Mesut Ozil has not been allowed to play in his preferred position for the whole season.
Since, Unai Emery took over the helm of Arsenal from Wenger, the £3,50,000 star has shown a drastic decline in the centre of field.
While under Wenger, Ozil flourished exponentially because of playing at his preferred position.In those days, Mesut could scalp as good a tally of 19 goals a season. But this year has been a drastic change in his performance, with the German only scalping 2 assists, although he has played only 2 games lesser than last year.
The reason for Ozil’s decline is Emery’s decision to make him play wide. Circulation around the periphery is not something that Ozil is fond of. To play out wide and squeeze through is not his cup of tea, though he is not that bad in playing the winger role too but it is just that he is best when he is playing as a Number 10.
The playmaker’s heat map, shows the same. With his heat map of this year compared to that of last year it clearly explains that Emery is to be blamed for a decline in Ozil’s form. What was a hot red season in the last year is now filled with green covering in the centre of attacking front.
The heat map also received a lot of deprecation for Emery from Arsenal fans.
While One Gooner tweeted: “That’s Emery tactics. We don’t play through the best creative No10 in the game, we are playing through the full backs.”
Another supporter added, writing: “This pretty much confirms that Emery is the cause of Ozil’s downturn this season.”
While things have been sour between Emery and Ozil, they however have made amendments lately. Things are looking good between them both but if Emery does not allow Ozil to play in his preferred position, the contract until 2021 of Mesut and Arsenal may not hold still.