Going back 16 months from now when Mesut Ozil was signed by Arsenal for a hefty price tag in the summer of 2013/14 season, he was as celebrated a signing as a Premier League medal by the Arsenal fans. Seeing their club making the 1st ever big money statement in the transfer market would be outrageous, however, buying the best player from a team like Real Madrid takes it to an even higher level.
Football is a game of two halves
If there were some doubts regarding his contribution in the Premier League, all of it was vanished as soon as Ozil assisted Olivier Giroud in the former’s 1st match in Arsenal colors. Starting from that match against Sunderland to that 2-0 victory against Liverpool in the FA Cup, the stature of the German was going by the minute in Arsenal colors.
However, as they say football is a matter of two halves, the 2nd half of last season made him questioned by the same Arsenal fans whom honored his formidable qualities in the first 6 months.
Cazorla is a proper replacement of Ozil
However, even if the German wasn’t playing well, there wasn’t anyone of his clout in the Arsenal shirt to replace him in the starting 11. No matter how labored he looked on the field against the big sides i.e. Liverpool and Manchester City, no one was daring to step up in order to provide Arsene Wenger a substitute of the German.
That was true, until last season till we see another former La Liga player to step up to the task. Even though, both of them – Ozil and Cazorla – play in the same position, they cannot be compared with each other depending upon what your level of measurement is.
While the one looks to play the ball through, live in shadows and kill the opposition with his clear instinct, the other likes to play hardcore, to go forward, or in more simple words, to beat the opposition.
Cazorla and Ozil: Same position but different traits
However, like most of the best players on the planet, both of them have one thing in common, the winning mentality. While Ozil can be held responsible for his labored looking approach towards the game – which isn’t actually the case if you consider his stats – the German has a knack of winning matches, of playing the man upfront with such a ball that gets the best out of players like Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, as they say what comes around goes around, Ozil is now facing the same task due to which he left his former side Real Madrid, a competition of place. While he was the uncrowned king up-right for Arsenal whole last season, there are several more contenders this time out to challenge for the throne, and leading the contenders is Santi Cazorla.
While there were talks surrounding the Spaniard linking him to a move away from the Emirates, the 30-year old midfielder has responded in brilliant fashion this season. When Ozil got injured and the opposition teams were smelling blood coming up against Arsenal, Cazorla upped his game, took it by the neck and performed to an extent that he is now limiting the club record signing to the benches –some achievement.
Cazorla deserves recognition from Wenger
When Arsenal will travel to Brighton on Saturday, Cazorla would be hoping for a place in the starting 11 upfront of Ozil and no-one can blame him for that.
Giving a match-winning performance is one thing, delivering it on the center stage against the best side on the soil takes it to an even higher level, and Cazorla has achieved just that.
Having managed 49 chances for his team-mates this season – a statistic in which only Alex Sanchez betters him in the Arsenal folklore this season – Cazorla has scored 5 goals which makes him the 3rd top-scorer for Arsenal this season ahead from the likes of Welbeck and just 1 behind the striker Olivier Giroud.
Conclusion
Thus, if Arsene Wenger wants to breed same performances from his subordinates in the coming years, then he should honor the Spaniard by giving him more game-time, and shouldn’t worry about the consequence because if something goes wrong off the pitch, Cazorla is in fine form to make things aligned for Arsenal on the pitch.
Barclays Premier League: Mesut Ozil or Santi Cazorla? Who should start for Arsenal against Brighton?
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