Arsenal: Unai Emery understands Mesut Ozil, which is the problem

Arsenal need to sort out Mesut Ozil as soon as possible, and the problem isn’t that Unai Emery doesn’t understand him, but that he does.

No one knows how the Mesut Ozil drama will end at Arsenal, but let it not be said that solutions are consistently trying to be found. Emery has given Ozil every chance in the world to prove himself this season but, unlike Wenger, Emery doesn’t have an unlimited supply of faith.

If you do not prove your merit, you do not play. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your name is or what you are being paid.

Of course, the problem is that, while Ozil isn’t playing, the media is having a field day, criticizing the way this club is run as if they have any better idea what can be done when your highest paid player is also incredibly ineffective and can’t find his footing in the new era of the club.

Many complain that Ozil is simply misunderstood by Emery, that Emery doesn’t know how to get the best out of Ozil. But the problem isn’t that at all, it’s the opposite.

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Emery recently spoke about the German maestro and made it 100% clear what he is waiting for – consistency. That’s all he wants. He said that Ozil holds his future in his own hands, all he has to do is train with consistency and quality and the keys to the mint will be back in his pocket (I’m paraphrasing a bit).

Hearing that, the only thing that should be going through your head is “well, duh.” But then you’ll probably realize that no manager in recent history has demanded that of Ozil – consistency. They’ve given him creative license to be Ozil. Which often works out, but in the Premier League, it doesn’t.

So you see, what Emery is demanding out of Ozil is what Ozil has never been asked to provide before, and thus we see that rather than not understanding what Ozil is all about, Emery instead understands him so well that he is looking for the German to fill in the one missing piece if he wants to be part of the future of the club. Which isn’t such an unrealistic ask, is it?

Of course, maybe it is, and Ozil is destined to leave regardless. It’s not like that would be a shocking end to this lengthy bout.