He created more chances than Marseille: Criticism of Arsenal star Mesut Ozil is harsh

Mesut Ozil

As Arsenal confound some people’s expectations by continuing their charge for honours on all fronts, Gunners fans have transferred some of early season criticism that came Arsene Wenger’s way onto new signing Mesut Ozil. The German international started his Arsenal career spectacularly, but a few below-par performances have seen the honeymoon effect start to rub off. Whilst the club’s record signing has waned in recent weeks – had last night’s penalty miss been crucial such dimming could have reached an eclipse – he did exhibit some twinkling moments that showed an improvement upon recent games. Ozil created five chances on a night that could be tentatively used to suggest that he may be turning the corner.

Whilst two-goal Jack Wilshere stole the show, Ozil gave glimpses of the magic that persuaded Wenger to dust off his wallet and spend big on the German. In recent weeks he has looked lost on the right-hand side of Arsenal’s attacking midfield trio, but his link up with the rest of the midfield improved notably last night, particularly in central areas.

Heat Map v Saints

The Heat Map above shows Ozil’s touches against Southampton at the weekend where he mainly kept to the right hand side, despite lining up centrally. Against Marseille last night he was more involved in the middle as he linked up with well with Jack Wilshere, who starred from the right. His Heat Map from last night’s game shows the extent to which he influenced the game from central areas – and is a marked improvement on recent weeks.

Match Centre: Arsenal v Marseille

By playing from more central areas, Ozil was far more involved in the game. He made 65 passes against Marseille, compared with 36 against Southampton. This amounts to a pass every 1.24 minutes last night and one every 2.2 minutes at the weekend.

Ozil Passes vs Marseille

This screenshot is from the Squawka Football App – Download it here for freeWhilst this came in a game in which Arsenal as a team made far more passes than they have in previous fixtures, Ozil was also tidy in possession and did more with the ball. His pass accuracy of 92% was the highest that he has managed in his entire Arsenal career and was the joint highest of any Arsenal midfield player alongside Mathieu Flamini.

Mesut Ozil Key Passes (In Open Play) vs Marseille

Whilst this came in a game in which Arsenal as a team made far more passes than they have in previous fixtures, Ozil was also tidy in possession and did more with the ball. His pass accuracy of 92% was the highest that he has managed in his entire Arsenal career and was the joint highest of any Arsenal midfield player alongside Mathieu Flamini.

The combination of playing more passes, from more dangerous central positions inevitably meant that Ozil proved to be more creative. He made four key passes and one key cross to set up five chances for his team-mates – the most of any Arsenal player and in fact he created more chances than the whole Marseille team (3). His four key passes are shown above and accounted for 40% of Arsenal’s total chance creating passes, including the assist for Wilshere’s second goal.

His five created chances represented something of a return to form, and is more than he has managed to create in his previous three league games combined. Against Southampton and Liverpool he only created one chance, whilst he created two against Manchester United. In the four games prior to last night he created six chances – only one more than over his 81 minutes against Marseille.

Boasting two shots as well as his creativity Ozil posed more threat to goal than he has recently. Arsenal fans will be hoping that he can sustain the glimmers that he produced last night for the rest of the season, as they fight to win their first trophy since 2005.