Arsenal’s Mesut Özil was labelled a flop by many Gooners last year. Philippe Coutinho has just won back-to-back player of the month awards at Liverpool and is being hailed as one of the Premier League’s best players this season.
Opta-powered fantasy football game www.oulala.com decided it was time they looked at both players a little closer to see if Özil was deserving of the flop tag and whether Coutinho is really as good as everyone says he is, taking into account that Coutinho has just won his THIRD player of the month award. The stats tell a very different story…
With the German only appearing for Arsenal in the Premier League 10 times this season due to a recent knee injury and the Brazilian featuring for Liverpool 22 times, the comparison was made via a per game basis.
The seven main statistical performance criteria were analysed for attacking midfielders, focusing on passing, creativity and finishing.
With more passes made per match (56.7 to 39.32), more successful passes (49.6 to 31.5), a better key pass rate (1.8 to 1.14) and a 7% swing for pass completion (87% to 80%) it is Özil that dominates all four of the passing stats.
The attention then moved to creativity and it is the Arsenal man that excels again. Özil has created more chances (2.10 to 1.32) per match and has provided more assists (0.3 to 0.18) that have led to goals.
The Arsenal man has attracted criticism in the past for the number of goals he scores in his attacking role, however this season he leads Coutinho for goals scored per game (0.3 to 0.09).
With Özil outperforming Coutinho in all seven key areas this season the results are very conclusive . Has the German finally found his feet in the Premier League and should he actually be receiving more praise than he has previously enjoyed in English football?
Oulala.com
Where there’s Ozil, there’s way!
“I wish we play together with him” -KING Henry on Ozil.
That said it all.
Said it from the start, you put the right players around Özil and he’ll do great things. We finally have real pace going forward and Özil can find these pacy players. Scary how high a percentage of “fans” wanted him sold last season.
Ozil a flop? What are they smoking? Do they watch matches behind their Tv?
Its oh so easy to judge with the benefit of hindsight. The fact is that between these latest games and his first few months he looked nothing like a w class player. Maybe you are one of those fans who sticks by a Gunner no matter what as long as hes wearing the colours, as opposed to being instead one of those fans who jumps ship with the sway of a couple bad performances and like so to a couple of good ones whilst always right never wrong. Only you will know.
Am really glad that Ozil is taking his football his fitness and his match effort more serious. I understood fans being frustrated as i was one of them, but in my honest opinion the vast majority believed that there was a player in there somewhere and it may be Wengers tactics to blame. It was a very minute minority that wanted to sell.
Nah, what he is is a person who truely understands football, i never thought he was a flop because i actually watched the games and realised the contribution he made to the team even when he was supposedly flopping was huge. He may have had a few bad (not terrible) games last season but thats NORMAL for a technical player whose new to one of the most physical leagues in football.
Coutinho z a gud player bt comparing him to Özil is a big joke!
If you perform well on the pitch, you will receive plaudits. Who cares if Coutinho won three Liverpool player of the month awards! As long as Mesut “the Eye” Ozil is performing well for us, I’m happy.
Coutinho won 3 liverpool player of the month awards !!!!! Just goes to show how SH_T there other players are !!!!!!!!!!
Yeh, and it also shows how good some of our others are.
I see no point judging players using stats. True fans should be able to judge from watching the players live. Last season ozil was better for the 1st half of the season, coutinho was better for the 2nd half. This season both were poor at the beginning but picked up form as the season progressed. No point comparing now. Better to only decide who’s better at the end of the season after ozil had an extended run in the side
I agree, most stats are not very revealing in themselves. Countinho is a media darling and Ozil is not. However, most people are happy to accept goals scored as a reliable indicator for a striker. And at the end of the day if one midfielder is palpably better in possession, passing and assists and chances created you have to take notice. We make judgements on the style of a player, the stats make a judgement on the substance. Bottom line with Ozil is many don’t like the style but he still has an end product. Ozil is quiet pure efficiency in my book – our own “vorsprung durch technik”.
It takes one just one, tubby.
Coutinho is a great little footballer but you clearly don’t know your football. Coutinho has been criticised for losing possession at the start of the season but has now found his feet in regards to that.
Where he was weak and remains weak is his composure in the last third. He drags his shot and doesn’t pick out the right player in the final third. The complete opposite to ozil.
