Arsenal star Ozil struggling with weight of expectation?

He may have had more than his fair share of criticism since signing for Arsenal from Real Madrid last summer, but there is no doubt that Arsene Wenger sees the Germany international play maker as absolutely vital to his plans for the Gunners.

And even though Ozil started this season a bit slowly after his exploits in helping Germany to win the World Cup in Brazil this summer, the star midfielder had been integral to our two best performances and results so far, against Aston Villa and Galatasaray.

So his absence since the away clash with Chelsea has perhaps been more noticeable and more keenly felt than before. It might not be a coincidence that both Arsenal and Germany have struggled to create and have lacked cohesion since Ozil injured his knee ligaments.

And it looks like the player is well aware of how important he is to the way the Gunners play. Because as well as posting this encouraging picture of himself working in the gym, as reported by the Daily Mail, he added a quick sentence celebrating the very lucky win over Anderlecht in Belgium and it sounds to me as if he is talking about the weight of expectation he feels to get back and help Arsenal out of our current struggles.

Ozil wrote, “I’m relieved about yesterday’s victory but nevertheless these weights feel heavy on my shoulders…”

And after seeing the likes of Cazorla, Ramsey and the Ox toil again in the Premier League clash at Sunderland, who can blame the former Real Madrid star for feeling the weight of expectation?

Tags Cazorla ox Sunderland Wenger

52 Comments

  1. Give Ozil 5 games in a row in the middle and have Sanchez, Welbeck, and Theo making runs in front of him and if he doesn’t get a bagful of assists then judge him, until then he is a square peg in a round hole playing on the wings.

        1. Ozil is not the sort of player who tracks back, any good manager knows that and would play to his strengths.
          Any good manager would have a strong midfield in defense and attack allowing players to play in their positions.
          I have lost count of the number of times I have seen Welbeck back on the edge of our box in open play making any break on the counter much less effective.
          Wenger’s philosophy of having players who play different positions is seriously flawed, #10’s play behind the striker, strikers play up front, simple.

        2. @Adienl
          If we wanted someone like Oscar we should have signed someone like Oscar. Then again that’s down to the manager’s plans. The article mentions that Ozil is vital to Wenger’s plans, what plans are they? To play Ozil out of position most of the time? Is there a credible plan or is it being made up as we go along?

    1. Literally been waiting for a comment like this.. Completely agree! His two only games as no10 this season he was great

  2. just get a new manager and most of the problems will solve themselves. Example: Ozil being played as No.10 instead of winger…

  3. I don’t get the criticism. He has the best chance creation record of anyone in the squad, and is playing with two players who have just joined us in Sanchez and Wellbeck. We have missed him in the past few games. When he comes back and gets a couple of games with Wellbeck, Sanchez and Walcot all running around in front of him then we can properly judge his performances.

    1. He’s not cut out for the rough and tumble of the premiership
      His assists in Germany and Spain are the result of either playing in the galacticos or a league similair to the Scottish prem in the bundesliga..
      Ozil is a luxury player so far that has yet to live up to the £42m price tag.. If he had been 10-20m it’s ok but on their day Downing or adam Johnson would be doing a better job playing in the position Ozil plays..!

  4. If at some point we finally see walcott, sanchez, welbeck and ozil at 10, (ramsey also behind them) and this cant be made to work then wengers done. Im excited to see this line up soon.

    1. I hope we see that line up, but what worries me is wilshere..
      I don’t think Wenger will drop him if he’s available.

  5. i wish carlo ancelotti will choose us when his contract expires on the summer of 2016.. see how real madrid is beating 7 balls of shit out of every big team they encounter? the man doesn’t give two sh*ts about who you are..
    real 3 – chelsea 1
    real 4 – bayern 0
    real 3 – barca 1
    real 4 – atletico 1
    real …. infinite loop

    1. Ancelotti is a fantastic coach, but lets put things into perspective, he’s at the richest club in the world and besides for Messi, can buy any player in the game that he wants…

  6. My fantasy first 11 for Arsenal:
    Welbeck
    Sanchez-Ozil-Walcot.
    Diaby-Ramsey.
    Gibbs-Kos-Chambers-Derbuchy.
    ………….Zny.

    BENCH:………….?

    1. Chambers is too young. We need a great and experienced CB who can play for 2-3 years. Chambers still needs to learn, and who knows if he might start to decline because of the expectations?
      He needs to be integrated into the first team at a steady pace.

  7. I know he plays better in the centre but being played as a winger is not an excuse for misplaced passes and being brutally overpowered even by the likes of cesc

    Dont get me wrong, I still think he can again become one of the bert midfielders in the world but he needs to take some responsibility and stop putting excuses

    1. Ozil isn’t so versatile. He’s very weak, and he isn’t very quick either.
      If you have played football you should know that it is possible to mess up even the basics of the game when you’re playing out of position.
      Ozil on the wings is not compatible, at least not at the moment.

