The Arsenal and Germany international star Mesut Ozil has his own little ditty that the Arsenal fans sing about him and it goes to the catchy tune of the Billy Ray Cyrus (father of Miley if you are too young to remember) number from 1992, Achy Breaky Heart.
There is nothing strange about that but what has struck me is that the words we sing, ‘we’ve got Ozil, Mesut Ozil, I just don’t think you understand’ are quite ironic, because I think that a lot of Arsenal fans and members of the football media just do not understand Ozil and what he brings to the team.
On Tuesday night in Paris for example, when Ozil produced the killer ball that split the PSG defence and led to our unlikely equaliser, the reaction from the TV guys was along the lines of, well he has been poor but finally did something decent. Decent? If someone like Messi had done that they would be purring about it all night.
The problem is that we have got used to Ozil doing stuff like that, which no one but him sees and which leaves defenders looking like they have forgotten what they are supposed to be doing for a minute. The other problem is that the media have been banging on for so long about his body language and the way he seems to be putting no effort in that I think it starts to be taken in.
I have written reports on here before after games when Ozil is said to have disappeared but the stats showed he was one of the hardest workers. If I was to say that Ozil was a bit off the pace yesterday then not many would argue, but a Metro report reveals that he actually broke his own personal EPL record by completing 104 passes against Hull City. 104!
Just let that sink in for a moment. 104. For a central midfielder that would be amazing but for a number 10 trying to produce clever little passes to break down a defence it is nothing short of astounding. Just imagine how good he would be if he could shoot!
Seriously though, let’s have a bit more appreciation for the awesome talent that is Mesut Ozil and let’s try to understand him a bit more shall we?
Bob.