The Maturation of Mesut Özil, or: Who Needs Diego?

By: Daryl | November 23rd, 2009

[10 minutes of highlights (via 101GG). May take a while to load. Be patient.]

Remember when Diego left Werder Bremen for Juventus, and we wondered if young Mesut Özil was really capable of filling the gap left by the Brazilian? Well, the answer is yes. See the highlights of Werder’s 6-0 win over Freiburg above.

Özil scored one (@ 6:00 in the vid), had three assists and also won the penalty which Naldo converted. (Sidenote: Does winning a pen count as an assist? I say it should.) The 21 year old is a German born attacking mid of Turkish descent, and therefore – in my opinion – a positive representation of an increasingly diverse German society.

Raphael Honigstein has a nice Özil-centric article on The Guardian’s website today, with this quote from the player: “My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game,” he said, “the discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.”

Aside from representing two ethnicities (Özil is a full German international) and (so far) successfully replacing Bremen’s star player, Özil is also finally delivering on his promise. He’s been tipped as a “next big thing” type player for what feels like forever now, and there’s always a danger that Freddy Adu-itis can strike a player down at any given moment.

Hopefully Özil continues to impress, and then gets to show of his skills at World Cup 2010 next June.

For more on German football, click yourself over to:

- Bundesliga Offside, or
- Germany WorldCupBlog

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chris

Ozil's going to be better than Diego, because he's got that all important thing known as pace. Remember when Chelsea and Arsenal were scrapping for him a few years ago - one of the clear diamonds which slipped through.

But more importantly he rid himself of the hair which was eerily reminiscent of an early Cesc, and lord knows no one wants that.
MoMONEY

This kid is SPECIAL. Germany are in good hands for the next decade or so. I expect him to be Young player of the Tournament in South Africa
FBL

He is exactly the kind of player England are missing, his technical skills are exquisite. Whilst Milner is supposed to be a key cog in the England team, Ozil single-handedly dismantled the England team, passes-check, shooting-check, dribbling-check, mentality-check.

As he was taken under the wing of Diego in the last 18 months, Ozil is now taking Marin under his wing, such a shame Loew hasn't integrated Marin into the squad more than he could have.

His next move will be crucial, he needs to make the right choice where he goes, I sincerely hope it isn't Munich, they will kill him there as a player, and hope it isn't Arsenal as Wenger loves putting playmakers on the wing and that is such a waste of his key talents.
vHF

:: Does winning a pen count as an assist? I say it should.

Definitely -- it does in Football Manager, so it has to in real life too.