Darren Bent claims Mesut Ozil is a man reborn at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, hailing the German as the Gunners’ best player since their new manager’s appointment.
The 31-year-old was a peripheral figure under former boss Unai Emery after an apparent falling out between the pair, while he was also dropped by caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg after reacting angrily to being substituted in a previous match.
But Arteta has breathed new life into the playmaker since his return to the Emirates Stadium as the new Arsenal boss.
One of the Spaniard’s first decisions as manager was to reinstall Ozil into his starting XI, and the German has repaid him with three impressive performances in his first three games in charge.
He was superb in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Manchester United on New Year’s Day in what was statistically his best game in years.
Over the 90 minutes, Ozil completed 42 of 49 attempted passes, creating seven goalscoring chances. He took a total of 56 touches and won back possession ten times – his best figures in a Premier League game in THREE YEARS and the most of any Arsenal player against United.
He also covered a game-high of 7.2 miles on the pitch.
Ozil has faced heavy criticism over the past few years over his loss of form and impact at the Emirates, but Bent says he is back to his best and that it’s all down to Arteta.
Speaking on Drivetime, Bent said: “We all know Mesut Ozil’s strengths are getting on the ball, going forward, making things happen and picking the right pass at the right time.
“I trust him more than any other player in the Arsenal squad to make the right pass and the right time and make the right decision.
“But when you’re asking him to track runners and chase people, you’re taking away what Ozil does well.
“If he’s having to chase someone back 60 yards but then you’re expecting him to get on the ball and do the damage going the other way, it’s not going to work!
“But now Mikel Arteta has come in and found a way to play to Ozil’s strengths, and I really like it, by playing Xhaka and Torreira behind him effectively as water-carriers.
“It might be a disrespectful to say that, but they sit behind him and mop up, protect the back-four and are solely in there to just defend, which gives Ozil the free licence to go forward and make things happen.
“And we’ve seen that; he’s had three good games where he’s played in that advanced number ten role because he’s got two people behind him effectively doing all his defensive responsibilities.
“He’s arguably been Arsenal’s best player since Arteta came in.”
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Bent, who despite playing 79 games for Tottenham is a boyhood Arsenal supporter, has praised Arteta for the impact he’s made in just three weeks back at the club.
But he also had a warning to any fellow Gooners who might be getting a little carried away with their team’s recent performances.
He added: “I don’t want to get carried away and say we’ve got our Arsenal back – we said that before under Unai Emery – but the early signs are good.
“Arteta seems to be getting the best out of Ozil who is playing really well, he’s getting the best out of Pepe who has come into his own and he’s found a way to finally get Aubameyang and Lacazette both on the pitch and playing really well.
Darren Bent hails impact of Mikel Arteta as Arsenal manager – He's got the Pep Guardiola look about him!
“He’s only been a charge of a few games and he’s certainly got the Pep Guardiola look to him with his mannerisms on the touchline, even down to the way he dresses!
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“The most important things was that the fans were back in their seats and the atmosphere looked incredible.
“But it’s going to take time, we’re going to have ups and downs, and we can’t go from one extreme to the other.
“We can’t go from, ‘Oh my God we’ve lost our Arsenal, who are we now?’ – to all of a sudden, ‘We’re going to beat Manchester City’ – it doesn’t work that like.
“Hopefully in the long run it will be good.”