Former Arsenal midfielder Karen Carney backs Mesut Ozil to stay at Arsenal longer than Unai Emery.
The pair have had a stormy relationship since Emery was appointed as the manager of the Gunners last season.
The Spaniard doesn’t seem to rate the German much despite him being the club’s highest earner, and Carney believes it is not exactly Ozil’s fault.
She reckons that Arsene Wenger was able to get the best out of Ozil because he trusted the German to deliver regardless of how he performs in training.
Emery, on the other hand, selects his team based on the performances of players in training and previous matches.
Carney believes that “…regardless of what he earns, Ozil has proven he can be one of Arsenal’s most important players.”
She also thinks that some footballers don’t give their best in training, but they come up with the goods when the weekend comes around, Ozil might just be that sort of player.
Writing as a columnist for the BBC, the headline was: Why Mesut Ozil will stay at Arsenal longer than Unai Emery.
Carney then goes on and gives a great analysis of what Ozil brings to the team. Here is an extract from the article.
Former boss Arsene Wenger seemed to get the best out of him. You saw that in what Ozil contributed, especially in 2016-17 when he was involved in 25 goals in all competitions as an attacking midfielder. Wenger believed in him and seemed to trust him. You don’t get that vibe with Emery. For whatever reason, he just doesn’t seem to like him.
Emery’s doctrine seems to be ‘if you train well and play well, you will get minutes’. That might be a factor in Ozil’s lack of game time and Emery does have to stick to his principles as a coach. I’m not saying Ozil holds back in training, but some players are special and they appear to go through the motions during the week, rock up at the weekend and pull it out of the bag.
He has been around long enough, making 236 appearances for the club, so he knows what he needs to do.
I don’t think Ozil has been used in the right manner at Arsenal.
He can be Marmite – a super, super talent who can frustrate you at times. Arsenal fans know that and they know his vulnerabilities. He’s not a player that will appear to put his body on the line, but people underestimate the work rate and confidence to always want to be in possession of the ball.
Because of how fast the game moves, standing still and using game intelligence can sometimes be mistaken for laziness. He is a special player that is needed in certain games and certain situations.
Nobody else can open up a defence, nobody else can pass the way he does, nobody else has the patience and the composure he brings when he plays.
Most importantly, he has got end product. A lot of players get into good positions but they lack end product. Ozil’s strength is that he knows where the ‘players are going to be, knows where to put the ball and he has got that calmness when everyone else is running around frantically.
He looks like he plays the game in slow motion but he isn’t. He just makes things look very easy
I will leave that there without comment and let you all judge for yourselves if Carney has given an accurate analysis of what Ozil brings to the team.