Arsenal simply not equipped for a man like Mesut Ozil

Arsenal certainly made a lot of people happy when they landed Mesut Ozil, but it’s looking more and morel like they simply aren’t ready for him.

Arsenal changed the game when they bought Mesut Ozil in 2013. Suddenly they were back in the modern transfer world and they announced their presence by shattering the club record on an internationally recognized superstar.

That’s some pretty cool stuff.

The problem, however, is still being taught to us on a daily basis. Because the problem lies in the formula that is required to achieve both personal success for Ozil and club success for Arsenal.

There is no denying what Mesut Ozil has. His silky smooth touch is unmatched. None can handle the ball better than him. And when it comes to brilliant, magician-like passes and creative flourishes, look no further than the German maestro.

But in case you haven’t been paying attention, there are some drawbacks to Ozil’s game, and those drawbacks all come down to one thing – disappearing. There are simply games where Ozil disappears and in the infinitely disappointing game against Stoke City, that was the case.

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He was the (negative) talk of the town after the match, other than Granit Xhaka of course, with renowned midfielder Steven Gerrard calling out the German for being a “liability and a quitter” (as quoted by the Metro).

Those are some pretty harsh words, but they really play into the unfortunate belief around Ozil, and that’s that he is far more of a passenger than a driver, and I don’t think that the Gunners are or have been equipped for what Ozil brings to the team.

The simple reality is that Ozil, in order to be at his absolute best, requires the absolute best around him. He needs to have superstars surrounding him in order to achieve the level of consistency that we want him to have because he simply does not have the ability to drive the team himself. We have tried. For four years we have tried, but he clearly does not have that gene.

And that’s fine, not everyone does. But the Gunners do not have the supporting cast to really make Ozil pop and, until they do, this is the Ozil that we will get – there some days, not on others.

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There is plenty that makes Ozil special, but driving a team and being the primary force is not one of them. And I don’t reckon that will change so long as this is the cast he has to work with.

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