Arsenal: Mesut Ozil field day strongly encouraged, but not necessary

Mesut Ozil has been in fantastic form with Arsenal as of late and while it would be stunning to see that form continued, it isn’t exactly a necessity.

Arsenal has been blessed with a splendid run of form by the German maestro Mesut Ozil lately. He has amassed his entire season tally – two goals and five assists – in his past six matches. And if you throw out the two Mancunian defeats, you don’t lose a tally. Making it four matches in which he amassed those numbers.

Through it all, though, Ozil has had some pretty stellar form. Mostly post-international break in the past three matches. He has been creating a ridiculous amount of chances and proven himself such a vital piece of the club that many, myself included, who used to doubt his long-term viability are now rethinking their tune.

Ozil has proven that he wants to be here. He has answered the call and stepped up while his Chilean cohort has done nothing of the sort. He gave the ball away 34 times against Manchester United.

With Southampton on the cards, a usual bogey team, it may seem written in stone that Ozil continue that form, but I’m taking a practical approach to the German’s involvement.

If Ozil were to have an off game at some point, which you have to assume will come sooner or alter, wouldn’t it be best to happen against a club such as Southampton that don’t have a lot of scoring threats?

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I realize this sounds a bit odd, so let me clarify. Obviously I would love to see his form continue. Who wouldn’t? In no way am I advocating that we should be hoping for a dud. That would be stupid.

All I’m saying is that, in my history of watching Mesut Ozil, I have come to understand that consistency isn’t his forte and that every so often, he has off games. On good runs, hopefully that off game is a one-off and not the start of a new trend.

Which leads back into my point. Thinking practically, as someone who is not trying to lose my head over current Ozil form, if he were to have a bummer against the Saints, I won’t worry about it. I will accept that he is human and move on to the next match against West Ham, where we will need him to be on point.

Next: 5 Key Players To Watch vs Southampton

Maybe I’m underestimating Southampton. Maybe I’m just overthinking my own excitement over Ozil’s current form. But I like to think of it as grounding expectations of him. He isn’t going to be a world beater in every match he plays. It would be too convenient, though, if he only had off-games when we didn’t need him as much.

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