After another disappointing performance from Mesut Ozil at the weekend, the Arsenal playmaker's slump in form has been the focus of much discussion. Adam Bate looks at the Opta tracking data to put some meat on the bones of the debate...

Amid the excitement that greeted his August arrival, Mesut Ozil felt like more than just another player. Here was a symbol of Arsenal's cash-rich future. This was a signing to sweep away the gloom of that opening day defeat to Aston Villa and carry the Gunners into the heart of a genuine title race. So it is somehow appropriate that Ozil's waning form should be intertwined with the team's fading dream of topping the Premier League table.

Things could hardly have started better with Ozil a conspicuously transformative figure in Arsenal's turnaround. An assist on debut at Sunderland was followed by two more on his home bow. Indeed, the seven chances created in that performance against Stoke remains the most by anyone at the Emirates Stadium so far this season. The German was widely regarded as the catalyst for a fine run of form that saw Arsenal win six and draw one of his first seven Premier League games for the club.

Of course, statistics only tell part of the story. To see Ozil in action is art not science. Ballet, poetry, take your pick. There is the sublime touch and expert weight of pass. The serene movements as he glides around the pitch, barely seeming to leave an imprint on the turf. But the rhythm is not flowing as it once did. The end-product of goals and assists is proving a chore rather than an inevitable consequence of his brilliance. The question that needs answering is simple: "Why?"

Perhaps the starting point of the search for an explanation comes from looking back to Ozil's three-year stay at Real Madrid. The former Werder Bremen playmaker was a popular figure at the Bernabeu with supporters so incensed by talk of his sale that calls for him to stay at the club were even a feature of Gareth Bale's stage-managed welcoming party. Cristiano Ronaldo was candid in his belief that Ozil's exit would be a bad thing for both him and the team, while Jose Mourinho has been effusive in his praise of the player's efforts in the Spanish capital: The best No 10 in the world.

Negatives

And yet, while Ozil's status as a world-class player is not in dispute, there is a danger in airbrushing out the negatives. For all the talk of England's island mentality and suspicion of things from abroad, there is also a wide-eyed wonder when genuine superstars arrive on these shores. But to paint his time at Real as an unqualified success and his relationship with Mourinho as wholly positive, would be inaccurate. In fact, that was simply not the case.

Ozil endured a difficult start to the 2012/13 season at the Bernabeu, with his place under threat following the arrival of Luka Modric from Tottenham. Accused of being on the periphery of games when things weren't going to plan, he suffered the ignominy of being substituted at half time against Sevilla, Deportivo La Coruna and Real Betis in late 2012. When he did remain on the field, there was a tendency to fade late on in games and he rarely seemed in peak physical condition.

Fitness

Fitness is at the heart of this issue. "I can't believe there are players aged 23, 24, 25 or 26 who are unable to play twice in four days," Mourinho complained last season as relations with his Real Madrid players became particularly fraught. Ozil is unlikely to have been far from his thoughts. For all his qualities, like many precious things in this life, the attacking midfielder was a fragile creature. Perhaps that goes some way to explaining why he has become a fading force at Arsenal.

It is perfectly understandable why Arsene Wenger should have been tempted to race his prize stallion rather harder than Mourinho had elected to in Madrid. With Arsenal leading the way for much of the winter, the veteran boss has not felt in a position to subject his £42million signing to the squad rotation process. As a result, despite the assertion that Ozil has played 35 matches for club and country compared to 32 this time last season, that particular comparison is skewed.

Minutes rather than appearances are the currency that players' bodies must deal in. Ozil played 2036 of them in La Liga last season but has already racked up 1855 league minutes this time around. Crucially, he has played the full 90 minutes on 11 occasions for Arsenal so far this Premier League season. That's something he was never asked to do in any one of his three years under Mourinho at Real Madrid.

As a consequence, Ozil looks to be struggling. The physical demands of the Premier League are known to be significant and the Germany international is facing them for the first time. Unlike every other campaign of his career, there is no winter break to provide respite and a World Cup in Brazil looms large. The Opta tracking data that analyses distances covered as well as the speed and frequency of players' sprints, reveals a startling downturn in Ozil's high-intensity activity.

Back in October when Ozil scored twice in a 4-1 win over Norwich, the tracking data shows that he made 67 sprints during the game. In early November, he hit new heights with 71 sprints in a 2-0 home win over Liverpool that put the Gunners five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. However, Arsenal were beaten next time out against Manchester United and things haven't looked quite so rosy since. Ozil has not performed 50 sprints in a match since that Liverpool game.

