The problem with Ozil is he's paid 300,000 pounds a week and he's not justifying it. I don't just mean scoring or assisting goals. I'm talking about providing relief for his teammates. Hustling, taking the pressure off them and putting that pressure on the opponent. He's not even doing that. It looks as if Arsenal's players, from Cech to Ozil, are suddenly finding themselves having to do things Wenger probably never asked of them. The fact they still play like they did under Wenger suggests to me players are having trouble adapting to Emery's new demands. Now I don't know if Emery is asking more from Ozil, but if he's not, he has to start because Arsenal can't afford to keep Ozil in the free role he has now if he's not contributing to the level he needs to. Ozil needs to defend more than he was previously used to under Wenger. He needs to drop back and help his teammates out when they have the ball, taking some of that responsibility away from Xhaka for example. And really he needs to start delivering goals and assists, game in, game out at the same level as Hazard and Salah. That's what it's going to take for Arsenal to compete with the top four. It's on Ozil more than anyone else. If Ozil can't do that, then Arsenal need to find someone who will. They'll need to find someone who can do one thing or the other, if not both, and If I'm Emery, I'm pushing for both. Moreover, this issue with Ozil is not new. The only difference now is that it looks like he's in a rut, whereas before he would be on and off. Maybe he doesn't enjoy his football like he did before. Whatever the case, clearly there's an issue with him and there's no sense treating him with kid gloves. Considering what he's paid, he should be playing through illness unless the doctor orders otherwise. And whether it's true or not that Emery and Ozil are having some sort of problem, at the end of the day Emery should be confronting and challenging Ozil. If Emery isn't doing that, then Emery shouldn't be managing Arsenal. And if Ozil can't handle that, then he should quit Arsenal like he quit Germany and join some club in Qatar that is stupid enough to pay his preposterous wages.
The takes about Ozil's work rate are stupid for two reasons: 1. Ozil covers more ground than anyone else on the team. This has been the case every year he's been at Arsenal. How can you say he's not hustling? 2. If the problem with your tactical system is that Ozil isn't doing enough defensive work, that's a flaw with your tactics.
This is true, but I'm trying to deconstruct the argument in its own terms: the people making this point think they are seeing hustle and mentality.
Maldini was quoted as saying “If I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake.” The implication is that a player should stay goal side of an attacker in a position that denies them the ability to carry the ball forward. If you watch Ozil closely, It's actually something that he does fairly well. He doesn't make a lot of tackles, but he doesn't get dribbled very often either. Those that criticize Ozil for his defense, should remember that he played enough defense for Mourinho at Madrid.