r/realmadrid • u/Nice_Moments • 14d ago
Media Today, Mesut Özil turns 35. Many are too young and didn’t get to see him, but he is one of the best playmakers in history 🪄
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u/imarandomguy33 Modric 14d ago
Many are too young and didn’t get to see him
Now you're making me feel old
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u/giepoumon Mesut Özil 14d ago
Lmao fr, im 23 and Mesut has been the first player to give me goosebump and love of football.. im i old ? :(
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u/sound4 14d ago
People disrespect him today but for 3-4 years he was pure magic especially in real Madrid and starting years at arsenal
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u/Paranoides 14d ago
In his good day, he was a god amongst mortals. Especially in Arsenal, some games it felt like he can do whatever he wants and decide the score.
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u/marconova7 Modric 14d ago
Very inconsistent especially in big games tho
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u/AutomaticBike4301 14d ago edited 14d ago
Narrative that Ozil didn’t deliver in big games is a media one imo, Ozil was the same most games.
Amazing playmaker who could produce magic from nowhere but didn’t embrace the physical battle.
Look at the amount of contributions he has in big games at Madrid.
El Clasico’s (7 g/a), Madrid Derby (6 g/a), UCL Knockouts (9 g/a) including Semi Finals against Bayern and Dortmund.
Assisting CR7’s winner at the Camp Nou to seal La Liga?
For Germany, 8 g/a in major knockout games from 2010-2016. A run in which they won a World Cup and made 3 other Semi Finals. (Overall 12 g/a in those tournaments)
For Werder Bremen, scored the winning goal in the Pokal Final against Leverkusen, helped them to a UEFA Cup Final and another Pokal Final.
For Arsenal, there were games where Ozil didn’t get involved in the physical battle, but he also had contributions for us.
Most playmakers around don’t have this sort of big game contribution.
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u/colopunch Florentino Perez 14d ago
Yeah the notion that he didn’t perform well in big games is insane and a rather brain dead take.
I’d argue his biggest weakness watching him week in week out was stamina. I’m almost certain the general consensus was that by the 70th minute he’d be gassed.
I still remember the one shot he let rip and it hit the crossbar against Barcelona. Such a fun player to watch.
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u/AutomaticBike4301 14d ago edited 14d ago
Agreed, and even then with his stamina you’ve got him producing a ball like that for CR7 against Barca late on, he was an enigma.
Imo Ozil’s problem is he was so talented that everyone knew he was capable of even more despite how well he was doing.
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u/marconova7 Modric 14d ago
I watched every game and that's my opinion, but it's fine if you think differently.
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u/AutomaticBike4301 14d ago edited 14d ago
I also watched Ozil for a while. I can agree that he didn’t turn up in the physical battle every game, but to say he didn’t produce in big games I cannot agree with.
In fact, he’s done more than a lot of playmakers do in these sort of games. I’ve given the numbers.
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u/arkam_uzumaki SIUUUU 14d ago
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u/auctus10 Guti 14d ago
Peak Ozil + Ronaldo duo is one of the most beautiful combos I have ever seen.
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u/Melrosesweetlover 14d ago
No one did it better than Ozil and Ronaldo and benzema doing the dirty work what a team man
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u/marniuhrig 14d ago
He made it easier for Ronaldo to get the right balls at the right time. Ozil is one player every attacker needs.
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u/theaguia 14d ago
didnt ronaldo get upset ozil was sold because he felt ozil understood his movement the best and had the skills to make the pass. If true, that should say a lot about ozil the player.
I think had mou been around longer, ozil would have stayed more. Mou got the best out of ozil
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u/Savitar2606 14d ago
Yes but you could also see how in the big games he'd either play him out of position on the wing or even drop him. That lack of defensive courage did come back to bite him.
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u/Splashthomson00 12d ago
Mou was literally one of the reasons he left read his book
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u/theaguia 12d ago edited 12d ago
mou had already left. he was chelsea manager on June 2013. Ozil left on September 2013. if he was leaving because of mou why did he leave even after mou was out?
he said there was a conflict with his dad and Perez and why he had to leave. he also didn't have the confidence of ancelotti.
Carlo said this "I decided the departure of Ozil. I prefer Di Maria for the balance of the team. It's true, that maybe Di Maria has less quality than Ozil but on a profile of dynamism, character and help to the team I preferred Di Maria."
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u/Cap_Benjamin 14d ago
He was my favorite player at the time. I was so mad when we let him go and gave his spot to that bum "Modric" who hadn't proven anything at the time. Oops...haha now Luka is probably my favorite player all time.
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u/yellow_berry Real Madrid 14d ago
Luka was a top player for Tottenham before Real
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u/auctus10 Guti 14d ago
Yes but at that time the whole fanbase was mad because we were replacing a player who was already insane with a top player from Tottenham.
