Post by Mike Giggs' Munchies on Sept 14, 2013 16:34:10 GMT -5
I wrote this for an amateur football website, but they didn't publish it; apparently Ozil's transfer doesn't count as recent news. Thought I might as well not waste it and post it here. Feel free to agree/disagree/criticise/debate etc:
Mesut Özil was undoubtedly the biggest signing to come to British shores this summer, somehow managing to sneak in on the last day just as the transfer window was slamming shut (side note: transfer windows must always ‘slam’ shut; they can never just close quietly without little fuss). Arguably Real Madrid’s second best player over the past few seasons, he was a key factor in the Spanish giants’ successful (albeit temporary) domestic toppling of the generation-defining Barcelona side of recent years. He’s walking into the Premier League as one of the 3 or 4 best players in the country.
The stats certainly seem to back up this assertion; Özil has contributed a stunning 47 assists in league football since his move to Los Blancos in 2010, a stat no one in Europe’s top 5 leagues can better (Messi is also on 47). To put that into context, Arsenal’s top man for assists in that same period is Theo Walcott on 26. A popular theory is that Özil only got so many because he was playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, but even if we take away his assists to the Portuguese he still betters Walcott’s tally by 1.
Last season the German started just 23 games, yet he managed to score 9 goals and assisted 13 more – a club high for that season and just a shade under assisting or scoring for every start. According to WhoScored he made 3 key passes per game and had an overall passing accuracy of 84.1%, a statistic that will fit in very nicely with Wenger’s men. All this came in a season that was widely considered Real’s poorest since Özil’s move to the Spanish capital, suggesting that he can do even better.
So why are Real selling such a talented player in the first place? There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, the signing of Isco meant that Özil could no longer play in his first choice of position; either he would be shoved out to the right (his effectiveness was limited whenever he played there under Mourinho) or he would be benched. Whilst Isco is fantastic, it seems a tad unfair that Özil, who had been nothing short of mesmerising for Real in that position, was pushed out of the middle; Isco may be a bit younger, but at 24 Özil himself is hardly old. Isco’s main advantage seems to be the fact that he is Spanish, something highly valued in the capital; this understandably frustrated Özil, who had done nothing wrong other than be born in Germany.
The second reason he was sold was the arrival of Gareth Bale. Now being shoved out to the right was no longer an option, and Özil would have to be benched; whilst playing on the wing was hardly his first choice, it would still be game time, but now he would be forced to watch on sitting next to the equally-miffed Casillas. There were some suggestions that Ronaldo could move to a striker position, allowing Özil to come in on the left, but these were quickly squashed; Ronaldo wanted to continue to cut in from the wing, and Real were hardly going to say no to their best player. Finally, the Bale purchase meant that Real now needed some cash; by selling Özil, who would only be on the bench this season anyway, they would be able to recoup half the outlay on their new Welsh wizard, making Özil’s departure fairly logical for the Spanish giants, albeit rather harsh on the German playmaker.
So how will Özil fare in North London? It is obviously difficult to say, but we can make a couple of educated guesses. As much as this writer hates to agree with Piers Morgan (I think I will have to take a shower after writing this sentence), Özil must be the beginning of the spending rather than the end if Wenger wishes to regain the Premier League trophy. An amazing player Özil may be, but no one short of perhaps Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo could single-handedly take this Arsenal side to the title. The German will form a key part of the Londoners’ spine, but the rest of it looks considerably weaker: Giroud is solid up top but has yet to truly dazzle, Arsenal’s centre backs find and lose form with alarming regularity (as illustrated by Vermaelen being fantastic in 11/12 and dropped in 12/13) and Szczesny does not currently have the quality to be a title-winning goalkeeper. In order to compete for the Champions League trophy rather than qualification, Wenger will have to spend to rectify at least 2 of these 3 problems.
The question then becomes this: will Wenger’s outlay on Özil be the start of spending, or the exception to his low-cost transfer dealings? It is impossible to say at this stage, but it may hinder on Özil’s own performances; if he shows up the rest of Arsenal’s side as much as many are predicting, then Wenger may realise the power of splashing the cash and choose to spend further on top quality players to help Özil (or even match Özil for talent, although this seems a tad unlikely with the inflation currently occurring in football’s transfer dealings). However, Özil was remarkably good value when compared to other dealings this summer, and there were certainly fortuitous circumstances around his acquisition – how often is it that one of the best sides in the world are looking to sell one of their best players when he himself has made no noises about wanting to leave? As such, it may be possible that Özil was an exception to Wenger’s repeated line that there is no value in the transfer market, and he acted accordingly; it would therefore be probably that he will continue to bleat on about this lack of value until another player in Özil’s circumstances comes along.
