An ode to Ozil (updated for FM21)

[Big Yellow]

Intro

With the FM20 life cycle winding down, i thought i'd do a little experiment to get the best out of Mesut Ozil. As a long time Arsenal fan, Ozil is one of the most polarising players in Arsenal's modern era, cursed with having signed an outrageous contract extension. 

Combined with the fact that so many people have struggled with the No.10 in this years version of the game which is Ozil's natural position, I thought i'd have a crack at getting the most output I could during his last two years of his contract. The experiment was carried out with Pr0's data update. 

Now the goal of this experiment was not to win everything possible, but it was to try get Ozil within the Top 5 in passing stats (key passes, chances created, assists) and also average rating. 

I had already completed the first season of this experiment before I decided to do a little write up, so I haven't been able to go back to collect all the player data from Season 1 (if anyone knows how to do it, please let me know). 

The Tactic(s)/Stats - Season 1

As the No.10 has been such a hit and miss position in FM20, i decided to try Ozil in an unconventional position on the left wing in a flat 4141 as a wide playmaker where i thought he would have the most room to operate. The reason for this was that he is naturally left footed and had decent crossing (14) and OKish physicals. I also placed him on the left so that he would be able to naturally cross/pass the ball infield without having to cut inside to get onto his strong foot. I played a wingback on defend duty behind him to make up for his lack of work rate and a CM on support next to him. I didn't add any other PI's to his role.

Although he played well from the left, I found that the CM(S) attracted the ball a lot more than Ozil, even with play focused onto the wing. So halfway through the season, i tweaked the tactic, and played Ozil in a different position, this time as a RPM from the DM slot, with the PIs Dribble More and Shoot Less Often. I chose RPM instead of a DLP because I didn't want to have Ozil bogged down in defensive actions, well, because we all know he's a "lazy" player IRL. Also playing from the 6 spot, he would have 5 players ahead to play the ball to, although the CM(S) rarely got into any dangerous positions to score from. 

He immediately got way more of the ball, which meant he was able to pull the strings more often. His best games from this position resulted in stats like this:

Although he played well from this deep position, I felt that his lacking of the killer balls PPM held him back, and the RPM from the DM slot can only be had with shorter passing. He finished the first season with the stats below:

 

From the stats above, he didn't really light up the assists tally with only 9 in the league, although he was among the top 5 in chances created and also key passes. 

 

The Tactic(s)/Stats - Season 2

So for Ozil's final season, I tried a different tactic, this time in a 4411 with Ozil as a RPM in the CM slot. Now again, I chose the RPM purely because of the role description being that the RPM is the "heartbeat of his team". As i wanted all play to go through Ozil in this experiment, I picked this role and also for play to go through the middle to increase the chance of him getting more touches. The RPM from the CM strata also has the option to play More Direct Passes, so i picked it as well as dribble more and shoot less often (I want Ozil to bag the assists, not goals). 

The reason for the change to a 4411 was to get another player forward in an advanced position (the AM) as another target for Ozil to aim for. Remember, the goal for this experiment was not to purely win all the games, but to get Ozil lighting up the stat sheet. 

 

With this tactic, I was able to finish the league unbeaten, with probably my best record in the game yet. 

 

More importantly though, I managed to get Ozil firing on all cylinders and he lit up the stat sheet. He lead the league in assists with 21, lead the league with the most key passes and chances created, and also finished with the highest average rating. 

 

Ozil also won 2 end of season player awards:

 

 

So overall, i think i've achieved what i wanted to with this experiment. I never though i would be able to get Ozil to play to this level, as i never got him to work as a No. 10. 

We finished the season and he never asked for another contract extension, and i didn't offer him one either HAHAHA. 

During the course of the second season, I did sign James Ward-Prowse as backup and also Dominik Szoboszlai as the apprentice, and they both performed exceptionally well. 

I want to thank @Rashidi for all the tips and guidance over on his BTN Discord. 

Hoped you guys enjoyed reading!

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Big Yellow

[Sarriball14]

Obviously I know this was based on getting the best out of Ozil but very interested to know how the striker and AMC performed in the 4411?

[Big Yellow]

5 minutes ago, Sarriball14 said:

Obviously I know this was based on getting the best out of Ozil but very interested to know how the striker and AMC performed in the 4411?

