Even before the Arsenal and Germany international midfield star Mesut Ozil picked up his current knee injury, during the match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the Gunners boss was not always using him in his preferred position of central attacking midfielder behind the forward line.
Ozil has already spoken a few times about this being his best position and even Jose Mourinho described the 25-year old as probably the best number 10 in the world when he signed for Arsenal over a year ago. But what chance has the German got of getting to play in that role for Arsenal when he does recover from this latest injury?
Well he might worry about what Arsene Wenger said about Alexis Sanchez playing in that role in his comments reported by Arsenal.com after the Chilean scored twice again and steered the Gunners to another win against Burnley. Because not only was Alexis impressive and effective, he has clearly caught the bosses eye with his all-round game.
Wenger said, “Since he’s played through the middle he looks more goal dangerous. Now it looks to me that he’s really dangerous through the centre of the pitch because he’s in full confidence, he’s physically strong, he likes to take people on as well and he makes perfect runs. Through the centre of the pitch maybe he’s more dangerous.”
And the manager also agreed that having Alexis playing in that role seems to have given the whole team the belief that had been missing recently.
He went on, “Yeah of course. I think we had about 30 crosses today and for a while we couldn’t win any headers but in the end he got there and he really jumped very high. He’s a winner.”
And with Walcott coming back and being likely to play in the right forward position, it could be very hard for Ozil to convince Wenger that he should be the number 10 for Arsenal. What do you think Gooners?
Let Ozil be number 10, he will show worth of it
He shouldn’t be just handed the number 10 spot on name alone either. He should prove that the team is better with him in the no.10 role than Sanchez.
I think Arsenal had played just 2 outstanding matches so far this season and Ozil really looked like the world class player that he used to be beacus he played in the No 10 position. I belif Arsenal will look more dangerous if we have Ozil in No 10 position with Theo and Alexis on the wings and Welbeck in No 9 position
4-2-3-1 When everybody is fit!
_______Alexis_______
Mesut
The ox”””’ ””””””””Theo
Ramsey__Chambers
Gibbo/Monreal__Boss__Per____Deburchy
______________Sir szczesny
bullshit – he is lazy and afraid to go into a tackle – he is not worth his place – even out of form Santi must get into the side before the farce named Ozzil
Regardless of his position the lad puts 100% into his game, but he does like to drift onto the left hand side as he has stated it is his favoured position, so why not stick him on the left and Theo on the right with Ozil conducting between them. As for tommorow night I’d like to see a similar 4-4-2 as Saturday.
Sanchez – Welbeck
Podolski – Ramsey – Arteta – Chamberlain
Gibbs – Monreal – Mertesacker – Chambers
Szczesney
or if this rotation thing actually exists then play Campbell in place of Welbeck, Bellerin in place of Monreal/Gibbs and put Chambers in the middle.
It really depends on our opponent, cant really have a permanent no 10. Look at Chelsea, their playmaker are rotated, and given different roles for most games
We can not write off Ozil so early. We need to give him more chances. Once Ozil is in the team, let him play in the middle for a run of games with Sanchez and Wlacott at the wings.
Every other team including Man City and Bayern will gladly accpet and fee for ozil. Such is the calibre of the world cup winner…He needs or support and more importantly that no 10 role.
He will come stronger definately. but he needs a run of games in the middle with proper DM doing the defensive job
You can not play him at 10 at the cost of losing games. He must learn to work first before he gets position of choice. He is bone bloody lazy
To be honest I would allow sanchez and ozil to roam freely in attack, in other words sanchez could come wide in some attacks, make runs through the middle in others etc, and the same with ozil, can come out wide to collect the ball or roam into the middle to feed sanchez and walcott through balls to run on to… In the attacking sense it doesnt really matter to me, they both are good in different aspects so they could be used for different roles against different opponents. Honestly it comes down to the defensive side of things and I would prefer if sanchez played out on the wing becuz he offers more defensive cover for the defence.
there is agreat difference
sanchez works hard – Ozil is bone bloody lazy!
