Arsene Wenger says Mesut Ozil’s technical quality helped his Arsenal teammates overcome early nerves as they beat Bournemouth 2-0 to temporarily take top spot in the Premier League.
The German midfielder registered his 16th assist of the season as Gabriel headed home his corner on 27 minutes and then sealed victory with a deft strike of his own midway through the second half.
Reflecting on a majestic performance, Wenger even went so far as to compare the 27-year-old with legendary Gunner, Dennis Bergkamp.
“Mesut was the focal point of our team because we had a new midfield today and he gives reassurance with his technical security and ability,” the manager told his post-game press conference.
“When we had problems in the first part of the game it went always through him and it gives you confidence and security.
“I have seen a few good games from Ozil but what is important is that he convinces everybody that he is not only a talented player but a player that is always willing to work for the team and work hard. He has added scoring goals to his assists and overall he is a complete player.”
He continued: “I have not seen many of that quality but I was quite lucky in my career. For me I don’t like to compare players and he is an exceptional player. I think you have to give me credit that I defended that point of view even when you were sceptical about it.
“What is very important is that he comes as good as he can be and he is on his way. Is there a lot left? I don’t know, but what he is doing at the moment is fantastic.
“Bergkamp was more of a goalscorer and Mesut was more of an assist [player] but now he becomes more of a goalscorer. They are really comparable.”
On what it is about Ozil’s game that makes him so enjoyable to watch, the boss added: “Remarkable technical quality. Something that I enjoy very much is the timing of his passes. It is never surprising. If you think in the stand he should give the ball now – it is now. By the time you have finished your thinking the ball has gone already.
“He is somebody whose song is always the right tone and that is something that is very difficult to achieve in the game because on the pitch the decisions you have to make are so quick and to get that always right is not easy.”
16 assists innit?
i could listen to Mr. Wenger all day long, the words that comes out of his mouth to describe anything is just magic and class, just like ozil !! we are very much lucky to have him as our manager and it will be really sad day when he will leave this club. I hope ozil and co can assist him with premier league this season and hopefully champions league next season. I will cry in tears of happiness if we can win champions league for him. I just want him to end his career on high note for all… Read more »
Well said mate. I don’t believe Arsene will get his proper credit until he’s finished here as manager, but we are beyond lucky to have had him for so long. I can’t tell you how happy it’d make me for the boys to win him another league title..
Wenger set a target of 10 goals for Ozil before the season, he’s now up to six in all competitions to go with his amazing assists mark. What a season he’s having, wouldn’t bet against him hitting double figures.
Actually, it’s five (3 PL, 2 ECL), I think. In half a season. Not bad. Plus 2 in pre-season.
Last season he scored five in the whole season. His first season he scored seven.
I love his velvet feet MORE than I love my own children… And I do love my children a lot lest anyone think this to be a flippant remark.
Go and hug your children man.
hahahahahaa i hope this is a joke hahahahahaaa
You’re Neville Neville, so I can perfectly understand you loving Mesut’s feet more than your kids. I’d love a tramps feet more than those two ; )
So the jury is still out?
I’m not sure if the jury will ever come back mate. They realised quickly that David Moyes looked like Smeegal
Wenger loves to waste money. Panic buy for 42.3m Then Alexis for 32m when he could get a Martial for 35m Cech for 11m hardly a ‘world class’ price. Don’t even speak about Monreal or Gabriel prices. Simply ridiculous. Pundits who have no experience managing big clubs or transfer market dealings will know better. They’re ITK. They know every spurious rumour and will never fail you in making sure that if we don’t land them (never mind we are always linked to all and sundry because it pays for the agents to have their clients linked to us as a… Read more »
Cundits everywhere appear to have done a 180 on Ozil lately.
To Oasis’s Little by Little,
Cause Mesut Ozil you’ve given us every goal we’ve dreamed of,
Mesut Ozil you’ve paid your transfer fee off,
Mesut Ozil you’ve been assisting goals for your whole life
and we’re asking ourselves why we can’t score more.
That Oasis rewrite is the worst thing my eyes have seen this year. Well done given that we are 362 days in
You sure it wasn’t the defeat at Southampton?
Anything linking those Citeh supporting Manc Mono Brow Apes with Ozil is surely an abomination?
Unibrow?
I don’t think Bob Dylan has much to worry about.
I must admit I was worried Özil was going to go through a dip of form after Southampton, due to fatigue. I’m glad to be wrong.
The Wizard of OZ! I think Ozil is starting to get that feeling for goal scoring. Top of the league, now we sit back and wait for a draw in tomorrow’s game with tons of red cards either way, haha.
He is sooo bloody good and he is a gunner! Sooo happy!