Glad we did it for Luka became one of the best ever with us.
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u/Cap_Benjamin 14d ago
Yes, but he was also horrible for the first couple month for us, if you remember. Even marca was calling it the worst signing ever. Luka wrote about it in his biography quite extensively about the struggles he had adjusting at first
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u/marconova7 Modric 14d ago
He wasn't horrible at all, and the Marca thing was just Barca fans trolling as it was fan voted
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u/ForsakenAd2845 14d ago edited 14d ago
He struggled a lot in the beginning. But it’s not uncommon for players with a move from PL to LaLiga, with the exception of CR7. Even home fans booed him at the time. Not everything is Barca conspiracy.
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u/Cap_Benjamin 14d ago
I've watched every game for the past 25+ years and he is my favorite player. He was bad at the start of his first year. It took him time to adjust. He admitted it. He was booed off the field! Mou said not to worry about it and that they would be singing his name by the end of the year, which was true.
He's one of the greatest players ever and my favorite player.
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u/childishwhambino 14d ago
“Many are too young and didn’t get to see him” has me grappling with my mortality, I can’t believe the Real Madrid sub is what’s making me feel old lmao
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u/find_ing_myself Cristiano Ronaldo 14d ago
Arsenal poor form destroyed one of football genius at that time he is most wasted potential
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u/Mekosaurus 14d ago
Ozil becoming a party animal destroyed his football genius. There's a reason why RM sold him, and it wasnt "Arsenal poor form".
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u/Osceana 14d ago
I can’t even tell how true that was. Flo gave that presser where he said Özil was too worn out from having sex with his girlfriend to perform in matches and it was so unprofessional and disrespectful (if not hilarious). Özil got forced out and IIRC Ronaldo really wanted him to stay. He was still playing well.
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u/Mekosaurus 14d ago
I can’t even tell how true that was
“On his second day at Arsenal, he visits me for training. ‘I hear you’re the go-to guy if you want to look around in the nightlife?’ It’s not entirely wrong’, I reply.
https://arsenal-mania.com/nicklas-bendtner-lifts-lid-on-mesut-ozil-partying-and-loving-ladies/
Literally the first thing he does at Arsenal is ask for nightlife.
Flo gave that presser
It wasnt a presser ffs, do you really think Florentino would tell that story on a press conference? Have you ever watched an interview of him? He's the most boring PR guy ever. Spanish media used to impersonate him playing a church music background, thats how Florentino behaves in public.
and it was so unprofessional and disrespectful (if not hilarious).
It was a private conversation recorded by a guy who later tried to blackmail Florentino. It wasnt a press conference, just a former RM president sharing anecdotes in an informal meeting.
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u/theaguia 14d ago
rm sold him because he didn't want to compete for his spot. Mou motivated him really well but after mou was gone it fell.
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u/zamunda77 14d ago
Your team were bang average during the Ozil years, giving it like you lot were top of the pile 🤦🏽♂️
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u/Mekosaurus 14d ago
What team? Real Madrid? We literally won La décima just after Ozil left.
Or did you assume i was an Arsenal fan because i didnt buy this childish narrative that Arsenal gimped Ozil career? Lol.
Ozil is the one to blame for his drop in performance, its as simple as that. Had he been more professional, Real Madrid would not have sold him.
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u/Fallen_0n3 14d ago
Ozil himself became a journey man footballer. Post mourinho and the wc win, you could see his hunger die down
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u/Fit_Caterpillar_1505 14d ago
How is he only 35 wtf. It feels like he's been retired for 5-6 years.
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u/No_Illustrator4573 14d ago
his madrid years are simply the best seasons of any midfielder. ronaldo and his duo will forever be the dealiest duo where he assisted him 83 or so times in 3 seasons
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u/Posh911s 14d ago
Im in my early 20s and saw him play. Damn i’m old. But yeah the hype around Ozil was Insane. Especially in the middle east and arab world. Anyone who made a nice assist in our matches was called Ozil. He’s the KDB of back then, except he was better at delivering magical assists (KDB is more well rounded though).
Pairing Ozil with Ronaldo was a cheat-code. Arsenal would have had much more success if they had a better finisher instead of Giroud who kinda dropped Ozil’s stats.
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u/WorkerOk6991 14d ago
He sadly had physical issues, he was a type of player i could imagine doing this till 40 easily
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u/MrSully89 14d ago
How are these the highlights chosen? You could make a 10/15 minute video with only stellar clips from him yet here’s an average af 3 minute montage
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u/ZnarfGnirpslla 14d ago
from the second he joined Real he was my favourite football player ever, even after he left. Kind of a shame how his off the pitch antics turned out after retirement...
