Arsenal’s diamond got the best from Mesut Ozil

Arsenal’s midfield diamond got the best from mercurial No. 10 Mesut Ozil.

Unai Emery said Arsenal “need Mesut Ozil” before Saturday’s 3-1 win over Burnley in the Premier League. The truth was a little different however.

In fact, what Arsenal needed was for Emery to come up with a tactical formula to get the best out of the most talented creative player in his squad. Emery’s answer was to construct a midfield diamond with the club’s highest-earner at its tip.

The tactic worked to perfection because it put Ozil more often in the areas of the pitch where he does the most damage. Those areas are the pockets of space between the midfield and forward lines, where every true No. 10 loves to live.

Ozil may be the closest thing to a classic 10 left in the game. He doesn’t tackle, track or press. Nor will he ghost out of those areas often to rotate positions with others.

Ozil knows where his domain is, and the mercurial 30-year-old wants it all to himself.

Little peccadillos such as these are why Ozil frustrates as much as he enchants. His unwillingness to stray far from his comfort zone, neither physically nor mentally, has prompted Emery to wield the axe more than once this season.

He dropped Ozil for a November trip to Bournemouth, making it clear there were concerns about his inability to handle the “physicality and intensity” of certain away fixtures.

Ozil received an even sharper boot to the pride when Emery omitted him from the squad for the Carabao Cup quarter-final. Arsenal lost 2-0 at home to north London rivals Tottenham with their chief assist-maker watching on because of what Emery dubbed “tactical reasons.”

It wasn’t the most convincing explanation because the Gunners boast more ingenuity and flair with Ozil on the pitch. It’s the tradeoff for accommodating a player often too precious for the game’s more functional demands.

Yet Ozil is a luxury worth indulging, a point he proved once more against the Clarets.

Emery ditched the back five he’d been using for a four-man defense. The switch gave Arsenal an extra man in midfield.

Ozil’s head coach used the extra man to complete the base points of a diamond. Granit Xhaka took up the deep role, while Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny were wide(ish).

They were the platform underpinning Ozil with the cover and energy he needed to freely roam the final third and probe for openings. The effect of the freedom was obvious early on as Ozil sauntered and glided behind strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

He didn’t need to worry about tracking back because Elneny and Guendouzi could double up on the flanks with full-backs Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Alternatively, one of Guendouzi or Elneny could stay central and drop off to supplement Xhaka.

With Aubameyang and Lacazette pressing ahead of him, Ozil enjoyed the time and space he needs to show off his particular brand of wizardry.

His confidence grew with every quick pass, deft touch and improvised flick. This wasn’t the supposed sulking loafer already destined for a swift divorce from the Emery regime.

Instead, the visibly buoyant Ozil enlivened the game on 13 minutes with a defense bisecting pass for the ages. His swept and angled precision masterpiece found Kolasinac on the overlap.

The latter pulled the ball back for Aubameyang to prod in the first of his two goals on the day. Yet all anyone wanted to focus on was how on earth Ozil had even seen Kolasinac, let alone managed to pick him out with such flawless timing and weight:

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1076467921453486081

Ozil spent the next 24 minutes playing his own game. He found free runners where the visitors thought they had cover.

It’s funny how confidence can transform a player as much as the nuts and bolts of tactics and positioning. Ozil’s greater enthusiasm was making him virtually untouchable, even amid Burnley’s overtly physical approach.

Ozil continued to torment the Clarets even after Emery was forced to break up the diamond in the 37th minute. An injury to makeshift center-back Nacho Monreal forced Xhaka to drop deeper still as the Gunners revived their back three.

Playing in a two-man midfield proved challenging for Elneny and Guendouzi. They suddenly struggled to get the ball to Ozil quickly enough.

Ozil responded by dropping deeper to get on the ball. While his passing remained neat and efficient, his influence was missed further forward.

Emery solved the problem by swapping Elneny for Lucas Torreira just shy of the hour mark. The Uruguayan’s quicker and more forward-thinking distribution got Ozil involved in the right areas again.

Just as important was the way Torreira hunted for possession. His energy let Ozil return to the comfortable confines of the vital No. 10 role.

Back where he belongs, Ozil felt bold enough to go on an uncharacteristically direct run at the Burnley defense. His skills were too much, and while his shot was blocked, substitute Alex Iwobi profited to net Arsenal’s third.

Iwobi scored but Ozil had injected some impetus at a crucial time with the Gunners nervously clinging to a 2-1 advantage. His run was the last telling contribution of an imperious performance:

Those numbers show why the onus is on Emery to adapt to Ozil, not the other way around.

You don’t scuff up a luxury item because the shelf you want to display it on has a stain you can’t shift. You find a cleaner, better spot to showcase the pride of your possessions.

Emery hasn’t managed it yet with Arsenal’s best player. But the diamond offered the clearest blueprint for how Ozil can have a bright future with this regime.