Most alarmingly of all, the trend continues. Since Boxing Day, Ozil has not produced more than 40 sprints in a match with his tally of 27 in 84 minutes against Crystal Palace representing a new low. Against Liverpool on Saturday, he sprinted just 22 times before being substituted shortly after the hour mark. "He didn't have the best of games, but that can happen," said Wenger. "He works very hard to adapt to the physical level of the Premier League."

In truth, Ozil's overall distance covered in matches has remained at broadly similar levels. However, it is those intense runs at speed that are needed - both forward and back - to create the space when attacking or track the runner when defending. They are the movements that make the difference and they are precisely the ones that can become less frequent when a player is suffering from fatigue.

Questions

Suddenly new questions arise. Is there an attitude problem? What about that body language? How useful are 'assists per 90 minutes' stats when you can't complete a full game? Comments from the past can be revisited. "I think I know how to try to stop him being in the game for 90 minutes, with 90 minutes of direct influence on the match," said Mourinho in December. "Isco and Ozil have to learn how to defend. They must work defensively," said Carlo Ancelotti in the Autumn.

And yet, Ozil remains the same player and at 25 this should surely be regarded as a lull rather than anything approaching decline. The great players who thrill and delight should be cherished. Like the lover put on a pedestal, now Arsenal fans are getting the warts-and-all version. To misquote Marilyn Monroe, if you can't handle him at his worst, then you don't deserve him at his best. After all, as the evidence suggests, maybe Mesut Ozil just needs a rest?

Source: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11096/9161356/why-is-ozil-fading

DISCUSS

After reading the article I feel that it was a mistake for Ozil to join Arsenal, packed with mid-fielders he never really plays his number 10 role. Also, in Madrid he had a great striker making great runs wheather it was Benzema or Ronaldo. Arsenal should have instead bought a striker, their team is packed with mid-fielders and giroud can't do it all on his own.

THe problem of Arsenal is they do not have a decent striker who can convert chances anymore, opponent is no longer afraid, shake or anything against them. That changes lot of game play and put Ozil under a lot of pressure. Their confident drops deep now and Arsenal looks like some mid-table team, a long with my MU under shitty Moyes

Özil is burned out, plain and simple. The only reason Arsenal are even top of the table is because of him. Wenger is to blame for not signing a clinical striker in Jan. RVP was the same last season. His run of form at the start of the season put United at the top and because of strength in depth they stayed there. Top players at a new club like RVP and Özil cannot be expected to carry the team to themselves the whole season.
Arsenal need to rest him. All these games in a new league and WC coming up, this could hurt Germany. For me he has done more than enough since he arrived. If Arsenal wanted one player to carry the team for the whole season, they should have signed Messi.

I think the main reason, is that we have no Walcott/Ramsey. Ramsey was in amazing from since the start. Walcott is for me the biggest miss this season. We have no pace in offensive power. All what Arsenal do is passing the ball around, without any target. You cant expect Giroud to get the ball and pass through the defender. Giroud can't do anything for himself.
I think Ozil kinda lost his confidence, he need to shoot more often, he rather pass to someone else then to score goal. I think if we get a top class striker in transfer windows then we will see how strong really is.

• I think Ozil need a bit of rest
• To take things on his own and start shooting instead of passing from the clean chances.
• Better striker upfront (Why don't we use Podolski? Wonder what Wenger have against him)

Ozil & Giroud exhausted, simply as that. Lack of strength in depth in key positions. Transfer policy still costing any ambitions.

Edit : For the price tag, Arsenal paid more than the player price, they made a marketing impact by saying to other clubs, we are still here and we will stay attractive and strong on the transfert window, it has completely changed the bad image that was hunting them few weeks before signin him.
That was more than a player buy for Arsenal and it was probably a wise move, its a pitty they didnt take the chance to bring Suarez or any quality striker to rotate with Giroud, that could have completely changed Arsenal ambitions this year.

In addition to your good post Lodatz :

He is an enigmatic player, one who has legendary quality in the right setting but who can also be utterly useless in the wrong conditions. And following widespread criticism of the playmaker and Arsene Wenger's vehement defense of his star in the Daily Mail, it's time to set the record straight on the nature of Ozil's game, what he needs to show his best qualities and what can and cannot be expected of him.

When Ozil first emerged as a potential star at Schalke, he was barely post-pubescent; his body was typical of a 17-year-old athlete. The trouble is, he never developed the muscle—and with it, the strength and explosive turn of pace—that typifies professional athletes.

