Wenger defends Ozil despite improvement in German’s absence
MESUT OZIL has played seven minutes for Arsenal in the last month, and that was a meaningless cameo at the end of a routine 2-0 home win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Since his last start, on September 9, Arsenal have won five and drawn one. And that draw was the best performance of the lot, an energetic, focused display in holding Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.
It was a performance that Arsenal would have struggled to put in with Ozil in the team, given how much defensive running Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck did from the inside forward roles. And it was a display that suggested that for all of Ozil’s subtle brilliance and imaginative angles, there may be a bright future for this team even when he leaves.
Which is why Arsene Wenger, speaking at his press conference on Thursday morning, did not give the impression of a man desperate to rush his £42 million signing back into the team.
Ozil has been out with an injury but he is now he is back in training. “He is working hard now, he has only been back in training for one week, since Monday,” Wenger said. But when asked if Ozil would be back in the team for Watford away this evening, or to put any timescale on his return, Wenger demurred.
Of course Wenger wants Ozil back, but he will be one of a number of options in attacking midfield, rather than the indispensable man he was when he first arrived.
“Of course he is important,” Wenger insisted. “But I have many players – we spoke about Jack (Wilshere), we spoke about Iwobi. They are all players who play in this similar position and it is very interesting because it gives me a lot of opportunities to keep them all focused and refreshed.”
Wenger still believes that Ozil wants to stay at Arsenal, even as his new contract remains unsigned. But he has been saying that for months and it is just as likely he could leave in January rather than on a free.
When asked how Arsenal had managed to not just survive but improve without Ozil, Wenger hurriedly pointed back to a point last season when they played well with Ozil in the team.
“People go quickly to conclusions,” Wenger insisted. “Last year we played the last 11 games and won 10. We beat Man City in the FA Cup semi-final and Chelsea in the final and he played as well. You can always find the example. But it is true that we have done well recently.
“We live in the world where people have opinions,” he said, “and sometimes they are right and sometimes they are not always proven right on the longer period. You need players who have quality and Ozil is one of the best players in the world.”
Wilshere is a different story. It was once unimaginable that Arsenal could have him and not pick him but years of injuries have left him a peripheral figure.
He has started two games this season, against Doncaster Rovers and BATE Borisov, and not yet played one minute in the Premier League. Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey remain the preferred pair there, but Wenger said that could change soon.
“If the competition was less ferocious, Jack is ready to play,” Wenger said. “I wouldn’t be scared to play him. When I go to Europa League, people think I give the same importance. In the Premier League he can play, he is nearly back to his best now.”
The most important part of Wilshere’s game, however, is his ability to beat opponents in the middle of the pitch. That is what his repeated ankle injuries have hampered and if he is ever going to be half the player Arsenal hoped for, that is what he will have to do.
“His strength is to turn the game forward and have acceleration individually or with the ball,” Wenger said. “I was interested in him because I watched him when he played against Barcelona (February 2011), or when he was 17 or 18, you see straight away that he had that from the start.”
The proof can only come on the pitch, and in the Premier League, rather than one of Arsenal’s lesser competitions. But if Wilshere does that, then he could well be playing in midfield for them longer than Ozil. Watford v Arsenal, live, Sky Sports, 5.30