Resurrection of the maestro: Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil came to North London with high expectations, and why not? He was infact the highest assist maker in Europe and possibly one of the most gifted midfielders in recent times. But that was 2 years ago. A lot has happened for Mesut Ozil in the 2 years he’s been at Arsenal and not everything has quite gone his way.

Ozil made a great start to his Arsenal career scoring goals and providing assists in nearly every match. But unfortunately his form dipped exponentially which saw him go from being a star player to a liability on the pitch. Arsenal fans were furious at him for not performing at the same standards as he once played at for Madrid and not justifying his 42.5 million euro price tag. And if that wasn’t enough Ozil picked up a serious injure which saw him out of action for about 5 months just after the world cup.

But now all is well in camp Mesut as he is back to his sublime best for Arsenal, providing assists, scoring some beautiful goals (free kick against Liverpool for instance) and also showing some great footwork and runs off the ball. Only recently Ozil commented that the injury which kept him out was boon in disguise as it forced him to a better recovery and made him cope up with the high level of physicality of the Premier League, something which was evidently a problem Ozil faced after joining Arsenal. This has shown in his game, as he seems to be harder to shake off the ball more recently. Another drastic change has been the major improvement in his work rate when Arsenal are not in possession. He has been tracking back and closing down more often than in his first season, and this has helped Arsenal in their two recent wins against stronger opposition.

His demeanour off late too has been that of a happy person and he has been quoted as saying that he feels he can win a Ballon d’or while playing at Arsenal.

Now that Ozil is back to his very best, football fans , and specially Arsenal fans, will surely be thrilled to watch the German maestro play week in and week out, with a crucial run-in to the end of the season and a cup final on the horizon for him.