Mesut Özil: Time to Move Ön?

[MutableEarth]

I think a decent part of the reason he's not appeared to be as much of a standout player so far this season is that the rest of the team has raised their game up closer to where him and Alexis normally reside, as opposed to him really dropping off all that much. He can still go up a gear, has been sloppier sometimes than you would expect, but he's been a consistent threat every game and he's always contributing to pretty much every attack in some way.

Still learning his new role as well, as is Alexis. They are almost like a new strike partnership for us at the moment and it's just going to keep getting better I think. Özil's movement is helping Alexis a lot as the CF, as he gives him space when he runs beyond, and they are combining very well regardless of who is on the end of chances. And I mean this whole discussion about Özil's form is coming at a time he is scoring at a better rate than he ever has for us, and the team is in the midst of a great run of results. I don't think there is much to be concerned about.

Overall he's still our most integral player apart from Kos I would say, in that when they are fundamental to how the team plays at its best.

Kos, Cazorla, Özil, Alexis. An irreplaceable spine. All 4 are extremely difficult to replace currently.

 

[GunnerBP]

Özil can definitely get better, and so can Alexis, but the fact that they can get better doesn't mean that they aren't playing extremely well.

Özil is playing completely differently now because his game has always been about finding space and being deadly when he gets that space.

Last season space opened up around the AM position, so most of his job was finding players in dangerous positions with a killer pass. Giroud's lack of movement means he has to be the target for most of the attack, so Özil's job kind of became passing to Giroud when he was in a good attacking position.

Alexis, as a CF, likes to drop deep into midfield, and now space has been created in the CF space, so Özil runs to that space. Luckily for us Alexis has the talent to find Özil.

But Özil definitely needs to improve his finishing and as the season progresses and our attack changes due to the inevitable rotation of players Özil will rack up some assists too.

Özil is taking his game to another level this season, and he knows it.

 

[RUS arsenal]

Kos, Cazorla, Özil, Alexis. An irreplaceable spine. All 4 are extremely difficult to replace currently.

Cazorla can partially cover for Özil and Xhaka can do so for Cazorla to an extent but that's about as far as it goes for these 4.

 

[Sir Bump]

Özil may have dropped in his performance rating, but a 70% Özil is still our best player.
I hope one he's recognised for all the stuff he does off the ball.

But the big difference is this year is that the rest of the team has lifted the output and for the first time in many many years we are playing as a team.

Let's cross our fingers we don't get the usual long term injuries to the key players....

 

[Aevi]

Özil may have dropped in his performance rating, but a 70% Özil is still our best player.
I hope one he's recognised for all the stuff he does off the ball.

But the big difference is this year is that the rest of the team has lifted the output and for the first time in many many years we are playing as a team.

Let's cross our fingers we don't get the usual long term injuries to the key players....

 

[NotAUserName]

A couple of things:

- Alexis had started to become relatively predictable as a flank player, particularly with Giroud as CF. Coming from the right he was picking up decent scoring positions, but he mainly played from the left, and it wasn't long before every move he made in that position started to become telegraphed. Because he has quality, he was still able to succeed, but it's become clear that Alexis needs to be somewhat central to the play in order to get the best out of him. I'd say his role up front is like a free role really, and the movement ahead of him is far superior than it was a season previous, with smart movers like Özil, Walcott and Iwobi. Özil is as good at moving into/using space as he is at creating chances. I don't think Wenger loses that much pushing Özil further forward - in theory, that's where we want him anyway. I suspect the chances created will go up, as will his shots. He should really be scoring more than he does.

- I've probably said this 100 times in the Coquelin thread but Wenger is pretty much using them the best way he can. There is this theory that Coquelin should be sitting doing nothing else but tackle deep in the field while Cazorla is further up. That's all very well and good, but there are two problems with this. The first one is that Coquelin still has limitations on the ball, and distribution from deep with him will be a problem unless Cazorla also drops deep and makes himself available - and that brings us to the other problem, which is that Wenger wants the team to get the ball forward quicker than they probably do at the moment, so he pushes both midfielders up and gives the defenders space to distribute themselves. The latter is more a Wenger problem than anything else, but in practice I don't see much issue with it as of right now, as our positioning during the build-up seems to be miles better than last year.

Coquelin is playing some of his best football at the moment in this B2B role (bar one game IMO), and I correctly predicted that not only is this the best way to use him in the current set-up, but that he would shine by winning the ball higher up the field to help with attacks, and he has done that. Sitting deep and tackling wouldn't have been it. Only when we need to defend a lead! Having said that, I agree that his limitations make his final third presence a tad troublesome when he cannot do any damage. If he was a better passer, he'd probably play deeper. That's why we bought Xhaka, because what we may slightly lose defensively (and that's more to do with pace and agility than anything), we gain in technique.

