---
title: "Wenger explains how Arsenal manage Ozil’s fitness"
canonical: "https://readarsenal.com/2016/01/01/wenger-explains-arsenal-manage-ozils-fitness/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Adam Hamdani"
section: "Arsenal News"
published: "2016-01-01T22:53:23Z"
modified: "2016-01-01T22:53:23Z"
---

# Wenger explains how Arsenal manage Ozil’s fitness

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed how the club handle the fitness of Mesut Ozil.

The German has been in the form of his career this season, creating over half of Arsenal’s 33 Premier League goals this season.

Ozil is just four assists away from Thierry Henry’s all-time Premier League assist record of 20, hitting 16 in his first 19 games – form which has seen him already touted to go on and be named the PFA Player of the Year.

Having started every game for Arsenal during the congested Christmas fixture period, claiming a goal and two assists, Wenger [revealed that he often allows Ozil to skip training](https://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20151231/wenger-how-we-manage-ozil-s-fitness)right before a match in order to preserve his fitness.

> Twitter: Özil in Europe’s top five leagues this season:
>
> – Most assists (16)\
> – Most chances created (80)\
> – Most clear-cut chances created (21) (@MesutOzilStats)

> *I gave Mesut a one-week holiday during the international break.*
>
> *At the moment he doesn’t practice a lot, we rest him a lot between the games.*
>
> *He is a guy who, once the basic fitness is there between the games, he wants to play. There are types of players, sometimes the most technical players, it looks like it demands less energy for them to play – it is just natural for them.*
>
> *Rotation is sensitive more in the centre of the team than on the flanks. If I play Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and then Joel Campbell, that is not really* rotation*, but in the heart of the team at centre back or central* midfield *it is* more risky*.*
>
> *You also look at the impact Ozil can have on other players. The Premier League is very tight and if you go into the decisive game and \[rest Ozil or other key players\], the other players think subconsciously ‘Why?’, and even the player himself.*
>
> *When we lost at Southampton everyone said to me ‘Why didn’t you rotate?’ and then when I did change it, ‘Why did you rotate?’. At Southampton we had five days recovery after Manchester City and that should be enough.*

![Ian Walton/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/502715126.jpg)

The Gunners face Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon and Wenger allowed Ozil to miss out on Friday’s training session, although the German superstar will likely start the fixture.