Sanches score goals – Ozil does not
Sanches tackles and wins balls – Ozil is yellow and will not tackle
Sell him!
Even if we get half of what we paid it would be a bargain to get rid of him. Wenger continues to play him because he screwed up when he paid so much for him, – to save face he can not have Ozil sidelined!
Arsenal have to Sale whilshare b4 selling Ozil..
Ozil will likely be primary #10 because he excels there while Sanchez is versatile and can excel anywhere in the attack.
Yet, we may just see Sanchez in the #10 role from time to time depending on Ozil/Cazorla form and availability.
We played better without Wilshere, he just doesn’t have a place in this team.
Ozil and Wilshere were not playing, may be we played better without Prince Ozil too.. What do you think?
Theo almost got an assist with his lobbed cross
And we finally scored a goal from a corner
By one of the shortest guys on the pitch I might add.
sanchez didnt score from a corner, it was a cross from chambers from open play
sanchez is great on the left side too. much more effective than ozil. he can cut in and shoot. ozil should stay in the no. 10 role.
Either way, we finally have some quality in depth in attack. Giroud will be back soon not to mention Walcott already looking fired up. I feel we have enough different types of attacking players to suit any situation and opponent. Wenger just needs to utilize them properly
Exciting times, eh?
rotate both the num 10 role and sign a proper LW
Ozil starts in the center with the freedom to occasionally drift outside left. Sanchez starts out-wide left with freedom to occasionally drift inside centrally and even swap positions with Walcott.
Alexis – Ozil – Walcott
Ozil – Alexis – Walcott
Walcott – Ozil – Alexis
It doesn’t have to be rigid. Now I just realised Giroud’s usefulness in all of this as the hub upfront .
u know , i agree with u on this @ Usmanov …….. Very clever move n set-up
Against Aston Villa Ozil played #10 but was roaming and he performed best this season in that match. Alexis is more versatile and can also roam. Play the two of them with Ozil at #10 but give them freedom to roam, I bet opposing players will not know who to mark and we will get the best out of them. Chelsea midfielders are not that restricted. Ozil needs space and freedom and should not be played on the wings. But am not Wenger who can convert a GK to attacker when he bought him as a GK.
Ozil is #10 because it is his only pposition and he excels there.
Just because he isn’t running around falling over some fans can’t see his worth, check the stats and be convinced!
Sanchez can play anywhere across the front line and he does!
He goes where he wants, has a footballers eye for an opening and the determination to get to that place.
LMAO someone thumbed that down, why?
Could it be because I said ‘running around falling over’ and a Wack Wiltshire fan took the truth personally?
There is no way anybody in our team is better on #10 than ozil. Play him in his rightful position he will surely deliver. Just like having a cat respecting him to parform a dog functions.
* expecting
Sanchez excites me when he is playing INSIDE-LEFT. He assisted Welbeck twice (Gala, Hull) from that position. Got a goal from the same position (Ozil assist). He is effective anywhere he plays.
That dude is a f**king beast of a dribbler. He is kind of a Hazard-Suarez hybrid. My dream player for the past three seasons.
Now u are indirectly saying OziL is not needed !……. But wait…… When was the Last time he played through the middle with two natural wingers ahead of him?…. And pls, dn’t tell me the story of real-madrid or the german national team
Wenger seems to be leaning towards a 4-4-2, which might not really favour Ozil. Ozil’s effectiveness as a number 10 seems to be dependent on having fast runners ahead of him. Meanwhile, Sanchez can thrive in the number 10 role with or WITHOUT fast runners ahead of him and he’ll score more too.
Anyway, I would like to see Podolski and Sanchez start up front together – that would literally be the most dangerous attack in the league. Walcott will keep his RW spot (almost guaranteed). Arteta takes his position as our deepest midfielder (almost guaranteed). Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, OX, Flamini can then hustle for the remaining 2 midfield spots, LoL 😀
______________Sanchez Podolski
(Left Midfielder) Arteta (Central Midfielder) Walcott
are we still talking about Ozil being great if he’s playing through middle?
do people watch him play? or even watch games at all?