Does that mean that Özil’s time at Arsenal is doomed to be a rerun of van Persie’s last year, where individual brilliance is scuppered by collective failures? Possibly. It certainly seems unlikely that Özil would be happy after 2 or 3 years of 4th or 3rd placed finishes, having come from being an integral part of one of the best sides in the world today. He talked recently about coming to Arsenal to win trophies, but even with him their side do not seem strong enough to challenge the top 3 on paper; merely enough to hold off Spurs in 4th. A player of Özil’s quality is unlikely to settle for that, and if Arsenal cannot reach above their current station it is likely he will move on to pastures new rather than sign a second contract at the club.
Another potential problem is his wages; whilst the exact number varies according to which report you read, it is clear that Arsenal have broken their previous ironclad wage structure to accommodate a player of the German’s quality. Whilst this is fair enough at first glance – after all, he is better than anyone else the club have – how long is it before his supporting cast demand higher wages? If Özil gets 20 assists for Walcott this season, surely Theo will insist upon similar wages for becoming one half of this duo? Wenger may just have opened a Pandora’s Box that he has been desperately holding shut for so long, and failure to act accordingly may mean that, rather than strengthening the rest of the team to help his new signing, it will be weakened by discontent and frustrations from players that see themselves as deserving more (even if others don’t see it that way).
Thus, it seems that the happiness of Özil’s tenure in North London will be out of his hands; rather, it will be up to Wenger to strengthen the side around him and keep them all happy, whilst allowing Özil to be the star. Özil is a fantastic player but will need support to get to the level both he and Arsenal want to reach; if Wenger chooses to provide it through expensive but necessary acquisitions in the transfer market over the next couple of years then it could be the start of a resurgence of footballing fortunes in North London. Failure to do so however will surely see Özil unhappy in the capital, and a repeat of Arsenal’s previous penchant to sell their best player may be on the cards once more in a couple of years.
Mesut Özil was undoubtedly the biggest signing to come to British shores this summer, somehow managing to sneak in on the last day just as the transfer window was slamming shut (side note: transfer windows must always ‘slam’ shut; they can never just close quietly without little fuss). Arguably Real Madrid’s second best player over the past few seasons, he was a key factor in the Spanish giants’ successful (albeit temporary) domestic toppling of the generation-defining Barcelona side of recent years. He’s walking into the Premier League as one of the 3 or 4 best players in the country.
The stats certainly seem to back up this assertion; Özil has contributed a stunning 47 assists in league football since his move to Los Blancos in 2010, a stat no one in Europe’s top 5 leagues can better (Messi is also on 47). To put that into context, Arsenal’s top man for assists in that same period is Theo Walcott on 26. A popular theory is that Özil only got so many because he was playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, but even if we take away his assists to the Portuguese he still betters Walcott’s tally by 1.
Last season the German started just 23 games, yet he managed to score 9 goals and assisted 13 more – a club high for that season and just a shade under assisting or scoring for every start. According to WhoScored he made 3 key passes per game and had an overall passing accuracy of 84.1%, a statistic that will fit in very nicely with Wenger’s men. All this came in a season that was widely considered Real’s poorest since Özil’s move to the Spanish capital, suggesting that he can do even better.
So why are Real selling such a talented player in the first place? There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, the signing of Isco meant that Özil could no longer play in his first choice of position; either he would be shoved out to the right (his effectiveness was limited whenever he played there under Mourinho) or he would be benched. Whilst Isco is fantastic, it seems a tad unfair that Özil, who had been nothing short of mesmerising for Real in that position, was pushed out of the middle; Isco may be a bit younger, but at 24 Özil himself is hardly old. Isco’s main advantage seems to be the fact that he is Spanish, something highly valued in the capital; this understandably frustrated Özil, who had done nothing wrong other than be born in Germany.
