Initially uploaded: 30th May, 2020
Introduction
After spending his formative years playing for various clubs inside the city of Gelsenkirchen, Mesut Özil enjoyed a five-year stint at Rot-Weiß Essen during the turn of the century. It was then that the German moved onto bigger things with his step up to Schalke.
He earned his first starts against no less than Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal. Not long after being coined “the next big thing”, he fell out with the club over money disputes, which led his departure and transfer to Werder Bremen, in January 2008.
Signing for €5million on a three-year-deal, his twelve appearances in the second half of that season helped Bremen to a second-place finish, in which time Özil had managed to secure his first Bundesliga goal.
Despite the club’s dwindling league form in the following season, the number eleven put up more-than-respectable numbers, with fifteen league assists to his name, as well as a final-winning goal in the DFB Pokal against Bayer Leverkusen.
As Bremen climbed up to third the next season, Özil’s impact grew – he directly contributed to thirty-nine goals in forty-six starts in all competitions in the 2009/10 season. It was a step-up necessary to account for the departure of star player Diego. He even claimed the award for best player in the first half of the season.
General Attacking Play
Whilst he might’ve been, at best, second fiddle to Diego in terms of the Bremen hierarchy, Özil still had his part to play in the 2008/09 season. Fielded in the left interior slot of Thomas Schaaf’s diamond, the German was quickly maturing thanks to the role he was given, which balanced freedom and system-based automatisms perfectly for him.
Movement
Although he occasionally excluded himself from moves where he was already too far away from play, Özil was otherwise a very hard worker off the ball. The most frequent pattern of movement he displayed involved him moving against the grain, from left to right, when Bremen would look to move the ball inside from the right-wing. By doing this, he was accessed through that right halfspace numerous times each game and was great at catching out the opposition midfield line.
In the followup season, where he was much more of a central figure, his movements were less regimented but equally free and in a way that contained all the same qualities and variation.
What was most impressive was his awareness and subsequent recognition of space. His constant scanning meant he knew which spaces had opened in behind and he knew where to drop to be able to connect play. This meant he was comfortable moving wide facing towards the flanks but already knowing where he could play the ball first-time.
He was so willing to run the channels, also, whether it was after laying the ball off or just off the cuff. He was a constant nuisance for opposition defences.
Aside from some minor instances during his first full season where he didn’t show himself well enough ahead of the ball – mostly because he wasn’t comfortably peeling deeper and being patient in those kinds of areas closer to deep midfield – Özil was largely picking up great spaces between the lines.
As well as rotating comfortably with the front two and occupying either wing, he also demonstrated the peace of mind to maximise the space he had to receive in between the lines. He achieved this through the awareness he possessed to be able to recognise when there was more space around him to back into.
He was just about everywhere in the final third but didn’t involve himself in any of the buildup play.
Receiving and linking
Movement is great but its success is dependent on how well the ball is taken on. Thankfully, Özil’s control of the ball was immaculate. His general control was composed, with setting weaker foot touches – despite a heavy bias towards using his stronger left foot – and the patience to let it run across his body when necessary. And, not only was he able to trap the ball effortlessly but his pre-scanning to assess the proximity of his opponents was what meant he could draw in pressure only to push back out unexpectedly.
Whilst attempting these, it was noticeable how well he used his body to shield the ball against intense pressure from behind. The midfielder knew how best to use his body to resist physical pressure.
It’s this level of press-resistance which was why he was frequently able to remain ball-facing when receiving, and was also willing to come very short to the ball, as he could then spring to the outside/inside into the drawn open space.
The ball-facing approach can often be a negative one but this was combatted perfectly by the fact that his first touch always opened up his body, and how he spun as he was about to receive when moving touchline-facing.
As alluded to already, letting the ball run across his body before taking his first touch was another technique he used, which also allowed him to move short when receiving from out-to-in. This patience before taking his first touch also led to him pushing the ball out into space perfectly.
Whilst he struggled to do so with much heavier balls into him, he was consistently strong in taking regular passes in his stride.
His awareness also meant that he could use his first touch to play first-time layoffs comfortably.
Özil’s big picture view gave him an understanding of how best to exploit midfield spaces, mostly through one-two exchanges. With those, he timed them perfectly by preparing his body and timing the pass to be at the last second, which allowed him to spring into the forward space immediately after laying it off. He was just as useful a recipient of these as he was an instigator, often looking to make them happen.
Passing
Özil’s short passing was nigh-on flawless. It was what allowed him to instigate combinations so effortlessly anywhere in the final third, and also to keep the ball moving quickly from the wings into the centre.
