Mesut Ozil happiest he has been in last 18 months at Arsenal says Rio Ferdinand

RIO FERDINAND reckons Mesut Ozil is the happiest he has been at Arsenal for 18 months. The Arsenal playmaker, 31, endured a very difficult spell with previous boss Unai Emery and was regularly left out of the squad. But new manager Mikel Arteta appears to have given the World Cup winner a major confidence boost […]

RIO FERDINAND reckons Mesut Ozil is the happiest he has been at Arsenal for 18 months.

The Arsenal playmaker, 31, endured a very difficult spell with previous boss Unai Emery and was regularly left out of the squad.

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But new manager Mikel Arteta appears to have given the World Cup winner a major confidence boost since arriving in December – and it is paying dividends for the Gunners.

Ozil was very impressive against Chelsea at the Emirates and then followed it up with another top-class performance in the 2-0 win over Manchester United.

He played a part in both goals – winning possession for Nicolas Pepe’s opener and then it was his pass to Ainsley Maitland-Niles that won the corner from which Sokratis volleyed home.

And former United defender Ferdinand was full of praise for smiling Ozil, who was embraced by Arteta after the full-time whistle and twice took to social media to celebrate the win and a “great night”.

The BT Sport pundit said: “The pictures we saw there when the whistle went with Arteta going on to the pitch – I’ve not seen Ozil smile like that for about 18 months.

“That tells you a story, he’s enjoying going to training, he’s enjoying playing.

“It’s freshened the place up, it went maybe stale under the previous manager, they maybe lacked belief in the manager’s tactics and his methods.

“We’ve both been there under different managers where you think, ‘I don’t believe in what this guy’s doing’ and that takes an edge off a performance subconsciously.

“This kid here [Nicolas Pepe], he looked like a new player. That comes from confidence with the new manager.”

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Commentator and ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown was also quick to laud the German’s performance.

He said: “Off the ball, rarely have you seen Ozil work this hard. He’s the spare man, working between the lines.

“He’s back. He digs this ball out [to Maitland-Niles] and most players wouldn’t even see that.”

Ozil spent three years playing alongside Arteta at Arsenal before the Spaniard hung up his boots and joined Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City.

But now reunited, their relationship is clearly reaping the rewards already – with Arteta hoping to build the team around his No10.

He needs Ozil to continue to put the hard yards in for the team, something people have doubted he is willing to do in the past, but his stats against United prove he is able to do the ugly side of the game.

The ex-Real Madrid man ran 11.28km on New Year’s Day, with only Lucas Torreira covering more ground in the match.

Speaking after his star’s performance against Chelsea, Arteta said: “I’m hoping he can sustain that level every three or four days. He’s putting in everything he has to try to do that.

“His numbers, physically, have improved so much, and he’s willing. That’s what I can tell you from every day what I see in training.

“I’m not surprised. I know the ability, I know the player we have there. The structure has to help him for him to take everything that he has inside.

“On his own, he cannot do it. He needs the collective structure, organisation and his team-mates. There are only one or two players in the world who can do something on their own.

“He needs help and he needs the team to play in a certain way to facilitate his strengths more and more every time in the game. That’s what we are trying to do.”

BT Sport