I mainly played Auba as my primary striker. in the 4411, these were his stats. He did score 22 in the league in the first season. 

And this is Laca, used when Auba needed a break. Again he was more productive with 16 goals in the league in the first season. 

I also rotated Willian and Oyarzabal in the AM slot. First this is Willian:

And Oyarzabal:

[dazza11]

@Big Yellow great results - and great use of the rpm role, virtually every tactic I’ve created in fm20 (apart from my pep thread ironically) was built around the rpm, it seems slightly overpowered in this edition if used correctly. 
Did you use many Pi’s?

 

[Big Yellow]

1 hour ago, dazza11 said:

@Big Yellow great results - and great use of the rpm role, virtually every tactic I’ve created in fm20 (apart from my pep thread ironically) was built around the rpm, it seems slightly overpowered in this edition if used correctly. 
Did you use many Pi’s?

 

For Ozil only direct passes (where possible), dribble more and shoot less often.

There were a few other pressing and tackling instructions for the other forward players. 

The backline was very conservative because I didn't want to over-commit going forward, and I believe I lowered their pressing so they stayed in shape. 

I'll have to double check when I log back into the game.

 

[craiigman]

Good stuff mate.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Wonderful post  thank you for sharing

[Big Yellow]

45 minutes ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

Wonderful post  thank you for sharing

Thanks mate! Means a lot. You were another source of inspiration. 

I have read many of your threads over the years! 

[Robson 07]

Nice.

[ozilthegunner]

This is great, thanks for sharing. I, too, tried to get Ozil going in my Arsenal save but to no avail. Didn't attempt the RPM (or CM slot at all), but have been wanting to make use of that role. Don't have Ozil anymore, but this has helped me think about how to integrate the RPM role

But now you are making me want to just restart my Arsenal campaign (I'm in the winter window of the 2nd season, so not too far along) just so I can make use of Ozil!

Edited November 8, 2020 by ozilthegunner

[Big Yellow]

2 hours ago, ozilthegunner said:

This is great, thanks for sharing. I, too, tried to get Ozil going in my Arsenal save but to no avail. Didn't attempt the RPM (or CM slot at all), but have been wanting to make use of that role. Don't have Ozil anymore, but this has helped me think about how to integrate the RPM role

But now you are making me want to just restart my Arsenal campaign (I'm in the winter window of the 2nd season, so not too far along) just so I can make use of Ozil!

Thanks for the kind words. Part of this thread was to highlight thinking outside the box and trying something new. It also goes to show the coloured circles for role suitability is not that important as Ozil was obviously not green from the wide playmaker spot, the central mid field slot or even the DM slot. 

I continued my save and let Ozil leave for free, but now having mad regrets hahaha. 

Another team I want to try this tactic with is Lazio. They have a very good mobile playmaker in Luis Alberto who has all the stats and PPMs to shine as a RPM. 

[Big Yellow]

I forgot to attach a screen shot showing the type of assists. As you can see from below, a high percentage of assists came from through-balls from the middle of the pitch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by Big Yellow

[Jean0987654321]

I would like to call this "The Max Meyer"

 

Domenico Tedesco did the same tactic at Schalke. He used Max Meyer who was an attacking midfielder at DM. He did pretty well there

[tsatsee]

I was wondering how many assists and key passes coming from corners and freekicks? 

[Big Yellow]

Just now, tsatsee said:

I was wondering how many assists and key passes coming from corners and freekicks? 

I purposely assigned other players (pepe, willian etc) to take corners and freekicks to not skew Ozil's numbers. 

[poobington]

Do you have a full list of PIs?

Would be keen to try the tactic out.

[Big Yellow]

For anyone that wants to try this, i have attached all 3 versions of the tactics here. I will try replicate this on FM21 now that I have got a copy. Will be interested to see how it plays out with the new match engine and the ability to focus play properly!

Ode to Ozil v2.fmfOde to Ozil 4411.fmfOde to Ozil .fmf

[Big Yellow]

We are back for FM21!

The central play in the friendlies is already looking promising!

[Big Yellow]

Ozil doing Ozil things

 

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Big Yellow

[Louisking1992]

Great post! Really enjoyed reading through this

[Big Yellow]

Ode to Ozil FM21 Edition

So after having spent some time with the FM21 Beta, I was very encouraged by the improved ME and the way that central play seems to be a viable option now. Combined with the improved focus down flanks, it was possible to shift play depending on how the opponents were set up. 

