After Mesut Özil joined Arsenal in the summer of 2013, one aspect of his game was emphasized above the rest: Assisting. The German wizard tallied an outrageous 67 assists during his 3 seasons at Real Madrid, cementing himself as arguably the best playmaker in the world. When he arrived in North London, most of the football world assumed his goal creation statistics would pick up where he left off. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Since moving to Arsenal, Özil’s assist numbers have dropped markedly, having created only 22 goals in two seasons. While this initially appears to be a noticeable dip in quality, the argument can be made that Mesut Özil is currently playing some of the best football of his career.
When you think of some of the greatest playmakers of the past twenty years, two of the biggest names that come to mind are Andres Iniesta and Zinedine Zidane. With magical technique, binocular vision and mouthwatering skill, these two titans of football tantalized the world with their breathtaking ability. However while they were largely known for their playmaking, their assist numbers were shockingly ordinary for players so highly regarded. Iniesta routinely recorded under 15 assists per season during the peak of his career, while Zidane rarely even forayed into the double digit region. On the contrary, the two used their abilities to dictate the buildup play, intelligently fitting all the pieces into place before igniting the attack that would lead to a goal. Likewise, Özil follows suit. Although his assist numbers may not be quite as scintillating anymore, the German is without a doubt the most important cog in the Gunners attack. His intelligent distribution, constant movement and eye for a defense splitting pass means that while he isn’t usually the last pass before the goal, he almost always plays a massive part in the creation of them. Take Olivier Giroud’s goal vs. West Ham for example. After finding Giroud with a clever pass, Özil received the layoff and fired in a perfect through ball to Aaron Ramsey, who’s touch found it’s way to the feet of the Frenchman right before his well struck finish. Ramsey will receive credit for the assist, but there’s no denying that Özil’s fingerprints were all over that goal. With countless other examples of such, Özil’s influence on Arsenal’s attacking movements is irreplaceable. He may not be as much of a direct assist maker with the Gunners, however he’s developed into a player able to dictate games and impose his creativity more efficiently.
Additionally, the actual statistic of assists can often be misleading. For every world class flick and defense splitting through ball, there are about 50 assists attributed to simple passes and corners. While one can make the argument that being in the right place to make those passes is an enviable trait, the fact of the matter is making a five yard sideways pass or swinging in a corner simply isn’t particularly impressive or indicative of a player’s skill. Take Cesc Fabregas for example. There is no denying that he is an excellent player and one of the finest playmakers in the Premier League, yet a large majority of his monumental 22 assist tally came from simplistic passes and set pieces. And while Özil’s assist tallies have dropped since joined Arsenal, his penchant for contributing the pass that leads to the final ball has skyrocketed. This in part, is his new found desire to drop deep and dictate play. The time he spends outside of advanced positions means he’s less likely to get the final touch of the ball before the scorer, but this newly developed trait shows he’s now more inclined to act as the main creative factor behind any goals. Assisting is an important attribute to any playmaker, yet it can also be misleading when measuring the player’s creative influence.
Lastly, Özil simply doesn’t posses the quality he had around him during his time in the Spanish capital. At Real Madrid, he had Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema fielded in front of him, two of the top attackers in the world. With their quality, the German was assured to pick up a plethora of assists simply by giving them the ball and letting them do their magic. At Arsenal, it isn’t quite the same. Olivier Giroud is a solid option who possesses a ton of admirable qualities, however he simply isn’t ruthless enough for Özil to replicate his Madrid goal creation numbers. Even Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal’s star man and top goalscorer this season, often suffers from sporadic finishing. The Arsenal forward best suited to Özil’s strengths is Theo Walcott, who’s runs and finishing ability are perfect for the German to find with his defense splitting through balls. Unfortunately, the Englishman spent much of the season out injured, only returning to form during the last two games of the season. In fact, Özil created an astounding 50 chances during 2015, which is one of the highest tallies across all European leagues. Poor fortune and equally poor finishing meant many of those chances were left unconverted, however evolving circumstances next year should lead to an influx in Özil’s assist numbers. Yet without two of the best goal-scorers in the world by his side, it seems unlikely he will ever reach the lofty statistics he achieved at Real Madrid.
Mesut Özil hasn’t quite reached the heights expected of him at the time of his high profile move to Arsenal, however an impressive 14/15 campaign has laid the groundwork for him to absolutely explode next season. His influence on the Arsenal attack is forever expanding, and he’s slowly but surely beginning to silence his doubters. While the drop in assists initially looked like a worrisome occurrence, the above factors mean he’s simply evolving into a different type of playmaker. Should he avoid injury next year, we’ll likely see Özil at his Madrid peak again very soon in the near future. The German wizard is finally ready to take the Premier League by storm, and the results will be glorious for all to see.
