Arsenal Vs Olympiakos: Peek at post-Mesut Ozil world

Mesut Ozil will miss Arsenal’s trip to Olympiakos on Thursday night due to the anticipated birth of his child. His absence will provide a peek into the post-Ozil era.

Whether he has deserved to be or not, Mesut Ozil has been the cornerstone of the Arsenal team ever since he arrived in north London in 2013. Cesc Fabregas left two years prior, Robin van Persie left a year later. Then Ozil arrived, the bonafide star and world-class player that Arsene Wenger was to build his team around.

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Ultimately, Ozil never lived up to those hefty expectations. He was brilliant, at times, and produced some uniquely wonderful moments, but only briefly was he ever the best attacking midfielder in the Premier League, and that is what he was signed to be,

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Nevertheless, despite his relative merits and shortcomings, Ozil was the man upon which Arsenal hung their hopes. It is no coincidence that their best periods of form over the past seven years have come when Ozil shines. But now 31 and earning a somewhat egregious £350,000 per week, the Ozil era will come to an end shortly. It might be this summer. It might be in a year or two. But Ozil will not be the centrepiece of the team for much longer, even with his recent rejuvenation under Mikel Arteta.

On Thursday night, the Gunners travel to face Olympiakos in the first leg of their Round of 32 Europa League tie. It is a crucial game, one that can set the team up for a successful knockout stage as they look to win the competition and sneak into the Champions League through the backdoor. Arsenal need to win.

Ozil, however, will miss the match. As confirmed by the club earlier this week, the midfielder will remain in London due to the anticipated birth of his child. And so, with Ozil in London, for the first time in his tenure, Arteta must structure his strongest starting XI without his lynchpin creative midfielder at the heart of it.

It will be fascinating to see how Arteta goes about dealing with Ozil’s absence. Does he trust Joe Willock to play in the number 10 position? Is Dani Ceballos rewarded with his excellent performance against Newcastle United and pushed higher up the pitch, perhaps with Matteo Guendouzi introduced as the anchoring midfielder alongside Granit Xhaka? Or does Arteta change formation entirely, maybe with the intention of moving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang into a central position?

That last option is unlikely. Arteta has played the same formation in every match thus far, keen to establish a well-defined and certain system. But the personnel changes that come due to Ozil’s unavailability will be intriguing. Ozil is the most unique player in the entire squad. There is no one who can produce the same smoothing, controlling but creative influence that he can. So how does Arteta replicate such an impact without Ozil, all while preparing for a must-win match in an important competition?

Thursday night, then, will provide a peek into the post-Ozil world which is looming. Someday soon, Arsenal will be without the cornerstone piece of their past seven years, and the trip to Olympiakos will be the first stepping stones of entering this new era.