The most under rated player currently in the Premier League is going to be pivotal to any title challenge for Arsenal in 2015/16. Injuries have cut down his opportunities in 2014/15, but German World Cup winner Mesut Ozil has won two trophies in two seasons at the Emirates Stadium already.
Arsenal’s investment in Ozil has taken a lot of criticism and his languid style has not been taken to by much of the British media. The German’s gliding between the lines and drifting across the field doesn’t match the blood and guts that is so adored by man followers of the English game. Yet Ozil’s success, as for any player focused on creativity, relies so heavily on his team mates' movement.
His brilliance at Real Madrid was worthy of a being a 'Galactico', but Ozil’s exceptional statistics were largely down to the perfect finishing of Cristiano Ronaldo. The more prominent that assists become in judging a player's success, the more we need to be aware that the assist is reliant on the quality of finisher the ball is provided to. Ozil lives off having players stretching the game and running in behind, while he finds space between the lines. Without the correct team picked around him, he cannot thrive as he did in Madrid.
The freedom Ozil enjoyed at Madrid, even with Jose Mourinho as manager, was largely due to the defensive cover. Xabi Alonso was playing in a role that Arsenal, other than with Francis Coquelin, haven't truly filled for a while. The presence of a controller from deep in midfield will help both Arsenal and Ozil to provide a base for creative freedom and continue to toy with Premier League defences.
The next addition must be a man deeper than Ozil and Schneiderlin or a player like Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho seem ideal. Either of the two could be final piece in Arsenal’s talented jigsaw as Wenger searches for his first league title since 2003/04. Bringing the best out in Ozil, by very nature of his play, will bring the best out of the entire Arsenal squad, and the quicker the German racks up the assists the faster Arsenal will become realistic title challengers.
The addition of Alexis Sanchez has taken much of the burden off of Ozil with another big-money signing distracting at least some of the attention, and Sanchez’s goals regularly saved the Gunners in his first campaign. While the talk may be of a need to add a new striker, retaining Theo Walcott allows for several options for Wenger and will be sufficient to get the most out of Ozil, Wilshere and Ramsey.
If Arsenal are to challenge, they must build around the qualities of Ozil, Sanchez and Ramsey. Providing he can avoid long injury lay-offs, expect to see Ozil as a leading contender for player of the season by May 2016.
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