Danny Murphy has moved to claim that Arsenal are nothing special without the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in the side.
The German international returned to action against Swansea City on Saturday having been sidelined since New Years Day with an illness, and played a key role in the 4-0 demolition in Wales.
Danny Murphy has now claimed that the Gunners have no cutting edge without Ozil and fellow star Alexis Sanchez, citing their inclusion as to what makes their side ‘dangerous’.
He said: “Ozil and Sanchez together make Arsenal an exceptional and dangerous team. When they’re not there they don’t have the same cutting edge. They missed Ozil for a few games and he made a real difference.
“Swansea deserve credit for the first half but he was exceptional in crucial areas of the pitch. He makes the right decisions nine times out of 10.
“Arsenal didn’t create too much in the first half but what they did was through him. I know there’s a lot of people saying he doesn’t turn up in big games but he did against Swansea. Arsenal are a better team with him in it – he’s always clinical with his passing.
“The scoreline flattered them but I was really impressed with him after thee games out.”
Each side has their main instigators going forward, like league leaders Chelsea have Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, and Spurs have Harry Kane and Dele Alli, but to claim we have no cutting edge without them is just untrue.
Giroud has been a key star when he has played, and Theo Walcott, Lucas Perez and Alex Iwobi have all shown they have a strong attacking threat this term, with Theo in exceptionally fine form this term.
Danny Murphy will obviously have his bias against us due to his Spurs and Liverpool playing days, but does he have any sort of point? Can we dominate teams with them?
Pat J
I don’t find the word ‘average’ being mentioned by Danny Murphy in his comments. I guess what he said was that without Sanchez and Ozil, our team is not as dangerous.
Take the 2 best players out of any team, ‘most’ teams will start looking not so dangerous anymore
If as everyone says Ozil doesn’t turn up against the big sides, then maybe Arsenal should either drop him completely for those games or rest him him for 2 or 3 games before hand so he has no excuse for being tired. My own view is simply to drop him for the big games.
A formation change could help. Ozil could play in a front three, ideally you’d want Cazorla around though. The midfield would be less creative, but allot more combative. And at-least he’s still on the field.
Arsenal is not dangerous without these two. This is fact. Wenger is the problem. Get these guys quality players, when you do this, then their best will come out. You don’t expect Ozil to play to maximum strength with Ramsey, Chamberlain alongside him in d field. Wenger, Get quality players in or Leave our team!!!
Wenger Out!!!!
I wouldn’t say average, average implies tenth place. We came fourth before these arrived, and with them we aren’t finishing a whole lot higher. Two places higher, and fa cups, but it’s a team game.
We won’t go anywhere no matter d caliber of players we sign as long as Wenger is in charge
before they came we had Van Persie and before that we had Fabregas and Adebayor, all were contributing.. problem is Wenger always mix average with very good players, that will always equate to average..
he should pair class players and see what happens at the end of the season.. Barca and Madrid are continuously interchanging trophies coz they have no average players, or most of the players are world class except one or 2 which won’t affect much. its the opposite at Arsenal
I don’t think we are average when playing without this 2. I believe we play more as a team when Alexis is not around, and everyone is capable of scoring. With Sanchez on the side, he is the first person everyone looks for when they have the ball.
that’s a lie.. he always works his ass off, he’s given no special attention like Messi and Ronaldo are always getting. he looks for the ball, runs with it, dribbles and always trying to look for teammates and trying to score, always wants to win. but if you look at the rest of the team, always behind, their passes are sideways and all that cr*p.
It is hard to understand for me how you think we would be better without Sanchez?
Look at how we struggled without him and look at our best games this season.
We don’t have another reliable goal threat, Theo is out and blowsd hot an cold, Iwobi and Ozil are unpredictable with their goal contributions, Ramsey is a none event, and Perez doesn’t have Wenger’s confidence. So who would pick up Sanchez’s goals and assists?
One thing is for sure, you might be one of the few happy fans next season when or if Sanchez is gone.
Sanchez is our best player, even a blind man can see that. If he leaves, we will miss him, then quickly get over him. He hasn’t won us anything special(League/UCL) since he has joined, don’t tell me about the 2 FA cups, those were collective efforts and Sanchez was still finding his feet. But currently, he is our best player and I appreciate him.
Arsenal need another quality forward but who should be sacrificed?
Joel Campbell is on loan already struggling for game time
Iwobi is young and could potentially be mounded into a cam
Ox should go on loan he is hit and miss
Perez,welbeck need there chance
Sanogoo is a no go
Akpom needs to be loaned or sold