Arsenal fans should be hoping that nothing happens to our German international star Mesut Ozil this season and I do not just mean that he stays injury free. Because the player who went top of the Premier League assist chart today with his seventh of the season has really got the bit between his teeth.
The performance from Ozil today was nothing special, or at least it was nothing different from what we have been seeing from him this season. The Sky Sports pundits Thierry Henry and Jamie Redknapp spoke about it after the game and I think the former Gunner really hit the nail on the head when he said that the former Real Madrid man appears to have woken up.
I have been a supporter of Ozil since he joined against all the criticism that was being aimed at him, because he was still doing great things for us. He has really stepped up a gear this year though and seems to be filled with a hunger that was missing before. He is even tracking back and tackling and doing whatever the team needs at any moment. Arsene Wenger gave his thoughts on the play maker in his post match interview on the Arsenal website.
He said, “He is a top-class player, honestly. I think rather than talking about him I would rather watch him play again. If you love to watch football, you love to watch Ozil.
“It is a combination of quality of the touch, intelligence and team attitude. He is a real team player, I said that yesterday in the press conference. He puts his talent at the service of the team and he wants to help the team with everything he does. That makes him efficient.”
There are plenty of big and important players in the Arsenal team, as Petr Cech, Alexis Sanchez and all keep showing us, but Ozil for me is the key to us winning the Premier League title because he is the oil that lubricates the individual parts as well as being the satnav that puts us on the right track and the engine that makes things happen.
The big question is, can he keep that hunger and drive through the course of a whole season?