It turns out that the reason that Lukas Podolski was the only Arsenal player in the Germany squad that was beaten by Argentina 4-2 in a friendly repeat of the World Cup final, was that Mesut Ozil had picked up an injury in the Gunners’ disappointing draw at Leicester City last weekend.
The German playmaker flew out late to meet up with his international team mates, as revealed in a Daily Mail report. So although it does not sound like a long term problem, it could see Ozil miss the Euro 2016 qualifying clash with Scotland on Sunday and, knowing our luck, he may not be ready for the visit of Man City to the Emirates next Saturday.
Arsene Wenger will obviously be hoping that Joachim Low uses common sense and caution and keeps Ozil out of action, but there is a good chance he could play him and that would increase the likelihood of Arsenal losing him for the big Premier League clash. So assuming that the midfielder is unavailable, what are the options for Wenger?
I personally would not push Jack Wilshere further forward into the number 10 role, especially against City’s powerful midfield of Toure and Fernandinho. There is always Santi Cazorla, of course, but Wenger seems determined to play him on the left and he does not seem confident to start Podolski or Campbell there yet. I would like to see him play Tomas Rosicky there, as the Czech international speeds up our passing and does have the knack of unlocking defences with a killer pass. Plus, he is gagging to play.
However, a few days after facing City, we travel to Dortmund to face Rosicky’s former club. If Ozil was going to miss both games, it might be better to save Rosicky for Dortmund and go for Cazorla in the number 10 role against City. What do you think Gooners?