Arsenal: Mesut Ozil beginning to hum again, but questions still remain

Mesut Ozil was starting to purr once again in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday night. However, it is not these matches that he has to convince his doubters in. Questions still remain.

Football really is a beautiful game when Mesut Ozil starts to purr. In Monday night’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United, you could see Ozil slowly grow, his body language showing a real passion and desire that allowed his true qualities to show. By the end of the match, he was the best player on the pitch.

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No player made more final-third passes than the Arsenal attacking midfielder, including the whole of the Newcastle team, he was top for chances created and crosses, and only Aaron Ramsey made more ball recoveries. This was Ozil getting very close to his best.

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Indeed, in his post-match press conference, Unai Emery was more than happy to praise Ozil for his commitment and quality:

"“I like how every player is playing and Mesut with his quality is helping us and giving us his work. Also individual moments and skills, he has the capacity to help us. Mesut is playing like we want, with the system and tactically. He is working a lot and after that work he is also giving us his quality.”"

Without question, this is the type of performance that is expected of Ozil, an all-encompassing, free-roaming, game-dictating, chance-creating type of performance, one that very few players in world football have the skill set to be able to achieve. It is why Ozil is paid £350,000-a-week, after all.

But while Ozil may be beginning to hum again, — and this is not the only game in which he has hinted that his best form may be just around the corner — his ability was never doubted, not even by his harshest critics. Ozil’s quality is unique. It is why he is such a frustrating and divisive player.

The questions regarding his value rest on his production, his commitment, and his consistency. And even with performances like this one, they are all still more than relevant to pose. Ozil may shine in the odd game, as he has done even during some of his darkest periods, but it is in the normal rhyme and rhythms of the season in which he must repeatedly perform.

There are few things regarding football that I love to do than watch Mesut Ozil play. He really does encapsulate the very phrase ‘the beautiful game’. He plays the sport beautifully. But playing beautifully does not beget winning, and football, like any sport, is about winning, and that is something that Ozil does not always achieve, at least not to the extent that his talent suggests is possible.

Ozil is a remarkable footballer. And I would love for him to be playing his best at Arsenal next season. But to change course because of one home match against Newcastle United would be foolish. The accusations levelled against him still remain, though they are falling.