Ever since Mesut Ozil arrived at Arsenal for a club record fee of £42.4m, he has had his critics. The German joined Arsenal after having three superb seasons in the Spanish capital with Real Madrid and came with a fearsome reputation as one of Europe’s best play-makers, if not the best.
In 85 La Liga starts for Real Madrid, the German managed an impressive 47 assists. He also created well over 300 chances during that time; some phenomenal statistics.
His reputation clearly preceded him when he arrived at Arsenal; that didn’t guarantee anything, and Arsenal fans soon found that out. He did have a fine debut, setting up Oliver Giroud for a goal. This led many fans to think he would go on and be the best player in the Premier League and win Arsenal the title (or whatever other silly ambitions they may have had).
However, it wasn’t plain sailing for Ozil that season, as he went on to play just 25 matches in the Premier League, scoring five and setting up nine. Not a bad record by any stretch of the imagination, but not stellar either.
Last season was even worse for the German, he had just come back from winning the World Cup with Germany, but his following Premier League campaign was nowhere near the standard he reached at the World Cup, or even the previous season for Arsenal. He played just 21 Premier League games, with just four goals and five assists. Now, for a player of his ability, it was an evidently poor return from Ozil.
He received plenty of abuse from fans for his performances and was picked out in particular for not performing in the big games for Arsenal, although, that is a criticism you could have given to a number of players in the Gunners side, so was fairly unjust to pick him out.
There is a huge misconception with Mesut Ozil’s play when fans analyse his matches. You will never see Mesut Ozil chasing down the play or bombing down the wing with an explosion of pace; yet, he contributes in so many other ways. So, due to this, fans berate the 27-year-old for not being in the game, as that is the way it seems to them, because he doesn’t run around willy-nilly after the ball. Instead, he picks up very clever positions and plays the killer passes that optimises Arsenal’s attacking play.
If Arsenal had a world-class striker, no offence to Oliver Giroud or Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil would have had significantly more assists to his name in a Puma-made shirt. Arsenal have been repeatedly linked with a move for Karim Benzema and Edinson Cavani. If they had signed Ozil and Benzema/Cavani at the same time; he would be regarded as one of the best players in the world right now. Why? Because he would have an incredible assist record. The amount of times in his Arsenal career where he has played that final incisive pass and then the Arsenal forward has fluffed his lines is unreal. The Gunners would be genuine title contenders if they had a clinical striker, simply down to Ozil’s creativity.
Again, there were calls for a world-class striker at Arsenal this summer, Arsene Wenger ignored the fans and media’s wish for a forward, yet, Ozil has still managed to have his best start to a season yet. He has 10 assists in 11 Premier League matches this season. He also set a new Premier League record on Sunday as he registered an assist for the sixth Premier League match in a row, teeing up Kieran Gibbs for the equaliser against Spurs in the north London derby.
His form has been scintillating this season and the amount of chances he creates during a game is just staggering. His vision to spot the run of a forward and then pick them out with the perfect accuracy and weight of pass is simply sensational. People can compare him and David Silva all day long, but Mesut Ozil is the better player. The German is one of the three most talented players in the Premier League, with Eden Hazard and Sergio Aguero.
If he can continue this form and if Arsenal can actually manage to bring in a striker who can finish chances, then they will be genuine contenders for the Premier League either this season or next.
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