Arsenal Are Now Built Around Mesut Ozil's Talents

Mesut Ozil flattered to deceive for much of his debut season in the Premier League. But now he's the focal point of this Arsenal squad, the player whose talents Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has built a resurgent team around.

Nowhere was that more obvious than on the Emirates Stadium pitch as Arsenal dismantled Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday. Ozil scored the second goal and was the central figure throughout proceedings.

His subtle movement and creative passing radar consistently allowed the Gunners to play between the lines of a beleaguered Liverpool defence. According to the Daily Mail's Jamie Redknapp, Ozil's forward-thinking output resulted in "47 passes in the opposition half, more than any other player."

His goal completed a major revival in production in the final third, according to OptaJoe:

This is what Arsenal bought Ozil for—the reason why Wenger paid a club-record £42.4 million for the then-Real Madrid star in 2013. Of course, Ozil's ability to thread passes between defensive gaps was already well-established, even when he tailed off during that inaugural campaign in north London.

What was missing from Ozil's Gunners career was a match-winning display in a marquee fixture.

The Germany international certainly delivered against Liverpool, in the process all but ending the Anfield club's top-four hopes.

The Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson believes dubbing Ozil a big-stage flop isn't always an accurate charge. However, Wilson wasn't shy about highlighting the playmaker's impact in one of Arsenal's most significant games of this season:

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You do not see him charging around the pitch and flying into tackles, you do not seem him attempting extravagant 40-yard passes but, watch carefully, and what you do see is someone who only very rarely loses possession and who is invariably involved in Arsenal’s best football. This was an occasion, however, where Ozil not only added his usual fluidity to the Arsenal team but also the finishing touch with a wonderful first-half free-kick into the top corner of Simon Mignolet’s goal.

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But it's not as if the light has suddenly switched on for Ozil. There are reasons explaining why he dismantled the men from Merseyside, why he's playing his best football in a Gunners shirt since returning from injury in January.

The chief reason he's hitting peak form is the way this team is now firmly built around his strengths and weaknesses.

Beginning with the latter, Ozil now has plenty of worker bees around ready and able to do his grafting for him. It's telling that Squawka Football figures detailing the most interceptions in opposing territory among Premier League players this season feature two Arsenal stars:

For all his mercurial majesty in possession, Ozil is still largely a stroller. He's a languid figure who will never boss the physical battles.

Instead, he needs others to win the ball for him and provide the opportunities to work his magic. High pressing from defensive players, along with the chasing and harrying of a more energetic forward line, means Ozil is receiving more of the ball where it counts.

Francis Coquelin is Ozil's main forager, having been busy and destructive since the turn of the year:

As the most natural holding player in this squad, Coquelin is a massive help to a team defined by attack-minded talents in forward areas. But while the Frenchman's malevolent arts at the base of midfield give Ozil room to play, he's not the only way Arsenal support their roaming pass master.

To give the cerebral technician space in the attacking third he thrives in, other forward-thinking midfielders have modified their games. Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey stand out as selfless servants of the Ozil cause.

The former is a natural No. 10, just like Ozil. But the crafty Spaniard has generously adopted a deeper, more functional role to give Ozil the position that suits him best.

Cazorla is still a pocket-edition genius on the ball. Yet now he's more content to link play, to fetch and carry rather than seeking to provide every move with a flourish.

Speaking of linking the play, that's what box-to-box talisman Ramsey usually does best. He's a highly skilled bundle of energy who's equally free-scoring and creative.

No player did more to help Ozil against Liverpool. That meant moving from his natural central midfield spot to the right wing.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Ramsey was positioned there to cover for Ozil, who ostensibly started wide right in the absence of Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Ramsey's running and smarts allowed Arsenal's tactical structure to indulge Ozil's necessary wanderlust without losing any defensive solidity.

Striking that healthy balance has been an ongoing issue whenever Ozil has started on the wing.

Back in September, Wenger insisted the German isn't a liability wide because the Gunners set up to accommodate him. “We organise to give him freedom," he told reporters.

Against Liverpool, Ramsey helped Wenger and Arsenal find the perfect way to organise for Ozil's movement.

The Welshman was last season's match-winning dynamo, but he became a utility workhorse just to put Ozil in the catbird seat. That's the way of things in the current Arsenal squad.

Even the signing of Alexis Sanchez last summer looks like a move made with Ozil in mind. The sensational 20-goal forward is the gifted and pacy attacking outlet that Ozil's eye for defence-splitting passes needs.

Before the Liverpool match, Ozil indicated he's always looking to supply the Chilean, per Nik Brumsack of the club's official site: "I look for him when I have the ball because he makes those runs."

Jon Super/Associated Press

Sanchez was the undisputed star of the first half of Arsenal's season. But now that distinction belongs to Ozil.

Wenger even offered a tacit admission of that fact when he withdrew Ozil instead of Sanchez late on against Liverpool, despite the Chile star looking burned out in recent matches. However, Wenger stressed to reporters the need to protect Ozil:

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Alexis is a guy who never gives up. He played two games with Chile, Ozil played two games with Germany and I could see that their legs had gone a little bit with 25 minutes to go. I had a decision to make between him or Ozil and I subbed Ozil because I felt he was in danger of being injured. Alexis did fight very hard until the end.

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Sanchez is the more physically imposing player, but Wenger knows he needs to safeguard his most important asset. That's now Ozil, the player this Arsenal team is geared to help succeed.