Arsenal: Stark Mesut Ozil stats that maybe motivated Aaron Ramsey exit

Mesut Ozil’s influence on Arsenal’s performances has waned significantly this season. Could these stark statistics have motivated the Aaron Ramsey sale?

Mesut Ozil is having his least effective season since he signed for Arsenal five years ago. Admittedly, the Premier League campaign is only six games old and we are dealing with small sample sizes when evaluating his performances, but given his overall influence and the statistics that he is producing, there is cause for concern.

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As this piece by Ali Tweedale from The Daily Telegraph details, Ozil is still covering roughly the same amount of ground as he always has, a little over 10km per 90 minutes. For comparison’s sake, Eden Hazard is at 10.3km per 90 minutes and David Silva, 10.8km per 90 minutes. So he’s still running. But he’s not having the same influence.

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Tweedale highlights that Ozil is averaging 5.01 touches of the ball per kilometre run. In his three previous seasons, he has never dipped below eight touches per kilometre. And more than just the amount of touches, Ozil’s impact is substantially dampened in almost every statistical category.

Ozil usually averages about 70 passes per 90 minutes; this season, that figure is at 38.4. He usually averages 3.5 chances created per 90 minutes; this season, that figure has dropped to 1.7. He has no assists yet and just one goal; he usually averages around 10 assists a season and five-plus goals.

Moreover, it is not just the quantity of his play, but also the quality. Ozil’s average expected-assists-per-90-minutes, that is the expected-goals figure for the chances that he has created per 90 minutes, averages out at just north of 0.36 over the past four full seasons. This term, that figure has plummeted to an alarming 0.06.

The same can be said for his expected-goals-per-90-minutes. Over the past four full years, it has averaged at just short of 0.20 per 90 minutes. This season, it has dropped to less than a quarter of that value, 0.04 per 90 minutes. Ozil isn’t having the same impact on the team. And it’s not even close.

I started looking into these numbers over the past week, just as the news broke out that Arsenal had rescinded a contract offer for Aaron Ramsey and had chosen to allow him to leave, whether it be via a sale on the cheap in January or for nothing next summer. My immediate reaction to the news was that Arsenal simply couldn’t afford Ramsey. After handing bumper deals to Ozil and others, with an already testing wage budget, if Ramsey wanted to be handsomely paid, which he is well in his right to demand, he would not find it in north London.

But John Cross — take that for what it’s worth — has also stated that another reason for Ramsey’s impending departure stems from Unai Emery himself. The Spanish head coach has recognised that Ramsey doesn’t fit into his 4-2-3-1 system and feels that his presence unbalances the team and stifles the influence of others in the team, most notably, Ozil. I wonder if Emery has noticed the drop-off in Ozil’s impact and reconsidered the shape of his team, looking to re-work it such that Ozil is now put in a position to flourish.

It is pure speculation on my part. I have no idea what Emery’s thinking is regarding the Ramsey decision. But I do know that he was consulted. And I do know that he was concerned about the investment placed in Ramsey, a player who doesn’t seem to fit into his system. Perhaps, then, it was Ozil and his deterioration that has motivated the Ramsey exit.