Mesut Ozil

[BenRobbins]

Would Löw still have played 4-3-3 if Reus was fit? Because then Özil surely would've been dropped. With a 4-2-3-1 not so sure. So it's all speculation now. I thought Löw just had no alternative. Schürrle is too good as impact sub. And of course you could say that Höwedes as left back offered very little support offensively.

Kroos never plays on the wing because he is a purely central player while Özil has already done it often enough. Saying Özil is better because he is more versatile is strange imo. It's like saying Cazorla is a better player than Xavi because the latter can only play in the center. But could Özil play as an 8 in a 4-3-3? I don't know because he'd have to do defensive work which he doesn't like, while Kroos is perfectly comfortable as the number 10 and 8.

This

 

[Mythical Revolution]

Would Löw still have played 4-3-3 if Reus was fit? Because then Özil surely would've been dropped. With a 4-2-3-1 not so sure. So it's all speculation now. I thought Löw just had no alternative. Schürrle is too good as impact sub. And of course you could say that Höwedes as left back offered very little support offensively.

Kroos never plays on the wing because he is a purely central player while Özil has already done it often enough. Saying Özil is better because he is more versatile is strange imo. It's like saying Cazorla is a better player than Xavi because the latter can only play in the center. But could Özil play as an 8 in a 4-3-3? I don't know because he'd have to do defensive work which he doesn't like, while Kroos is perfectly comfortable as the number 10 and 8.

Where did I say that Ozil is better because he's more versatile? In reply to another poster who argued that if Ozil was a better 10 than Kroos he would be playing where Kroos was playing, my argument was that the reason he's not playing there was because Ozil can play on the wing while Kroos can't and that this was "a testament to Ozil's quality rather than a slight against him." The post you're quoting was reiterating the same point but was specifically directed at both players' WC performance, i.e. –*that Kroos' better WC performance should have been expected since he was playing in his natural position & Ozil wasn't, but if their roles were reversed the gap in performance between Ozil in the center & Kroos on the wing would have been much wider than the gap between Kroos in the center & Ozil on the wing; hence why we wouldn't be even comparing the two.


Kroos is a more complete midfielder, but Ozil's creativity & off the ball movement makes him a better 10. If both Reus & Gundogan were available, Kroos wouldn't be needed. With an attacking trident of Reus-Müller-Götze you need a player who can play wide since all 3 like to drift to the center; that and his creativity makes him more valuable as a 10 even in a 4-3-3 & with Gundogan being a better distributor and more solid defensively, Kroos would be redundant even in a deeper role.

 

[BenRobbins]

Where did I say that Ozil is better because he's more versatile? In reply to another poster who argued that if Ozil was a better 10 than Kroos he would be playing where Kroos was playing, my argument was that the reason he's not playing there was because Ozil can play on the wing while Kroos can't and that this was "a testament to Ozil's quality rather than a slight against him." The post you're quoting was reiterating the same point but was specifically directed at both players' WC performance, i.e. –*that Kroos' better WC performance should have been expected since he was playing in his natural position & Ozil wasn't, but if their roles were reversed the gap in performance between Ozil in the center & Kroos on the wing would have been much wider than the gap between Kroos in the center & Ozil on the wing; hence why we wouldn't be even comparing the two.


Kroos is a more complete midfielder, but Ozil's creativity & off the ball movement makes him a better 10. If both Reus & Gundogan were available, Kroos wouldn't be needed. With an attacking trident of Reus-Müller-Götze you need a player who can play wide since all 3 like to drift to the center; that and his creativity makes him more valuable as a 10 even in a 4-3-3 & with Gundogan being a better distributor and more solid defensively, Kroos would be redundant even in a deeper role.

I think kroos would off been used as a 10 like he was by heynckes and a gundogan-bastian pivot with reus on the left.

 

[Mythical Revolution]

I think kroos would off been used as a 10 like he was by heynckes and a gundogan-bastian pivot with reus on the left.

But why would that be when you have a more creative 10 in Ozil. That and his ability to play as a wide midfielder would make the attack more unpredictable since he can either overlap the WF or allow him to drift to the center by taking his place. With Kroos if you want to make very fast positional interchange your only options are RWF-CF or LWF-CF since the AM is static and a LWF-RWF would take to long. With Ozil you get the same 2 permutations in addition to being able to rotate the entire attack clockwise or counterclockwise. So with an attack of Reus-Müller-Götze, you can have Ozil drift to the left, Reus to the center, Müller to the right and Götze to the middle or the other way round.

 

[Andrew M]

Ozil has to be one of the most overrated players of the past 5 years.

I find myself (poor me) watching Arsenal games quite a lot and he is always an invertebrate.

I reckon Wenger must have filed a missing persons report at half time during the Dortmund game.

It was a master stroke of Real to sell him last year and retain Di Maria, who they then sold for 100% more.

 

[linetty]

He is wasted at Arsenal. He was a beast at Real.

I'd love to have him in the squad to be honest.

 

[Andrew M]

So good they won La Decima without him. Choker.

 

[Alarcón]

He is the same as Fàbregas, but worse. No idea why people would want him in our squad, Madrid were better without him.

 

[Andrew M]

Completely

 

[linetty]

So good they won La Decima without him. Choker.

Not winning a trophy is more down to the coach not to a single player...

I'd like to have him in our team just because.

 

[Andrew M]

Not winning a trophy is more down to the coach not to a single player...

I'd like to have him in our team just because.

I said that to illustrate that he would have been, at best, a bench warmer or a cover in matches against the likes of Granada and generally inessential to the team.

He is a choker. Give him a chance to win you a game and he will fuck up.

 

[DrPepper]

But tbh Mourinho's Madrid at their peak (with Özil as starter) were a better team than Ancelotti's Madrid that won La Decima. It's very hard to say whether Özil being gone was the difference or not in winning La Decima.

I wouldn't want him at Barca though. One thing I can say for sure is that he nearly always goes missing in big games. He's a World Champion but barely contributed to that accomplishment.

"3 - After assisting six goals in his opening 10 Premier League games for Arsenal, Mesut Ozil has created only three in his last 19. Fade."

OptaJoe sums it up nicely.

 

[Andrew M]

It's not even just stats. His general play is mediocre.

 

[darthvader7888]

I'd love to have him in the squad to be honest.

Where? In Iniesta's position?

 

[Ursegor]

That's because he's in retirement mode mentally. He made the big money, he got the fame, he won some big trophies, he played for Real Madrid. There is no incentive for him anymore to push himself for a team like Arsenal. London nightlife is where it's at now. Some players are like that. Sneijder semi-retired with 26, too.