With the new season under way, a question surrounds the average Arsenal fan’s mind: is this the season of Mesut Özil? Maybe it’s completely simplistic just to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but it’s pretty clear that game after game, even though Özil’s been playing considerably well, he’ll still share opinions about his football and then we get to another point: Will English people ever stop chasing Özil? And this is readily answered with a ‘no’.
It’s obviously true he’s proven many of his doubters wrong and shown he’s a top class player & one of the best in the league. We cannot be naive and believe there are not fans & pundits who think otherwise; most of them don’t see (or don’t want to) due to the popular narrative and common sense among the pure theory that Özil is not going to be a game-changer for Arsenal in the Premier League, only because of the fact they understood he didn’t have two fantastic first seasons. Again, this is a mere way to conclude things. Let’s look back and recap – could he really have done it in a short space of time? If we combine the two campaigns, it turns out to be one. In the first season, he started really well, but faded and got tired from the Christmas period onwards, plus injuries & adaptation time were obstacles that could not have been avoided. In the second one, once more, he wasn’t available for pre-season, because of his World Cup triumph, as well as a a horrible injury. In both seasons, Özil didn’t have much on his side, and it was really hard to deal with these kinds of issues.
It seems now that Özil is on course for his best season with the north London club – he had an exceptional second part of last season and was no different during the pre-season games, especially against Everton and Lyon. He’s going to play in his favoured no.10 position with Alexis Sánchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott in disposal (may at least two of them stay fit), Aaron Ramsey or Santi Cazorla in a deeper role providing quick & intelligent passes and runs into the box. It’s worth mentioning that this is his first pre-season with the Gunners, and the team looks totally confident that they can not only compete but win major trophies. Özil is also in excellent shape and if he manages to stay injury-free, he will beyond doubt flourish this season for Arsenal.
PRE-SEASON REPORT:
Mesut Özil had an important and great pre-season. He went on to score and provide an assist in his first game against Everton. The German drew a lot of attention in the Emirates Cup game against Lyon, when he provided two assists – one for Olivier Giroud and another when he received the ball and waited for the right time to make a precise pass in Aaron Ramsey’s path. The German international also scored a goal with a sublime finish before coming off. Özil helped the team in the Community Shield’s win against Chelsea. He played a part in Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal as he opened the play, lifting his head and making a pass to Theo Walcott who later found the Ox.
