More than ever before, Mesut Ozil’s Arsenal career is at a crossroads. The German World Cup winner has failed to convince Unai Emery his quality is of a high enough level to make up for his inconsistency. What’s more, there is ongoing uncertainty surrounding his fitness.
Ozil has missed countless games over the last two seasons due to back problems and illness, but he has been left out by Emery for unknown reasons just as often, inviting speculation on attitude concerns.
Arsenal’s mixed fortunes this season can partly be put down to Ozil’s uneven form and availability. Emery’s treatment of the 30-year-old has been called into question, but clear answers are nowhere to be found.
In search of an explanation, we’ve looked into Arsenal’s form with and without Ozil, surveyed the opinion among the club’s former players, asked whether Ozil remains Arsenal’s best player and considered whether the Gunners can continue to cope without him.
Ozil’s importance to Arsenal has fluctuated over the years. His value to the team was most significant during his first season at the club. In 2013/14, Arsenal won 62.5% of the games in which Ozil played and only 45.5% of those he didn’t, the biggest gap in percentages in any of his six seasons at the Emirates.
Arsenal fared far better without the German in 2014/15, winning 62.5% of their matches without him. They have only bettered that percentage without Ozil this season (65%). In fact, this is the first campaign since 2015/16 in which the Gunners have won a higher percentage of games without Ozil than with him.
During Wenger’s last two seasons in charge, it was sometimes difficult to figure out whether Arsenal were being negatively affected by Ozil’s inconsistency or vice versa. Was it the failure of Ozil’s teammates to play at a similar level that was responsible for his dips in form? Or did Ozil fail to inspire his teammates to step it up a notch?
Regardless of the answer, both Arsenal and Ozil floundered last term; the with and without percentages were both low, making conclusions problematic. This season he has played so few games, just 18, that Arsenal’s win percentage without him has received a boost. It is currently 65%, the highest they have managed without Ozil since he arrived.