call him out if he is holding the team back, or seriously underachieving whilst keeping more deserving players out of the team, but this has not been the case when he has been criticised. I seem to remember one game where he came under particular scrutiny was when Arsenal lost 5-1 at Anfield. Does anyone else find that absolutely ridiculous? Arsenal lost 5-1 with no holding midfielders and a left back in Monreal who wouldn't have been able to track Sterling with a stun gun and a large coil of rope, yet it was Özil who got singled out.
If next season Özil fails to perform for Arsenal, and in doing so denies talented players like Chamberlain, Cazorla and Wilshere from playing in that position behind the striker (all of whom have expressed their desire to) then it may be about time to drop him and even think about selling him back to Germany or Spain, but that sort of action is a long way off yet. With a years PL experience, a good pre season (and hopefully a bit of rest) under his belt, and the right players around him - I remain confident we will see Özil thrive in the Premier League, in the same way he did at the start of last season before injuries, tiredness, media pressure and Giroud's frankly annoying affair (for a while after this saga he barely looked a PL player let alone an Arsenal one) all began to negatively affect Özil’s performances. With all of that behind him he still has the ability to recreate his Madrid form; with a new physical aspect to his game he may even become a better player. But this does need to happen sooner rather than later, the first step will be a match winning performance in the World Cup semi finals...
@natshaughnessy8Tell us what you think! If you agree, or have a different view, please leave a comment in the comments section or why not write a response or your own article on YouWrite?
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