Arsenal: Mesut Ozil earned a run of games

Mesut Ozil was back to his mercurial best at Anfield on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup. It wasn’t against the stoutest opposition but it was a fantastic display that has earned the Arsenal midfielder a chance to play games.

Arsenal fans love a saviour. They might heckle their own players from time to time, but there is always a white knight riding in on the horizon. It’s easy to understand why. Through the years, the Gunners have been blessed to not just have great club legends but bonafide icons of the sport. Thierry Henry, Denis Bergkamp, Patrick Viera and Ian Wright are just some of the greats that have graced the club.

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So, it is understandable that many fans view Mesut Ozil in the same way, or I should say, want to view Mesut Ozil in the same way? We all know that Ozil is divisive, so without getting trapped in the slightly pointless ‘is Ozil rubbish or fantastic?’ debate, let’s just get straight to the point: he should be playing. This isn’t an emotional point of view or one looked at through fanboy spectacles. It is based on thorough and accurate analysis.

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Let’s start with his position. Ozil is Arsenal’s only attacking midfielder. Literally the only one. Yes, Dani Ceballos can dribble a bit and pass a ball in a straight line pretty well. Joe Willock is a fantastic little box-to-box midfielder in the making. Matteo Guendouzi is a Swiss Army knife with the mentality and grit to sneak out of tight spots. Lucas Torreira, while erstwhile used, is a tidy and at times dynamic defensive midfielder. Emile Smith Rowe could grow into a very effective attacking option but is not ready to start on a regular basis. Reiss Nelson would actually be a good fit as an attacking midfielder but the young Englishman is in desperate need of game time at the senior level to settle. Any other midfielders in the squad. simply aren’t worth mentioning.

When we actually examine the midfield options, there are plenty of deeper-lying midfielders, sixes and eights in more technical terms, but not many attacking midfielders, number tens. Fair enough, teams like Manchester City, Liverpool and Barcelona have moved away from the free-roaming number 10 role, but that does not mean that Arsenal cannot be successful with one.

Arsenal need points, no matter how they get them. And that means using what they have to their advantage. And for Unai Emery, that is very much a wealth of attacking talent to outscore opponents. The defence is a major problem, but this team has goals flowing out of every sinew. But there has been something missing.

In the past few weeks, Arsenal’s play has looked like trying to use a mallet to slice a side of beef. Blunt, would be putting it lightly. Is Ozil going to turn the team into an attacking force that can outscore opponents every single week? Of course not. A more complete and cohesive attacking system is required for that. However, in the last three league games, the team has not scored from open play. Ozil will help change that.

Naysayers will point to his lack of running and work ethic, but does that hard running and pressing matter when you don’t have someone to master the cerebral side of the game? When I watch Arsenal play, there is not one player on the pitch who jumps out at me as a thinker, a creator, an instigator. The midfield looks out of ideas until Guendouzi loses his mind and starts running dead ahead. There are terrific attackers players in the side, yes, but without the foundation from the central midfield, what can be expected of them?

But against Liverpool, Ozil exhibited the guile and intelligence that has been missing. Yes fine, it was Liverpool’s J team, but Ozil’s little shimmies away from defenders, the intelligent passes that change the point of attack, the ability to drift into space and receive the ball which allow the rest of the team to shift four or five yards and engineer passing angles and scoring opportunities. Subtlety, deception, continuity, these are the parts of the game that Arsenal severely lack without Ozil.

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There will be plenty of fist-shaking to the suggestion that Ozil should start. Eventually, he will have a stinker and the memes will come out in full force. That’s fine, but after Wednesday night, Ozil has shown he deserves a run of games. He won’t be the saviour, but at this point, what else have Arsenal got to lose?

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