Arsenal And Mesut Ozil: Style Over Substance?

Arsene Wenger has stated that Mesut Ozil cares far more than people think. Is Arsenal’s genius German style over substance or is there more to his character?

It is no surprise that the recent poor form of Arsenal has coincided with the anonymity of Mesut Ozil’s performances. The German is instrumental to everything that the Gunners do. He knits together their tight, intricate passing; he provides a rhythm and a smoothness to their attacks; he has the incisive ability to carve open defences with ingenious vision and accurate passes.

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However, when a side is struggling, the luxurious type players like Ozil are not the best ones to have in the starting XI. There is a need for the industrious, hard-working, gritty players who are capable of grinding out the hard-earned wins when the slick passing is not quite clicking.

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Because is ‘not that type of player’ he is often branded as lazy. He is languid, relaxed, so composed on the ball that he almost need not try. As such, confusion as to his desire often abounds. Arsene Wenger, though, has claimed that Ozil cares far more than many would believe. When asked about the rut that Ozil has toiled through in recent months, Wenger stated that the Champions League exit affected him badly given his desperation to win Europe’s elite club competition:

"“He is very ambitious and he wants to win the Champions League. It was difficult to take for everybody and maybe even more for him because it’s a big part of his ambition.He cares. What I wanted to say in that is that people often reproach him by saying that he doesn’t care because of his style of play, but he cares much more than people think he does.”"

As Ozil seemingly works his way back to form after a sharp second-half display in the win over West Ham on Wednesday night, it leads me to ask the age old question: Does his style cloud the doubters of his desire to win or is it simply that he is a style over substance player, where his effort levels do not match his ability?

If you were to ask me this question just six months ago, I would have profusely defended Ozil, claiming that he is a misunderstood player, criticised for shortcomings that do not accurately delineate his game.

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However, his two performances in the losses to Bayern, his going missing against Chelsea and now his sudden resurgence, I have come to question whether he is willing to do the hard work. Contrast him to a Willian or Hazard and his work ethic is certainly lacking. He is undoubtedly a talented player but there is not enough substance when the going gets tough, as it inevitably does.