A genius, ………a legend already in his own right and i bet he will end his career as an arsenal legend, breaking all kind of records, with a statue in the emirates stadium.
we are lucky to have him now and we all should feel priviledged to be here now to watch him ply his trade.
I thought the headline was some bizarre pun based on Alex Song and Tony Adams….
One wonders how many assists he would have now if Giroud, Walcott and Campbell, alongside others, did the right dance steps to his notes.
He could have had 4 today (Giroud and Walcott ×2).
So true. I like our forwards but Magic Mesut is making them look shit! 4 out of 5 times we take to the pitch someone should be getting a hattrick.
Magic Özil
@Man Manny
My thoughts precisely… Today was another day when it was great to win but painful watching how not Ramsey x2, Campbell, Walcott x2, giroud x2 and chamberlain not scored, I mean if we have scored all the big chance we should have had at least 7 goals …
Nonetheless it was great to see team to recover from Southampton shock and come back with a pretty assured performance.
I was particularly impressed with chamberlains performance in the middle of the park.
Its a tired looking Bournemouth
Perspective.
Chambers did good don’t get me wrong but do not get carried away.
@Man Manny
My thoughts precisely… Today was another day when it was great to win but painful watching how not Ramsey x2, Campbell, Walcott x2, giroud x2 and chamberlain not scored, I mean if we have scored all the big chance we should have had at least 7 goals …
Nonetheless it was great to see team to recover from Southampton shock and come back with a pretty assured performance.
I was particularly impressed with Chambers performance in the middle of the park.
Ignore first comment, I meant Chambers
Mate, try the “Reply” link. It will change your life.
In fact its what you want to see because many have a bias against Flamini despite good performances lately and he was hardly the most culpable against Soton. Ramsey put in a lot of graft and work today to ensure our midfield was secured in absence of Flamini. If anything, he was the more impressive but Chambers gets the higher rating because some wish (in their heads) that he is suddenly this Coquelin answer to our DM ‘issues’ He isn’t. He may well develop into a good DM but the test today was a shallow one thankfully because Bournemouth were… Read more »
frustrating seeing how his chances are being missed so badly.
theo i’m-a-lookin’ atchoo.
Bless you
Gabriel was fantastic today and along with the 4 changes from the boxing day defeat it shows that there is squad depth despite the plethora of injuries. The key is keeping Ozil fit and healthy. Top of the table!
The force is strong in this one.
The problem we are having at the moment is that Giroud and Walcott are very good strikers but Ozil is soo good in feeding balls in quick succession that we think they are wasteful. Believe me soon they will be thinking in the same wavelength as Ozil and they will be unstoppable. By the way Ozil is lazy, overated and doesn’t participate in the game. You heard it from the experts
All experts are people who used to be perts!
Seriously, these expert pundits are paid to be controversial so we should take what they say with a pinch of salt especially if they are working for Sky or BT. I don’t think the Been demand controversial comments from their pundits.
Meant Beeb not Been!
Wenger OUT! Ozil is the daftest signing ever, a panic buy for 42.3m Should buy De Bruyne for 55m or Fabregas. Wenger has lost the plot. Wasting 11m on Cech, so what if he got most of his clean sheets for relegation strugglers Chelshite doesn’t matter if he is ours now. Who knows how Wenger pulled that off? Must have been one of those Dick Law jobs like when he roamed the Costa Rican jungle for Campbell’s signing for under 2m. What a waste of time. Show some ambition. Spend 104m on De Bruyne and Sterling I say then spend… Read more »
I understand our overall sentiment, but the striker issue is still a problem. Walcott and Giroud missed a hatful of chances yesterday that better players would have scored. They should do better considering the number of opportunities Ozil creates, and the number of goals scored is very low for potential champions. I am all for waving the Arsenal flag, but there are clear deficiencies in the squad, which need to be addressed in the transfer window if we are serious about sustaining a title challenge.
Saw his interview last week and he seems to be a very down to earth person. Some players with even half his ability begin to think that they are God’s gift to football
The wizard of Öz ?
He is not worth 42 million they said. I now get it. He is invaluable
If our boys could be a bit more clinical in front of goal, Ozil could be eyeing 30 assists. Sounds ludicrous … but not when he’s serving up 7,8,9 chances a match.
Ozil has proven himself in the big games and he sure seems to have fun carving up the minnows too.
Carving up minnows was most likely a taste developed in La Liga..
It is good to get back to winning ways after the inept performance against Southampton where Ozil got marked out of the game and the rest of the team failed to step up. My main worry for the second half of the season is away matches as we still need to go away to many of the big clubs. We are solid at home but seem vunerable without Coquelin and Cazorla. Hope Wenger finds a suitable solution quickly.