He gained some weight under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, but still had the look of a footballing Oliver Twist: almost malnourished. In three full seasons in Spain he completed the full 90 minutes in just 25 Primera games, a testament to his lack of fitness.

As he approaches his 26th birthday and the athletic prime of his career, Ozil remains physically deficient.

It's no longer a question of when he'll mature; in his defense of the player, Wenger revealed Ozil had been spending a lot of time in the gym working on his strength, which nonetheless remains very limited. It may be that Ozil's body is not cut out for all the demands that come with being a modern professional football player.

Looking away from his shortcomings, the fact that Ozil is able to play football at the highest level despite glaring physical inadequacies is a glowing endorsement of his other attributes—which, it should be added, he may not have developed so exquisitely if he were faster or stronger.

The positives Ozil possesses are few and can be summarized simply as his brain and his left foot. But these two features are so refined that he has made himself into one of the world's best-regarded players.

Ozil's soft touch, control and precision in playing the ball are rivaled by few. The trouble is, he lacks the leg power to turn his ball-playing ability into an asset when shooting on goal. He can only pass and cross—and brilliantly, at that—which both need less of the force he struggles to generate and more of the precision he has in such abundance.

Similarly, Ozil has the touch and control to dribble past opponents like Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi. But, although he can trick a defender initially, the 25-year-old lacks the explosive turn of pace to burst past an off-balance opponent. He also is easily nudged off the ball. Instead of beating opponents on the dribble, he can use his touch to control unwieldy passes and avoid challenges.

The aforementioned abilities are useful, but Ozil would not be a special player without other redeeming features.

His brain perhaps is his greatest asset. Watching him closely, one will notice that Ozil rarely makes the wrong decision with and without the ball. He knows where and when to run to best suit his attacking teammates. When in possession, he always makes the right pass or dribble. Where many are quick to make a rash decision, he is patient; his calmness perhaps contributes to his ability to pick out passes that few could imagine.

Ozil's assist to Thomas Mueller against England at the 2010 World Cup is a classic example of the ex-Schalke man's intelligence. While most would have stampeded toward goal and given Joe Hart or Ashley Cole a chance to stop him, Ozil calmly jogged to draw the England goalkeeper and defender toward him, then played an inch-perfect pass to Mueller.

The few tangible abilities that Ozil possesses have one common theme: They require very specific conditions for him to be effective. If an attacking player can only pass, not shoot or dribble past defenders, he needs plenty of touches on the ball and for his teammates to make the right runs.

In Ozil's case, he has service, but as of late has struggled to make an incisive pass. To this end, the absence of Aaron Ramsey, Lukas Podolski and especially Theo Walcott has been a detriment. Before Walcott's injury, Ozil had assisted eight goals in 15 Premier League appearances; since then, he's set up just one in six matches.

Even without Walcott, Ozil looked a new man on Wednesday and extra motivated to make his impression felt against Manchester United. The trouble was none of his teammates in midfield were the type to make darting runs into the box. And striker Olivier Giroud is not the lightning-quick type to latch onto one of the German's patented through passes.

Another problem with the Giroud-Ozil combination is that the latter requires a more technical striker in order to be incisive. Ozil is easily dispossessed when surrounded by large defenders near the edge of the box, but if he can exchange passes with a striker faster than the defense can react (for example, this goal in a 2011 friendly with the Netherlands), he can be a substantial threat in the box.

Although scoring is not Ozil's strong point, his threat to score is key to any attack in which he plays. Joachim Low was so adamant on this point that he benched the rather clumsy Mario Gomez, who had scored three goals in the group stage, during the knockout rounds of Euro 2012. Ozil had struggled in the group stage, but came to life following the introduction of the aging Miroslav Klose in Low's starting lineup.

Great expectations came with Ozil's €50 million price tag—perhaps some that were unrealistic.

In a Premier League that emphasizes pace and power, he is a different breed. Fans of English football and players themselves have come to expect certain superstars to win games on their own. Tottenham at times last season simply had the strategy of playing the ball to Gareth Bale and seeing if he could pull a rabbit out of a hat. The same could be said of Luis Suarez at Liverpool.

Although he would fit perfectly into Andres Iniesta's role in Barcelona's 2008-09 team, Ozil could never, ever be the individual match-winner that Robin van Persie was for Arsenal. In fact, the German could never be expected even to play the full 90 minutes on a regular basis. And he was always going to be a defensive liability. These realities were well-established long before his move to the Emirates.

