One-dimensional Arsenal need Mesut Ozil

Arsenal’s indifferent form continued at the weekend with a loss to West Ham. Unai Emery needs to make use of Mesut Ozil.

Unai Emery can fight it all he wants. But his Arsenal team are painfully one-dimensional without Mesut Ozil in the lineup.

Emery left Ozil out again on Saturday, a decision directly responsible for the dismal 1-0 defeat away to West Ham. Arsenal lost because there was no craft through the middle without their chief playmaker.

Instead, all the Gunners had to offer was width, width and more width. Specifically, an over-reliance on wing-backs, particularly Sead Kolasinac.

The free-transfer capture from Schalke in 2017 has been transformed since Emery replaced Arsene Wenger. Kolasinac has gone from utility squad man to Arsenal’s chief source of creativity.

Kolasinac’s numbers before the trip to West Ham underlined his growing importance in attacking areas:

Using wing-backs as the feature of the attack has been Emery’s calling card since he took over at Arsenal. He’s had the players in those positions operating higher up the pitch and has geared his tactics to give them space to deliver crosses and pull-backs into the box.

His best method of making the space has been using inverted wingers behind a main center-forward. Players such as Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have operated in the inside channels between the flanks and central areas.

Their remit has been to draw markers in field and leave room for Kolasinac and Co. on the overlap. It’s worked the other way when the Gunners have overloaded wide areas, with Iwobi and others ghosting beyond drifting wing-backs.

It’s no surprise Kolasinac and right-back Hector Bellerin have combined to assist seven goals in the Premier League.

Exploiting width is the notable trick Emery’s Gunners have. The problem is they don’t have another one.

West Ham proved as much by taking away Arsenal’s lone avenue of attack. They did it by encouraging wingers to remember their defensive duties:

Michail Antonio’s willingness to get closer to Kolasinac helped, while Felipe Anderson worked a tireless shift on the left. The Brazilian showed exceptional awareness and recovery pace to get back and double up on first Ainsley Maitland-Niles, then Bellerin, once the latter had come off the bench.

Sound positional sense from Declan Rice also thwarted Arsenal’s overly familiar wide plan. The holding midfielder dropped deep between his center-backs at the right moments, allowing him to intercept many of those low crosses and pull-backs.

Arsenal’s failure to respond made a mockery of Emery’s decision to once again overlook Ozil. The German’s latest omission is part of a worrying trend:

None of Emery’s reasons for ditching Ozil are even within driving distance of convincing. Not when playing without him renders the Gunners this one-dimensional.

No Ozil means no ownership of possession in central areas. No Ozil means no vision and guile to supply the main striker.

Alexandre Lacazette suffered from the absence of the latter qualities. The Frenchman was lively during the opening minutes but was soon rendered meaningless because of the pedestrian pace of the passing behind him.

Lacazette’s tepid display compounded Emery’s bizarre decision to push Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang onto the right flank. It was a waste of the joint-top goalscorer in the division.

Arsenal couldn’t move the ball quickly enough because Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi are both deep-lying midfielders more comfortable playing measured, steady passes.

Their inability to shoulder the creative load was reflected in Arsenal’s lack of threat:

Only when Emery brought Lucas Torreira and Aaron Ramsey off the bench did Arsenal up the ante, albeit not for long. Ramsey, another skilled creator who is inexplicably being allowed to leave the club this summer, looked bright initially, but soon faded because it’s not easy to turning on the style instantly in cameo roles.

Ramsey should have started but what Arsenal needed more was a natural maestro. Preferably one who could receive the ball on the half turn and thread passes through the gaps between the midfield and forward lines.

In others words, the things Ozil has made his forte.

Despite how languid he can be, the playmaker is the brain of the team. He’s the player who knits together the one- and two-touch passing the Gunners produce for fun when at their best.

Giving Ozil a watching brief makes Arsenal duller viewing because Emery’s team becomes so utterly predictable. It also represents comic-tragic misuse of the club’s highest-earner.

Emery needs to stop using so-called tactical concerns as excuses for his inability to get the most from Arsenal’s best player.

He’s tried different things to make it work. But whether it’s a diamond or something else, Emery never looks comfortable trusting Ozil for long.

It’s costing Arsenal the attractive style the club cultivated for years under Wenger. The larger concern is how many points overlooking Ozil is costing a team ill-equipped to finish in the top four without him.