      1. i am just 15 and still trying to master the basics but being played out of position messes with your tactical play, not basics like shooting or passing. but ozil is much quicker than you think

        1. Your claim has no backbone. How can you be sure that it will just not mess up with your basics?
          Also what do you mean by tactical play?
          If you look at ozil playing on the wings, you’ll see that he passes correctly. But he is outmuscled because he cannot outrun players or out muscle for that matter. That makes him useless on the wing.
          Also, playing there limits his options of picking a pas, and ozil is all about playing the right weighted pass, and his vision.

          1. watch any of his recent games, except some beautiful balls forward, his short passing has been careless and erratic. his position does play a part but his overall passing play has let him down this season. playing on the wings teach you some defensive responsibilities and also provide you with large amount of free space to measure your every pass

            1. No. You’re wrong. You should watch him again and then you’ll see that when he is on the wings he seems to lack any idea as to what to do with the wall. He can’t really beat his marks that easily and put in a cross.
              Also your argument about having lots of free space is not valid.

  8. budget dream XI

    sanchez
    reus ozil walcot
    martinez ramsey
    gibbs kos hummels debuchy
    lloris

      1. i really admire him. if not the best(neuer) he is certainly the second best. he is way too much underrated because he plays for spuds

  9. for next game, although I knwo Wenger won’t play 4-4-2;

    ————Podolski——-Welbeck———–
    Sanchez—-Arteta—–Diaby*———Joel
    Monreal——-Chamber—-Mert—–Bellerin
    ——————-Scszesny———————

    There is good physical presence there and balance between attack and defence. All four midfielders there will defend for you. All four also have an eye for goal or used to.

    * if not Diaby then Ramsey

    Arteta will play DMF.

  10. Ozil played a peripheral role at the world cup.. In fact he was slated in the German press for being so ineffective..
    I rate ozil, but I can see his frustrations playing in a strange position in this current arsenal team that has no purpose desire or direction .. His World Cup suffered after being wrongly used by his manager.
    OZIL isn’t the problem it’s the manager playing crap players all over..
    Ozil isn’t currently worth £42m £15m at a push and if Walcott comes back in the next week or so I’m struggling to find a position for Ozil..?

  11. I blame Wenger. Ozil was excellent against Galatasaray and Aston Villa (if I remember correctly) when he played in the centre.

    The reason he plays on the eing for Germany is because Germany have a lot of talented players.
    also, he doesn’t play for Germany every week.

    His best spot is in the centre between Walcott and Sanchez. If Walcott is injured than use Campbell, ox or Podolski, but leave Ozil in the centre to do his magic.

    It’s such a waste of talent. In terms of passing and assists he is as good as fabregas. His statistics at Real Madrid prove so.

  12. For those unhappy about how we played look on the bright side. It has been a decent weekend
    1. We won and our favorite player scored both goals.
    2.Liverfools drew at home
    3. Spurs lost to newcastle
    4. Man Shitty lost

    Now if Chelski draws or loses to ManUre than I would classify it as an awesome weekend. Simply because it makes us closer to the top and further away from the teams below us.

  13. Chelsea ain’t that good.
    I still think it would have been a different game if we had a DM, and hadn’t played Ozil on the wing.

  14. What weight of expectations?
    Ozil and Sanchez have almost double their wages when coming to Arsenal.
    Sanchez is doing brilliantly and getting paid… I don’t think he has any hopes of winning any major trophies with us, but will give is best because he is a true professional.
    Ozil will go somewhere else and perform, it is not difficult to embody.

  15. WHY OUR FANS DON’T RECOGNISE THE PART OZILL PLAY IN THE TEAM,NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE IS SAYING ABOUT HIM,I STILL THINK HE IS A MAGICIAN IN THE MIDDLE. CARZOLA ISAN AVERAGE PLAYER. OZILL BREAK ANY DEFENCE QUIETLY. THIS IS HIS ABILITY TO FEED HIS STRIKER. SO LEAVE HIM ALONE .WHEN HE IS BACK, AND IF IF IF WENGER PLAY HIM THE MIDDLE,WITH WALCOTT AND SANCHEZ ON THE WING ,THEN ARSENAL WILL BE A DIFFERENT TEAM.
    DID U SEE IN THE WORLD CP, LHAM DROPPED ANY PLAYER, BUT NOT OZILL BECAUSE HE HAS ALL HIS TRUST IN HIM.WITH OZILL ARSENAL LIKELY TO WIN THAN LOOSING EVERY SINGLE GAME.
    SHOW HIM SOME RESPECT ANS APPRECIATE HIS CONTRIBUTION.
    AGAIN AND AGAIN T.HENRY WAS A SHIT PLAYER FOR 3 SEASONS
    AND WE PAID 10million FOR HIM ,AND THIS WAS BIG MONEY AT THE TIME.EVERYONE WAS ASKING ,IS HE GOING TO. SUVIVE.

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