Arsenal: The many moods of Mesut Ozil all on display at once

Mikel Arteta lived up to his word and gave Mesut Ozil go in his first Arsenal XI. The effect was mixed, but we saw the brilliance among the pieces.

Mesut Ozil‘s time at Arsenal has been characterized by long stretches of ineffectiveness mixed in with moments of brilliance. Against Bournemouth, we saw something similar. Though contrary to other matches this season, where he’d have just a moment of positivity, maybe two, we saw something else. We saw Ozil at his best.

But we also saw Ozil at his worst.

In the opening half hour of the match, there was no threat deadlier than Ozil. He was finding so much open room to roam and true to form, any time that happened he picked out a killer pass to spring a chance. He lead the day with four chances created.

After that Dan Gosling goal, though, the confidence was shaken, and Ozil took several steps back. He was bullied off the ball, he flailed his arms in frustration, he was a liability when asked to make something of possession.

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He lead the day with three dispossessions.

Back and forth Ozil went. When he was in space, he found his teammates, he gave them space, he gave them chances. But as soon as he was challenged, he caved, he collapsed, he fell to pieces, and he looked pissy every step of the way when that happened.

It’s not very often that we see such breadth in one player, but here against the Cherries we saw six years of Arsenal football—nearly seven now—all boiled into one match. It was thrilling, it was frustrating; it was inspiring, it was head-scratching; it was praise-worthy, it was scream-inducing.

Overall, that’s a good thing. Because I think we’d all take this Mesut Ozil over the alternative. Nobody is perfect, but what we saw from Ozil here opened the door to improvement, and to excitement. He was a key piece of the attack and I’m honestly excited to see what else he can do. That’s the thing with Ozil, it’s rarely ever been so stark. He’s usually either there or he isn’t, but rarely so up and down.

Clearly Mikel Arteta is taking effect, and as I said, this makes me really excited to see what happens next. Even if it inevitably leads to Ozil being sold, at least we can expect a reasonable return if he keeps this up.