Ozil - Do we need him?

[IBK]

All this talk about Ozil, but in fact the reason we lost at the weekend was firstly because Aubameyang missed quite a few sitters and secondly and most importantly because the defence was shocking again, 5 goals conceded in 2 games isn't exactly great. Had we had a decent defence we'd have probably won, so I'd suggest the defence is the issue not the attack.

People love to go in on him, I'm not saying he was great, far from it but he wasn't really a massive issue. It was alwasy a risk to not really buy top quality in defence and that will beour downfall, Mustafi is rubbish, Bellerin can't defend and Sokratis might be OK with someone decent alongside but in the current lineup he's struggling somewhat. 5 goals conceded in 2 games and to be honest if City had their shooting boots on it woud have been a lot more!

The problem is that the fact that other players had an off day (and for Mustafi this seems to be the default position) does not excuse Ozil. Even accepting that his forte is the assist, its par for the course for this type of player that he needs to keep plugging away whether or not the strikers are firing. And as I say, it is reasonable to expect Ozil to be a game changer consistently - and there is no doubt that he is falling short of this expectation. I'm getting a bit frustrated by this idea that either we cannot see what Ozil is bringing to the team, or that he is being let down by team mates. Why should Ozil get the benefit of the doubt, where Ramsey - a player that many critics see in a similar light (ie less obvious the important role he performs) isn't? This wouldn't happen with another team - look at the criticism Pogba is getting at Manure for example. It is simple really - the evidence is that Ozil is not justifying his price tag.

I explained above why I do not necessarity blame the Club for Ozil's mega contract - he benefitted from fairly extreme circumstances when he re-signed. I think also that we have little choice but to try to get the best out of him. But if it turns out that 2 different managers cannot do so, then the fault surely rests with the player, and there cannot be any excuses for him.