Arsenal 2-1 Cardiff City: 5 Talking Points | Premier League 2018-19

#3 Mesut Ozil fails to inspire

Ozil wasn't at his best against Cardiff

After being frozen out for the majority of January, Mesut Ozil was finally handed the opportunity to showcase his talents against Cardiff. The German, though, looked a pale shadow of himself and turned in an abject display.

At the Emirates, Emery named an expansive front three of Aubameyang, Lacazette, and Ozil. Though the strikers got on the score-sheet, the German was largely ineffective. Ozil was tidy on the ball yet couldn’t conjure the kind of defense-splitting passes he is capable of.

However, the most worrying aspect of Ozil’s performance was his confidence or the lack of it. There were occasions where the play-maker could have chosen the flamboyant attacking path yet turned to the more conservative route.

On his day, Ozil is as imaginative a player as any on the planet. Yet, those displays have been far and few in between this term.