Keeping that in mind, I have decided to revert back to a 4231 shape for the retail version of FM21, with Mesut Ozil once again occupying the No.10 role. Below is the tactic that I have used for the friendlies during preseason. 

 

Although the friendlies were setup to gain tactical familiarity against "weaker" sides, it is also a good way to see if your tactics work the way you want them to work. Against Championship level sides during the friendlies, Ozil was able to pull off some numbers like this:

 

 

Over the friendly match series, my average positions also looked like the below, which indicates that the left side central midfielder is getting too close to Ozil's operating area which I will need to address before the season starts. The likely change will be to a CM(d) with hold position PI to form a solid double pivot base behind the 10. 

 

Now the other thing I didn't mention from the FM20 play-through, was that in order to get Ozil to play in as many matches during the season, I have turned his training intensity down to light to avoid any potential training injuries etc. 

 

Fingers crossed I can get similar success as I did in FM20. 

After I play a few more regular season games, I will post some updates with analytics. Stay tuned! 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Big Yellow

[04texag]

Looks good, I like a lot of the setup just wonder about two attacking duties on the left flank. 

[Big Yellow]

1 minute ago, 04texag said:

Looks good, I like a lot of the setup just wonder about two attacking duties on the left flank. 

I was just trying to get a natural overload down the left without forcing play down that side. Still experimenting with the setup. I'm quite happy with the front half of the setup, but still tinkering with the back half. 

 

[Big Yellow]

First League Game

So in our first league game, we came up against Burnley, who lined up in a 4411 with 2 DMs. 

 

From the above match ratings, it was a game that our forwards struggled with, up against a dense and packed central zone. Know that the middle was going to be packed, I opted to play with focus down the flanks. With the way that the match engine works in FM21 (from what I have learnt), the central players will also drift towards the flanks to support the play. You can also see from the match ratings, that our central players were rated quite high, however, our attention is on Ozil, who finished with a Man of the Match performance with a rating of 8.3.

From the stats above, Ozil finished with 53 passes completed, with 10 key passes and 1 clear cut chance created. 

Looking at the pass chart above, and ignoring the corners (i forgot to set my corner takers and it defaulted to Ozil), you can see that a lot of the passes come from out wide. So it would seem that the focus play TI appears to function like it is intended to, and Ozil was able to get into positions away from Burnley's double DM pivot to influence the game. 

Sadly, no assists in this match for Ozil. 

[Big Yellow]

Mini-season Update

Long-time no update. Have been busy with being an adult and also distracted with other saves and experimenting with tactics to fully dive into this series. 

I have now played 10 league games, and thought I'd provide a mini update. 

First, the league table. As you can we, we have gone undefeated after the first 10 games, playing primarily our 4231 formation. With only 17 goals scored, we are not over performing or putting up huge numbers. However, our defense is the best in the lague with only 4 goals conceded so far. 

We are about average in terms of scoring efficiency, but incredibly effective in our defense. 

 

However, this thread isn't about team performance, but about our man Mesut Ozil. I have primarily used Ozil in the league, with only rare appearances in the Europa League. 

From the analytics chart below, you can see that Ozil has been performing well above league average for key passes and key passes per 90, but below average for about every other key stat. However, the only ones I care about, are the ones he is exceeding at. 

From the breakdown below, I have played Ozil as either an advanced playmaker in both support and attack duties, and also as a trequartista. 

I have found he excels when being played as an AP on attack duty, as he is often closer to the box in the Zone 14 area, where he is able to play the final ball. As a treq, I found that he was often too deep or trying to go for the goal himself. As an AP, he's pulled off some games like the below:

 

Taking a look at the league stats, we see that Ozil is leading stats in key passes and key passes/90.

In terms of assists, Ozil is joint leader on 6, however, at this stage of the season it is very close at the top. 

 

That's all for now, hopefully I will get time to push on with the season and get it finished before I get sidetracked again!

PS I would insert some video highlights, but for some reason I am having trouble with the inbuilt video creator not actually saving my clips....will need to figure out a way to screen record. 

Thanks for reading! 

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Big Yellow