Gunners hail a new hero as Ozil oozes world class
The cause for a party was the breaking transfer deadline day news of Mesut Ozil’s record £43m (€51.3m) signing from Real Madrid.
Finally, manager Arsene Wenger had spent a bundle of their hard-earned cash on a genuinely world-class player.
Most of the supporters looking a tad ridiculous on TV that balmy late summer night were just happy to see Arsenal competing again in the transfer market, but few of them could have believed just how big an impact the German midfielder would have on their side’s fortunes.
Sure, he was the man with the most assists in Spain, the man who made Cristiano Ronaldo look so good, and the Champions League’s top provider over the past three years, and cost a fortune, but what could he do for The Arsenal? What would he make of playing alongside Carl Jenkinson, Aaron Ramsey & Co. at inhospitable grounds such as Sunderland’s?
In short, he has turned them into world-beaters in a flash, playing as if he was handmade in Wenger’s very own football factory of selfless inspiration. A Wenger-style Arsenal player all his life.
One of his very first touches in a Gunners’ shirt was a deft cushioned control from a long through ball then passing to put Olivier Giroud clear to score at the aforementioned Stadium of Light.
And he hasn’t stopped since. He helped unlock Marseille in France and was responsible for all three assists in the destruction of the usually sticky opposition of Stoke City.
Since the opening day rumblings of discontent after an embarrassing home defeat by Aston Villa, without a summer penny spent, Arsenal have won nine successive matches and top the Premier League and their Champions League section ahead of Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Tuesday night’s victims, Napoli, one of the big-spending form sides in Italy.
And Ozil was at the heart of the 2-0 destruction of Rafa Benitez’s much-acclaimed Serie A title aspirants. Mathieu Flamini hassled and harried, Aaron Ramsey shone again and every Arsenal player did their bit, but Ozil was a level above.
His first goal for the club, a cushioned side-foot on the run from the edge of the area was sublime. His turn, run and pass to gift Giroud another goal was sheer quality. But it is not just the stats that back up Ozil. At just 24, is already looking like a player in the mould of Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp. The club made a bronze statue of the non-flying Dutchman, so significant was his contribution to the club, and if Ozil sticks around long enough, they could be casting one for him too.
His arrival gave the trophy-hungry fans an instant lift, replica shirts emblazoned with ‘Özil 11’ were everywhere on Tuesday night — umlauts are the new black in north London this season — and they sing his name in the song that was once reserved for Bergkamp.
Wenger, too, has a spring in his step rarely seen since he last steered Arsenal to a major trophy in 2005.
The Arsenal team are transformed, almost as if they are raising their levels just to ensure they get a chance to play alongside him. The fact Wenger felt confident enough to rest last season’s talisman Jack Wilshere against Napoli illustrates the levels of self-esteem coursing through the rest of the Highbury squad. And how the talents of Santi Cazorla, last season’s club player of the year, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and fellow German Lukas Podolski must be working extra hard to get back from injury.
Arsenal are not going to win every game for the rest of the season, though they have a manager who created the Invincibles of 2003-04 scenting blood again, and they have their weaknesses. But, for now at least, everyone connected with Arsenal is walking in an Ozil wonderland.
Born: Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Age: 24
Previous clubs: Schalke, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid
International: 49 caps for Germany, 15 goals
Honours: Spanish Super Cup (2012), La Liga (2011-12), Copa del Rey (2011), DFB Cup (2009), DFL Supercup (2009)
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