Arsenal: Mesut Ozil critics haven’t thought about life after him

Mesut Ozil critics have been quick to jump on the players back without taking into consideration the consequences of Arsenal life after the creative German.

It’s easy to point the finger at a big money signing when the team isn’t performing, which is exactly what has happened with Mesut Ozil. The 29 year old German has had his fair share of criticism by many pundits and Arsenal fans, calling for the player to be dropped.

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With the contract saga of both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, many transfer rumors have come to light, seeing as how the players have yet to sign a contract extension, with their current contracts expiring at the end of the season.

Over the summer transfer window, Arsene Wenger stood firm in his stance to keep the contract rebels during their last year, in the hope they will sign this season. But with November just a week away, the club hasn’t made any progress on their contract situation.

Both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are reportedly wanting £300,000 a week, which has stirred controversy among supporters. Many have supported the contract for Alexis, and have pleaded with him to stay, but when it comes to Ozil, there are a large number who don’t believe he is worth that amount of money and think selling him would be a better option.

Little do those critics know how important the World Cup winner is to the team. What Ozil lacks is leadership qualities and he can sometimes be criticized for his attitude , but apart from that he is by all means a world class player.

If we look back at the 2-1 Watford defeat,  it’s easy to blame Ozil for the 1v1 miss against Gomes. But no one mentioned the quality passes he made before Watford equalized. Ozil played a subtle through ball to get Alex Iwobi 1v1 with the keeper which was ultimately saved.

Scapegoating Ozil for little defensive mistakes is also easy, but we fail to notice how good he actually is when players around him are doing their jobs well. This brings me to the point of saying Ozil shouldn’t have to be defending so ruthlessly if the two center midfielders can control the midfield and not lose their shape, which we have seen many times with the Xhaka, Ramsey partnership.

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Aaron Ramsey is always seen running further up the pitch leaving Granit Xhaka alone in the midfield needing the help of his attacking players.

Ozil also gets criticized for not being a big game player, yet he has scored against Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Napoli, and Everton. Apart from his goal scoring record against big teams, his assists and chance creation is the best in the Premier League since his arrival.

He managed to create eight chances in the 5-2 win against Everton over the weekend which is the highest a player has created all season, also scoring once and assisting one as well. Before his first assist, Ozil created 24 chances, which begs the question of the lack of quality around him.

Finally, lets just say Ozil was to leave Arsenal, whether it be in January or the end of the season, along with Sanchez, history has proven that Arsenal do not buy big money replacements for big money departures.

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The sales of Robin Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Alex Song saw no big player arrive at the club. Ozil leaving may open the door for a young player, but it could also mean that the club buys a £5 million player in the hopes of turning him into an Ozil replacement.