Arsenal and Mesut Ozil: Something in what is said

Marco Reus has stated that Mesut Ozil is the best player that he has played with. He is not the only to praise the Arsenal playmaker. There must be something in what is said about the German.

There might not be a more difficult player to decipher than Mesut Ozil. The Arsenal playmaker is a uniquely gifted footballer, a manipulator of the ball like few in the world, a waltzing breath of beauty in an increasingly physically-obsessed sport. And yet, the wealth of his talent is betrayed by the poverty of his production.

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This juxtaposition is the driving force for perhaps the greatest range of opinion on any one player in world football. I cannot think of many players that urge some to call him the greatest creator on the planet in the same breath as some label him a fraud.

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How good is Mesut Ozil? It is a question with myriad answers. But if you were to ask those that have played with him and managed him, there is one theme running through all of their answers: he is special. This week, Marco Reus was asked who the best player he has played with. His answer? Ozil.

"“Mesut Ozil. The way he creates goals. He’s a player with a really good eye for his team-mates. He has so many assists in the Premier League and with the national team. He’s just an intelligent player and you can see that right away with a first glance.”"

And Reus is not alone in his inordinate praise for the German. Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly livid when he was sold to Arsenal in 2013. Jose Mourinho said this upon Real Madrid’s deadline day transfer:

"“Ozil is unique. There is no copy of him, not even a bad copy. He is the best No.10 in the world. He makes things very easy for me and for his team-mates with his football vision and the decisions he makes.”"

Earlier this season, when Ozil was beginning to reintegrate himself into the first team, Alex Iwobi did not hold back on what he and his teammates thought:

"“We know what Mesut is like because we see him in training every day. He’s world class.”"

That goes along with Robert Pires describing him as ‘magical’, Arsene Wenger continually believing that he was the centre-piece of his team, and Joachim Low building a World Cup-winning side on his creative talents. Just this week, Andy Cole on Sky Sports was extolling the wonders of playing in front of a talent like Ozil.

These are some of the best footballers and brightest minds of the past 30 years. And they all agree on one thing: Ozil is a special, special player.

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Surely that counts for something. Right?

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