Arsenal: Mesut Ozil Turning Into Gunner’s Captain Planet

Arsenal needs to find the best of Mesut Ozil again, but his powers may only be fully activated with his full ensemble of henchman.

Arsenal supporters have been having a Civil War over how much blame Mesut Ozil deserves for the consecutive capitulations against Everton and Manchester City. And it’s a fair debate. The problem is that every kind of agrees, more or less, they’re just arguing different points.

Related: Arsenal’s 30 Greatest Players Ever

Ozil is fantastic. He has off games. His off games are really off. He’s still world class. I think we can all agree on those four things.

However, there is an emerging theme of excuses coming up for Ozil. Finally people are starting to acknowledge that Ozil is at his best with Olivier Giroud on the pitch. Giroud’s hold up ability and his knack for absorbing long balls and giving team mates workable continuations is a masterpiece when utilized properly.

Now, Ray Parlour and Thierry Henry have come out and defended Ozil, saying that he will only be at his best when Santi Cazorla returns from injury.

This is all starting to sound like an old TV show I watched as a kid, “Captain Planet.” In the show, Captain Planet, who, as you can guess, is all about saving the Earth, needed all the powers of his buddies to be at his strongest. His buddies were earth, fire, wind, water and heart. Without them, there was no Captain Planet. Here, take a look at the opening song before I move on:

Of course you’ve figured out that I am only semi-serious by now. Ozil obviously doesn’t only appear when all his buddies are on the pitch, but there is a shred of Captain Planet in Ozil. He still has his uses when Giroud and Cazorla aren’t out there, but in order to be his full, dominant self, he needs earth, fire, wind, water and heart.

Now all I can think of is “With your powers combined, I am Mesut Ozil!”

Does Mesut Ozil really need all of his buddies to be at his best? I think we will find out against West Brom, a team that he should be more than capable of dealing with. They aren’t going to pressure too bad (unless Tony Pulis has been watching).

It should not be a tough match, despite where West Brom sit in the standings, because Arsenal has to be fired up and ready to go. The Baggies shouldn’t be challenging too much for possession at the Emirates.

Next: Wenger's 10 Worst Signings Ever

Go Planet.