How can we describe Mesut Özil? Magician, assist-king, creator or a cold-heart, lazy, disinterested? We see the contrast on his game but to claim that the second list of adjectives characterizes him the best is a ridiculous statement. Özil’s qualities are more evident than his weakness and it’s obvious he’s proved it this year – it doesn’t mean his weak attributes won’t be noticed mainly because his style of play provides this ‘easy-British-criticism’ stuff.
As I’ve been watching every single Özil game since 2010, I can say that one of his big improvements has got to be his decision-making that consequently affects his passing accuracy. In the 2012/13 La Liga season, Özil had a pass success rate of 84%, after signing for Arsenal in the 2013/14 Premier League season he had a rate of 88% which is the same for this season so far. It’s a big shame it isn’t possible to get the data from the seasons before 12/13 that would show this development.
Mesut Özil is often rated as no longer the player he was for Real Madrid which I disagree in a point. He won’t have the same Madrid numbers, although his level has not declined. It is just that playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric is way easier, isn’t it?
Perhaps Özil has finally found the understanding with another teammate that will be essential; he has a good partnership with Aaron Ramsey, but the lethal link up is with Alexis Sánchez. They appear to have built an enthusiastic relationship in the recent games – Özil orchestrates the final third and Sánchez is a flying winger, they’re literally the opposite and this is what makes an attacking team balanced – if you play Özil, Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla in a 4-1-4-1 system like Wenger started the season, you force a congested final third due the fact they are similar players, and in no sense that helped a playmaker who likes to play incisive passes.
Proof that the German and the Chilean are getting along well is they’re interchanging the ball several times: vs. Liverpool, Alexis received 11 passes from Özil and vs. Burnley, 15. In comparison during Özil’s absence vs. Newcastle, Cazorla was the no.10 but he made a pass to Alexis Sánchez only in 2 occasions. The importance of a floating Mesut Özil changes the game, when he’s on the left flank he’s closer to Alexis and they can pass the ball quickly or one can carry the ball and make the pass at the right time in a counter-attack (second assist vs Reading) and also when Özil is on the right he’s able to cut inside and spot his partner with his excellent vision (first assist vs Reading).
Mesut Özil’s arguably most discussed game-topic is running. He covered more ground than anyone else in games vs. Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester and Monaco and is currently one of the Gunners’ top distance covered per game this season, only behind Ramsey, Cazorla and Bellerín. So why do people call Özil lazy? In his head he needs to chase and find areas of the pitch where he can progress when he receives the ball.
Some might say he doesn’t appear on the screen so often. If you are one of them, you may be right in a few times but in the next match try to watch Özil without the ball carefully. It isn’t his entire fault. What is not debatable is Özil’s focus and determination – In almost each game he’s the player that creates the most goalscoring chances. He’s always trying to make things happen.
APRIL MONTH REPORT
Arsenal’s big game against Liverpool was the club’s first appearance of the month. Wenger’s side had an outstanding performance and Mesut Özil played a big part of it; first making a cross-field pass to Aaron Ramsey who could lay it off to Hector Bellerín and after he pulled off a glorious free-kick to score his fourth league goal of the season. Robert Pires was full of praise for Özil saying that he’s “one of the best players he has ever seen”.
Arsenal then travelled to Burnley, hoping to sustain their winning form and Özil was once again a highlight. The German provided two assists for Alexis Sánchez’s goals in the FA Cup semi-final win against Reading; the first one a beautifully perfect over the top pass. He managed to create 9 chances, breaking the record for most chances created in a single game in the competition this season which had also previously set by Mesut against Middlesbrough (7).
Against Chelsea, Özil created the most chances (4), completed the most dribbles (6) and attempted the most passes (76) but couldn’t help Arsenal take the 0-0 away the scoresheet.