Ozil never EVER stayed in 1 position when he plays. If he starts wide, he drifts to the other side, initiating plays almost always near the middle, about 40 ish yards out.
if starts in the middle, he drifts wide as well, giving space for the surging b2b from behind to come in. That’s why Ramsey shined last season, and so did Khedira at RM when Ozil was there.
what’s making him not effective in the EPL however, is his inability to deal with the physicality of the game, often unwilling to put more effort in protecting the ball, or to chase down the dribbler who just stole his ball.
there is NO doubt he’s got great exquisite ball skills and great at finding a pass, but if he can keep his head up when the team is losing(and that goes for the majority of the team as well),
the him, and the team could be title challenging.
the thing this team needs to improve is their mentality of wanting to win, before talking about the technicalities of who plays where, what role, etc.
what people tend to forget now is that statistics tell about a players efficiency, but it doesn’t tell you exactly why he is that effective.
it’s always down to how much a player is willing to push himself to get to that point.
in the old Fergie days of Man Utd, what made them winners is their mentality, and so were our days of the invincibles.
@jibber… I don’t know where you guys get this Ramsey excelled because of Ozil… Ramsey excelled because he stood up to be counted… He was playing very well at the back end of 2012/2013 season, in 2013/2014 he just continued from where he had left off.. And he was already our best player before Ozil even signed, against City in preseason, during our CL qualification against Fenerbahce he scored the goals to see us through, against Fulham, even against Villa and Spuds he was instrumental, Ozil was not in the picture then..
So it was not because of Ozil for Ramseys good season..
@Goonster:
I understanda Ramsey is a great player, but what i was saying isn’t that Ozil is the direct cause of it, but Ozil did make Ramsey even better.
i do remember clearly that he’s starting to find form at the end of 12/13 season.
So your point is definitely valid.
what i still don’t understand is certain fans don’t feel that Ozil needs to up his work rate and fighting spirit to become better, not whatever position he plays.
We’re not playing FIFA/PES/FM or any of those.
player move with a human mind, not a computer generated AI that limits them to move only in a certain way.Ozil, as much as he can pass an exquisite ball, isn’t doing it enough when we needed it most.
Now I hope the this myth about how a world class player needs quality around him to excel. I keep saying a good player will always standout amongst the so called average players… Look at Sanchez, he does not need all these excuses about he needs quality players around him to make an impact.. He just makes things happen, if no one is making the so called “RUNS” he will do it himself by hustling defenders into mistakes etc..
Sanchez should be given a free role, don’t limit his impact by putting him on the wings, he is our best player and he should be in the thick of things in the middle most of the time… He will create, assist, score, defend, tackle, hustle opposition players for 90 minutes.. Keep him where he has been excelling..
I say sell Ozil,and bring back Lord Bendtner, he puts in more effort than Ozil..
Your hate for Özil is unreal and very biased. Seriously, did he cheat in your girlfriend or something? In every single comment about Özil, you are criticizing him …
Ozil is grrrreat at number 10 spot. He proved that against Aston Villa and Galatasaray
Sanchez either on the left or up front
Arsenal have to Sale whilshare b4 selling Ozil..@ SAGunner
Sanchez hit the ground running, Ozil seems more preoccupied with the domestic scene. Until we get Giroud back along with Welbeck I`d say leave Sanchez where he is, he`s happy scoring goals and influencing his team mates. Ozil?
Speaking about number 10 i think jack should give up the 10 shirt, i think it is too much for him to handle, and it does not really matter who plays as the number 10, earn your game to play for arsenal that is the problem.
All players should earn their right to play base on their performance in training, in matches and practise not by favoritism and price tag, we no longer can afford luxury players, we need hard workers and if you are not prepared to work move on..
Once this is done we can be number one again