Arsene Wenger has urged Mesut Ozil ’s critics to ignore his style and pay attention to the pure stats.
Arsenal playmaker Ozil has been under fire and scrutiny again recently after a string of underwhelming performances.
The World Cup winner’s languid movement and body language, which at times makes him look disinterested during matches, do not help the German when the hunt is on for Gunners scapegoats.
But boss Wenger reckons that with the 28-year-old it is a case of looks can be deceiving.
Latest figures from Premier League partners EA Sports lend some support to Wenger’s claims.
They reveal Ozil has still been making an impact having completed more passes in the opposition half than any other player in the division, overtaking Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, whom he is set to face on Sunday — another player accused of failing to influence big games.
Wenger said: “His style is more fluid, less aggressive, but it doesn’t mean you want it less than others.
“His style is his style and what you measure with Mesut Ozil is the efficiency. His basic quality is retention and the creation of goal chances. Overall the big players get more criticised than the others, they have to carry the responsibility of the team.”
Though Wenger did admit he gets frustrated at times at Ozil’s failure to produce hit the heights he knows the Germany star is capable of.
“You want all your players to be at their best in every game so when they don’t achieve that of course you are frustrated,” Wenger said. “We are only human beings and you have to accept the ups and downs.”
Ozil revealed in his recently-published autobiography that Jose Mourinho’s brand of tough love helped get the best out of him at Real Madrid.
Wenger said: “Yes, he needs that. We had some good conversations with him as well.
“I felt after the Bayern game he suffered for a few games. After he came back with some good performances.
“He fought hard in the recent games and we looked at his physical performance and they were at a very high level. But like the rest of the team against Tottenham we were below what we had produced recently.
“I believe to just criticise Mesut Ozil’s performance does not reflect exactly what happened. Recently he has put a lot of effort in. He was a bit, like the rest of the team, not physically at his best.
“I felt we gave a lot on Sunday and Wednesday against Leicester and had not completely recovered for the game. And he was one of them.”
Ozil’s dip in form has come at a bad time as he tries to justify his £300,000-a-week new contract demands. And especially as he doesn’t have a queue of clubs rushing to buy him.
Asked if Arsenal have had any approaches for Ozil, whose contract runs out next summer, Wenger said: “No. Not officially, I mean.”
Proof Arsenal's Ozil is THE pass master
Ozil may have been on the wrong side of Arsenal’s derby loss to Tottenham on Sunday, but he did pass one milestone in the process that helps to demonstrate his importance to Arsene Wenger’s men. In Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat, Ozil overtook Paul Pogba to top the Premier League table for passes completed in the opposition half.
As the below data (not including Friday's West Ham vs Tottenham match) from EA SPORTS shows:
Player | Passes Completed Opposition Half | Successful Pass % Opposition Half |
Mesut Ozil, Arsenal | 1227 | 85.62% |
Paul Pogba, Man United | 1213 | 82.18% |
David Silva, Man City | 1168 | 86.07% |
Granit Xhaka, Arsenal | 1100 | 86.48% |
Eden Hazard, Chelsea | 1092 | 83.74% |
Christian Eriksen, Spurs | 1071 | 78.06% |
Ander Herrera, Man United | 1059 | 84.25% |
N'Golo Kante, Chelsea | 1057 | 87.50% |
Fernandinho, Man City | 1036 | 83.62% |
James Milner, Liverpool | 1006 | 76.50% |
The German is finding the mark when passing the ball too, as the above data also shows that he has completed 85.6% of the passes in the opposition half that he’s attempted – a better percentage than Paul Pogba (82.1%), Eden Hazard (83.7%), and Christian Eriksen (78%).
Ozil’s excellence is also demonstrated when comparing his passing to the highest ranked passers in the league. Of the fifteen players who have completed the most passes this year, Ozil sits eleventh with 1533 passes. However, he outstrips his rivals by a distance when looking at the percentage of how many of his completed passes were completed in the opposition half.
Of Ozil’s completed passes, 80% of them were in the opposition half. Only David Silva and Paul Pogba come close, with Silva on 73.4% and Pogba on 66.8%.
Player Name | Total Passes Completed | Passes Completed Opposition Half | Percentage of completed passes / passes in opposition half |
César Azpilicueta | 1884 | 917 | 48.67% |
Paul Pogba | 1816 | 1213 | 66.80% |
N'Golo Kanté | 1783 | 1057 | 59.28% |
Ander Herrera | 1767 | 1059 | 59.93% |
Jordan Henderson | 1767 | 987 | 55.86% |
Granit Xhaka | 1709 | 1100 | 64.37% |
Fernandinho | 1664 | 1036 | 62.26% |
Harry Arter | 1654 | 960 | 58.04% |
David Silva | 1590 | 1168 | 73.46% |
James Milner | 1568 | 1006 | 64.16% |
Mesut Özil | 1533 | 1227 | 80.04% |
Victor Wanyama | 1521 | 847 | 55.69% |
Jan Vertonghen | 1520 | 590 | 38.82% |
Dejan Lovren | 1520 | 566 | 37.24% |
Aleksandar Kolarov | 1515 | 708 | 46.73% |
Data Courtesy of EA SPORTS, the Lead Partner of the Premier League