The second reason he was sold was the arrival of Gareth Bale. Now being shoved out to the right was no longer an option, and Özil would have to be benched; whilst playing on the wing was hardly his first choice, it would still be game time, but now he would be forced to watch on sitting next to the equally-miffed Casillas. There were some suggestions that Ronaldo could move to a striker position, allowing Özil to come in on the left, but these were quickly squashed; Ronaldo wanted to continue to cut in from the wing, and Real were hardly going to say no to their best player. Finally, the Bale purchase meant that Real now needed some cash; by selling Özil, who would only be on the bench this season anyway, they would be able to recoup half the outlay on their new Welsh wizard, making Özil’s departure fairly logical for the Spanish giants, albeit rather harsh on the German playmaker.
So how will Özil fare in North London? It is obviously difficult to say, but we can make a couple of educated guesses. As much as this writer hates to agree with Piers Morgan (I think I will have to take a shower after writing this sentence), Özil must be the beginning of the spending rather than the end if Wenger wishes to regain the Premier League trophy. An amazing player Özil may be, but no one short of perhaps Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo could single-handedly take this Arsenal side to the title. The German will form a key part of the Londoners’ spine, but the rest of it looks considerably weaker: Giroud is solid up top but has yet to truly dazzle, Arsenal’s centre backs find and lose form with alarming regularity (as illustrated by Vermaelen being fantastic in 11/12 and dropped in 12/13) and Szczesny does not currently have the quality to be a title-winning goalkeeper. In order to compete for the Champions League trophy rather than qualification, Wenger will have to spend to rectify at least 2 of these 3 problems.
The question then becomes this: will Wenger’s outlay on Özil be the start of spending, or the exception to his low-cost transfer dealings? It is impossible to say at this stage, but it may hinder on Özil’s own performances; if he shows up the rest of Arsenal’s side as much as many are predicting, then Wenger may realise the power of splashing the cash and choose to spend further on top quality players to help Özil (or even match Özil for talent, although this seems a tad unlikely with the inflation currently occurring in football’s transfer dealings). However, Özil was remarkably good value when compared to other dealings this summer, and there were certainly fortuitous circumstances around his acquisition – how often is it that one of the best sides in the world are looking to sell one of their best players when he himself has made no noises about wanting to leave? As such, it may be possible that Özil was an exception to Wenger’s repeated line that there is no value in the transfer market, and he acted accordingly; it would therefore be probably that he will continue to bleat on about this lack of value until another player in Özil’s circumstances comes along.
Does that mean that Özil’s time at Arsenal is doomed to be a rerun of van Persie’s last year, where individual brilliance is scuppered by collective failures? Possibly. It certainly seems unlikely that Özil would be happy after 2 or 3 years of 4th or 3rd placed finishes, having come from being an integral part of one of the best sides in the world today. He talked recently about coming to Arsenal to win trophies, but even with him their side do not seem strong enough to challenge the top 3 on paper; merely enough to hold off Spurs in 4th. A player of Özil’s quality is unlikely to settle for that, and if Arsenal cannot reach above their current station it is likely he will move on to pastures new rather than sign a second contract at the club.
Another potential problem is his wages; whilst the exact number varies according to which report you read, it is clear that Arsenal have broken their previous ironclad wage structure to accommodate a player of the German’s quality. Whilst this is fair enough at first glance – after all, he is better than anyone else the club have – how long is it before his supporting cast demand higher wages? If Özil gets 20 assists for Walcott this season, surely Theo will insist upon similar wages for becoming one half of this duo? Wenger may just have opened a Pandora’s Box that he has been desperately holding shut for so long, and failure to act accordingly may mean that, rather than strengthening the rest of the team to help his new signing, it will be weakened by discontent and frustrations from players that see themselves as deserving more (even if others don’t see it that way).
Thus, it seems that the happiness of Özil’s tenure in North London will be out of his hands; rather, it will be up to Wenger to strengthen the side around him and keep them all happy, whilst allowing Özil to be the star. Özil is a fantastic player but will need support to get to the level both he and Arsenal want to reach; if Wenger chooses to provide it through expensive but necessary acquisitions in the transfer market over the next couple of years then it could be the start of a resurgence of footballing fortunes in North London. Failure to do so however will surely see Özil unhappy in the capital, and a repeat of Arsenal’s previous penchant to sell their best player may be on the cards once more in a couple of years.