Arsenal: Mesut Ozil absence an opportunity for expression

Arsenal will be without Mesut Ozil against Chelsea, which should be terrifying, but it’s more like an opportunity for the club to express itself differently.

Play your best players, and you will be okay. That is normally what they say. But that’s hard to do when your best players are hurt and, in Arsenal’s case, Mesut Ozil is one of their best players and he is hurt. Which should set the club back, but I’m here to express a massive dose of optimism regarding his status.

Yes, Ozil is capable of creating some beautiful chances for his team mates, but his absence will allow some of his team mates to express themselves in more dominant ways.

At first, I thought Jack Wilshere will fill in, and I got beyond excited. But then I realized that is far too drastic for Arsene Wenger and he will probably just run with a front three of Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette.

And then I got even more excited. Think about it. With Welbeck and Alexis as the creative hubs, we have two high-effort guys that will be all over the pitch, covering defensively and providing counter attacking outlets, which are vital. Both jobs are jobs that Ozil did not do particularly well.

And let me just re-emphasize the speed of this attacking three. With Granit Xhaka always lofting balls over the top, this front three has some excellent chances to bring the Swiss howitzer some assists, because there will absolutely be chances to counter and they will be able to capitalize.

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I don’t see the doom and gloom. Again, I love what Ozil brings to the side, but I’ve never seen what he brings as indispensable. By that, I mean that he isn’t a central piece to the success of the club. When he is clicking, the club is obviously on a higher level and they are able to do more. But even when he isn’t at his best, they still find ways around it and do just fine.

Like Bournemouth for instance. Ozil was solid, but he was far from the best player out there.

Arsenal without Ozil is just a new way for the club to strike and strike quickly. Between the infiltrating fullbacks that they have and the speedy front three, this jailbreak counter is going to be devastating and, I make no apologies for this, arguably more effective than if we were to wait for Ozil to string things together.

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Not just that, but I am always excited to see the club with a chance to perform without one of their likely-departing stars.

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