Poor Mesut Ozil.

The biggest transfer of the 2013 summer went to London with tremendous expectations. He fulfilled them at first and drove his team to the top of the English Premier League (EPL) standings.

But he slowly came apart at the seams as his confidence and play dipped to woeful levels.

The low point came at home against Bayern Munich in the 2013/2014 UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Facing a number of his national teammates, Ozil was expected to turn in a great performance, but fumbled it at every turn. He missed a penalty and then lost the ball at several intervals. His team imploded and he lacked the ability to lead the team. He was even blasted by his own teammates for a defensive miscue.

He had a better performance in the World Cup, though he was not the central piece he was back in 2010. Many expected him to return to Arsenal and continue to have that impact, but he has not had it thus far. At least, not until this past weekend when he silenced his critics.

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However, there are lingering concerns about his performances and consistency, leaving many to wonder whether the team should move on from him. Cesc Fabregas stated this weekend that the team passed over him because of Ozil, but was that really a wise choice?

A major part of the problem is that Ozil is not being allowed to play in his best position in the middle of the pitch behind the striker. Ozil is a traditional 10 and flourished as such at La Liga's Real Madrid. Over there, he was allowed to showcase his creativity. He put up 17 assists in two seasons and 13 in his final year while playing for the Spanish giants, averaging over three accurate long balls per game.

In his natural position, Ozil can worry about going forward without having the responsibility of tracking back continually. However, as a winger, where he is repeatedly played by Arsène Wenger, he is required to track up and down the pitch. Ozil has never been one to play complete matches. At Real Madrid, he was often taken out of the game with 15 or more minutes to go.

At Arsenal, Wenger has elected to play him for the full 90 minutes time and again. This has often resulted in poor performances from the German, particularly in the closing minutes of any given game. Many wonder about his conditioning and the reality is that, if he is forced to run up and down the pitch to help out on the defense, he is unlikely to be effective as the game wears on. It does not help that Ozil is poor defensively. His clearances per game are the lowest on the team and his tackles per game are in the middle of the team rankings.

The big problem with Arsenal is that Ozil is not the only central attacking midfielder on the team. Santi Cazorla also fits that bill and has had a more consistent year than his German colleague. And so Wenger is faced with deciding which player will get the opportunities in a central position. Cazorla has already been given more opportunities by Wenger in that position this season and it is possible that will continue to be the case. Of course, Ozil's performance at Aston Villa could convince the French manager to try out a different option.

Ozil is the reported reason that the team did not buy back Cesc Fabregas, with the Spaniard working wonders for Chelsea thus far this season while Ozil is trying to find his way. There is absolutely no way that Wenger retracts and sends Ozil away.

Which makes one wonder if Arsenal should sell Ozil once and for all.

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