When Arsene Wegner brought Mesut Ozil to the Emirates back in September 2013 for a fee reported to be around £42.5 million, there was a sense of excitement and belief amongst the Gunners faithful.
When the creative German midfielder arrived in England, he came with the reputation of the best No.10 in the world. It was certainly a big label to live up to and it may have taken its toll in his early days at Arsenal.
Many (ourselves included) have been hugely critical of Ozil’s performances in the Premier League to date. When a club spend that type of money, one expects the results to come and come regularly.
To be fair, he did start quite well in his first couple of months. He was creating plenty of chances and giving his forwards, in particular Oliver Giroud, fantastic service.
As time has gone on, his Arsenal career has stagnated. Consistency has been a major problem for the German. Talent has never been the question, but people wondered if he had what it takes to be a consistent Premier League player.
When you watch Ozil play he is not the type that will out-muscle the opposition. He falls under the category of being a technical individual. Very good on the ball and with the abillity to make anything happen when it is at his feet. We see many foreign players come into the Premier League and struggle because they are so technical and do not have the strength. In England we see how rough and tough it is, players from foreign countries come from playing football that is good on the eye. This is certainly not to suggest that this is also not seen in England, but the Premier League certainly is a lot more physical.
What has not helped Ozil so far at Arsenal is his manager’s recruitment policy. When you have such technically gifted players like Ozil, then you need to buy those players like Patrick Viera, Roy Keane and Yaya Toure to assist them. You need to buy players of power to assist the technical talents, there is no arguing it and especially in England. Ozil has come in at the time when there are plenty of players like him, those who look good on the eye, but you need to have a mix of power and talent on the pitch. Does Arsenal have that at the moment? Certainly not, but one feels Ozil has slowly learned without the big and powerful people around him he has had to develop a more physical side to his game. Credit to him, he has done that.
Most assists in Europe's top five leagues this season:
Özil – 10
*mind the gap*
Costa – 7
Silva & Raffael – 6 pic.twitter.com/w8pFv1o3lA— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzilStats) November 9, 2015
With the 27-year-old developing more physicality he has been able to get involved in Arsenal’s play much more. What has been most impressive so far this season is his work rate. In the past when perhaps things were not going his way, he has lost his belief throughout games and it has affected the results massively. Now we are looking at a player that can not only provide assists, but chip in defensively as well.
Having hit the net twice in 2015-16, goals still look as if they could be something he needs to work on. Arsene Wegner has stated that he has set Ozil the target of 10 goals for the season. That is the type of return which is reasonably expectable from him. He has the end-product in his game to do it and he is always getting into scoring positions, so in Arsenal’s current form the goals will come.
With everyone talking about Leicester City’s in-form Jamie Vardy and potentially equalling Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 consecutive games, many have failed to notice that Ozil created an assist for the sixth Premier League game in succession on the weekend during the North London Derby. What made that record that little bit better was the fact that it came to save Arsenal from coming away with nothing against their arch rivals.
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We always expect the creative players to finish with assists, but Ozil is the ‘assist king’ now. His ability to play a pass and open a defence right up is second to none. In fact, the German has 10 assists so far this season and Chelsea have eight as a team.
Overall, Ozil has been fantastic since August and is beginning to show consistency. He seems to be playing with greater intensity with and without the ball and gaining more physicality in his play has been the major difference. It has allowed him to maintain possession and use it effectively, while also contributing defensively for the team. Wegner could probably still bring in some players that will only make Ozil more effective, but in 2015-16 he has not disappointed.
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