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Arsenal vs Bournemouth: Winning Formula Doesn’t Involve Mesut Ozil
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal face Bournemouth after such a short break and they may have to do it yet again without Mesut Ozil. Which is perfectly acceptable.
Arsenal has received the news that Mesut Ozil may have to miss another match as he is bedridden with the same sickness that kept him out against Crystal Palace. All things considered, I see no problem with this.
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As it stands, Mesut Ozil is not a part of the winning formula. I don’t mean that as a slight in any way, but look what happened against Palace – Alexis and Iwobi combined for ten chances, split down the middle, and accounted for both the goals – Iwobi with a headed goal and Alexis with the assist to Giroud’s scorpion kick.
Plus, if Ozil is sick, there is no reason to rush him back. None at all.
Besides, something tells me that recovering-from-sickness Mesut Ozil would be similar to City-and-Everton-losses Ozil. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to see that Ozil anytime soon. Especially not when absolutely necessary.
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And that’s the main thing here. Yes, Ozil is a blessing to this team, but there is no need to throw him back into the fray with questionable health, hoping for magic, when we can coast to what should be a simple victory in the same fashion that we did against Crystal Palace.
Naturally it’s never that easy, but we have reason to be perfectly confident outside of Mesut Ozil’s own abilities. Alex Iwobi is never in question when he is feeling confident, and he is surely feeling more confident than ever after that fantastic display over the weekend.
Likewise, there is no reason to ever doubt Alexis, even on such short rest. If he needs a break at the end, so be it, but the man has the engine to keep playing no matter the workload.
As I mentioned after Palace, it was refreshing to see the team do so well without Ozil. Not because I want to see the Gunners proceed without him, but because I wanted to see how they would function without such a key piece of their offensive puzzle.
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Maybe I have some hope that Ozil will see this and elevate his play even more (if that’s possible) but even if that doesn’t happen, knowing the alternative and utilizing it is only going to make things less stressful. And as Gooners, we can all stand to have less stress.