That is the claim of ex-Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood ahead of the north London derby tomorrow (2.05pm).
Ozil dropped to the bench at Bournemouth last weekend as Unai Emery changed to a back-three formation.
The Spanish coach explained afterwards: “We thought how we can be better in the match today, which is very demanding with the physicality and the intensity, but every player is important.”
The real reasoning for Ozil being dropped to the bench was questioned with Bournemouth far from the most physical opponent in the Premier League.
The 30-year-old’s work-rate has long been the source of debate and Ozil’s long-term future at the club is under scrutiny because of Emery’s demands.
That’s despite the World Cup-winner being widely recognised as Arsenal’s most creative midfielder having supplied 51 assists since joining the club from Real Madrid in September 2013.
He only signed a lucrative long-term contract at the Emirates Stadium in January to commit his future to the club until 2021 and bump his earnings up to around £350,000-a-week.
But previewing the visit of Spurs, Sherwood believes Emery needs Ozil in midfield because his other central players do not offer enough forward-thinking passing to help release Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette beyond the visitors’ high back-line.
“Do I think that Emery will bring him back? I don’t. Would I? If it was me I would play him,” Sherwood told Premier League Today.
“He’s a big-game player and I think he’s got the quality at the right times.
“Certainly he can release these two [Aubameyang and Lacazette]. One million per-cent [they would want him to play] because they know he’s got the ability and the guile to find a pass, what they need.
“They want Tottenham to defend high and without doubt they will. There will be space in behind but there’s no point running in behind if you’ve got no-one to find you.
“Torreira, we know he’s got his qualities, and Xhaka but passing the ball forward and finding a key pass is not one of them. Ozil, absolutely. He has that quality.
“The defenders won’t want him playing, the attackers will. They [Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos] will say, ‘No thank you, he gives us nothing out of possession, he’s not going to protect us at any time.’
“It’s all selfish reasons. Emery has got that decision to make as a manager – which is best to get a result on the day?”
Arsenal have not lost to Spurs on home soil since 2010 and have suffered defeat in one of just the last 29 visits of their arch rivals.
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