Any expectations that Ozil would be a reliable provider of brilliant, precise through passes were absolutely fair. And when he's had players to latch onto them, he's delivered reliably: to date, only Wayne Rooney has assisted more goals in the 2013-14 Premier League. When he leads the attack, as happened several times against United, there truly is little he can do.

To describe Ozil as a flop would not only be premature at this point, but a gross simplification that would have required unrealistic expectations in the first place.

The fact is that Wenger spent €50 million on a very specific, limited player who can be worth every penny but only under the right circumstances. Frustrating though it may be, whether Ozil in the long term is a hero or a flop rests as much in Wenger's hands as it does in those of the player himself.

Clark whitney on Twitter.

• Jeremy wilson (Telegraph) on Twitter : Arsenal might need delivery now but final judgments on Ozil can't be made in first season. Hazard and Suarez prove that.

He has the kind of magic we appreciate in Spain, but he should be used carefully for a hundred per cent efficiency.

Talk of Ozil's being a flop or poor are sooooooo wide of the mark. It is true however he isn't as influential as he could be. The reasons for this as I see it are actually quite simple:

#1- He's missing runners. He is one part of a 2 piece puzzle. If you watch him closely he is always gets into a position and is looking forward to make a pass but there is noone ever there. Giroud is usually alone in the box and stationary (running in behind isn't really his strong point) & the rest of the team don't run the channels. It must be intensel frustrating. Against Liverpool it must've happened easily >15x's. Instead he has to stop, dribble, and pass back. We have no natural wingers currently. Basically our entire team looks & plays like one made up midfielders (everyone passing the ball no one running to receive it). This is why Walcott's injury is a huge blow because we have no other forwards who can make those runs in behind.
#2- Physical Fitness. As the artciles point out, he's not used to playing this much and at this intensity. He needs some rest imo and he should've gotten it in cup games and against easier opponents but Wenger won't risk it. He is a stallion not a plow horse but he is being made to plow for the moment.

You will see just how great he will be if we get more clinical/mobile strikers and wingers.

Most of you guys nailed it. He is physically lacking. It's always been the case. I don't know why, but the man just can't take on too much physical exertion or pressure. He needs rest, and I can't stress this more than enough. Wenger is an idiot for not resting him enough.

And Footaholic nailed the other part of his missing form. Lack of speedy and intelligent runners such as Ronaldo, di Maria, Callejon, Benzema, and Higuain is what costs Ozil.

@Dynast:

"Lack of speedy and intelligent runners such as Ronaldo, di Maria, Callejon, Benzema, and Higuain is what costs Ozil."

Honestly? That's what I said when the transfer first happened. Benzema --> Giroud. Ronaldo --> Walcott.

These are obvious differences.

However, with regard to the fitness level, I do find myself forced to ask: if the man cannot maintain his form, or his energy levels for the length of a season, is he as valuable as his obvious talent suggests? What I mean by that is: the season is LONG in the PL, not least because of the fact we have an extra cup competition. In order to shine, and be truly valuable, a player needs to be able to keep up with that. Vieira did it. Henry did it. Bergkamp did it. They may not have played every single game, but, they played the overwhelming majority without such issues.

Ozil's talent is immense, but, if he is going to have to be wrapped in cotton wool during his career at Arsenal, I'm not sure he's as 'worth it' as he first appeared.

@Lodatz

That's where managers like Wenger, Mourinho, and Ancelotti have to decide to draw the line.

For Mourinho, Ozil was his gem. He loved Ozil's talent and abilities, and would never let him play more than 70 minutes in a football match. He would get too tired otherwise, and resting him from that extra 20 minutes was crucial. This kept him fit and in-form for the next match. Notice that Ozil's form started to dip after Boxing Day. Difference between England and Spain in Boxing Day? Spain has a 2 week (or 1 week) Christmas break when no Spanish football matches occur. This helped Ozil get a lot of rest, but in England, that is not the case. In fact, Boxing week features most teams playing 3 (and sometimes even 4) matches in 10 days. Tough luck for the man.

Ozil's talent is immeasurable, but Mourinho chose to treat him the way that he needs to be treated: with caution. He didn't let Mesut play for too long to maintain his fitness and form, and reaped the rewards for it.

