Is Ozil’s poor Arsenal form really down to Cazorla injury?

The Arsenal injury curse strikes again and what we were initially told was a fairly minor ankle problem ended up needing an operation to fix it, and now we have the usual setback to his recovery and the upshot of it all is that our Spanish midfield maestro Santi Cazorla will not be adding, during the current season at least, to the eight Premier League appearances he made before being subbed off during the Champions League hammering of Ludogorets Razgrad.

There has already been a lot of debate about how much the Spaniard brings to the table for Arsenal and how much his absence has hurt the team and their efforts to claim a major trophy like the EPL title but another question connected with that is how much losing Cazorla affects the other main creative star in our side, Mesut Ozil.

And in depth report by Sky Sports suggests that it is quite a lot, even though Ozil’s form has dropped off dramatically in recent weeks. You could say that he was struggling before this to hit the heights that we saw from the German in the early stages of the season when he had Santi feeding him balls.

Ozil cannot do all the creative stuff on his own and there is no doubt that Cazorla possesses a technical ability and eye for a pass that the likes of Xhaka, Elneny and Ramsey just do not match. The fact Ozil’s goals have dried up tells you a story about how his team mate was helping him, as does the fact that Arsenal failed to score against Middlesborough in the first game without him after winning the previous six.

Can we put some of the blame for Ozil’s struggles on the absence of Cazorla?



  1. Break-on-through says:

    Everyone needs to be accountable for their own actions. Besides Ozil not performing in attack is also his pathetic work rate without the ball. Even when he’s the man best positioned to help he’ll still shy away from it. Would Cazorla improve our midfield and all round team play, you’d say yes he likely would. Ozil is our most expensive signing, and our top earner, who’s looking for more money. It’s a cop out using excuses for him.

    1. ThirdManJW says:

      If only Wenger was accountable for his actions. One can dream I suppose!

      Your assessment of Ozil is spot on. He’s also one of most expensive signings in Premier League history, and just hasn’t lived up to the hype. Not all his fault in my opinion. He had nothing to work with upfront in his first season, and Sanchez has been our only quality forward to partner Ozil. But I think giving him a new contract and huge pay-rise would be a massive gamble. I would sell him.

  2. Arsenal_Girl says:

    If he stays, he needs to improve his work rate and attitude
    Last season he improved a lot and could have broken Henry’s assist record but still got most assists of the season

    I am not giving up on him. He can have another wonderful season next year

  3. AsburtonGrove says:

    No he’s lazy. End of. He’s blessed with World-class talent but he’s complaicent and rewarded handsomely with zero accountability. Players need to live up to their price-tag and justify their salary. He does neither.

  4. Ramterta says:

    Ozil has been superb for germany.
    Why?because he has only one role to pay and that is look for passes and create chances.
    at arsenal wenger is bothering him with the all tracking back scoring goals cover ground etc.
    Wenger’s management is what is driving players back

    1. NY_Gunner says:

      I thought “tracking back, scoring goals and covering ground” is what a footballer gets paid to do. Not long ago, you were calling our players”lazy, overpaid primadonnas”
      Make up your mind dude. Stop flappin at straws…

Comments are closed