Arsenal: Many ways to lead, but Mesut Ozil’s is bad

Mesut Ozil has insisted that he has always been a leader at Arsenal, with him being handed the captain’s armband as a result of his character. There are many good ways to lead, for sure, but Ozil’s is not one of them.

When Unai Emery was asked about the leadership in his Arsenal squad, he said that he saw five captains within his players: Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil.

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The role of the captaincy is not as important as the general feeling would have you believe. Really, the problem is overall leadership, not one man wearing a semi-pointless band around his arm that does little but crumple up his sleeves and get passed around whenever a substitute is made.

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That said, those that are named as captains should exhibit leadership qualities. I do not want to define those qualities, as for each person and team they will be vastly different. There is no blanket, archetypal definition of a good leader. But there are bad leaders, and there are traits that all good leaders should avoid.

Ozil, who was named as one of the five captains and has worn the armband in recent weeks, has stated that he is a leader in the dressing room not because of his captaincy but because of his character:

"“Whether I have the captaincy or not, my goal is to help the team in the best way. To wear the captaincy is an honour. It’s Arsenal. And I’m proud of that. To go out and wear the captain’s armband and lead this group is something special and I’m proud of that. But does it change me? No. It’s who I am, I was always like that. It doesn’t change my attitude. I’m the captain because of who I am. I don’t need to change who I am.”"

I would agree with him. No one is a good leader out of title. But those that are handed titles can still be leaders, and sometimes they can be poor ones. From what I have seen from Ozil, he doesn’t tend to display the kind of traits that a good leader should.

Body language, for instance, is extremely important. Communication, tactically, on the pitch, and also privately, whether it be encouraging those that are struggling or challenging others that are growing complacent and lazy. A relentless will to success, to strive for perfection at the deliberate neglect of other things. A ruthless work ethic.

These are the kind of traits that Ozil does not embody. And I am not saying that all good leaders should show all these elements. And I also do not know what goes on behind closed doors, the quiet of the London Colney corridors. But it is fairly easy to see that Ozil is not a positive leader for this team, at least not in character, anyway.

I don’t actually have a problem with Ozil being the captain of the team. It doesn’t really matter who is, as long as there is some element of leadership within the team. The problem would be if he is being relied upon to lead. There are many ways to lead, but Ozil’s is not a good way.