Mesut Ozil Discusses Arsenal's Title Chances

Mesut Ozil believes Arsenal can still win this season's Premier League title as long as the Gunners make the most of their home fixtures while their rivals drop points.  

Ozil told Arsenal Media (h/t Nik Brumsack of the club's official site) belief will be key if third-placed Arsenal are going to mount a late title charge: “Now it’s not possible to win just our games [and that to be enough] so other teams need to lose points as well. The first step is to believe in us."

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Knowing that they are reliant on others, Ozil also stated how he and his team-mates must take the familiar one-game-at-a-time approach: “I know the teams playing us will fight to take the points against us, so the games will be tough. We have to fight on the pitch and we have to think from game to game, not that we can win eight games in a row and take the points."

Interestingly, more than once Ozil cited the need for greater concentration and more fight during the remainder of this season's fixtures: “We have to concentrate now and give everything on the pitch. We have to fight."

He feels like these qualities will be important particularly in some of the more difficult remaining games: “We have to work harder than before. We have tough games coming but we have to take the points. If we win the title, we will be very happy because we believe in us."

The idea of this Arsenal squad lacking the fight for a real challenge is a familiar one. After the Gunners' 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in late February, Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness dubbed Arsenal's performance "weak," "insipid" and "unacceptable."

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More recently, ITV's Roy Keane called the Gunners a "weak group of players" after the club's UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona (h/t Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror).

But Ozil thinks over the course of the season that Arsenal have performed better than advertised. He's called on that kind of effort in every game between now and the end of the season, per Brumsack: “If you see the whole season, we’ve played very well. We’ve lost some points because we weren’t concentrated or we didn’t score. Now we have to fight for each game to take the points.”

Yet, the mercurial German playmaker may not find many supporters for his view. After all, the Gunners are 11 points behind leaders Leicester City and six points behind north London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur. Both teams also boast vastly superior goal differences.

But as Brumsack noted, "Arsenal took 25 points from their corresponding final nine fixtures last season," even though Ozil believes the past is irrelevant to the current season: “Last year we won those last eight [remaining] games but we don’t care about that now. It’s important what happens now."

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What happens now is the first of the tough games Ozil referenced. Arsenal face a trip to Everton on Saturday lunchtime, an away game scheduled less than 72 hours after the trip to Barcelona.

It's also a venue the Gunners haven't taken a win from since the 2011/12 season, and they have conceded five goals on their last two visits. Ozil's belief Arsenal can still win the title could be shattered soon after the echo of his confident words dies out.