Much was made of Mesut Ozil’s £42.5m pound move from Real Madrid to Arsenal in 2014. The German’s arrival was supposed to transform Arsenal from a Champions League-chasing team to a team that would consistently challenge for the title. A year after Ozil arrived, Arsenal brought in another superstar in Alexis Sanchez.
Together, these two have strived to take Arsenal to the next level and have done so with mixed success. Sanchez, in particular, has been breath-taking and Ozil has had his share of good moments too. But one common criticism thrown in the way of Mesut Ozil is that those good moments are few and far between. He often goes missing in the big games and this has become a worrying pattern for everyone who supports Arsenal.
Ozil, on his day, can be a world-class player capable of all sorts of things. He is the perfect no. 10, being able to mix creativity with silky dribbling skills. His time at Real Madrid speaks for itself as he set the La Liga on fire, setting up his teammates with assists left, right and centre and scoring his fair share of goals too.
His time in England has been far from what everyone including Ozil envisaged it to be and there could be several reasons for it. For starters, the intensity of the Premier League is some way above the levels of intensity seen in the Bundesliga or La Liga. This has obviously taken a toll on Ozil’s game, but then again, some pundits would argue that the best players will adapt to any league, irrespective of factors such as intensity and such.
Ozil has, to some extent, adapted to the league and has performed decently. But it’s his status as one of Germany’s most esteemed players, that gets people expecting so much of the German Maestro. Another place where Ozil is currently lacking is his goal-scoring return, which is dismal, to say the least. He started off this season in that respect on a bright note, scoring a few early goals (which included a Champions League hat-trick against Ludugorets), but that has dried up since the annual December period where Ozil’s form tends to drop off.
Astonishingly, that coincides with Arsenal’s annual drop in form too, so it’s quite a worrying pattern for Arsene Wenger. Ozil’s tendency to drop off during the Christmas period is quite understandable as he spent quite some time in the Bundesliga, where players receive close to a month’s off for the festive period.
But that is certainly no excuse for a World Cup winner, as players with lesser quality have managed to play through the festive period, despite being accustomed to resting during the same. Ozil should now look to prove his mettle and show everyone why he is so highly regarded in his homeland. Another drawback to Ozil’s game is that the German can look lethargic when the ball isn’t with his team.
In the other leagues, the role of a no.10 is usually that of a relaxed one. The player will usually have to support his striker and create opportunities for his teammates. But in the Premier League, there is a certain need to work your socks off, even in the number 10 position. Kevin De Bruyne is perhaps the perfect example for this. The Belgian is a willing runner and quite often tracks back to help his teammates out.
It’s necessary that Ozil brings in certain changes to his game. Not major changes, but minor tweaks that will help both him and the team. All the goals Ozil has scored this season have seen him at the thick of things and he needs to regain that confidence and form from the initial stages of the season, as in that form, Ozil can be deadly and can finish off any opposition.
On a final note, it’s his mentality that often lets him down. Perhaps it is a confidence issue as talent-wise, he certainly doesn’t come up short and in fact has talent in abundance, which sometimes goes against his favour. It’s that same mentality issue that comes back to haunt him in the big games, as he often vanishes during games of such stature and his contributions are usually minimal.
Ozil needs to turn it around before the end of the season if Arsenal are to restore any parity to some of the recent results they’ve had. Ozil will certainly be in the centre of Arsenal’s successes even in the Champions League knockout stages, where they yet again face Bayern Munich.
P.S – The article was written prior to the Hull’s game