Are Gunners better without Ozil?

LONDON. — Addressing the question of whether Arsenal are better off without Mesut Ozil can be a dangerous business.

Criticism of the playmaker can bring howls of dissent on social media from a strident section of Arsenal supporters. Querying his contribution will generate accusations of not understanding the game. Never mind his unassuming body language: feel the quality and quantity of his assists and chance creation. Chasing back, pressing opponents? That would be a waste of his genius. Such arguments have their merits and Ozil’s stats suggest that he is a player of supreme effectiveness.

Since arriving from Real Madrid for £42.4 million in the summer of 2013, he has ranked top in the English Premier League soccer’s categories of chances created, big chances created and assists. -But reports that Jose Mourinho is keen to make opportunistic move to take Ozil to Manchester United in January, with Inter Milan also circling, make this an opportune time to ask once more whether Arsenal actually need their German genius. Recent weeks have suggested he is no longer indispensable to his club.

As Ozil’s contract ticks down towards free agency in June, with little sign of a new deal being either offered or signed, it would be difficult to argue that the midfielder’s exit would be as cataclysmic for Arsenal as losses like Robin van Persie to Manchester United in 2012, Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona the year before that, or indeed as difficult if Alexis Sanchez had joined Manchester City at the closure of the last transfer window. Ozil was bought by Arsene Wenger to take Arsenal to the next level and he arrived at a club that had finished fourth the previous season. — ESPN.