Mesut Ozil’s sublime pass to Sead Kolasinac the peak of a confusing week under Arsenal’s Unai Emery

Unai Emery has been giving mixed messages to Mesut Ozil, leaving him out against Tottenham in midweek before captaining him against Burnley, but perhaps is he simply playing to the German’s strengths

Last week was a strange one for Mesut Ozil. On Wednesday he was cast out of Arsenal’s squad for the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham, for which Unai Emery would only offer by way of explanation that the decision was “tactical”. Yet four days later there he was, gliding across the Emirates pitch, captain’s armband on his sleeve, popping up in just about every conceivable space yet always just out of reach of the nearest Burnley player.

The highlight of his Saturday showreel was his deft pass to Sead Kolasinac, which proved to be the pre-assist to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener. If you haven’t seen it then it’s worth seeking out not only for the vision to spot that the pass actually existed, but to execute it with a precise weight which few other players would have judged so immaculately.

Had the pass been played at full speed it would have rushed away for a goal-kick, perhaps with a ripple of applause for the idea and thumbs up from the eager left wing-back. Had it been played softly along the floor it would have been intercepted by one of the six Burnley players it cut out of the game. And so Ozil had to find an imperceptible middle ground, lifting the ball through the air with a bit of stun and check, teasing gravity while coaxing Kolasinac on to its path – and a few seconds later Arsenal were leading 1-0.

“It was unbelievable,” said Kolasinac. “We all know Mesut’s qualities and I only actually made that run because I saw that he had the ball. Not many players would have been able to play that pass. He can, and when I saw him get on the ball, I knew he was going to find me. It was a brilliant pass from him.”

It was a performance which left us even more confused than usual about Ozil’s place in the team, and perhaps even stirred some existential thought. Where does a player with Ozil’s gifts now fit into the modern game? What do you do with a midfielder who is one of the best in the world when his team have the ball, and one of the worst when they don’t?

Perhaps it helps that Emery is a slightly different type of manager, and not quite as romantic and idealistic as Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp. He has shown himself to be something of a pragmatist; you see it in the way he brought in the experience of Stephan Lichtsteiner and the steel of Lucas Torreira to solve two obvious shortcomings, or deployed Aubameyang as an inside forward to pair him with Alexandre Lacazette. And perhaps we are seeing it now in his treatment of Ozil. Away at Spurs, where the tempo’s high and the ball needs chasing? Leave him out. At home against Burnley, with 60 per cent possession? Play him, captain him, give him the freedom of north London.

Unai Emery gives instructions to Mesut Ozil (Getty Images)

For his part, Ozil has handled the recent scrutiny admirably, leading the team with a calm authority as they went on to beat Burnley 3-1, with another key hand in the third goal. “Mesut’s not the sort of player who will scream at you in public just to show the people on the outside that he tries to push us on,” Kolasinac said. “He’ll speak in the dressing room, he’ll go to every player individually. With his quality, he brings a lot to this team. He’s very important for us as a captain and as a player.”

Ozil is used to all this, of course. In his autobiography he described the harsh criticism his father doled out growing up, something he also received in spades from Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid who once called him a “coward” in a half-time rant. He has received criticism with a more sinister sub-text in Germany, particularly following the summer’s World Cup exit, while the regular reproach during his time in English football is that he is a lazy player.

Perhaps he could put more effort in when his team are having to dig deep without the ball. He has made the least tackles of any Arsenal player per 90 minutes this season, at 0.77 (by comparison, Alexandre Lacazette has averaged 1.75 per 90 minutes). Perhaps he’s just not very good at defending. It doesn’t really matter; Ozil is now 30 years old and he is not going to change. The real question is how to maximise the supreme talent that he does have, and so perhaps a manager who is prepared to be ruthlessly pragmatic might help bring out more of his best, and less of the side of his game which inevitably attracts criticism.

“That’s the case when you’re a big star, like Mesut is,” said Kolasinac of the scrutiny Ozil faces. “Of course there are always negative headlines but, as a team, we don’t pay attention to them and Mesut doesn’t either. That’s what’s most important. We’re all behind Mesut – all the staff, all the players.

“If negative things are written, then that’s just what happens. In life, not everything is positive – sometimes there are negatives written about you too, and he’s had that. But today with his performance he’s quietened a few critics.”