We know how Ozil had been treated during his last few days with Arsenal. We know how it came out. We had been a part of everything going on a few months back when Ozil was at the centre of all criticism. Allow yourself to be distracted from the circus for a moment. Ignore the warnings. Don't worry about what went wrong. Please forget those bowed shoulders once and for all. His performances were unaffected by them. They were, in effect, part of the allure. The playmaker, the traditional number 10, the one who made it work and saw things that others didn't.
Mesut Ozil was a visionary who could run or adjust whole games at will during his first five years in north London. It's all in Arsenal's favour. He was greeted with renewed vigour as he arrived at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal had resurfaced. The Gunners had eventually found a bespoke world-class star to call their own after losing Patrick Vieira, Ashley Cole, Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fàbregas, Samir Nasri, and Robin van Persie.
Never was Mesut Ozil a player who made it all about him. He would just not overpower four men and score, or hit the top corner with a 30-yard missile, or make a last-ditch tackle to rouse the house. He didn't do those things for Germany or Real Madrid, but he was still a world-class player. He was a professional who knew football that had such refined technique that he improved all of his teammates and made any attack more effective.
However, for whatever reason, the German was continually chastised for not doing the things we all realized he didn't do. All the time wasted criticizing him over what he couldn't do should have been spent appreciating everything he could and did.
- Olivier Giroud's flicked assist against Aston Villa.
- Having Nacho Monreal appear out of nowhere at the back post against Swansea is another example.
- Alternatively, against Leicester, setting up a play with an exquisite flick on the halfway line, dummying the ball on the outside of the area, then running on to a pass and squaring it for a tap-in.
- The bounced finishes over John Ruddy, Jonas Lossl, Simon Mignolet and Artur Boruc.
- In a single Premier League season, he has 19 assists. In the same season, he made 146 key passes, which is a Premier League record.
- Also, who can forget that goal against Ludogorets
Despite the relentless perception that he 'didn't do it in those matches, eighteen goals and assists (15 percent of his Arsenal total) came against so-called top-six rivals.
Nevertheless, it can’t be denied that things have not been good between Ozil and Arsenal. Except for a few moments of brilliance and the rare reminder of his talent, it hasn't been the relationship's end that anybody would have wished for. It would be unjust, if not downright false, to claim there were never any problems.
