Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Okay, now we can see Mesut Ozil again

Arsenal have to be picky about when they utilize Mesut Ozi, and that’s just the facts. Crystal Palace is another opportunity for him.

Arsenal have a big decision to make regarding the future of Mesut Ozil. Unfortunately, that decision is primarily based on fiscal responsibility, and that falls on Arsene Wenger’s plate. It was Wenger that gave Ozil this mammoth new deal that, at the time, was exciting, but now, is a bit of a hindrance.

I keep saying the same thing, but do you really want to pay someone £350,000 to only be effective for half the season at most? No, you absolutely don’t. Unless he’s contributing twice the production at home, which he isn’t.

It seems like Unai Emery has wrapped his head around this too. And to his credit, he gave Ozil every chance in the world to make a case for himself, but the case just isn’t there to be made.

A big turning point happened against Napoli. With qualification in the semi-finals on the line, Emery chose Aaron Ramsey to play the central No. 10 role. That wasn’t the surprising part, because Ramsey is a better fit for the role in that particular match.

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What is a bit surprising is that after Ramsey got hurt, Emery didn’t send Ozil out there as a sub, he sent out Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who hasn’t played a central, No. 10 role all season long. And while Mkhitaryan wasn’t that great, it was clear that this is a position he could play, and he could even split the difference between Ozil and Ramsey.

But the point is, Emery didn’t choose Ozil. He gave Ozil the start away at Everton – that failed. He introduced Ozil as a substitute against Watford – that didn’t necessarily fail, but it didn’t succeed the way he’d have wanted it to.

Honestly, that’s probably all Emery needed to see to know that Ozil was not touching the pitch against Napoli. Why run the risk? Why continue experimenting when you know the outcome beforehand?

That said, here comes Crystal Palace at the Emirates, and it’s an Ozil-approved match. This is the exact kind of match that he will thrive in, which means that it’s safe to send him out there and let him dazzle us fans.

I still get excited to see Ozil in top form, as I hope he will be today. I just wish we could see it more often.