Crucial to all of his passing, though, was his operation speed, which was immense. Having pre-scanned or not, once he got his head up, Özil was incredibly sharp to play forward passes and layoffs, even without having been aware of the combination that he was about to be pulled into.
Not to say his decisions on the spot were always perfect but he nonetheless rarely gave opponents too much time to anticipate his next move. Though disguising passes wasn’t a major feature, the speed at which he released the ball made it so difficult for opponents to adjust.
It must be said that the German didn’t regularly display too much range in his passing, either, i.e. he didn’t field many switches of play, but his confidence to play more ambitious, driven passes into teammates’ runs was evergrowing.
These through balls tended to be curling, ground passes, whipped into the feet or in ahead of the runner he was looking for. Beyond their execution, the most notable upside displayed by them was through his decision-making, knowing exactly which type of pass was needed.
The success of these passes wasn’t perfect but the types of narrow misses still managed to illustrate the sheer quality his final ball was capable of, and how fast he was managing to develop that side of his game.
Ball-carrying
Özil wasn’t a deep progressor with the ball as such but he frequently showcased an impressive ability to take on an opponent.
His dribbles through the centre into space were very neat and well-adjusted but his take-ons were best seen out wide, particularly down the right. His confidence to knock it around the outside of opponents was admirable, as was the sheer pace he displayed to beat those opponents. His acceleration with and without the ball at his feet was what helped him on his way.
Özil’s persistence with these dribbles on the outside were more effective down the left, where his hustle and bustle, using his body across his opponent, was good for getting to the byline and managing to work inwards from there. These bursts to the byline were undoubtedly key to him getting into so many positions to cross the ball.
From the right, there were more examples of what we’re today familiar with as his trademark cut in, which he used to be able to vary his directional approach.
The main downside to his ball-carrying was when he ran it into cul-de-sacs. He was guilty, sometimes, of not playing or even spotting the short pass soon enough, resulting in him dribbling the ball wide into trapped areas.
Chance creation
Özil’s high volume involvement played a big part in how he stacked his chance creation numbers. In the second season, he was regularly contributing so many key passes and assists thanks to just being at the heart of almost every move.
However, the most notable form of chance creation for him was from crosses, and largely set-piece deliveries.
His crosses were mostly curled, at a height, quite floaty, and with outstanding precision. His eye for a teammate, from whichever starting position, was key to him teeing up so many, even if just for half-chances.
As can be seen in the clips above, he was the nominal deliverer of in-swinging crosses, both on corners and deeper free kicks, from the right side. Again, his placement rarely disappointed, and the floated nature of his crosses was far more appropriate for teasing the ball into a great area each time from deeper set pieces.
Additionally, he was comfortably firing in crosses with his weaker foot, be it chipped or even low, which was important for when he found his way to the byline in from the right wing.
But what he missed was an ability to whip it low with pace across the face of goal. Given the number of times he moved wide through the channel into a prime position to do so, the number of first-time crosses he attempted certainly lacked.
Shooting
Özil was by no means a prolific goalscorer in his time at Bremen but he certainly took on his fair share of shots. In the 08/09 season, he blasted in a few outstanding near-post firecrackers but his efforts away from those left something to be desired.
This was not helped by the fact that his out-and-out box movement was where he shied away most. His runs from deep were a constant but his prowess in the box was what lacked. He didn’t aim to attack the last line in these situations; he tended to hang off the back of crosses, more with the intention of claiming loose balls that would fall to the edge of the box.
The sort of power he generated on shots was actually very good, as was his hit rate in finding the goalmouth and keeping the ball relatively low. At least that was more so the case in the 09/10 season. However, the majority of these shots were straight down the goalkeeper’s throat, which, at best, offered up the opportunity for a fumble leading to a potential rebound.
The upside was that his shot selection, albeit resulting in him often taking aim from range, was rarely wasteful of a better alternative. The same positivity could be reflected upon his attacking movement.
Besides a few cases of his first touch letting him down in those high-pressure situations, and the occasional mistimed run, his overloading movements through the centre were a key feature of his runs in behind, as expressed in the clips below.
Play in Attacking Transitions
Counterattacks were where Özil really came to life. For all of his contributions to general play, they paled in comparison to his outstanding transitional play.
Starting position
Depending on the situation, the German was more than a little eager to be at the forefront of counterattacks. In general defensive phases – which speaks to his lacking defensive contributions more than anything else – he would sometimes preemptively move out on the far-side in the assumption that an attack was about to break out, which, consequently, left space inside of him quite exposed.
In fact, due to the rudimentary diamond system used in the 07/08 season, the amount of defending done down Bremen’s right side meaning he was often making the same bursting runs across, against the grain, ahead of any others.
