Arsenal: That’s not what Mesut Ozil is being paid to do

Arsenal had a lot of people fall flat on their faces, but no one was as guilty as Mesut Ozil, who literally didn’t do a single thing.

I realize I’ve been reaching all this weekend and today about how important it is not to judge players based on single performances. It’s hard for fans to do that, especially Arsenal fans, but it’s important.

So here I am, about to tear Mesut Ozil a new one for one performance. Hypocritical? Perhaps, but from my point of view, this guy is one of the highest paid players in the Premier League. When you’re in that position, you aren’t allowed games where you literally accomplish nothing.

And Ozil literally accomplished nothing.

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This wasn’t a matter of “oh you just don’t appreciate Ozil.” This was a matter of he didn’t do anything.

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Statistically it was bad enough. Zero shots. Zero chances created. Zero defensive contributions. One dribble completed. That was the extend of his statistical day. There was nothing there and he was left frustrated to the max because of it.

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But going beyond that, the distinct lack of involvement was troubling. He touched the ball less than David Ospina. When he did get the ball, he either misplayed a pass or he was suffocated and couldn’t handle the pressure.

It was said during the broadcast that Ozil wasn’t getting the service that he needed, but that is complete claptrap. Ozil is not a service-required kind of player. He is the service. If your service man needs service himself, then the system is all sorts of messed up.

Ozil was unable to get Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang involved, which I imagine was his one job, to get our new world class striker into the game.

He failed at that, naturally, because he failed at everything.

Again, I’m not trying to say this affects anything big picture for Ozil and his tenure at Arsenal. I’m just saying that, while disappointment may well have been on the cards, I didn’t expect the German maestro to be at the center of that disappointment. Every other midfielder had a better match than him.

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Which may not be saying much, as this attack was like a freshly-neutered puppy, but that’s the type of situation where your big guns need to step up. Whether he likes it or not, Ozil is a big gun and there are times, like these, when he needs to step up.