how ozil spends his free time doesnt seem particularly important. here are the points that matter, imo:
how does he fit into what emery is trying to do? when we've switched to this 3 at the back formation, we've played with 2 CMs, a striker, and then 2 attackers inside right behind the striker. that is where ozil would have to play, because hes obviously not going to be part of the midfield 2. if we were still playing 4-2-3-1, then he would fit naturally into the #10 role. interestingly, when mustafi came off and doozi came on against the scum, we played something resembling a 4-3-2-1, with 3 CMs, then ramsey/laca behind auba. ozil would theoretically fit into the team where ramsey played against spuds
what emery requires, from everyone on the pitch, is the willingness to press and try to win the ball back after we lose it. iwobi and mkh offered no end product against spuds, but they both worked hard to get the ball back after we lost it. i dont buy the "ozil is lazy" narrative. his running stats from last season didnt indicate he was lazy. but i think there is a difference in what is required now. hes not just required to make sprints or runs when we are attacking. emery wants constant pressure to win the ball back high up the pitch. that has never seemed to be ozil's style, not here and not at madrid.
ozil is on £350,000 a week. for those wages, he cant simply be a good player, or a player who can play 30 games a season and turn up whenever he feels like it. of course the media is always trying to create drama, but the rumors last season about him going missing for matches he didn't feel like playing were disturbing, and you have guys like ian wright saying they dont think hes really hurt. would they just pile on to unsubstantiated rumors? maybe. probably. but even emery's responses the last few days seem to add speculation. saying he doesnt even know if ozil was at the emirates on sunday to watch the game? if ozil was legitimately injured, you'd think the club would have a full and total accounting of his status, how it happened, what the plan is, etc. instead, it was basically "your guess is as good as mine, i dont know what his deal is".....seems really odd for that to happen at a big club.
we have limited resources. we are not man city. i understand the desire for ozil to be a difference maker for us. hes become a lightning rod, other teams fans and the pundits alike never miss a chance to have a go at him, fair or not, so we feel the need to defend him and hope that he proves everyone wrong. but given our limited resources (relative to the other big teams, except spuds), we can't afford to pay him £350,000 a week just to try and prove the critics wrong. if we took his wages, we could afford 2 top tier players. david silva and sterling are on a combined £310,000 per week, allegedly. so they make less, combined, than ozil does. we need a left back, a centerback, and a winger. we probably also need another center mid, and proper cover for torreira. we cant outspend city and chelsea and man united and liverpool. but we can optimize what we have. paying £350,000 a week for a player who isnt suited, by his own manager's opinion, for games against our biggest rivals, is a poor use of our resources.
rumors are that inter milan want ozil. maybe PSG want him, especially if they lose neymar. maybe real madrid want him back. if hes going to get frozen out here, he might be willing to take less money elsewhere so he can play regularly. or, maybe not, especially since hes not really playing to showcase himself for germany anymore. so maybe we are stuck with him. but we should be trying to move him on, because given the way we are set up now and the way we are playing, he does not seem to fit what emery wants to do. the team ethos and the team plan is more important than any one player right now, imo.
