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Arsenal: Mesut Ozil Being “Let Down” Fundamentally Wrong

By Josh Sippie

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: A dejected Mesut Ozil of Arsenal at the end of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on February 4, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: A dejected Mesut Ozil of Arsenal at the end of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on February 4, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal’s struggling maestro Mesut Ozil has had his countrymen come to his defense, including Oliver Bierhoff, who cast all blame off of Ozil. Hogwash!

The less we can talk about Arsenal’s 5-1 stomping at the feet of Bayern Munich the better. Yet people keep bringing it up. Mainly on behalf of Mesut Ozil.

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You should be warned, this is going to turn into a rant really quick. While I have tremendous respect for the talent and the character that Ozil has, I have been massively disappointed by his recent showings and I believe a lot of the blame belongs on him.

Olivier Bierhoff, the general manager of the German national team, does not agree with me. His words, as quoted by SkySports:

“If I look at Ozil, who was singled out following the 5-1 loss to Bayern, in that match there was not much support for a player like Mesut, who lives on his footballing qualities. The team let him down a bit.”

Are you saying that it is the responsibility of Ozil’s team mates to help him be effective when they are having their own battles to contend with? What would you have them do?

This is a bizarre and, quite frankly, ridiculous way to look at things. Here you have a world class player with a plethora of talent at his disposal, who led the Premier League in assists last year, and suddenly it’s the fault of his team mates for not supporting him?

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I don’t buy this for a second. Ozil isn’t just being made the scapegoat against Bayern Munich. His poor form goes back weeks now and if you want to blame the team for letting him down for weeks, then you’re saying that Ozil is no better than Theo Walcott, who needs everything to be going right in order for things to work out for him.

And honestly, I’d be more open to that claim than to the claim that his team mates “let him down”. That is absolute malarkey.

Olivier Giroud can be let down if he doesn’t have proper service. That’s a byproduct of his game and part of the problem some people have with him. But Mesut Ozil is the centerpiece of the offense, the guy holding it all together. He is, unfortunately, undroppable. If his team mates aren’t performing, some of that – most of that – falls on him because in Arsene Wenger‘s system, he is the primary, and sometimes only creator.

If anyone could be construed as “letting down” Ozil, it is Wenger, for not doing something about his poor performances. He won’t drop him, he won’t challenge him, he won’t change formations and move him, so in the end we are right back at the same problem.

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Nobody let Ozil down but himself. He is struggling mightily. Pinning that struggling on his team mates gives him a free pass to keep on struggling until someone else steps up. Why can’t he step up?

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