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Arsenal record signing Mesut Ozil has been challenged to score more goals by his manager as well as pundits and gooners alike.
The German World Cup winner is known for his extraordinary passing ability and vision and ability to split defences with a pass, and says that although he wishes to add more goals to his game he is happy to continue creating chances for his teammates.
“I want to score more goals than in the last two seasons and that’s my aim for this season,” he told Arsenal’s official website.
“I think now and then I need to become a bit more selfish – then I’d definitely score more goals.”
“But I’m a player who thinks for the team first and not for my own needs and that’s why I will carry on to play the way I always do.”
Ozil has scored nine goals and contributed 17 assists in 51 Premier League appearances since joining the club, and says his selflessness is one of his best attributes.
“I think that’s one of my distinguishing characteristics.”
“For me, it’s not just goals and assists that mean everything, what’s more important is that we’re successful as a team,” he added.
“My aim is to help the team and I’ll do all I can to achieve that. In truth, I’m more the sort of player who doesn’t really go for goal, I tend to look for my team-mates and think, ‘Can I play this pass?”.
Although we would like to see Mesut be more assertive in front of goal, I suppose you cannot fault him for that attitude really.
In truth, gooners would like to see him bag both more goals and more assists, as a player of his calibre should be more impactful. Nine goals and 17 assists in two seasons is a modest record for a player of his ilk and gooners demand more, but fair play to Mesut to put the team first.
To be fair, he endured a bit of a learning curve while adapting to life in the Premier League, and is still just 26 and reaching the peak of his powers. Good on Mesut to acknowledge he needs to improve, and I’m confident we will see more from him this season.
