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Arsene Wenger has come in for renewed criticism this week from shell shocked Arsenal fans trying to pick the bones out of Saturday’s catastrophic 5-1 defeat to Liverpool and faces a tough task to rally the troops in time to face Manchester United at The Emirates tonight; in the second of a series of crunch fixtures that could define the club’s season. The Gunners success thus far has been based upon ruthlessly dispatching weaker opponents in fixtures that their rivals have slipped up in, but in the coming weeks they must prove that they can mix it with the best – and Manchester United – if they are to stop their season slipping away.
Mesut Ozil’s season mirror’s the club’s as a whole and his performances are a microcosm of the side. Showing their problems in a nutshell, Ozil has been excellent for Arsenal against the rest of the Premier League, but has gone missing against the big sides, leading to justified criticism of the club’s record signing. But is the criticism of Ozil as a player that is not cut out for the big games justified?
PL Chances Created
Accross the season as a whole, Ozil’s record stands up to scrutiny. Under considerable pressure given his price-tag, the German hit the ground running and is by far and away the side’s top chance creator with 56 chances created; at least double the amount of each of his teammates bar Santi Cazorla.
His record is also comparable with the best in the league. Whilst that is to be expected from a £40million club record signing, it is still impressive for a player that came into a new league, after the season had started. Per 90 minutes played, Ozil has averaged almost three chances created per game (2.94).
Whilst this is lower than the likes of David Silva and Eden Hazard, that is mitigated by the fact that both Manchester City and Chelsea have created more chances than Arsenal. Ozil has created 21% of Arsenal’s chances this season, whereas Silva has created 17% of City’s and Hazard 20% of Chelsea’s.
However, his record in big games in the Premier League is poor. The graphic above circles his Squawka Performance Score in the five fixtures that Arsenal have played against the other top four sides, and Manchester United – arguably Arsenal’s biggest games of the league season so far. Big name signings are made in order to bridge the gap between contenders and also-rans, meaning that Ozil would have been expected to step up and produce in the big moments. His Performance Score shows that that is yet to happen, with all of the troughs in his Performance Score coming in key matches.
His anonymous performance against Liverpool was the latest of these. Liverpool caught Arsenal off guard in the opening 20 minutes with a relentless pressing game and their direct, pace-driven play. Ozil was one of Arsenal’s key culprits during the debacle of the opening period, sloppily giving the ball away in the middle of the park on two occasions in the early stages that both led to goals.
Coutinho v Ozil Key Passes (8/2/14)The game was pretty much settled from then on but while Arsenal showed some signs of rallying, Ozil lumbered on as a peripheral figure until his withdrawal on the hour mark. He produced just one key pass over the course of the game, shown above on the map that portrays the stark contrast between him and Philippe Coutinho, the closest player in style to Ozil amongst Liverpool’s squad.
Representative of his approach to big games this season as a whole, one chance created is a fairly damning statistic for the man that is meant to be the side’s creative hub. Over the season as a whole Ozil has created 2.94 chances per 90 minutes played, around one every 31 minutes. This drops significantly over the five big games, in which the former Real Madrid man has averaged 1.29 chances created per 90 minutes: one per 70 minutes on the pitch.
Ozil Assist For Walcott v Man CityIn defence of the German, a lower level of chance creation is clearly expected against the big teams. Ozil also has two assists from the five games, meaning that his assists per 90 minutes is actually marginally higher (0.43) against the big teams than over the whole season (0.42). This stat should be taken with a pinch of salt given that it comes from a small sample of just two assists, but it is worth remembering that Ozil laid on the equalising goal for the Gunners at the Etihad in December, before the side imploded around him.
He has also produced in other big games, even if he hasn’t come to the fore in the side’s biggest Premier League fixtures. Whilst his other goals have come against Norwich (2) and Hull City, Ozil scored in the side’s 1-1 draw with Everton earlier in the season. He produced a good performance against the Toffees and – whilst Arsenal didn’t win that game – he was the side’s best player against an impressive Everton side.
CL Chance CreationHe has also produced in the Champions League. Ozil has created at least four times as many chances as any other player in this season’s Champions League campaign, and scored the opener against Napoli in October.
Ozil Goal v NapoliWhilst Ozil has not stolen any headlines in the side’s big games this season, his Champions League performances give some crumbs of comfort. The German has not produced in the big games so far, but that is partly reflective of a lack of overall form. Ozil’s last ten games have seen just two assists, while his opening ten saw six.
Ozil has not scored since early December and his form has petered out since an explosive start to his Premier League career. The German can go some way to answering his poor form and big game absence with a big performance against Manchester United tonight, but his anonymous performance against Liverpool was reflective of a recent drop in overall form. This makes little difference in the short term, and he may yet prove unable to impact the big games, but if he can rediscover his early season form then Ozil could yet become the big game player that Arsenal fans are hoping for.
