Arsenal: ‘Comfortable’ Mesut Ozil Exactly What He Shouldn’t Be

Mesut Ozil has stated that he is comfortable with life at Arsenal. However, given his and the club’s recent struggles, that is exactly what he shouldn’t be.

The coming summer is set to be a significant and long-lasting one for Arsenal. After a season in which they have become engulfed in uncertainty and vociferous debate, the North London outfit face a number of key decisions regarding the squad, the infrastructure of the club and, perhaps most importantly, the future of the manager.

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Arsene Wenger’s contract expires at the end of the year and, thanks to the club’s recent struggles, there have been growing calls for him to leave from many factions of the fanbase, including some of his staunchest defenders.

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It is the doubt over Wenger’s future that has influenced much of the uncertainty of many of the other key decisions that are to be made. Wenger, though, has claimed that he knows whether he will stay or not. The issue is that he is unwilling to reveal what that decision is. When asked about the future of the manager, and his future also given that his contract expires in the summer of 2018, Mesut Ozil insisted that he is comfortable in North London:

"“Do you think Arsene Wenger tells the journalists [about my future] before he tells me? I know him differently. I have a contract until 2018 in London and I feel very comfortable there. We’ll talk soon and then make a decision. Of course, we have had a difficult time recently and we are not satisfied with sixth place. I am convinced, however, that we will catch up again soon.”"

Ozil, though, should not be comfortable with life at the Emirates. While he may feel unruffled by his quickly expiring contract, his performances on the pitch should not be a soothing sentiment. Much like his team, Ozil has been worryingly underwhelming for some time, especially in the big games, most notably against Chelsea in the Premier League and then subsequently Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

He has looked lethargic off the ball – some suggest that his languid style delude some into thinking that he is lazy, but he has been explicitly sluggish of late – is unwilling to press high up the pitch, an approach that Alexis Sanchez was visibly wanting his teammates to undertake, and failed to track back overlapping defenders, often exposing the likes of Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin in defensive areas.

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Ozil may well be feeling comfortable with life at Arsenal. He may well be happy living in North London with the cushy environment that Wenger cultivates at the Emirates. But he absolutely shouldn’t be. He does not deserve to be and it is arrogant of him to think otherwise.