However, Mikel Arteta has also maintained that expecting Mesut Ozil to do everything alone in the Arsenal team will be a tad too much.
Mesut Ozil file image. (Photo by Ian KINGTON / AFP)
Mesut Ozil, who found little playing time under former coach Unai Emery, has become the main man for new coach Mikel Arteta as the latter is trying to structure a new Arsenal team around the German midfielder.
However, Arteta has also maintained that expecting Ozil to do everything alone will be a tad too much. So he is hoping to build a system where other players will help the World Cup-winner.
“I’m not surprised. I know the ability, I know the player we have there. The structure has to help him (Ozil) for him to take everything that he has inside,” Goal.com quoted Arteta as saying.
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“His numbers, physically, have improved so much, and he’s willing. That’s what I can tell you from every day what I see in training,” the new boss said praising the 31-year-old midfielder.
Ozil was fielded in an advanced position in Arsenal’s last game against Chelsea. Though the Gunners lost the game, the front four – Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Reiss Nelson – had put on an improved display and had the Blues defenders on their toes.
“On his own, he cannot do it. He needs the collective structure, organisation, and his team-mates. There are only one or two players in the world who can do something on their own,” Arteta said.
“He needs help and he needs the team to play in a certain way to facilitate his strengths more and more every time in the game. That’s what we are trying to do,” he added.
Arsenal are currently languishing at 12th in the Premier League table with only 24 points from 20 games. With an aim to register his first win as the Gunners boss, Arteta will next lead his team against Manchester United on New Year’s Day.
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