In defence of Mesut Ozil by GunnerJack
Mesut Ozil has been savagely criticised by many Arsenal fans lately, but please consider the question below to see if we really have the right to castigate his performance against Everton.
It seems to me that one vital aspect of that game has been overlooked. And this aspect can be answered by simply considering the following question:
If your boss asked you to do a job and then refused to give you the tools to do that job would you say that he treated you fairly?
Many people on here, after seeing the lineup for that game, correctly said that it was so bad that our chance of winning was remote. I would now just like to draw your attention to the ‘attack’ part of that lineup – the defence and midfield have already been crucified many times.
It is Mesut’s main job to create chances. That’s it. Tracking back/defending etc are ok but are not his primary objective. So the question then becomes: Given that lineup, who exactly is Mesut supposed to create chances for?
Lacazette? The lone striker easily marked out of the game by 2 or 3 defenders?
Auba? He’s on the bench so that option doesn’t exist.
Ramsey making runs into the box? He’s also on the bench so that option doesn’t exist either.
And with no one else making runs into dangerous positions I ask again – who was Mesut supposed to be creating chances for?
So Mesut is given a job to do without the tools needed to do that job. If you are going to play Mesut then there have to be outlets for his creativity and UE’s awful line up destroyed all hope of that!
If Mesut is played he needs AS A MINIMUM both Auba and Laca in front of him, and preferably someone like Ramsey making runs into the box as well as players taking up advanced positions on the wings and getting into the box occasionally. Then Mesut has a chance. Otherwise – no chance!
So please consider carefully before slaughtering one of our few world class players. Examine the circumstances when someone APPEARS to have a bad game. Sometimes, as in this case, things are not always as clear cut as they seem. UE and his pathetic negative lineup were to blame – not Mesut Ozil!
GunnerJack