Arsenal: Mesut Ozil may be running out of corners to turn

Arsenal thumped Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby and no one did more thumping than Mesut Ozil. Has he turned another corner, or is that just silly talk by now?

Arsenal’s history with Mesut Ozil is an interesting one. He is a maligned genius. An unappreciated creator. A glory-less magician. No one can look so good and then so bad, yet have numbers that aren’t exactly all that different looking.

So much seems to come down to his enjoyment of the game. From the off against Tottenham, you could tell he was going to have a good game because he looked like he was enjoying himself. Form the off against City you could tell the opposite. He didn’t look happy.

It’s an interesting predicament. No one has ever denied Ozil’s creative abilities, it’s what he does around those abilities that counts. And there aren’t always things to count.

Against Spurs though, I’d like to say that a corner has been turned for the German. He was on top of his game, he owned his responsibilities and he decided to remind everyone that doubts his “other” skills, myself included, that he is more than capable of doing extra work. It may have gotten him subbed before the full 90 due to exhaustion, but it was an all-around super match.

Then again, how many times has Ozil turned a corner? I say this with equal parts concern and excitement. Because you can only turn so many corners before you end up with consistency and most times, when you turn a corner, you at least have some sort of positive stretch ahead. At least, that’s the idea.

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Ozil turned a corner for Arsenal when he returned from his big injury in 2015. He turned a corner when he registered 19 assists. He turned a corner when he started being more selfish with the ball and shooting more often.

Has he turned a corner now and added more eagerness to his game? And if so, is that his last corner yet to turn?

I’d say so. When he first arrived,l there were three main complains with Ozil – he didn’t shoot, he was too weak, and he didn’t seem to have any urgency. He learned to shoot, he bulked up during his injury and against Tottenham, he played with incredibly urgency.

I wouldn’t say it’s the first time we’ve seen Ozil play with urgency, not at all, but it may be the first time that Ozil has tied all improvements of his game together so completely. He was more than an attacker, he was a complete player.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Tottenham

The trick is at is has always been, making this last. Stringing this along and turning it into the real thing. I completely agree that nothing is more enjoyable to watch than Mesut Ozil having himself some fun. So let’s make that happen more often as we have been so unable to do before.

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