As an outsider looking in, it seems as though Arsenal Football Club are currently in crisis and many of their players want to jump a sinking ship.

Manchester City are offering hard money for want away forward Alexis Sanchez, Inter Milan are offering a way out for defender Shkodran Mustafi, Kieran Gibbs looks set to move to West Brom and Liverpool and Chelsea are tussling over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Interestingly, but not entirely surprising, no one seems interested in taking Mesut Ozil off the Gunners hands and that must worry the German international and his representatives, who reportedly turned down a £280k a week  contract offer earlier this year.

While all of Europe’s big clubs have strengthened this summer, no side seems keen on taking World Cup winner Ozil.

Many will believe that this is down to his poor performances in recent months, maybe even a year now.

At twenty-eight years of age, Mesut should have the footballing world at his feet and should be entering into his prime years. His £42.5m signing in 2013 was meant to signal a change in Arsenal’s fortunes, he was meant to be the guiding light that would see the club return to the glory days of winning Premier League titles.

When on form Ozil is a lovely player to watch as he glides across the pitch and finds pockets of space all over the place. His greatest asset is his vision and his passing ability. In his four full seasons at Arsenal, Ozil has created a whopping forty-two assists for teammates.

Unfortunately though the attacking midfielder seems to go through differing spells during a campaign. He will go from majestic to pedestrian and more often that not recently it has been the ghost-like Mesut Ozil that the Gunners support have seen on the field.

Another major problem for the creative talent is that he seems to go missing in the really big games, the fixtures that will make of break his side’s season. Those were the type of encounters that he was meant to influence in the right way for the North London team when his much heralded signing was announced.

Many complain about the German internationalist’s lack of defensive contribution and his lack of desire to help those around him when the other side has the ball.

After the Gunners loss to Stoke City, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard was scathing in his assessment of Ozil:

“I just worry about his reaction and body language – when the ball is turned over he offers his team-mates zero. Away from home he’s a liability – he just doesn’t do enough.”

“It’s clear to see that out of possession he doesn’t want to know – he only wants to be on the ball, trying to create and making things happen.”

Now while I agree that Mesut should do more, especially when it comes to tracking back runners that go past him, I also think we should point out that Arsene Wenger doesn’t protect Ozil enough in midfield.

Arsenal should have two disciplined holding midfield players. One with the legs to get around the pitch to get the ball back at every opportunity and another one disciplined enough to marshall in front of the defence at all times.

Ozil should have a free hand to stay further forward and dictate things. But that only works as long as the German then does enough in the final third himself.

If he isn’t creating chances then Mesut Ozil really is a passenger that Arsenal can ill afford to have in their team. If he carries on playing like that during this campaign then will any great institution want him next year?

At the moment I can only see China offering him a huge bumper deal next summer. I’m sure certain German and Turkish sides will take him but they certainly won’t match his current wages, never mind offering the £280k he rejected back in April. A mid-table Italian club may look at him and hope to rejuvenate his career.

Are these the options that will excite Mesut Ozil? 

The playmaker has to dig deep and start playing like he actually wants to play football. He needs to create chance after chance, he has to look for the ball at every turn and dare I say it he has to be more ruthless in front of goal himself.

Ozil needs to quickly find his mojo and if he can do that then maybe Arsenal’s season can be a brighter one and maybe next summer Mesut will find himself a move that can reignite his career as a top star!

If he doesn’t then maybe his pickings will be slim and he isn’t good enough to be a big fish in a big pond.

Posted on August 30th, 2017 by scott
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