Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil may have come in for a lot of criticism for his indifferent form over the last six months.
However, the German international has been a regular feature of this Arsenal team, which has been enjoying a great run of late. A fourth consecutive victory in the league came in the form of a 3-0 win over West Ham on Sunday, but Ozil turned his attention to the Champions League match against Monaco immediately. Arsenal lost the first leg 3-1 and it has forced them to the brink of exit from the competition at the last 16 stage once again.
Ozil has clearly not recovered from the poor form of last season. The midfielder has not scored since the goal in the 2-1 defeat against Tottenham. In the meantime, he has only contributed a couple of results. Despite this, focus has shifted away from the 26-year-old given that the team has been functioning so well. Confidence may be overflowing with this Arsenal team, but Ozil is also aware of the fact that the team needs an away goal in order to realistically have a chance of beating Monaco. The gunners need to score at least three goals and an early goal is the only way to settle the team.
“It’s very important to score early, but we will remain patient. We want to fight and battle from the first minute until the last.This is a match that we are determined to win. We have to score three goals and our aim is to do just that while remaining tight in defence.If we play as we are capable of doing in Monaco, I still believe that we have a real chance to progress.We want to disrupt their rhythm and try to score as early as possible,” said Ozil.