You don’t need stats or dissect ozil’s season, without taking into account THE WORLD CUP or his injury.
Coutinho wasn’t in his first year last year and hasn’t produced anything of the level of ozil internationally.
You might want to compare but to think they are on the same level is ridiculous. Coutinho has a long way to go. In fact I think he is 2 years off being at ozil’s level in the final third. He needs to improve massively to get there as well.
Of course Coutinho’s not at Ozil’s level internationally. Ozil played in 3 world cups and performed well at one of the biggest clubs in the world (real madrid) and built up a massive reputation while coutinho didnt even feature in a single world cup game. But lets chuck all that aside for a moment. Anyone who thinks ozil did better than coutinho for the 2nd half of last season seriously needs to get their glasses checked. Look at the quality of chances coutinho created during our game against pool last year (where we got spanked). That’s top class stuff there while Ozil goes missing. Even looking over the stretch of games from han to april, you could see that coutinho was much more influential that ozil.
Of cos Ozil remains the better player looking over last 3-4 years. But that shouldn’t be the basis for him to rest on his laurels. Anyways I dont think there’s a point in having a fair debate here anymore. Fans always think their player is the best in world, like how barca support messi and real fans support ronaldo. Many gooners continue to persist Ozil is the best regardless of how’s he performing
lets get Immobile… fans fav….
world class striker to lead our attack…
Coutinho to ozil? Sound rediculous.. Ozil de master.
ozil the bug eyed one is the most expensive flop of all time , not just at our club , but in world footba. real madrid knew exactly what they were doing selling us a player past his very best . yeah sure , he has some decent games , but he is not worth the money that the french clown payed for him in panic mode.he is not a team player , nor does he want to play for arsenal . he might have one or two decent passes in a game , score the odd goal , but for all that money i would have expected a game changer , a dynamic player , not a lazy sulky player with lots of personal problems , including his own poppa suing him for money . ah well done madrid , you guys sure know how to fool the clown wenger , top marks i say .
I have to agree with you Ozil is still not paying his keep at this point he has improved since coming back from injury BUt he is still not a consistant game changer and still goes missing at certain times during the game, game changing players used to be the backbone of the arsenal squad hence our 49 unbeaten run but the only two we really posess at present are sanchez and cazorla the boggle eyed one has the talent but still not the mental will to be in this categaory.
he’s starting to find form finally at least. He’s only been back a little over a month and has been one of our best players. I don’t think he’s justified his fee yet either, but he’s definitely not the big flop you make him out to be.
@OZzy AFC!! It is what it is, you ve said it all.. I like people who are realistic, what you see is what you get ” How you play is how we will say it ” Simple.. he’s a good player but not as good as we want.. it’s EPL baby!!!
EPL baby, theres plenty of shit in the epl. Anyhows i am much happier with having Ozil than if gotten Mata. If he can play consistently like he has been of late well then there is no argument as far im concerned.
Some guys here don’t even know what’s the function of attacking players is, base on the position they play on the pitch. And this guy (ger burk) is surely one of those guys. The sooner you shut up, the better!
So true
You pulled off a rare feat of betraying bitterness, spite, immaturity, ignorance and personal insecurities in a single sentence – the first one. And the rest is pure dirge.
Considering his price tag, Ozil is a BIG flop. He is lazy, does not defend and goes missing for most part of the match. Do a statistics of Ozil interceptions, tackles, and possession lost in a match and you will be amazed at the negative figures. I do not have any problem with him personally, but my concern is that any player with that price tag should give more than Ozil is giving presently. Ozil is no different from an average CAM IN THE Premiership. He is simply living on past glory. Remove his name and replace with an average CAM in the Premiership and you will not notice any difference. It is that simple. This is his second season in the premiership and he does not even compare, in terms of statistics to the best CAM in the premiership
You have no idea what utter crap you sprouting here. In the last season, his first, he was one of the top midfielders according to the PPI index, based on his contribution and performance over the full season. He was out for a while this season, so that makes it pretty obvious that he could not be rated for plenty games missed, while those CAM’S you talk about played much more games than him. He makes scoring oppourtunities, that’s his job, and Theo has messed up quite a few, but you never notice that, do you?
Possession? I don’t even know where that fallacy came from. He hardly gives the ball away.
