Arsenal: The magic of benching Mesut Ozil seen at last

Mesut Ozil is at such an echelon of players that he never gets benched. Arsenal has adhered to that principle, but Germany may have shed some light.

Arsenal have struggled with finding the best Mesut Ozil. Or, rather, let’s call it the “most consistent” Mesut Ozil. We have seen his best – boy have we – and it’s a beautiful thing. But consistency is another thing.

Of course, that shouldn’t be any surprise, as consistency for any player is hard to find, even someone of his caliber.

Germany struggled with it too. Well, they struggled in general. And one of the two men that they clearly held most responsible for that opening loss against Mexico was Ozil, who was subsequently benched.

Ozil doesn’t get benched. He just doesn’t. Arsene Wenger never benched Ozil, even when we begged him to do it. There is a use in benching someone, and that use isn’t just to get some fresh legs out on the pitch.

The main use is to get that person that is benched fired up – fired up to make a difference when they take to the pitch again.

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Ozil didn’t play against Sweden, but was given the start in the all-important match against South Korea. While Germany as a whole was pretty bad yet again, losing 2-0 in full time and getting bounced, one of the sole bright spots was Ozil.

Don’t forget one of Ozil’s other major criticisms – that he doesn’t show up in big games.

Well, he showed up in a big game here. He created seven chances, dominated possession, taking the most touches aside from the general, Toni Kroos. He was a constant presence and the primary instigator for a stale German attack that continuously let Ozil’s creativity down.

That is all a shame for Ozil, not reaping the rewards of his hard work. But what isn’t a shame is seeing just how he responded to being benched. Which, again, is not a situation he has been in so far as I can remember.

What does this mean? It means that Ozil has a sense of urgency. It means that he has a sense of determination that can be triggered when it’s made clear that he hasn’t done enough.

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I would hope that Unai Emery saw this and understands that, unlike what his predecessor may have hinted at, it’s okay to bench Ozil. And this is why – because he can answer the call.

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