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Mesut Özil: 2019/20 Performances

Why Isn't Özil Playing?


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Gunner-Union

Well-Known Member
He’s always been a frustrating player can do a couple great passages of play and passes that lead to chances but is equally pedestrian and disinterested for long periods and falls over when barely touched and does come across as lazy.
In modern football even attacking mids have to work hard and defend no one carries a player anymore
 

Divided_Pie

Active Member
Özil started at #10, played the full 90 and Arsenal won, on the road no less. Facts.

Biggest mistake Freddie made up until now was thinking he could plug Willock in at #10 and get results.

Only goal surrendered was a bit of a fluke.

Stick with this formation and lineup. Let the players gain confidence by giving them roles that work to their strengths and a consistent lineup so partnerships can gel and players can gain sharpness. Maybe think about replacing Xhaka but the other options are not clearly better.

Find it odd that we finally taste victory with a lineup that highlights player strengths and people want to change it up.
 

CaseUteinberger

Established Member

Country: Sweden
Özil started at #10, played the full 90 and Arsenal won, on the road no less. Facts.
I went to the toilet at halftime and we won. Fact!

Time to understand difference between correlation and causation my friend...

Unless you haven't watched Özil for the last 5 years, you would see how much worse of a player he is now than when he arrived. Since he got his new contract he has been in semi retirement. Plus using Willock as the benchmark for what player Özil needs to outshine is really silly. Willock played like absolute crap, but that doesn't mean Özil is any good and should start.
 

Divided_Pie

Active Member
I went to the toilet at halftime and we won. Fact!

Time to understand difference between correlation and causation my friend...

Unless you haven't watched Özil for the last 5 years, you would see how much worse of a player he is now than when he arrived. Since he got his new contract he has been in semi retirement. Plus using Willock as the benchmark for what player Özil needs to outshine is really silly. Willock played like absolute crap, but that doesn't mean Özil is any good and should start.
None of what you said is relevant to my argument. We have no better option right now than playing 4231 with Özil behind Martinelli, Auba, and Pepe. Do you know how I know this? Because we’ve tried everything else.
 

CaseUteinberger

Established Member

Country: Sweden
None of what you said is relevant to my argument. We have no better option right now than playing 4231 with Özil behind Martinelli, Auba, and Pepe. Do you know how I know this? Because we’ve tried everything else.
Another fact. We have played Özil for years and he is just getting worse. If you want him to start, fine, but it sure isn't benefiting our overall game. Did you see how slow we were for the first 60 minutes. Özil was on the field the whole time and he did absolutely nothing in both defence and attack. It's only thanks to West Ham being even worse than us that we won the game and Torreira, Pepe, Martinelli and Auba showing some quality.
 

Gooner_girl14

Active Member
Another fact. We have played Özil for years and he is just getting worse. If you want him to start, fine, but it sure isn't benefiting our overall game. Did you see how slow we were for the first 60 minutes. Özil was on the field the whole time and he did absolutely nothing in both defence and attack. It's only thanks to West Ham being even worse than us that we won the game and Torreira, Pepe, Martinelli and Auba showing some quality.

We all know Özil is not what he was and he's not worth his salary. But what's done is done and there's NOTHING we can do about it now. Emery left him out of the squad early on and we were still crap (indicating that our problems extend beyond Özil's decline). He's been playing well overall this season, and unfortunately we don't have any other options that have proven to be better than him. Willock and Nelson don't look ready and Ceballos is injured. Sure, I'm all for selling him if we can make that happen, but until then we need to make do with this squad. And Özil is still one of our most creative players and played a big role in our massive second half performance today. We've won our first game in almost 2 months, surely Özil deserves even a little credit for that?
 

Divided_Pie

Active Member
The second two goals were the end result of what Özil started by getting on the ball in space and threading the ball in to Auba in a dangerous position.

Part of the reason West Ham folded was because Arsenal, despite not creating much in the first half, dominated possession, which paid off in the second half when WH were knackered. Özil was a big part of that.

May seem like simple things but he’s the only player we have right now that can do those things effectively at #10. Won’t pretend he had a great game, he hasn’t been at his best yet under Freddie, but I do feel strongly that he makes this Arsenal team better when he’s in the lineup at #10.
 
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Gooner_girl14

Active Member
The second two goals were the end result that Özil started by Özil getting on the ball in space and threading the ball in to Auba in a dangerous position.

Part of the reason West Ham folded was because Arsenal, despite not creating much, dominated possession, which paid off in the second half when WH were knackered. Özil was a big part of that.

May seem like simple things but he’s the only player we have right now that can do those things effectively at #10. Won’t pretend he had a great game, he hasn’t been at his best yet under Freddie, but I do feel strongly that he makes this Arsenal team better when he’s in the lineup at #10.

Exactly. The squad we have right now is so unbalanced and our midfield/defense options range from poor to average at best. However, going forward, we have 2 top strikers (pity we can't seem to play them together) a pacy winger who looks like he's starting to settle, a precocious monster of an 18yr old, and one of the best number 10s of his generation who might be on the decline, but isn't quite done yet.

I agree that going back to possession football is what eventually broke WH, even if we didn't do much with all that possession in the 1st half. But WH chasing the ball much of the game caught up with them, and when they started to tire or get complacent, Özil was crucial in driving us forward in the 2nd half. Freddie hugging him at the end also indicates that he knows how important getting the best out of Özil will be if we're going to have any chance of saving our season.
 

clovis

Active Member
He will play against City

he will put in a typically **** performance

his fans will say that he was good when he won’t be

and then they will say that he must play because he is our only creative player

The script never changes.
 

kraphtous

Raul Stanllehi
City game too strong for Özil I think
Maybe, but I don‘t see a better alternative with the squad we have, unless we park the bench. Really don‘t want to see Emery‘s chameleon style where we don‘t fully commit to one way. If we park it then the likes of Kolasinac/Maitland-Niles have to be on the wings and Pepe has to be benched (which I really don‘t want to see right now in current form).
 

clovis

Active Member
If you have good scouts, you can easily improve on him by not paying a penny over £30m even in today’s inflated market.. there are probably around 20 prominent attacking midfielders who are better than him and probably 20 more who are unknown quantities at this point..
 

HaffBR

Designer of fancy pyramids
Özil did absolutely nothing when Arsenal was under pressure, which was for 60 minutes, only walking on the pitch waiting to receive some ball that never come. Arsenal only gained momentum when West Ham got tired, if Arsenal faces a better team that can better manage and save energy, Özil probably will be swallowed and Arsenal humiliated.

Every time Özil starts playing he becomes the focal point of the team (central position plus not working at all) and all players including strikers (Martinelli, Pepe and Auba yesterday) have to play for him. Now, the question: Is this valid and/or correct for a player who has no better performances than an Eriksen at his peak or Kevin de Bruyne (who are much more hardworking than him) and is 31 years old? Imo it would be worth if this player is a Cristiano Ronaldo at his peak, a Cruyff, a Messi, a Ronaldinho at his peak, a Maradona, you even could make a case for Romario or some decisive goalscorer, not Özil.

Buy a better/elite defensive midfield player, more some energetic central midfielder with some real quality and free the attackers instead of encouraging them to kill themselves in defense, empower Aubameyang, Lacazette Pepe, Martinelli, Saka ... all more decisive and/or more long term players than Özil.

I hope I am wrong.
 
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