Arsenal Vs West Ham: Mesut Ozil absence no excuse

Much has been made of Mesut Ozil’s ‘tactical’ absence from Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham United. However, his missing is no excuse for the performance that the rest of the players put in.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham United, the Arsenal discussion has centred on Unai Emery’s decision to omit Mesut Ozil from the matchday 18-man squad, even though the German had returned to full training earlier in the week and was said to be fit enough to play.

Find the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here – The 2018 Review

Emery was criticised when the teamsheet was first announced. He was then asked about it in his post-match press conference. Social media was awash with vociferous comment on Emery’s ‘tactical’ decision, with the Ozil fanboys most certainly out in full force — as an aside, this furore has proven Arsene Wenger’s comments that people are bigger fans of players than clubs nowadays.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

And while I myself have been critical of Emery’s to at least not include Ozil on the bench, the German’s absence is not the reason that Arsenal lost. Yes, he would have helped substantially and not having him available hurt the Gunners’ chances, but they did not lose because he wasn’t in the team. They lost because they did not play well enough. Ozil’s absence is not an excuse.

I would say that only one non-defensive player performed at the level that would be expected of them, that being Alex Iwobi. Both strikers were loose in possession, starved of service and wasteful in their finishing, the midfield offered little to no command and control of the match, unable to play through the West Ham press, and neither wing-back was able to shuttle the ball forward down the flanks.

Moreover, the shape the Emery selected did not help. Playing a back three and a front two meant that Arsenal were empty-handed in the middle of the park. Their being outnumbered was what ultimately cost them the victory as they were unable to gain a foothold in the game and serve the attacking players with accurate passing.

What was especially concerning was the lack of tempo in the team’s passing. The number of times that Bernd Leno would pass to one of the back three, they would take one, two, three, four touches, moving it slightly sideways but not really opening up an angle for a pass, then turn, pass square to another member of the back three that was quickly being closed down a West Ham attacker, who would then be forced to play back to Leno, who would then aimlessly punt the ball up the pitch, was absolutely criminal.

Ozil would have made that easier. He drops deep, picks up those pockets of space and moves the play into more advanced positions of the pitch. But the players that Emery played were good enough to perform a fairly simple action. And yet, time and time again, they were unable to do so.

Obviously, not having a player of Ozil’s undoubted quality and creativity was a major blow. But as Emery rightly commented after the match, the players that he selected were good enough to win the match. They just simply didn’t perform, and both they and Emery are to blame for that.