Just in his 30s, Mesut Oezil is truly out of date. He wasn’t even on the reserve list, when Arsenal met Standard Liege in the Champions League on midweek.
Earlier, the German player was not included in the list, when Arsenal clashed with M.U in the Premier League. Coach Unai Emery explained: “Ozil has no room because other players deserve better”.
Again: we’re just talking about seats on the bench. From M.U in the Premier League to Standard Liege in the Europa League, these are different opponents, in different leagues, with completely different nature, requiring different players. Coach Emery has changed to 10 positions in the main team in those two matches. But, in any case, Oezil just made the audience. Gabriel Martinelli didn’t play at all in the match against M.U. But he started, scored 2 goals and created one in the match against Standard.
Ozil’s appearances in the Premier League have decreased in the last 5 seasons: 35, 33, 26, 24, 1 (he has only played one match this season). The number of goals also decreased in that order: 25, 17, 12, 7, 0. Obviously, the value of Oezil has decreased even when he was at the most brilliant age (28-29 in 2 seasons. past). The problem here is not about age. Besides, it is no longer a surprise when Oezil is not used by coach Emery this season. The surprise is just: it’s hard to imagine him falling to the point where he no longer has a place on the bench, in a side tournament.
When competition density is increasing, the military must naturally turn around the squad to avoid the risk of tired players. Teams like Arsenal will naturally replace almost the entire squad when playing in the League Cup or the Europa League. Yet Ozil was not used. The more tragedy for the Arsenal leadership, when they witnessed the highest-paid player in the team kept jittery sitting and playing.
If appears on the pitch, but is unable to change the game himself to adapt, Arsenal will not only risk accepting one perso”. Arsenal’s team play will be affected as well. Emery had to leave Ozil completely because of that.
James Rodriguez is a similar case. Ozil is not even better than Rodriguez as “number 10”. But the Colombian star has struggled over the years because of the general situation: the death of the “No.10” role in modern football. Anyway, Rodriguez is very modest, and he knows how to adjust to survive. Similarly are Isco, Christian Eriksen, Paolo Dybala. They are all more talented than they are. But anyway, they are not completely turned on as Oezil, because knowing or subject to change.
Changing to a striker, winger or central midfielder is the solution for the “number 10” to save themselves. But the problem is the gameplay, not the position. Ozil must be free to play and promote creativity. He did not want to change, or could not change.