Arsenal have been pretty inconsistent this season (haven’t managed to win three games at a stretch) but the Gunners have a chance to level points with Manchester United, should they win against the Red Devils on Sunday in the Premier League.
Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil have been the mainstays in the Arsenal attacking line-up for the past few weeks, and Walcott says he enjoys working alongside the German international.
The England international says that Ozil is a “special player” who makes football looks so easy.
“The first thing he does when he has the ball, in fact when he hasn’t even got the ball, is that he looks.
“He looks first before he gets the ball and he knows where he’s going to play it before he’s even got it. That just shows the sort of quality we have in this team.
“Mesut’s involvement in the Stoke goal sums it up and also shows what he can do for this team. He makes football look easy and he’s a special player who has so many assists in his game.
“He can do it anywhere on the pitch, he’s a threat from anywhere and when you’ve got that in your dressing room you can build on it.
“I know what he’s going to do now when he’s got the ball, I just need to keep making those runs and hopefully we can get that relationship going.”
Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 and soon became a fan-favourite at his new club. Despite showing flashes of brilliance over the past two seasons, Ozil hasn’t really established himself as one of the best players (which is expected of him) in the Premier League.
This season, however, Ozil has returned to his old best. He is never that kind of player who can score a lot of goals, but he is always on the look out for key passes, as a result gets more assists to his name.
Ozil already has three assists this season, with an average of 4.8 key passes per game, more than any other player in the Arsenal team.
And one player who has largely benefitted from Ozil’s outstanding form is Theo Walcott, who has been preferred as the first choice striker ahead of Olivier Giroud.
Walcott is a different type of player who brings pace and directness to the side. He can run in channels (the goal against Leicester is a fine example) and has the ability to beat the last defender with pace.
A reason why he has played with more confidence so far with Ozil sprinkling killer passes for him on a regular basis. And the results are evident, with Walcott netting four times this season already.
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