Paul Merson is one of the outspoken supporters for the return of Mesut Ozil to the Arsenal first team, and he won’t stop clamouring for his recall.
The German has been axed from the Arsenal first team since Project Restart and he isn’t even registered to play any official game for them this season.
As he wallows in limbo, Arsenal has been struggling with creativity, and they cannot buy a win right now.
This is despite the fact that they signed Thomas Partey in the summer and they also brought back Dani Ceballos in the last transfer window.
As they struggle to score, Merson thinks that Ozil is the missing piece of the jigsaw and he has urged Mikel Arteta to bring back the German into the team.
He claimed that with Thomas Partey in Arsenal’s midfield, Ozil will thrive.
According to him, the current Arsenal attackers need balls to feed on that Ozil can comfortably provide for them.
He said via Sky Sports: “For me, Mesut Ozil comes back in the team if Thomas Partey is fit.
“Partey gets around the pitch, dominates the midfield and dictates the game. Him playing opens up a chance for Ozil.
“At the moment, Arsenal have nobody in there to provide the forwards. You can make runs all day long, but if you’re a centre-forward, your runs are only as good as the players playing behind you.
“When these Arsenal players are getting the ball in midfield, with time, is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang making the run?
“Is he confident they are going to see his run and are capable of getting that ball through the eye of a needle? I’d say no, so they need creativity.”
As he “wallows in limbo” I wonder how MO himself is reflecting on the situation?
Seeing his good buddy Aubameyang turning into a non entity, while being switched from one position to another to try and end his goal drought and asking why?
Watching three home defeats in a row, with no productivity, tactics and goal scoring chances being created and asking why?
Reading what Merson says about the situation, while he “wallows in limbo” due to the non existence of doing due diligence carried out by the club and asking why?
Before allowing him to “wallow in limbo”, of course, he has to reports for training every day as per his contract and he has done this to the letter.
But is that really worth a reported £350,000 a week less the clauses we don’t know about of course?
Unfortunately. in training, he has impressed his manager and fellow players with his attitude (and so, come June, I’m sure he will be match fit, ready to go with his new club…and, of course, a little bit richer in the meantime) so the club can’t find a reason to oust him that way can they?
It seems The Arsenal have made a complete mess out of this scenario – there seems to be only one winner emerging from this fiasco and it isn’t our club I’m afraid to say – both on the pitch and off it!!!
Just my personal opinion, but why on earth didn’t the club buy out his contract and get it over and done with?
If all they can do is just let him “wallow in limbo” until June and let pundits like Merson continue to berate the club and its decisions, what is the point?
Whether your pro or anti Ozil, this is just a ridiculous situation that needs sorting out immediately.
Ken: “Just my personal opinion, but why on earth didn’t the club buy out his contract and get it over and done with?”
That stands the reason why his exile is not for football reasons. They can say it all they want but it did not make sense then and it does not make sense now.
I agree with you lcw, but the situation is now damaging both parties.
No-one will ever know the real reasons why, unless MO himself or the club makes it public later.
It’s just damaging the two parties the longer it goes on and if, in January, the same scenario is still in place, then both sides need to settle it once and for all.
To do otherwise, would be a dereliction of duty by the club and the player.
I’m one of Mesut Ozil’s fans but unfortunately I came to the conclusion that there is no place for him in the team. While it’s fair to point out the lack of creativity or chances creation, I argue that his inclusion would worsen our defense that’s already bad enough. We conceded many goals defending with 11 players, what would happen when the team defends with 10 players? This league requires that every player puts in work both in attacking and defending. Gone are the days when number 10 and 9 were free from defensive duties.
To illustrate my point, there was a match where we played against Leicester and both team used 4-3-3 formation. If I’m not mistaken, our midfield consisted of Xhaka, Guendozi, and Ozil, with the latter positioned highest of the three. I presumed they were instructed to man-mark the opposing players. The DM, knowing that his marker was Ozil, frequently made dashing runs to the flanks and overloaded those areas. They created many chances using that tactic and we lost the match.
Also, there are too many assumptions involving his inclusion. First of all, Ozil hasn’t played for a long time now so his fitness is a worry. Second, there is a well-known observation that he’s best when the team plays well and goes missing when others underperform, hence the luxury player/icing on the cake argument. We all know that the team is in a rough patch right now. Third, the closest player to Ozil in terms of playing style, Ceballos, also underperform in the current system. He’s a player whom this same site praised as too good to play for us. So, I’m not convinced that Ozil is the answer.
@350oz,Ozil played before the lockdown and we didn’t concede goals left,right and center.he should be playing on this team…he never had a bad game under Arteta