I've realised that I never quite know how to start my posts. Having given this particular prelude a lot of thought, 12 minutes to be exact, I decided it would be best to admit that I haven't figured out how to start this post. Then proceed to talk about football as if nothing awkward just happened. Bet you never saw that coming. On a serious note however, my eternal gratitude goes to everyone who continues to read, comment on and share my posts... Your feedback, positive or otherwise, is valued.
Last week I touched on the performances of one Alexis Sanchez when deployed in that no. 10 role behind the main striker, and I thought to follow that up with an in-depth look at this tactical switch this week. Alexis made four appearances behind the traditional centre-forward, scoring six goals and an 8.91 rating on whoscored.com. But just to give this more perspective, let's do a comparison between Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, who you would feel is the club's natural first choice for the no. 10 role. The German made 14 of his 26 appearances "in the hole" last season, scoring twice and laying off three assists. You should have already begun to see the difference in how these two pros apply their unique qualities and skill sets when deployed in this role, but if you've ever stopped to ask yourself exactly how different Alexis and Ozil are, let's go deeper. I sampled stats from two different games in which Alexis and Ozil featured as no. 10's, the 3-0 league home win over Burnley at the Emirates and the 4-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at the same venue.
| Ozil (vs West Brom) | Sanchez (vs Burnley)) | |
| Attempts (on target) | 0 (0) | 7 (5) |
| Key Passes | 6 | 3 |
| Passing Accuracy | 90.2% | 70.6% |
| Touches | 96 | 85 |
| Crosses (accurate crosses) | 6 (2) | 4 (1) |
| Dribbles | 1 | 9 |
The two are on opposite ends of the scale in virtually every parametre you can bring up. Interpreting the figures above therefore should be pretty straightforward... Ozil will generally seek to retain possession while picking his moments to release a team-mate in space in advanced areas, as is illustrated by his superiority under the "Key Passes" and "Passing Accuracy". Alexis, on the other hand, takes greater risk and is by far more direct when on the ball, hence nine dribbles and seven attempts on goal as compared to just one dribble and no attempt on goal from Ozil. I also included their crossing figures because I discovered an interesting difference between the two players in how they interpret this no. 10 role... Ozil on this occasion attempted six crosses (two successful) while Alexis put in four (one successful). In the FA Cup semi-final against Reading, Ozil attempted eight crosses (four successful) while Alexis attempted just two (one successful) despite the Chilean being deployed wide. A look at the respective players' heatmaps provides greater meaning to this stat, because Ozil tends to drift to either flank quite frequently even when starting from the middle, while Alexis stays central, dropping deep at times to pick up possession before surging forward to get into a goal-scoring position. The licence to roam is imperative to Ozil and to Arsenal as he causes problems particularly for opposing fullbacks while leaving space for the likes of Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey or Santi Cazorla to roam forward from deeper midfield positions.
I therefore think a case can be made for either player to feature as the club's no. 10. What would I prefer? If the Arsenal medical staff could somehow find a way to create a hybrid between Ozil and Alexis, that would be absolutely perfect. What would be the outcome when you breed Alexis and Ozil? I think Wayne Rooney. Rooney, I feel, is the embodiment of a cross between the playing styles of Alexis and Ozil...and that's why I have always maintained that Rooney is the best no. 10 in the Premier League's modern era. And on THAT bombshell...
OF INTEREST THIS WEEK:
Arsenal were yesterday crowned the Champions of the Barclays Asia Trophy after a dominant 3-1 win over Premier League side Everton in Singapore. The Gunners got to the final after beating a Singapore Select XI 4-0, with a Chuba Akpom hat-trick particularly catching the eye. The final, interestingly, saw Aaron Ramsey and Cazorla paired up at the base of midfield, and Wilshere given a run-out from the right. Santi was effervescent in his use and distribution of the ball, culminating in a brilliant goal and two assists for Theo Walcott and Ozil, while new signing Petr Cech had precious little to do aside from tipping a Steven Naismith header over the bar. Everton's consolation, a stunner from Ross Barkley, did leave a sour taste though. But anyway. On to the Emirates Cup next weekend, and the Community Shield game against Chelsea the week after.
Arsene Wenger also confirmed that 19-year old forward Chuba Akpom will not be leaving the club on loan this season, which I found interesting if not puzzling. While Chuba has perhaps outgrown the U21 side, many would be forgiven for thinking a loan move would be on the cards for him to gain first-team experience...especially where the chances of him securing that first -team berth would be more likely than at Arsenal. With Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott all ahead of Chuba in the pecking order, I can only hope that the season ahead will be fruitful for him.
The manager also confirmed that Hector Bellerin has committed to a new long-term contract at the club, surely just reward for the stellar displays he put on last season. I mean, who would you now pick as your first-choice right-back between Bellerin and Mathieu Debuchy? I bet it's not an obvious choice compared to this time last year, is it? It was also announced that Carl Jenkinson will spend the 2015/2016 season at West Ham, but only after signing a new five-year deal with the Gunners. The club's future at right-back looks to be well secured in the short and mid term with Bellerin and Debuchy (who turns 30 on 28th July), and in the long term with Bellerin and Jenkinson, which I feel is as good as it gets.
And lastly, King Henry was in the press yesterday talking up our prospects of winning the EPl next season. Henry however claims that we need at least four new signings for us to mount a serious title challenge, a comment which I find outlandish at best. I mean, four? Where would they go? Perhaps an argument can be made for a signing in defensive midfield, not because of our lack of options in midfield, but because Francis Coquelin is the club's sole DM that is not Mathieu Flamini. But what would such a signing do to Coquelin's confidence and growth? What of Mikel Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey and Wilshere? You see, debatable. The signing of a centreforward is also made complex with the presence of Giroud, Welbeck, Akpom and Theo already competing for that slot. So four signings? But this is just me. What do you think?
That's it from me this week, cheers.
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