Arsenal: Mesut Ozil Goals Could Elevate Him To New Standards
Mesut Ozil scored in his first start for Arsenal and added another on Wednesday for Germany. Could he have stumbled on a new found goal scoring ability?
Goalscoring midfielders has long been an essential aspect of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side. From Marc Overmars, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg in the earlier years to Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Alexis Sanchez in more recent times, Wenger has always demanded of his more attacking midfielders to aid the strikers in the search for goals.
This is even more important when Olivier Giroud is the loan centre-forward. While the French international is exceptional in open play with a wonderful first touch, great awareness and wonderful intelligence to bring others into play, an aspect of his game that he mightily struggles with is goals. Simply put, Giroud does not score enough, does not score consistently enough and very rarely scores in the big games.
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Consequently, midfielders who can score as well as create are priceless. Sanchez is Arsenal’s main goal threat from midfield areas, and while Walcott attempts to prove that he can also add consistent goal returns and Aaron Ramsey recovers from injury once again, there is a man who often transcends the critique of the Gunners’ play, but does not find the back of the net often enough. That man is Mesut Ozil.
While the German is still the best player at the Emirates by some distance, goals is an issue that he is yet to overcome. He is an incredible creator, racking up 19 assists last season and creating more chances than any other player in the top five leagues in Europe. That displays his talent, but he can still improve.
In his three seasons in North London, Ozil has 5, 4 and 6 goals in 25, 21 and 35 starts. For an attacking midfielder, someone who is the central cog in the team’s attacking play, those goal returns are far too small. While Ozil is still creating chances and assisting goals at an incredible rate, he must learn to add goals to his game, and early signs this season indicate that he may have done so.
The goal against Watford on Saturday was a prime example of an increased desire to add more goals to his game. Rarely did Ozil ever run beyond the central striker, and as Sanchez peeled wide, Ozil was the man to drive forward into the box, meeting the cross with a thumping header. Wenger has stated that he wishes that Ozil could add more goals to his game, and runs into the box like that on Saturday will certainly help his cause.
If Ozil is able to score more goals this season, perhaps closer to double figures in the league, then that would truly elevate his game to new standards. He is already one of the best players in the league and Europe. Add goals to the mix, and suddenly, he becomes one the very few in the world that dominate their respective leagues.