He probably should’ve been on the bench but I wouldn’t say it was crying out for him. The trouble with Özil is yes he has the ability to create something out of nothing but for the last 18-24 months he has been a passenger in too many games. Do you play him because today might be the day he’s on form, knowing full well that It might be one of those games where he shrugs his shoulders through most of it? Özil was great for us in his first three years but our fans talk about him like you’re leaving Bergkamp out of the team.
For me the biggest problem is playing 3 at the back. All we have going forward is overlaps from the wing backs. Our midfielders aren’t going to give any creativity through the middle. He needs to go back to four at the back and either play Iwobi as a 10 or put Ramsey in there.