Did Arsenal’s disjointed midfield stifle Mesut Ozil against Manchester City?

Saturday was not a good day for Mesut Ozil.

Not only did he see his side thrashed by six goals to three and their lead at the top of the Premier League reduced, but he ended the day having to put out an apology on his Facebook page after a spat with Per Mertesacker.

Mertesacker was incensed when Arsenal’s record signing refused to go over and applaud the travelling support, and the giant German did little to hide his fury with his compatriot.

Perhaps Mertesacker was also a little irritated with Ozil’s defensive contribution to the cause – or lack thereof.

Ozil is a gifted creator but he is no defender. Against Manchester City, he made zero tackles, zero interceptions, zero clearances and competed in precisely zero headed duels.

When Ozil did come back to defend, he unintentionally contributed to Manchester City’s third goal. His pass infield towards Mathieu Flamini was hit with plenty of precision and power, but the Frenchman was caught on his heels and was unable to control. Fernandinho intercepted and promptly curled the ball beyond the stranded Wojciech Szczesny.

The ex-Madrid man is admittedly something of a luxury player. He has bags of guile but not much graft. In order to afford fielding that kind of languid talent, you need to have a secure defensive unit to back them up. Unfortunately, against City Arsenal’s defence collapsed.

Manchester City have such a luxury player too. David Silva made exactly the same defensive contribution to Ozil: none. However, Silva’s heat map shows he saw plenty of the ball in dangerous areas of the field:

Ozil’s Heat Map, meanwhile, illustrates his struggle to impose himself on the game. Rather comically, the area of most concentrated activity is the spot from where Ozil delivered a succession of in-swinging corners.

The Heat Map demonstrates how infrequently Ozil was able to get on the ball in the area where he is most dangerous: that crucial No. 10 spot, with runners ahead of him.

Therein lies the fundamental problem. Arsenal simply weren’t able to feed Ozil in dangerous areas, due to their ill-functioning midfield.

When Arsenal’s number 11 did get the ball, his use of it was typically intelligent. He completed 87 percent of his passes, and collected a customary assist with a perceptive pull-back for Theo Walcott. Ozil now has more assists than any player in England’s top-flight, with seven already in 2013/14.

If Arsenal care to overcome Chelsea next week, getting the imaginative German on the ball more frequently will be key to their chances.