Sead hails the wizardry of Oz
SEAD Kolasinac insists it is not possible to see from the outside just what an important player Mesut Ozil is to Arsenal.
The Bosnia & Herzegovina defender admits that if anybody other than Ozil had been on the ball in the 14th minute when he set up the opening goal, he would not have bothered even making his supporting run.
As it was, skipper-for-theday Ozil threaded one of his sublime left-footed passes through the Burnley line to pick out Kolasinac and leave him the simple job to tee up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to hammer home.
“It was unbelievable,” said Kolasinac. “Not many players would have been able to play that pass.
“He can, and when I saw him get on the ball, I knew he was going to find me. It was a brilliant pass.”
The worry is that Ozil did virtually nothing else until his mesmerising run in injurytime teed up Alex Iwobi to make sure of the win – after Ashley Barnes’s goal had caused jitters following Aubameyang’s second.
Kolasinac says most of Ozil’s influence is hidden, felt behind the scenes.
“Mesut’s not the sort of player who will scream at you in public just to show the people on the outside that he tries to push us on,” he said.
“He’ll speak in the dressing room, he’ll go to every player individually. With his quality, he brings a lot to this team. He’s very important for us as a captain and as a player.
“When you’re a big star, like Mesut is, of course there are negative headlines. But as a team we don’t pay attention to them and Mesut doesn’t either. That’s what’s most important. We’re all behind Mesut – all the staff, the players. If negative things are written, that’s life.
“Not everything is positive. But with his performance he’s quietened a few critics.”
Sean Dyche feels the way Arsenal players are going to ground at the moment is a sign that manager Unai Emery does not care enough about keeping his players honest.
Three Arsenal players were booked in the recent game against Huddersfield for simulation and Dyche felt there were two blatant dives in Saturday’s game. “The thing is that I don’t think any other manager talks about it,” said Dyche. “So that suggests to me it’s not a concern of theirs.
“If one of my players dived, you’d have a word. But they’re human beings by the way. I’m sure down the years that one of my players dived somewhere.
“But it’s not about that. It’s about the bigger picture. I’m not remotely saying that we’re whiter than white, cleaner than clean, and none of our players will ever dive ever. What I’m saying is that the bigger picture of the game needs to get hold of it. And lay down a base that the clubs have to work from.”