Ozil - Do we need him?

[I am invisible]

Also, despite what people said about the Giroud and Ozil partnership, Giroud still remains to be the best partner for Ozil where he picked up the most assists in a season. Ozil hasn't been great at splitting defences with through balls. Despite us all clamoring for that number 9 striker that can also play off the shoulder of a defender, Ozil still hasn't been able to feed our pacey strong strikers. His best weapon for assists are cut backs into the box and crosses. That was bread and butter for Giroud who thrived off poacher one touch strikes when the ball was cut back to him or powering through on headers or scorpion kicks.

This is what I'm finding most frustrating with Özil (and our whole attack) at the moment - we've got Aubameyang who arrives first and gets about as close to the goal line as I've ever seen at times, we've got Lacazette who has a knack for ghosting in unseen at the back post a moment later, and we have Ramsey who has always been most effective making late runs into the area - in theory, Özil should have the ideal spread of players there to pick out with low crosses and cut-backs, all hitting different points in the box at slightly staggered times, but for some reason the 4 of them just don't click.

Honestly, I'm not sure how much patience I have for it now. Even if the 4 of them gel perfectly, it still leaves us with an awkward team shape that would require an incredible amount of flexibility and fluidity in the final third, which leaves us a little exposed down the flanks, defensively - the hope would have to be that the attack is potent enough to make it worth it. That's the best case scenario there. If it doesn't work out like that often enough to justify it, then I'm just not sure it's worth persevering with.

And if we're not going to persevere with it then I'm not sure where that leaves Özil (or Ramsey for that matter)? His best bet at the moment looks like trying to repurpose himself into a different role, but at 2 months shy of being 30 (and with a nice, long, 300k/week contract to sit on), I just question whether he has it in him to make such a change? I mean, he barely seems like he can be bothered playing his favoured number 10 role half the time, so what chance do we have of motivating him to play wide, or maybe even deeper, where he might have to do more running and defending? Moreover, is it even worth the coach's time trying to make it happen, or would he be better of putting that energy into a younger, cheaper, more willing option who has more long-term potential?