Arsenal's Arsene Wenger on Mesut Ozil: 'I feel that he's back' - 7M sport

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger on Mesut Ozil: 'I feel that he's back'



Posted Thursday, April 06, 2017 by ESPN

LONDON -- Arsene Wenger says Mesut Ozil's focus is back after the German star ended a rough spell with a goal and an assist in Arsenal's 3-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday.

Ozil netted his first goal of 2017 to break the deadlock in the 58th minute and then set up Theo Walcott for the second at the Emirates as Arsenal earned their first league win since Feb. 11.

Wenger hailed the win as a "relief" after one of the worst spells of his career, and acknowledged that it could lift some of the pressure off Ozil's shoulders as well.

Ozil has only played sparingly since Arsenal's 5-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the Champions League because of illness and injury, and had looked far from his best in Arsenal's previous two games.

"I feel that he's back physically, with focus. I know him quite well. I felt he had been hit hard by us going out in the Champions League and it took him some time to recover from that mentally," Wenger said. "I feel for a few weeks now in training he's really focused again, and that comes out in the game."

Arsenal squandered a number of chances before Ozil's goal, a curling shot from outside the area that may have been meant as a cross for the streaking Alexis Sanchez but found its way inside the far post. The goal seemed to fill the German with confidence rarely seen in recent weeks, as he was soon pulling off back-heel flicks and combined well with Sanchez to set up Walcott's goal 10 minutes later.

Substitute Olivier Giroud finished off the scoring with a great left-footed finish as Arsenal started playing with joy for the first time in recent weeks. They had lost four out of five Premier League games before Sunday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City, which Wenger said had lifted the mood.

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger on Mesut Ozil: 'I feel that he's back'


Mesut Ozil scored and assisted in Wednesday's win.

"You could see that even if the result against City wasn't what we wanted, it had a positive impact on the morale of the team," Wenger said. "In the second half our technical superiority made the difference. At the end of the day it was a convincing win with good individual performances from everyone from the goalkeeper to the striker. So it's a good result tonight and a relief as well, because we have gone through a bad period. But overall you can say that the mentality of the team is healthy, and that is a good basis."

Third-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez started for Arsenal as both Petr Cech and David Ospina were injured, but didn't have much to do until making two fairly simple saves near the end. The Gunners made up ground on three of their top-four rivals as Liverpool only drew with Bournemouth and Man City lost at Chelsea. Arsenal leapfrogged Manchester United into fifth after Jose Mourinho's team were held to a draw by Everton on Tuesday.

And while they still trail fourth-placed City by four points with a game in hand, Wenger's hopes of reaching the Champions League for a 21st straight year were definitely boosted.

"It's possible [to finish in the top four], of course," Wenger said. "We have a game in hand on City. We have players back from injuries, we had quite a strong bench tonight. So overall, we have done it before in more difficult conditions. But we have to try to do it again."



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