Weekly Why: Mesut Ozil, Diego Costa, Memphis Depay and the Pace of Adaptation
Welcome to Bleacher Report's Weekly Why, a place where we discuss world football's biggest questions that may go neglected and/or avoided. Ranging from the jovial to the melancholic, no subject matter is deemed off-limits.
Why Is Adaptation Viewed as Individualistic?
Indecision kills imagination. If imaginative thought breeds success, then comfort in one's environment should precipitate affluence.
What happens, though, if establishing comfort takes time?
In a footballing context, I would suggest—because time's a luxury most managers and clubs aren't willing to afford those under their purview—we are being robbed of talent. The Premier League is an exceptional case study in the way time, skill, opportunity and patience are used to determine a footballer's career.
There are several "facts" about England's top flight that rarely receive questioning.
For instance, 40 points means safety from relegation. This, however, ignores that Sunderland (1996/97), Bolton Wanderers (1997/98) and West Ham United (2002/03) were relegated with at least 40 points, even after the league reduced in size.
Another suggests an incoming Premier League footballer needs at least one season to fully grasp the rough-and-tumble English game.
I'm of the opinion this isn't a law—more a convenient theory.
As recently as last season, Alexis Sanchez and Diego Costa, bought from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively, took the league by storm—they had never before kicked an English football. Arsenal's dynamic forward/winger was directly responsible for 24 goals, and Chelsea's pugilistic striker was directly responsible for 23 goals—a crucial piece in the west Londoners winning their fourth EPL crown.
Requiring one season to get one's barring is a misnomer—faulty logic placed on the entirety of football. The "fact" is perpetuated by managers attempting to shield recent additions from overt media scrutiny (and supporters willing to give new arrivals the benefit of the doubt), but no hard-and-fast rules exist about acclimation periods.
Costa, brilliant in 2014/15, returned to Earth this season.
Dealing with injury, suspension and an imploding Chelsea camp, his performance levels have taken a nosedive—not because his game has dramatically altered in the course of seven months, just the circumstances/environment surrounding his football club have created havoc.
Take Mesut Ozil for example. Bought from Real Madrid on summer transfer deadline day in 2013, there's been suspicion over the past two seasons the Germany international had somehow declined. Scoring nine goals and creating 16 assists in his last La Liga campaign for Madrid, the assumption, though pervasive, didn't make much sense.
Registering nine goals and 16 assists in 2013/14 and 2014/15 combined, asking whether Ozil had adapted to the Premier League was backwards. The correct question was: "Is Ozil being used properly?"
Arsene Wenger, enjoying an assortment of attacking talent, attempted to install his German playmaker wide. Seen frequently on the touchline, unable to affect games, Ozil's best quality (vision) was stifled by tactical naivety.
We often place the burden of proof on players, but one could argue the year-and-a-half Ozil "disappeared" should be placed on his manager's unwillingness to play him in his preferred No. 10 role.
This season, used only as a central attacking midfielder, the 27-year-old is arguably the favourite for Player of the Year—producing three goals and 16 assists in 19 league fixtures. His issue wasn't necessarily English football—his role in Arsenal's squad didn't match his best qualities; when it has, he's generally flourished.
If any Premier League newcomer needs the correct environment, it's probably Memphis Depay. Coming from Manchester United supporters, he needs a season to acclimate, to become familiar with how England works. The intensity heightens, the opposition is better, the referees are different and all manner of reasons why the young Dutchman hasn't met early expectations.
Instead of looking at the footballer, though, there's more cause to investigate the club's correct condition. Memphis, as shown in the 2014 World Cup, has bags of talent. Bought from PSV Eindhoven for £25 million—after 22 goals and six assists in the Eredivisie last year—maybe time is necessary but more for Manchester United.
The club has placed its hopes on the shoulders of 21-year-old Depay and 20-year-old Anthony Martial; as England's largest footballing enterprise, that might suggest some abject planning in their boardroom (which they'd spin as "building for the future," but we know better).
Already receiving criticism for less-than-enviable statistical outputs, Depay's critics are missing the inescapable fact that no 21-year-old, in the modern era, should be prescribed with saving a club possessing the stature, capital and branding of Manchester United (much less with a 20-year-old team-mate) but, alas, here we are.
Adaptation to anything, but in this case the Premier League, is not solely dependent on time.
There are footballers who've played in England for years and are barely surviving. One's experience in a situation cannot be the only factor by which success and/or failure is determined—there must be a more nuanced approach.
Success can come from time served—but only if married with skill, talent and the opportunity to thrive in the correct position.
Exploring the latter components is of deeper consequence, but more attention is placed on counting games, stats and minutes played (i.e. surface thinking) rather than deconstructing the underlying symptoms of those stats—which translate directly to our respective definitions of success and/or failure.
Last Weekly: Premier League, Jose Mourinho and the Sovereignty of Player Power | Why Don't Managers Outlast Players?
*Stats via WhoScored.com; transfer fees via Soccerbase where not noted.
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