goon wrote:
Ozil was great in the 2-3 months preceding his contract extension, then his form just fell off a cliff after signing. Auba also looked like he was stepping it up a gear, again to fall off a cliff once signed.
I think in both cases though the contract is just the usual fan cynicism. OZil has always been a streaky player, even in 15/16 he didn't finish the season all that well. His real downturn was simply down to Wenger leaving.
Auba is just lacking confidence and is probably knackered too both physically and mentally. He'll start scoring again soon enough.
Have seen it recently described as being an emotional hole after achieving the pursuit of a goal, and the need to establish a new goal to actively replace the previous one. It's not always a conscious decision to switch off in the first place, but it may be a conscious effort by some not to switch back on.
The other point re Ozil's form after his new deal was he lost his partner in crime when Sanchez left. IMO AW frakked up that whole scenario in the first half of that season by only starting Ozil, Sanchez and Laca together 3x, and rotating/subbing Sanchez and Ozil for each other.