Arsenal: Mesut Ozil’s problems are his alone to fix

Arsenal are making their progress as a unit, but some players seem to be getting left behind. Mesut Ozil is one of those guys, but it falls on him.

Arsenal are still too early in the process to start discerning who can and cannot be a part of the future, but that does’t mean we can’t start getting early reads on who has the upper hand and who has a long ways to go.

Granit Xhaka, for instance, fell behind early in the first two matches, but since then, he has come back to assert himself as a serious contender to be one of the first names on the team sheet. His problem, as I covered earlier this week, didn’t revolve around his own deficiencies (which he has, same as anyone else), they revolved around the partnership he was a part of.

Mesut Ozil is in a different boat. I once saw these two as in similar situations and they still kind of are, but the main difference is that Ozil’s problems are his alone to fix.

And by that I mean that Ozil has been played at his favored position with amazing attacking companions and he has done nothing with it. And I mean absolutely nothing.

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I often preach that we have to accept Xhaka for who he is and appreciate his strengths while coping with the weaknesses. Therefore the same should apply to Mesut Ozil, but the problem is that, unlike Xhaka, Ozil’s strengths aren’t always clear and present.

He is a creator and a dribbler and a cerebral player who creates chances better than anyone else. Thus far into the season, he’s done none of that. He hasn’t been creating chances, he hasn’t been illustrating his strengths, which would allow us to see past the weaknesses, and he has nowhere to hide. He can’t say he doesn’t have quality around him, because he has gobs. He can get sick, I guess, but that doesn’t help anyone.

Ozil has to show that he can be a part of Unei Emery’s plans because he seems to be the one nearest to being left behind. And again, it’s still too early, but this time still counts in the long haul and he will have to make up for it at some point.

Hopefully that comes soon. I’d hate to see Ozil fall by the wayside when we know how potent he can be. There’s still plenty of time.