Arsenal: Unai Emery can make Mesut Ozil his best possible self

Arsenal chose right in Unai Emery, but one man may become the problem child – Mesut Ozil. Unless they can find a happy medium. Then everyone wins.

When you look at the philosophy that Unai Emery is bringing to Arsenal, there is a lot to be excited about. Pressure, possession, positive attacking play – these are the things that the new manager will expect out of his men.

That being the case, he chose well. With players like Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Sead Kolasinac, even Shkodran Mustafi further back, there are a lot of players who play high-intensity, pressure-filled games, always looking to push play forward.

Then there is Mesut Ozil. Ozil is not known for his high work rate. No I take that back, he is known for his high work rate, because he doesn’t have one. Ozil is not a constant pressurer of the ball. He would rather not play defense and, let’s be honest, he is slow in the attack at times.

That doesn’t seem to jive with Unai Emery, but that may be yet another hidden perk of appointing Emery in the first place.

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Ozil just signed a new deal. Which means he could be sold at a steep rate in the transfer market. Or it could mean that he is here for the long haul, and therefore has to find a peaceful middle ground between his own limitations and the high-octane philosophy of his new manager.

Emery is here to light a fire, which should serve Ozil well. So that’s a start. The difference between a motivated Ozil and a ‘checked out’ Ozil is like the difference between an elephant and a garter snake.

Keeping Ozil motivated is step No. 1. But it is not the only step. People want to say that Ozil can’t change. That we knew the kind of player he was when he signed.

That may well be, but when he suffered that long-term injury in 2014/15, he came back like a man possessed. He looked more physical, more tenacious and more determined than ever before. That has since faded.

But we know it exists. That is the best that Mesut Ozil can be, and Emery can make his job in North London a hell of a lot easier if he can lock down the best possible Mesut Ozil. That doesn’t fall solely on Emery though, it also falls on Ozil’s willingness to compromise.

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Ideally, this won’t be a problem. I don’t expect Ozil to grind up and down the pitch, snapping at loose balls and tackling like Vieira. But there is a middle ground he can find, and it can be made more visible under Emery’s tutelage.

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