From deeper situations, like corners, he was stationed on the edge of the box. In those situations, he mostly had his back to the opposition goal but was hardly inflicted by it thanks to his exceptional awareness, here, also. He had an eye for where his teammates were too, which was what helped him instigate short combinations out of high pressure.
Even more outstanding is how he put his operation speed to use. From standing starts if need be, the speed at which he spotted a teammate thirty or forty yards away from him, and the accuracy of the pass into them, was remarkable.
Middle phase
The intelligence of his runs definitely shouldn’t go amiss., either He had a great eye for which channels needed occupying and had a force about him to make splitting runs from deep right through the core of defensive lines.
The sharp adjustments in his run paths saw him offer wide quite frequently, which he was nonetheless comfortable than compared to in the centre, thanks to his excellent ball-carrying attributes.
Özil’s rapid acceleration, confidence to take on opponents around the outside, and the precision of his touches – be them long into space or close to his body – were, again, such a consistent, positive feature of his ball progression in transition.
The same praise can be heaped onto his press-resistance and the use of his runs even just as a way of getting his team up the pitch. His slick dummies and intentionally close wide play to win throw-ins and the like were ways in which he managed to achieve this on a regular basis.
Once again, his weight, choice and speed of pass were all exceptional. And it’s in this phase where you see some of his most ambitious through balls, which, as alluded to previously, tended to be driven passes along the ground, and were often correctly targeting the space that best fit his teammates.
Final phase
Özil always created and was on the ends of heaps of chances through counterattacks alone. Even when it wasn’t down to perfectly-placed through balls or deft crosses into the box, the simple threat of his runs and dribbles got him into positions around the box that enabled him to play simple passes that created good chances. And his decision-making rarely let him down, here, either.
When it came to chance-getting, the aforementioned work rate from him to get from box-to-box was what saw him make so many splitting runs. If it wasn’t from his constant runs post-layoffs, it was through his great recognition of space which led to him bursting at full pace into those lanes.
Although, one of the disappointing aspects of these runs was how he, first, struggled to take on heavier passes in his stride as well as was necessary and, secondly, failed to convert his chances most of the time. It was the lack of conviction in his attempts which resulted in many great runs going to waste – these efforts were drained of the power displayed in his longer-range attempts, whilst holding onto their subpar placement.
Irrespective of that, there was no doubt that his ability to perform in transition eclipsed a lot of the other aspects of his game and proved to be, at times, just as crucial to his team as they were to him.
Defensive Work
Positioning and approach
Entirely dependent on his position within each system, Özil was most often stationed to the left of a midfield four. Anyone who knows of the German playmaker will no doubt be somewhat privy to his lacking defensive contributions. That was precisely the case at Bremen, also.
His sluggish approach was not helped by his lack of awareness for opponents around him. It meant that he rarely narrowed in when the channel inside of him was exposed and was slow in his approach out wide. The most energy he put into pressing was just following turnovers and when his path to the ball-holder was completely vertical.
When confronting players out wide, he never oriented his body correctly to account for the amount of space he gave to the ball-holder. Often, he would move out completely flank-facing, leaving the inside open to sharp cut-ins. The same sharp movements against the grain to beat him were a common theme across the pitch, and so too were opposition attempts to combine past him in the same way he would to them in possession.
A perfect example of this can be seen above, from a match against TSG Hoffenheim, and then in the following clips below.
Fair to say, he wasn’t as enthusiastic about this side of the game. This was particularly apparent in his lack of closing down. Away from the odd foray across midfield in a semi-committed pursuit of an opponent, Özil shied away from picking up opponents deep in the final third often.
In relation to his actual challenges, the midfielder wasn’t entirely incapable of dispossessing opponents cleanly, but he was guilty of dangling a leg out, leading to fouls, as well as being a bit too heavy-handed in the process. He was, nonetheless, able to poke the ball away from opponents on occasion, more so when he was working his hardest, which, as alluded to, was just after turnovers high up the pitch.
Overall, this was the one minor stain on his otherwise resoundingly strong performance level.
Conclusion
In the games I watched, most of them were sizable fixtures in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, as well as two DFB Pokal finals and a handful of regular Bundesliga contests. In almost all of them, you would have been hard pushed to watch a downbeat Özil performance (bar his final appearance of the 09/10 season in the cup final against Bayern Munich).
The maturity throughout, but particularly in his final season, was special. In the handful I caught from that 09/10 season, he was, by my eye, averaging nearly, if not upwards of, ten direct shot contributions per match.
His growing importance and involvement in attacks were why it was of no surprise to see him play a key part in Germany’s upcoming World Cup campaign before the big boys came knocking and he set sail for Real Madrid.
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I found these matches on Footballia, so check them out if you haven’t already. Thanks for reading.