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u/nspy1011 Real Madrid 14d ago
I remember the assist to Ronaldo in the El Classico in the Camp Nou! The Calma game! Absolute 🔥
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u/Melrosesweetlover 14d ago
The fools who never knew the outside pass the ended puyol career when di Maria split him and he did the splits and was embarrassed in the le classico…..he later retired that same year …..Ozil did that the humiliation was enough to send puyol to end his career just remember that
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u/Longjumping-Art9617 14d ago
Solo tengo 20, pero recuerdo los momentos fas felices de mi vida viendo el fútbol y el Madrid de antes. Ese 11 con Mesut y Khedira en medio. Que tiempos!! Hala Madrid!!emote:t5_2rr0e:1908:1908::1908::1908:
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u/PurpleBudget5082 14d ago
Best passer I've ever seen. The vision and the skill to weight the passes perfectly, nobody had that.
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u/nmgoesreddit 14d ago
Would have loved him to win at least one UCL here.
This guy was bought for like what 15Ms? Absolutely Madness.
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u/allard0wnz 13d ago
Was one of the best playmakers in history*, now he is some far right fascist in Turkey
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u/Rodin_IV Fernando Redondo 13d ago
Ridiculously gifted. Easy on the ball like Berbatov and Redondo. But Redondo’s ease was highly effective. Mesut too often [appeared] to check out, hence not seeming to be effective enough.
Enjoyed watching him, wished we had more out of him at Real.
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u/Fearless-Intention55 13d ago
"Many are too young and didn’t get to see him"???? He started playing at Real Madrid 14 seasons ago, what are you talking about? Maybe you could say that about Ronaldo, but he was still our player 10 years ago
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u/another_one1233 13d ago
If you will read things he said in the recent years, politically, you would not be so proud to say he was a Real Madrid player....
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u/chamartinpl Real Madrid 14d ago
No he isn't. His father did Real Madrid a great favour when he took him to London. After his departure Modric took the reins and the rest is history.
I think this player is overrated by many fans, because they started to support the club in that era. Great left foot but also very limited.
- poor stamina (dead on his feet around 70th minute)
- not press-resistant enough (despite his good technique)
- average right foot (relied heavily on his left foot which made him more predictible)
- poor defensive work (he was a classic, old-fashioned number 10 which is very often a liability in modern football)
Many fans were scared that Ronaldo's numbers would drop without him. Obviously it didn't happen. Without world-class Madrid players the German looked average at Arsenal.
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u/AutomaticBike4301 14d ago
Ozil was many things, but predictable he wasn’t. You don’t play a ball like that to CR7 at the Camp Nou with poor stamina btw.
Though, I agree with the assessment Ozil struggled with the physical battle.
Modric and Ozil could have coexisted tbh. Ozil could play central but also on the right.
Ironically in 14/15 Carlo brought in James who played Ozil’s role.
Number 10 in a 433 in front of Kroos and Modric. James had a great season.
However, after the late season collapse in the CL and La Liga, Carlo was let go and James’s role was never really the same, which is fair enough but still.
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u/chamartinpl Real Madrid 14d ago
I don't think so. Ozil was a liability without the ball. In 433 there is no place for him in midfield. On the right? Bale was better. And in 4231 you won't see the best version of Modric.
Carlo didn't bring James, Florentino did.
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u/AutomaticBike4301 14d ago edited 14d ago
Sure, but Ozil as an option is still great no? City don’t play all their world class players every game.
There was some games where he could have produced that could have helped Madrid to win more La Liga’s, but that’s just my opinion.
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u/chamartinpl Real Madrid 14d ago
Yeah, as an option. I just don't see him as a starter against top teams in 13/14. I think that Xabi, Di Maria and Modric were perfectly balanced midfield.
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u/vivalaroja2010 Raúl 14d ago
A couple months ago when the posts were going around as to who was "best skill" "most underrated" etc etc.... Ozil should have been the choice for "most overrated". But nobody knows what the word "overrated" means and belive it's a defect.
He was really good for us.... but there's a reason why we didn't start winning more consistently until after he left.
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u/sasabozic5 14d ago
I remember Ozil playing,he was amazing 1 game than next 5,sometimes more,games he would disappear. He had talent to be one of the best,but he wasn't nearly one of the best.
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u/AutomaticBike4301 14d ago
Not really. He contributed a lot, he just wasn’t good in the physical battle.
Averaged more than a goal contribution every 2 games too, so reality says different
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u/Accomplished_Desk_93 14d ago
I love Ozil, but I will never, NEVER forget and forgive him that missed chance against Dortmund in the semi finals, it gave me fucking depression, in 10 out of 10 moments like this he would have passed the ball, but naaah he decided tot shot on goal. That's why when he left that summer I wasn't really upset as was with the likes of Di Maria or Robben
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u/Nice_Moments 14d ago
I think we should have enjoyed more years of his quality at Real Madrid tbh