Arsenal: Wenger Should Take Guardiola’s Aguero Approach With Ozil

With Ozil out of sorts at the moment and Arsenal still wondering how to get the best out of him. It may be worth Wenger taking a page out of Guardiola’s book.

The world of modern managers is becoming increasing competitive. With top level coaches and facilities at every Premier League club, managers require expert tactical nous to get the best of each other. This means a variety of different management styles clash in the world of football. That being said, it doesn’t mean managers can’t learn from each other, and Arsenal can take advantage of this.

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Recently Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has come under a lot of scrutiny. The usual complaints of lack of spending and naïve approaches to big games will always be thrown around. But more recently it has been suggested that Wenger is no longer able to get the best out of some of his players. None more so that Mesut Ozil at the moment.

Mesut Ozil started the season in blistering form. Following last season’s tremendous assists quota, Ozil proceeded to adding goals to his game. Memorable strikes against Stoke and Ludogorets brought comparisons to the great Dennis Bergkamp. Yet the German has struggled a lot more of late.

Arsenal’s poor form has coincided with poor performances from our playmaker. The German has been criticised of being a ‘flat track bully’ by only turning up against the smaller sides. But even against the lesser teams of this league (Watford and Hull), Ozil has been largely anonymous recently. How can Wenger revive his star man and bring Ozil back into the limelight. A clue is a few hundred miles north in Manchester.

Manchester City have been suffering from similar inconsistencies as Arsenal of late. Their star man Aguero was off the boil for a while and City put in some abject performances. Yet, Guardiola didn’t just let it continue. He took drastic action.

Aguero was replaced by new signing Gabriel Jesus and City’s form has picked up. Jesus has taken full advantage and is leaving Aguero reeling in his wake. Not only has this benefitted the team as a whole. It will probably also benefit Aguero as he will have to prove his worth at every opportunity now, which will only increase his performance levels.

Wenger should try a similar tactic with Mesut Ozil. Ozil may be a fantastic talent on his day but no player is bigger than the club. Ozil shouldn’t just be selected on reputation but on merit. A spell on the sidelines for Ozil would do no harm at this point.

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The team is suffering from a lack of effort and incision with Ozil on the teamsheet so why not try someone else. Arsenal may not have a shiny new signing like Gabriel Jesus to come in but there are certainly enough candidates to fill the void.

Iwobi has proven his worth in a number 10 role and youngsters Reine Adelaide and Maitland Niles could even take up the mantel. A 4-4-2 formation could be experimented that does not feature a natural playmaker.

This will show Ozil that he has to pull his socks up does he want to feature for Arsenal. And if he does, Arsenal will benefit from a rejuvenated Ozil. Fans can be fickle and are slating Ozil at present for his poor performances. But all Gooners know the kind of player he can be with the right motivation and form.

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It’s time for Wenger to show some ruthlessness with Ozil like his counterpart Guardiola has done with Aguero. It is likely to benefit both the German and our team as a whole.