Arsenal: Mesut Ozil is not being paid to have quiet successes

Mesut Ozi had a quietly successful match against Valencia, but that isn’t why he’s at Arsenal, is it? He has to be held to higher standards.

Arsenal had a lot of standout performers against Valencia, particularly in the attack, but Mesut Ozil had one of his quiet successes, where he didn’t do a lot, and was taken out early, but he did fit into the flow of the match, move the ball around, and looks useful.

But that doesn’t mean it was a good match. The stats don’t lie in this one. He did very little overall – zero shots, zero chances, zero of most things except for a stunning one successful dribble. He didn’t lose the ball, he didn’t prove a liability, but he didn’t prove that useful either.

Here’s my thing: If you’re making as much money as he’s making, and you’ve been as woefully inconsistent as he’s been all year, I don’t want to see quiet successes. I don’t want to see him fit in. I want to see him stand out.

Yes, I’m still preaching about how Mesut Ozil’s wages are the biggest problem at the club and yes, that’s probable because of the Aaron Ramsey situation.

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If it needs to be said, I don’t blame Ozil. Of course he’s going to sign the deal that Arsene Wenger gives him when it’s worth that much money and he has such a cushy spot in the club.

It’s been said again and against the Ozil is at his best when he operates outside of the spotlight, and I totally get that. But when he is successfully operating out of the spotlight, he’s still standing out on several levels, namely in his ability to orchestrate the attack.

He wasn’t doing that. Alexandre Lacazette was. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was. Granit Xhaka was. Ozil wasn’t. He was an insightful passenger on this attacking train and I’m sorry, but that isn’t enough. Not with what he has proven to be in the past and not with what Unai Emery and us need him to be. There are a ton of players who could fit into this attack, dip and dive with the attacking moves, and look useful like he did against Valencia.

And they wouldn’t cost nearly as much to do it.

I’m not trying to sound like a hater, but seriously, it’s time to call this experiment to a close. The club needs to move on.