Mesut Ozil has been imperious for Arsenal this season – whether you believe it or not (Picture: Getty Images)

When it comes to Mesut Ozil it seems that less is most certainly more.

The midfielder has been criticised recently for failing to show up in games and appearing as if he isn’t really contributing much. I say ‘appearing’ because that’s all it is – an appearance.

He is a very deceptive little genius.

I’m not one for getting on players’ backs, well, not ones who play for Arsenal and aren’t called Nicklas Bendtner, but even I found myself passing comment on Ozil on Saturday, claiming that his passing and touch seemed all over the place.


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A 91 per cent pass success rate at the end of the game would seem to show that my eyes don’t have a clue what they are on about.

The rest of his stats don’t match up with what a lot of people are saying either – he has created the most chances out of the entire Arsenal team and creates a larger percentage of chances for his team than any other player in the Premier League.

When it comes to creating chances he’s top of the pile, not just in England, but across the top five major European leagues. Every 29 minutes, on average, Ozil is creating a chance or laying on an assist. Against Fulham he created more than anyone on either side.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger knows a good player when he sees one (Picture: Reuters)

His passing accuracy over the course of the season isn’t the best at Arsenal, that honour goes to Laurent Koscielny with 93 per cent, but with 88 per cent in a midfield position, he’s hardly doing too badly is he?

In 17 appearances for Arsenal he has made not one single defensive error, created 51 chances, scored four and laid on seven assists. Of the 18 shots he’s had 15 have hit the target, one hit the post and just two missed the goal.

Passes? Well only 113 of those have went astray out of the 1050 he’s made. If you’re wondering, almost 60 per cent of his passes go forward.

Arsene Wenger spoke this week about how people expect too much of the German, and it’s true, we do. His manner and style is incredibly understated so sometimes it’s hard to notice how effective he’s really being and, as a result, we begin to make totally ridiculous demands.

When it comes to Ozil, it isn’t the player who is letting us down, it’s our own eyes.

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