I'd have chosen Ozil every time. Genius player. He schooled Rafael once or twice in our matches when Nani's red card hindered us; fatally i thought.

Having said that, now I've seen Mata playing for United, and how he links up with Van Persie and Rooney, I'd definitely choose Ozil.

Ozil isn't the problem, the manager is.

Why are Arsenal fans so upset on here? Heaven forbid somebody actually has a different opinion than you. So some feel Mata is a better player, it's nothing to cry over, different people have different opinions, time to grow up and accept that.

Possibly, Samir. I still think he'll be much better when Walcott is back, whether he's wide or central.

The runs Walcott makes across the back four is a dream for Ozil. Your movement looks very static.

Having said that, now I've seen Mata playing for United, and how he links up with Van Persie and Rooney, I'd definitely choose Ozil.
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Ozil would be crap in our team as well. You need midfielders to actually get them the ball in dangerous positions. We can't do that, Arsenal can.

As a United fan I rate Ozil very very highly than most Arsenal fans. He is a top player but if he keeps on playing wide he'll keep on going missing in many games. He's a specialist and not a utility player.

Ozil is a god among sewer raters in the league

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Good article, and welcome to the forum

Ozil is an exceptional player, but his form has suffered as a result of being played out of position and not having enough runners around him.
There were times last season when our front 4 was Ozil, Cazorla, Podolski, and Giroud - absolutely no pace or movement in the final third, and as a result, every one of those individuals underperformed.

If Wenger plays him in a central role, with players like Sanchez and Walcott either side of him, I have no doubt he will flourish.

comment by THE ACE FACE (U18814)
posted 10 minutes ago
I rated Ozil highly at Madrid, however arsenal fans need to stop bigging him up based on reputation and look at what he's done on the pitch since he left Spain, and the fact a he's been poor by his standards and in the context of his transfer fee. He was bang average last season and although Germany won the WC he was not one of their better players. He hasn't exactly started this season well and having gone all the way in the WC will his questionable stamina allow him to play to his potential this season all season?

Let's have it right: players don't leave Madrid for arsenal unless they're surplus to requirements. That's not an insult it's a fact of life, the pecking order. Good business for arsenal in shirt selling and promotional ways maybe, but ultimately if you spend that much on a player you want him to play to his potential which he hasn't done so far, and if he never does then it'll be a poor signing regardless of anything else.
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His stats were similar to David Silva in his first season so hes going well Imo. He was Imo quote good yesterday.

That's the thing with stats, though. Most people would acknowledge Silva played a lot better than Ozil last season.

He hasn't been the same player since he missed the penalty against Bayern.

comment by BO$$™ (U6401)
posted 1 minute ago
His stats were similar to David Silva in his first season so hes going well Imo. He was Imo quote good yesterday.
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Ozil 1st PL season: P25, 5 goals, 9 assists
Silva 1st PL season: P35, 4 goals, 7 assists
Silva 3rd PL season: P33, 4 goals, 8 assists

Silva is very good & very similar to Ozil as a player, but he's a poor man's version. There's a reason why Real or Barca were never interested.

Ozil on form > Silva and Mata

Whether he will show that form remains to be seen this season. As I said before, big expectations and I think he will deliver.

Mata has much better stats than both Silva and Ozil, would you say that he is a superior player? Stats are never a true reflection of a player's ability.

comment by Sandman (U19933)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by BO$$™ (U6401)
posted 1 minute ago
His stats were similar to David Silva in his first season so hes going well Imo. He was Imo quote good yesterday.
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Ozil 1st PL season: P25, 5 goals, 9 assists
Silva 1st PL season: P35, 4 goals, 7 assists
Silva 3rd PL season: P33, 4 goals, 8 assists

Silva is very good & very similar to Ozil as a player, but he's a poor man's version. There's a reason why Real or Barca were never interested.
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Stats don't tell half of the story. Statistically, Fellaini was better than Toure when City mauled us last season.

You could say there's a reason Real Madrid didn't want Ozil if you're going to play that game.

Silva is currently a better player than Ozil. I don't care about the stats, you only have to watch the two play to see that.

If Ozil can rediscover his Madrid form then he's probably better than Silva, though he's not as good in big games as Silva.

Mata had 20 goals and around 25 assists in his second season at Chelsea, I doubt Ozil or Silva would ever come close to matching those stats.

Ancelotti openly admitted that di Maria was the reason he let Ozil go. He didn't want him out but he was the more economically suitable one to sell at the time. This is why ADM was tried out in the 10 role where Ozil fulfilled. Funny how ADM went for even more!

The reason why Ozil struggled was simply because of the lack pace and Wenger overplaying him.

Ozil's not a Kaka esque player who can dribble past everyone and sidefoot it into the corner. Mesut is a Bergkamp player - reliant on others, but clear a technical genius.

Bergkamp was fortunate to have the likes of Henry, Wiltord, Pires, Freddie, Reyes, Wright and Overmars during his time at Arsenal.

So far Ozil has had to play nearly every game with Giroud. Mesut's been unfortunate in that Theo was out for nearly all of last season, and that Ramsey was out for the second half of last season. Giroud is also a mid table striker at best, and he has a lack of pace, movement, dribbling and technical ability, and people wondered why Ozil was doing badly?

It's no coincidence that two of Ozil's best Arsenal games came in the cup (vs Liverpool and Everton) when Sanogo was playing .He offered pace and energy, even if he is a diabolical player.

Ozil will do well in time. Once Theo's back and Alexis beds in, and hopefully a striker comes, he'll have the options that Dennis had for Arsenal, and can hopefully lead us to trophies.

As a City fan, bit biased but cannot see any way Ozil at Arsenal will ever be better than Silva at City. Surrounded by higher quality players he makes City tick. With the lightweight midfield and lacklustre strike force at the Emirates Ozil is unlikely to be as important and effective for Arsenal as Silva is for City. As others have said, sticking him out wide half the time won't help him either.

Mata is a different sort of player, despite being an attacking midfielder. He's not as good a playmaker and isn't as elusive as Ozil but he has that ability to decide games on his own because he's a good goal scorer.
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It's a myth that Ozil can't score goals. He's got a better goal scoring record than Zidane. He's also got a better scoring record than Di Maria, Iniesta etc.

A big reason why Ozil is better than Mata is their respective international records.

Ozil: 62 Caps, 18 goals, 27 assists, 1 World Cup winner's medal, 3 Germany POTY awards, 1 World Cup Golden Ball nomination.

Mata: 34 Caps, 10 goals, 6 assists.

Ozil's also a better dribbler than Mata, quicker, and can glide past players more easily.

Unless you are a striker, stats don't mean much. People need to realise that there are two types of AMs, the creative and the supplier. Ozil had amazing assist stats at Madrid because he primarily played as a supplier whereas Silva at City may not have amazing stats as he primarily plays as a creator but games show that Silva is an amazing player.

Ozils an absolute delight to watch, so elegant so classy. He doesn't run he glides across the pitch and his passing, touch and vision is sublime. Love him! His signing was the biggest we've ever had, it really brought back the wow factor at arsenal and showed the world we meant business! It really did galvanize our team, so much so that we were league leaders for most Part and
ended that horrible drought. Shame we couldn't carry on the league run.

Hes absolutely wasted out wide tho, he needs to play in the centre. We should build our team around him and Ramsey

Easy to get assists when all you're doing is passing to Ronaldo and he's banging them in