Arsenal and Arteta are missing Ozil! (opinion)
After Ainsley Maitland Niles reportedly said that the Arsenal dressing room is behind Mesut Ozil since Arteta left him out of the team and it has been revealed to the press, the team just have not been the same no matter what changes come in!
The questions I am asking myself are; are the poor performances all because the players don’t agree with what Arteta has done but cannot speak up for fear of being left out and punished or is there something more to it?
It is clear to see that there seems to be a divide or an issue in this team and things don’t seem right. Whatever Arteta is putting across is not working or filtering through any more with our players.
Ever since Ozil has been left out of the squad entirely I believe the players that are in support of Ozil are failing to find the performances they had before the news that he would be left out of the team broke completely. No team wants to see a big character and special player be treated in that way and most of the squad have played with Ozil at some point or another.
Off the pitch they are friends, and on the pitch too. But something is clearly lacking and has been for a while.
Just look at the likes of Lacazette and Aubameyang, to me they just do not look happy anymore, and most of the team if not all of them are struggling mentally and physically!
Before Ozil’s absence was revealed it was all smiles when Aubameyang signed an extension and things were looking up for the club, but since his omission Laca and Aubameyang -who both played with Ozil and who worked well with Ozil in the team, as we saw when Ozil’s last contribution came with the assist for Lacazette to strike home for the 1-0 against West Ham at home back in the last game before lockdown in March- just have not been the same.
Whether it is down to Ozil’s omission and whether there is a divide because of the way Ozil has been treated and the players don’t agree with it and want him back, only they know. But there is clearly an issue because even Arteta is looking stressed and unhappy. Obviously, the performances do not help when we lose but there is definitely more to it!
So, could Ozil’s absence really be affecting the Arsenal players more than we think? I will go with ‘yes!’
But could it also be said that Arteta even believes he made a mistake in leaving Ozil out, but now his pride is too big for him to turn around and admit his mistake? Will we see a U-turn with the Ozil saga and Arteta? Are the boys missing Ozil that much that it is impacting them mentally? Only time will tell!
Shenel Osman