After the horror show in Germany Arsenal were back to winning ways. And it is no surprise. Arsenal excel at inconsistency. Although, a return to a trusted formation worked a treat. Ozil was restored to his number 10 role, as well as his form and quality. This was always going to be the case. He is the best number ten in the world for a reason: you play Ozil in the hole and you will get results. With a player of his quality, it is as simple as that. And he showed again what he is capable of given the right mood and players to work with. Most notably in the form of Danny Welbeck who is exactly the type of player Ozil needs to thrive; and their partnership is already blossoming, and at just three games together. It is clear that Arsenal are at they are best with Ozil behind Welbeck, with two pacy wingers either side. Ozil should never have been on the wings; it was a failed experiment and waste of time.
Ozil started the game with purpose, already finding space in the middle early in the game with purposeful touches, he looked determined to give an energetic performance, and that is exactly what he delivered. He picked out some neat passes in the final third during the early stages of the game, which would have seem him rewarded had Ramsey been on form and up to his all-action hero self. Numerous times players found themselves unable to capitalise on an Ozil pass. Fortunately, a fantastic piece of team play led to Welbeck threading a perfect ball through to Ozil who slotted home with composure. It was great to see Ozil take a one-on-one chance after seeing him fail in that department regularly. It was a big goal from him and it sparked a blistering three-minute spell for the side that put three away in three minutes. Ozil was at the heart of everything. After latching on to Welbeck’s assist the German returned the favour with an unerring cross and the Englishman did the rest. This is what fans expect from Ozil. He is the type of player that can win a game in a single moment of magic and that is what he did; a goal and assist a minute apart shows how devastating he can be when on his game. A lot of the good work from Ozil can be laid to Welbeck who seems to be enjoying himself playing in front of someone of Ozil’s creativity. It is very apparent that Welbeck is a far better fit for this Arsenal side, and Mezut Ozil, than Olivier Giroud is. Ozil needs pace around him. And when he has that, he delivers with ease. It was the formula for Real Madrid’s success for the years Ozil was at the club. He played with Ronaldo, Benzema, Di Maria; all of whom are electric across the floor.
The game died after that frantic three-minute brilliance, although Ozil still showed the same composure and purpose he displayed from the start, dribbling past opponents and finding space with ease, as whole he just made everything tick along smoothly. After the poor performance from both himself and the team, this was the ideal result for the club, and Ozil on personal level. He has been looking for a game like that for a long time. He knows he needs to score more, and be more involved, so hopefully if given his free role he can kick on from this and show to doubters why Arsenal broke their transfer record for him.