Arsenal: Mesut Ozil’s Faith All That’s Needed

Arsenal have failed yet again, but it is not all lost. Mesut Ozil still has faith and so long as he does, we have no reason to doubt the club’s capabilities.

No matter where you look, the message is the same – Arsenal failed. In a wide open year to win the title, Arsenal collapsed on themselves like a black hole. It’s tragic, unfortunate, and grounds to be upset. But it’s not the end of the world and Arsenal’s biggest star is helping remind us of that.

“You can realise your dreams here, and if we get in a few more good players, I think that will happen,” Mesut Ozil said, via the Evening Standard.

It may not seem like much, but hearing Mesut Ozil’s faith is all that I need to stay confident that things can get better. Next year (it’s that ‘next year’ argument again…) is an incredibly promising opportunity. Many point to Pep Guardiola or Conte or Mourinho and say Arsenal have no chance. But if you’re the best team, there is no need to worry about who else is out there.

This Arsenal team is strong. A few tweaks to the equation and they could be world beaters. It sounds pretty likely that Granit Xhaka will come to Arsenal. I don’t think I need to point out how huge that is. Finally, a strong midfielder who can wreak havoc in the middle of the pitch.

Per Mertesacker is essentially done, so a new center back – or improvement from Calum Chambers or Krystian Bielik – could be on the horizon as well.

But perhaps more importantly, Arsenal is going to get younger. Jon Toral, Gedion Zelalem, Jeff Reine-Adelaide and more will look to have the impact that Alex Iwobi had this year. Which, speaking of Iwobi, he will only get better as well.

Now that Alexis is on the right, he is stepping up his relevance too. Nobody major is leaving this summer. We can cross that fear out of our minds. Arsenal is a different club, one of the rare clubs that doesn’t operate like a revolving door. Arsene Wenger does have a renewed sense of urgency. Next year is the year.

It’s easy to be down on our luck after seeing Arsenal blow this massive opportunity, but I find it just as easy to be optimistic. Arsenal is not some vacuum that sucks the quality out of players. These guys we have are capable of bringing home a title against whoever Guardiola can cook up.