Arsenal: Mesut Ozil centerpiece an end goal or hold-me-over?

Mikel Arteta seems determined to build the Arsenal team around Mesut Ozil. That’s rather curious, but let’s see how it pans out.

For the past five years, the question has been how to get the most out of Mesut Ozil. But it got to the point where no one at Arsenal was asking that anymore. Instead, the question became how can we get rid of him. His contract was too big, his involvement too small, there was nothing that could be done.

Unai Emery died on the Mesut Ozil hill. He tried to play the hard love game, but that didn’t get much of a reaction from the German, who’s scarce appearances rarely amounted to anything.

Now, with Mikel Arteta in charge, another approach is being taken. One of acceptance and priority.

According to Arteta himself, he’s determined to build the team in such a way that Ozil benefits. He said that as with every other player out there, Ozil requires the team around him to be structured to help him.

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And that’s what Arteta is trying to do.

We’ve seen it early on. The way that Arteta is situating the team is benefitting Ozil immensely. He’s finding so much space to work with and as has always been the case with Ozil—when he has the space to operate, good things happen. The problem has always been getting him the space to operate. Otherwise his utility drops to just above zero, sometimes lower,

When you think about it like that, it’s not such a curious tactic. Arteta is just trying to get the most out of what might be his most talented player. The curious thing is just the timing of it all. Ozil is not destined for much longer at this club, and you have to question how long he can keep up this string of positive performances. That’s the only thing that will truly vindicate Arteta’s little experiment here.

Of course, the alternative is the Emery way. Shove him to the side. Isolate him. Hope that he can either be sold or that he will self-motivate. Something like that. Arteta is more the Arsene Wenger type with his stars. Trust.

Ozil doesn’t have much longer to give the club, and rumors of a move to MLS are swirling, so it might just be like what Aubameyang is going through—a temporary revolution that seems fun, but isn’t the end goal. Time will tell.