He never was in my eyes.
At his best, He is still one of the top 5 CAMs in the world in my opinion.
What’s awesome is that we have Ozil AND Cazorla. Worst case scenario we have Rosicky and Sanchez who can both play CAM. Rosicky is an anomaly in that he is still quality in his mid 30s.
We have nothing to worry about in the attacking/creative midfield department
You need to grow up son. Why all the unnecessary “bug-eyed” juvenile stuff. So why then for example do the mugs on here compare Giroud to Suarez or Aguero when it suits their argument? Everyone knows you only get small increments on quality with the more you pay. You think a £20M striker should score twice as many as a £10M man? In truth a £20M player is only a few percent better than a £10M – if such a thing could be measured. And a £40M only a few percent better than a £20M player. Law of diminishing returns – same for all quality products in all markets the world over.
Well said. Not too long ago fans wanted Arsenal to pay 50+ and 300+ weekly for Falcao, saying the 50+ striker guarantees more golas than Giroud, well that just isn’t the case.
Statistics are very misleading when comparing players because they don’t take into account some very important criteria. Surely you have to include opponents faced, cost of player (if transfer fee was involved), and wages earned. Another interesting statistic in defence of Ozil, would be that football is a team sport, and that it’s sometimes hard for certain individuals to perform at their normal level when you’re playing in a weakened team due to injuries or because your team is a generally poor side. For example if Ronaldo was playing for Celta Vigo rather than Real Madrid, then he wouldn’t score as many goals. Because at Real he’ll get many more goal scoring opportunities due to the quality of his team mates.
Since returning from injury, Ozil has looked very good. You can only beat whoever’s put in front of you, but he has played in some very easy games, with the exception of the Spurs game. A player of Ozil’s calibre and price tag should easily be performing well against the likes of: Brighton, Villa, Leicester, Middlesbrough and cameo against Stoke when the game was already won. I think you need to look at his stats against genuinely tough opponents.
I’m not saying Ozil has been a flop or Coutinho’s better than him, but for me, he’s definitely not justified his price tag and wages, especially when you compare these two. Coutinho cost 8.5 million pounds, where as Ozil cost a whopping 42.5 million pounds. Hopefully we will see some top performances from Ozil now that the injuries are clearing up, and hopefully from the middle. Don’t like Wenger putting him out on the wings.
No one played well that Spurs game.
I think Ozil’s problem (or actually a lot of footballer’s problem) is being total pressured on the ball. Some of the stronger squads can afford to do that, but most of the smaller teams cannot.
Give Ozil space, he’s deadly. Put enough pressure on him that he cannot spot that perfect pass, he’s not.
What does Ozil have to do for you guys to be “worth his price tag?” Does he need to score 40+ goals in a season? Does he need to beat Henry’s assisting record? Does he need to spend 40 million on a dinner devoted to us Arsenal fans?
MUDA, YES WE ALL KNOW THAT YOU ARE AN AUTHORITY ON OL BUG EYES . AND AS FOR TELLING ME TO SHUT UP !!, YOU WISH BRO !I IS ONLY STARTING . NOBODY ASKED YOU TO READ MY COMMENT , DID THEY ?. NOW SCROLL ALONG THERE LITTLE MAN AND HUSH !.
You got alot of thumbs down for your comment. ‘ OL BUG EYES’ really bugs you. Muda appreciates an extremely talented player just like the majority who thumbed you down. I can imagine your ranting when Ozils name comes up on the teamsheet, unlike most Arsenal fans who enjoy watching him play. Seems like you don’t like Ozil for other reasons.
Ozil is a good player but his performance at Arsenal is not world class, I always want wenger to change him after 45mins, so weak, he needs to gym. that’s wher Sanches beat him hands down. To b sincere, Ozil is briliant, can’t be compared wit courtio.
its not that i dont like ozil , i just think he is a fraud of a footballer , thats all . thats my opinion and i am sticking to it until he sets the arsenal alight with his skills .so joannaburger fear not , if bug eyes puts in a performance i am the first one to praise him , i have no problem with him except he is a crap footballer , now prawns, is that okay for you .
Your eyesight needs checking since you got my namecomment name wrong here. No wonder you cannot see in Ozil what most of us can, Bugs in your eyes, your comments are crap.