Ozil: I Shall Assist You.

Pushing the envelope in making an actual article over a meagre assist? Plus, this isn't an article to add to the bottle-neck of "Julian Draxler to Arsenal" threads clogging up the Twitter plughole (For what its worth, in my opinion, it'd be a dynamite signing, IF it came to fruition).

Well allow me to retort... Mesut Özil has several pseudonym's; "Assist King", "King of the assist", "The assist King of" etc... These nicknames are not without a stimulus, the guy has a God-given knack of creating chances. Even if he's having a poor game, he'll still produce chances. Medical science are proposing Özil be used as a proxy to help couples with fertility issues, to conceive. He's that potent.

Of course you can raid the statisticians handbook, a quick Google search and it's there in-front of your eyes, Özil is an assist machine, acing his way to the top of the assist and chance-creation charts. Yeah, you can massage (some) figures & interpret them to suit your argument. But in this respect, it is what it is!

Özil's assist for Lukas Podolski's first goal in the FA Cup game against Coventry City was sublime. Finding the space and releasing the ball with the PERFECT weight & speed of pass. Of course Podolski still had work to do & made a reasonably difficult finish look very simple. At face value, the actual "assist" was very standard in black & white terms. And it's something fans of the German have grown accustomed to, but what struck me was the ease & overall simplicity to play in his advancing German compatriot (Podolski) to open the scoring.

What makes a player like Özil unique is his timing. He has a sixth-sense, one that's instinctive. To use a poker term (& popular song lyric); "You've gotta know when to hold em', when to fold em' & when to run", this is where the German comes into his own. The positions he takes up in the offensive third of the pitch are always pre-meditated, he's there to create a danger, then, on receiving the ball, he waits until the EXACT right moment to make an incisive, telling & often killer ball. A second earlier, or later and the chance is gone. In a game of inches, where perfect timing is often the difference, Özil excels with his head above the parapet.

Whilst few would be so churlish to question the players ability, there are some who suggest, at times Özil could do more. Well, the frightening thing is, HE COULD DO! And if I was a betting man, I'd say he almost certainly will do.

If you're an Arsenal fan or a neutral, just sit back & enjoy.

Author:
Joel Coote - @MoistFootball

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