Martin Keown urges Unai Emery to build his team around Mesut Ozil.
Mesut Ozil has arguably not been pulling his weight under Unai Emery, however, the calls for his reintroduction into the Arsenal team on a regular basis are growing.
The German has been frozen out by the Spanish manager for much of this season and a portion of the fans, pundits and former players have been urging Emery to make use of the club’s top earner.
Ozil started only his third game for the Gunners this season in their game against Liverpool in midweek and he showed that he can still turn it on.
He was substituted on the 65th minute by Emery, who is considering naming him in his starting 11 against Wolves.
Martin Keown is, however, of the view that the German and the Spaniard should fix their relationship and Ozil should be a permanent fixture in the Arsenal team.
Keown believes that Ozil is a class above his mates in the Arsenal team and could help the Gunners reach the new heights that they are hoping to reach.
Build the team around Ozil.
Keown said: “We know Ozil has the ability and the quality.
“He has more ability in his little finger than most. People couldn’t even dream of some of the things that he’s capable of.
“And I believe that Emery actually has managed him probably correctly in this situation.
“Even to the detriment of Ramsey, because let’s take it all the way back to the beginning, Ozil got the first chance ahead of Ramsey.
“It’s about looking at the tactics and what can Arsenal deploy around him to get that creativity into the team.
“Because we do have some great front players, there’s no doubt…
“You can’t kid former players, you watch and you know who’s committed and who isn’t. That’s been the issue with Ozil.
“But if he was to bring his A-game along as he did the other night [against Liverpool], I’ll take some of that, and some more.
“Let’s build a team around him, but the tactics from the manager have to be better.”
There is no doubt that Keown’s opinion will be widely shared, however, not everyone is in agreement.
Some, like myself, feel that he has had multiple chances previously and was found wanting. Ozil does have some good games occasionally and against a bunch of kids, he will always look good. But too often he simply did not deliver.
Ozil will soon revert back to his old ways and then we will all be back to square one. This is just treading water and the sooner Arsenal move on from the distraction that is Ozil the better.
So, who is right, Keown or those of us that want to move on?