I probably didn't make it clear in my original post but I fully support the decision to play Alexis as a striker, I just don't like that he has to drop deep way more than usual only for Özil to take up his position. It's ironic because the reason we are playing him there in the first place is because he is our best finisher so we want him closest to the opponent's goal. I am also not particularly blaming Alexis for this. He always wants to make things happen so he usually takes matter into his hands. This is mostly a result of Özil being less involved in our build-up play because he's being told to score more goals, which is not bad had it not being taken to the extreme. Take the 'Boro match for example. We were struggling to break them down with Elneny-Coq playing one-two. I was expecting Özil then to take charge himself but he was usually found hanging around 'Boro's defensive line looking to make a run in behind. Elneny is not Cazorla so the chance never came. This is also when Alexis will drop deep and then we have no presence in the box, against a team that defensive. What is happening here is that Wenger has gone from one extreme to the other; Sanchez used to create more chances from the left/right but is now a striker, which is okay. The issue then is Özil who has also become more concerned with goals than chances and Santi who is also now involved mostly in build-up play.

The only positive thing I'd say about having Cazorla deeper is as you said, our build-up play is better but the downside being he is now less effective at creating chances. I also don't agree that Coquelin is necessarily better/worse and I think the way we are using him is definitely worse for the team. You've already acknowledged the problem it poses for our offense when Coquelin is our most involved player in the final third but there are even greater issues in defense. First of all, he is not better at winning the ball higher up the pitch. Yes it's a better position but his tackling & interception rates are even worse. There's no reason for Wenger not to implement a pressing plan among our forwards if he was so concerned about winning the ball high rather than simply rely on Alexis and Coquelin. It also exposes our defense by having Santi/Elneny as the deeper of the two midfielders rather than Coquelin. Coquelin is currently the most dribbled past player in our team (he was in the top 5 in the league at one point) due to his high positioning and his aggressive style of play - I can't blame him. The problem is once teams get past him, which is easier up the pitch, it is then solely up to Mustafi-Koscielny to save us as Santi/Elneny are not that good defensively. There were several instances in the last match when Sunderland were counter-attacking and they would only have to deal with Elneny because Coquelin was always late in arriving. Similar thing happened against 'Boro but our defense and some luck helped us. Our defense had an off day against PSG but we were lucky since Cavani had one too. Our center-backs are in very good form now but we still need a contingency plan for when they won't be. Wenger needs to start using Xhaka soon.

 

[MutableEarth]

I probably didn't make it clear in my original post but I fully support the decision to play Alexis as a striker, I just don't like that he has to drop deep way more than usual only for Özil to take up his position. It's ironic because the reason we are playing him there in the first place is because he is our best finisher so we want him closest to the opponent's goal. I am also not particularly blaming Alexis for this. He always wants to make things happen so he usually takes matter into his hands. This is mostly a result of Özil being less involved in our build-up play because he's being told to score more goals, which is not bad had it not being taken to the extreme. Take the 'Boro match for example. We were struggling to break them down with Elneny-Coq playing one-two. I was expecting Özil then to take charge himself but he was usually found hanging around 'Boro's defensive line looking to make a run in behind. Elneny is not Cazorla so the chance never came. This is also when Alexis will drop deep and then we have no presence in the box, against a team that defensive. What is happening here is that Wenger has gone from one extreme to the other; Sanchez used to create more chances from the left/right but is now a striker, which is okay. The issue then is Özil who has also become more concerned with goals than chances and Santi who is also now involved mostly in build-up play.

The only positive thing I'd say about having Cazorla deeper is as you said, our build-up play is better but the downside being he is now less effective at creating chances. I also don't agree that Coquelin is necessarily better/worse and I think the way we are using him is definitely worse for the team. You've already acknowledged the problem it poses for our offense when Coquelin is our most involved player in the final third but there are even greater issues in defense. First of all, he is not better at winning the ball higher up the pitch. Yes it's a better position but his tackling & interception rates are even worse. There's no reason for Wenger not to implement a pressing plan among our forwards if he was so concerned about winning the ball high rather than simply rely on Alexis and Coquelin. It also exposes our defense by having Santi/Elneny as the deeper of the two midfielders rather than Coquelin. Coquelin is currently the most dribbled past player in our team (he was in the top 5 in the league at one point) due to his high positioning and his aggressive style of play - I can't blame him. The problem is once teams get past him, which is easier up the pitch, it is then solely up to Mustafi-Koscielny to save us as Santi/Elneny are not that good defensively. There were several instances in the last match when Sunderland were counter-attacking and they would only have to deal with Elneny because Coquelin was always late in arriving. Similar thing happened against 'Boro but our defense and some luck helped us. Our defense had an off day against PSG but we were lucky since Cavani had one too. Our center-backs are in very good form now but we still need a contingency plan for when they won't be. Wenger needs to start using Xhaka soon.

