Arsenal: Mesut Ozil’s rope is decreasing

With the additions of Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe, Arsenal head coach Unai Emery now has a plethora of attacking options to choose from. And that is bad news for Mesut Ozil.

When Unai Emery arrived at Arsenal last summer, it was clear that the relatively free ride that Mesut Ozil had enjoyed up until that point was coming to an end. Arsene Wenger was a huge admirer of the German’s qualities and was more than willing to accomodate his lazier elements to feature his irreplicable creativity.

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Emery, however, is a more pragmatic coach. While he obviously recognises the talent of Ozil, he also requires a greater defensive contribution from all of his players, especially those in offensive positions to press the opposition high up the pitch.

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Last year, Ozil was handed a little rope. Emery challenged him to perform in this new manner and waited to see what his response would be. Largely, it was a lacking one. Bar the odd astonishing performance here and there, Ozil was disappointing last season. He took the rope that Emery handed him and tied himself a noose.

However, because of the lacklustre options in the squad the undoubted quality of Ozil, especially once he seemed a little more committed to the Emery style once he returned to the team in the latter stages of the season, Emery turned to the German time and time again, knowing that he was the best source of victory for the team. Emery could never really drop Ozil fully because he didn’t have anyone to drop him for.

However, after an excellent summer transfer window and the development of young academy players, that might no longer be the case. Obviously, the departure of Aaron Ramsey takes one central midfielder out of the equation, Dani Ceballos immediately fills the gap. And then there is the burgeoning Joe Willock, who was brought on for Ozil in a telling substitution in the Europa League final, the return of loanee Reiss Nelson, and, of course, Nicolas Pepe.

While all these players may not precisely take Ozil’s place, they will dictate the formation that Emery chooses, which could in turn impact on Ozi’s featuring. Pepe especially seems well suited to play out wide in a 4-3-3 with three more natural central midfielders. That is not a system that would suit Ozil and could lend Emery to fielding Ceballos alongside Lucas Torreira and one of Granit Xhaka or Matteo Guendouzi.

Similarly, Willock has looked excellent in the pre-season and Nelson is chomping at the bit also. If there is any drop off in application on Ozil’s part, they will be more than happy to take advantage. And this does not include Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan or the prospect of playing with two centre-forwards, all of which could limit Ozil’s playing time.

All this is to say that Emery finally has other options to Ozil. Whereas last season, he did not have the option to consistently drop his star player for not producing, now he does. Ozil’s rope is shrinking. It is time for a response.