Pain in the Arsenal
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Mesut Ozil would not have made much difference for Arsenal

By Josh Sippie

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A win is a win, and 3 points is obviously the end goal, but given the start to the season, the fact that the transfer window has been quiet and how pale this attack has looked, you would expect Arsenal to do a little bit more against a 10-man Newcastle, but an own goal was all they could muster.

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The first course of action is, as always, to determine what went wrong (wrong as in, why we could not score a goal of our own). The immediate response was that it was the lack of Mesut Ozil that cost us a lot of creativity and to a certain extent, that is an accurate assessment. Ozil is a creative genius. However so is Alexis, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and so on. There is still something more lacking with this Arsenal squad.

Arsenal have had Mesut Ozil playing all year and he has not been able to make a difference for the club, just like everyone else. Aaron Ramsey was the fill-in and although he was his typical, erratic self at times, he still managed to impact the game arguably more than anyone else. He completed 5 key passes, more than Santi Cazorla’s average of 4 and Mesut Ozil’s average of 3.8 per 90 minutes played (via Squawka).

Crying out that it was Mesut Ozil’s absence that cost us is like crying out that Theo Walcott is the savior of the Arsenal attack. Is Mesut Ozil a difference maker? Sure, but no one person can fix what is going on at Arsenal. Arsene Wenger is right in that the Gunners have all the necessities covered to win a title. They have a proven goal scorer in Giroud, a creative genius in Ozil, auxiliary goal scoring and creative options in Alexis, Ramsey and the Ox, a stern defensive midfielder in Coquelin and a solid back line. But something is missing.

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Last season, the only thing that we were supposed to need was a goal keeper. We got one. Now, we are off to one of the more sluggish starts in recent memory. Mesut Ozil cannot fix that on his own.

I’m not one to advocate for a new signing just to make a new signing but that is exactly what Arsenal need. Bringing in a new face would shake things up, it would remind everyone on the pitch that they are not immune to being replaced if they are ineffective. Even if it is a winger, which we have a surplus of, it would send a message to the club that what they are doing is not good enough. And it isn’t .

But enough of this pessimistic rubbish. We won. 7 points out of 12 is not the worst in the world.

Next: Arsenal v Newcastle Player Ratings

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