Alexis is always going to want to be involved in the play, it's pretty much the trade-off with Alexis as a striker. I'd say that's what separates him from Luis Suarez - Suarez does the hard graft off the ball and doesn't always dominate the ball. That's why it's probably ideal to have a player like Özil who will pretty much sacrifice himself for the betterment of the team. I hear what you're saying about Özil having less of an influence in terms of chance creating, and it's a valid concern. My only counter really is that having Özil drop deep to get involved instead means we lose his efficiency in the final 3rd, which is why he has progressively played further forward for us in his time here. The balance lies with having an auxiliary outlet or 2. Cazorla suffices, as does Xhaka from a deep position. Iwobi in the final third is also very good at picking up pockets of space but he is not in the best form currently. It's mainly a personnel issue. Coq-Elneny is definitely not the combo to form an offensive platform with, so I'm not surprised Özil eventually did start picking up the ball deeper for a short spell.

Regarding Coquelin/Cazorla, it is harder to tackle higher up the field so I'm not surprised his numbers are down slightly. However, I prefer it to having both of them deep or Coquelin toiling around on the ball in the middle third. As I've said, he can play a pass but seeing the right pass is where he sometimes struggles unless said pass presents itself with a large ribbon. It's why some of us were calling for a passing DM.

I think the issue is mainly personnel-related. Wenger needs to play the right combinations together. To push the play further up the field like Wenger wants, he needs both CMs to be able to function as a significant part of the attack while showing defensive and tactical ability. I don't think either Coq or Elneny will offer that in it's entirety. Xhaka is a start but he still has slight traces of headcase .

 

[SYS]

 

[Jaywood Mac]

Im not really going to complain because its working so well right now, but isn't changing Özils game going against his strengths. Like his strength is being the most creative player in the league. The way he's being played this season is negating that a bit.

 

[Song Billong]

Anyone surprised? Özil is simply a sensational player and is a joy to watch. He's simply the smoothest mover going around.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Im not really going to complain because its working so well right now, but isn't changing Özils game going against his strengths. Like his strength is being the most creative player in the league. The way he's being played this season is negating that a bit.

Wenger believes his movement is a strength. He has also mentioned that Özil is one of the best finisher in training. So it is no surprise Wenger is trying to get him closer to the goal. Still early days. But hopefully it works.

 

[SYS]

Anyone surprised? Özil is simply a sensational player and is a joy to watch. He's simply the smoothest mover going around.

Its not a popular view in AM though. There are people who preferred Cesc before him. Now see where Cesc is

 

[razörist]

Bow down non-believers.

 

[SYS]

 

[Rimaal]

 

[Jury]

Anonymous tonight again, but got a very important and great goal. He badly needs to contribute more to what we do over the 90. He's clearly struggling in his overall play. I think Alexis being given a free role hasn't helped, but he needs to find a way.

 

[Jury]

Its not a popular view in AM though.

No, it is. It really is. He's a favourite here.

 

[razörist]

Anonymous tonight again, but got a very important and great goal. He badly needs to contribute more to what we do over the 90. He's clearly struggling in his overall play. I think Alexis being given a free role hasn't helped, but he needs to find a way.

Oh Jury just go away. Nobody buys your bullshit.

 

[Dokaka]

Anonymous tonight again, but got a very important and great goal. He badly needs to contribute more to what we do over the 90. He's clearly struggling in his overall play. I think Alexis being given a free role hasn't helped, but he needs to find a way.

Anonymous? He got a goal, an assist, 76 touches, 4 key passes, 90% pass completion.. I only watched the highlights, but if he managed to be anonymous with those stats, that's quite impressive.

Looked to me like he did exactly what you want a #10 to do.

 

[Jury]

Anonymous? He got a goal, an assist, 76 touches, 4 key passes, 90% pass completion.. I only watched the highlights, but if he managed to be anonymous with those stats, that's quite impressive.

Looked to me like he did exactly what you want a #10 to do.

He wasnt very good at all. Those stats are merely another indication that stats can paint a false picture. before his goal, even his biggest fanboys were disappointed with his contribution.