Can Mesut Ozil become Arsenal’s beloved king of assists once more?

Mesut Ozil has effectively become Arsene Wenger’s successor. No, not in managerial terms but in terms of how Ozil has taken Wenger’s place to become the man who polarizes the opinions of Arsenal fans the most. After years of “Wenger in” and “Wenger out”, there are fiery debates as to whether or not the German deserves to start regularly.

Ozil, who currently earns wages in the region of £300,000-per-week, is often accused of being lazy on the football pitch. He is seen as a player who jogs around the ground, waiting for things to happen rather than taking an initiative to make things happen. But people often forget that he isn’t a Patrick Viera or a Roy Keane to fly into challenges or take the game by the scruff of the neck. He is also not someone like N’Golo Kante who can run for days and intercept passes for fun.

The World Cup winner is an artist on the football pitch. And for an artist to flourish, he needs a top-quality canvas sheet. Problematically enough, it has been years since Ozil was last rightly utilized. In the 2015/16 season, Ozil assisted an unbelievable 19 goals in the Premier League as the Gunners finished runners-up. He had a similar return at Real Madrid where he assisted 46 goals over the course of three La Liga seasons.

One might wonder what was the common thing between that season at Arsenal and his three seasons at Real Madrid? Well, he was deployed as a No.10, right behind the striker. But in his other seasons at Arsenal, he has been either pushed on the right or on the left to accommodate other players.

In doing so, Ozil becomes ineffective. When deployed on the wings, he has the tendency to drift into the central areas and dictate the play with his passing. He often tries to overload the central zone but that leaves Arsenal with no width at all. As a result, the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka don’t have an outward pass and are forced to play the ball back either to Ozil or to the strikers in a congested final third.

The same story continued this season as well when Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ozil started with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the front three for the Gunners. Both these players are not natural wingers and they kept coming inside to get the ball, allowing the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City to exploit the spaces.

With no width, they just had to remain narrow and not provide any space between the lines.  Also, playing on the wings forces Ozil to drop behind and track back the opposition full-back and that’s something he is not good at.

To rectify this, Unai Emery needs to play two defensive midfielders behind Ozil in a 4-2-3-1 system that will relieve the German of his defensive duties. The likes of Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi are more than capable of helping out the playmaker.

Furthermore, natural wingers need to used on the wings. This move will ensure that Ozil is not cramped out of space in the centre. In games against smaller teams where Arsenal should have most of the possession, Emery could utilize the likes of Ramsey and Mkhitaryan along with Ozil to unlock deep-sitting defences.

Read More: Go for it Emery – Why Arsenal must go all out to tie down this £110,000-a-week superstar on a long-term contract

After a summer of hurt and distrust from the German media and the DFB, Ozil needs support from his manager and the fans. Arsene Wenger’s departure has come at the right time for Ozil as it has given him a fresh slate. He has two top-class strikers ahead of him in Alexandre Lacazzete and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who can covert the big chances he creates, into goals. Ozil now has the world at his feet and a chance to become the king of assists once again.