Now to Ancelotti. Ancelotti was told to decide that he would have to let go of either di Maria or Ozil. He chose, surprisingly, Ozil. Everyone was shocked, but no one hated Ancelotti for it. It wasn't his decision to buy Bale. Anyways, he stated that he figured di Maria would "fight for his place". I think he didn't just mean that di Maria's attitude was better than Ozil's, but perhaps his fitness as well. I don't think Ancelotti wanted to go out of his way to treat Ozil with such priority, when he could just use Isco (a more promising star) instead. And Isco also has an impeccable engine and works very hard on defense, so it fit in with his ideology. But of course, what Ancelotti lost was the brilliance in build-up play and vision that Ozil offers.

So now it's Wenger's turn. Either he will have to treat Ozil with care to get the results and performances he wishes, or he will have to let him go. What's the smartest choice? Treat him with care, at least that's what I think. Ozil offers talent that very few other players can offer (Silva, Iniesta, Cesc, Mata, Gotze, etc.). He will win games single-handedly for Wenger, although it won't be as apparent because he won't be scoring the goals. But you'll see what I mean if Wenger starts to use him properly.

"So now it's Wenger's turn. Either he will have to treat Ozil with care to get the results and performances he wishes, or he will have to let him go. What's the smartest choice? Treat him with care, at least that's what I think."

And I agree, generally. It's just that , well, what do you do in the meantime? I think if Ozil the player wants to be as great as his talent makes it possible, he needs to become the type of player who can bring that talent to bear al the time, not just when he's had a rest.

Do you see what I mean? It's not that I think Wenger should get rid of him; of course not. It's just that, right now, Wenger is stuck between having to find someone else to cover him, or to simply do without him. If you ask me, Ozil should be the one stepping his game up to meet the demands of his new league, not Wenger learning how to 'handle' a player who can't last a season without running out of steam.

@Lodatz

You're absolutely right. But one thing I'd like to say. I think Ozil is just..... physically incapacitated. I don't know how to describe it, but Mourinho was a very strict trainer. All the players had impeccable fitness under him, except for Ozil and Kaka (Kaka was mostly injured, so it's not his fault). Ozil's stamina didn't change one bit under Mourinho, which I find to be astonishing. Do you think that he may have a physical condition (e.g. a little asthma, or maybe just generically small lung capacity)?

The only reason why the focus is on Ozil right now is because he is our star player, the team plays badly, all the papers talk about him doing poorly. And it's idiotic. If you did watch the manchester united game, he was our best player, he runs all game long, and even defends. The ones to blame are our other midfielders. Like foota said, we have no runners, we are missing ramsey who would do those runs up the field during the first part of the season, and walcott for the same reason. Ozil was again amazing tonight, and people saying he is lazy or tired are dead wrong. It's just how he runs and how he always looks exhausted for some reason, when he runs more than any other of our midfielders. I agree that he was poor at anfield but again, our whole team was disgustingly bad.

Also, people say we should rest him, he came to arsenal for playing time, wenger is giving him playing time and he plays every minute of every game. And like I said above, he still runs as much as anyone on the team. "physically incapacitated" ?? watch more of our games. He took his time to adapt, but now he pushes players off the ball and tracks back, and until the 90+3 min.

Our form has been shit lately but it's NOT because of Ozil. It's because our two most dangerous players are injured, and players like cazorla wilshere and arteta have failed to step up and have played poorly. If anything Ozil at the start of the season wasn't as influencial as he is today and ramsey was getting all the attention.

@King: what about the sprint declines?

He's had a good performance against L'pool today. He basically had his prints all over the Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain goals.

IF you guys want to talk about someone we bought who was supposed to be good but has been a massive disappointment so far, it should be Nacho Monreal. At least that would be a valid statement. Not hating on the man and hope he can improve but he's been here a while and can't seem to defend very well.

@Lodatz I had started to write a super long wall of text trying to explain how our midfield as a whole is playing badly since the city game, but the fact that the stat shows the southampton game tells me this stat is rubbish. Ozil at southampton was one of his best games (if not the best) for us and he would have deserved to carry us to the three points but the rest of the team was too shit. You can talk a lot with stats but most of it will come out of your ass (not your personnal ass, I'm talking for everyone's asses). And what I saw from the last few games tell me that he has been BY FAR our best attacking player in 2014.

@foota Nacho had a good game today, but he also had a few games this season when he was left totally exposed by his midfielders (I'm looking at you Arteta and Cazorla), and made him look very very bad. I'm talking about the manchester city and the anfield games. But other than these games I think he has been pretty solid and dependable in attack as well. I still like gibbs better but I think people calling for his head are not looking at the right player.