Mesut Ozil wrongfully snubbed from PFA Team of the Year

When the PFA Premier League Team of the Year was announced on Thursday there was quite an omission from the prestigious list of players. Arsenal midfielder Mesut Özil, despite nearing the Premier League record of assists in a single season, was overlooked by the voters. Instead of the Germany international, the PFA decided to go with West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet and Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli in midfield.

While both Payet and Alli have produced fantastic seasons, Özil has eclipsed the duo in almost every offensive statistical category. Not only has the Arsenal midfielder amassed nine more league assists than either Payet or Alli, but Özil also boasts more chances created, key passes, total passes, total forward passes, and a higher pass completion percentage than the West Ham and Spurs players as well. And it’s not really that close.

There is, however, one department in which both Payet and Alli have outperformed Özil and that’s goals scored. The 20-year-old Alli leads the trio with 10 Premier League goals, Payet has nine, and Özil has collected six. Nevertheless, taking into account the drastic difference between the three players in assists, the Gunner has been directly involved in more goals than the two players to feature in the PFA Team of the Year.

An interesting aspect to the voting of the PFA Team of the Year is the fact that there are still four more weekends left on the Premier League schedule. If Özil ties or breaks the league’s assist record (20), how could he possibly not be included and rewarded by the PFA? Logically, it would appear to make more sense to wait until the season has completed to make any decision on league awards.

Some may say that the Arsenal playmaker suffered a drop-off from the start of the new year; however, when looking into his chances created, Özil’s production hasn’t necessarily tapered much. According to optasports.com, the German produced a chance created every 19 minutes during the first half of the current campaign. This is compared to him creating a chance every 23 minutes during the second half of the season. It seems as if Özil is doing his job, but perhaps not his striker teammates.

Rounding out the foursome of midfielders in the PFA Team of the Year are Leicester City teammates Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante. While few would argue with the current league-leading duo being selected to the team, Özil’s omission with Payet and Alli chosen over the Arsenal midfielder is certainly puzzling.