Let us start off with an image which I am sure will bring warmth to a lot of Gooner hearts, the Champions League team of the week from Whoscored.com . Go on, take a look, weep a little. Tell your friends and their friends. Go hire an open top bus to go through town shouting about it because Arsenal FC, is coming back to the days of blistering pace and total dominance.
What a game eh? Seemed like we could well have broken into double figures if we really tried and the final ball was better here and there. I think there is an argument that says Ludogorets aren’t really top quality opposition but then we can only blast those which the draw puts before us. We annihilated Basel, and that could have been 4-0 or 5-0 too, so this is a solid run here.
Without further ado, let us delve into the glorification of one man whose footballing brain might just be on level with God, that is to say, Dennis Bergkamp. Do not get me wrong for this was very much a team effort with tackles flying all around the pitch and ball recoveries galore, and this is very much illustrated by the team of the week from Whoscored.com having six Arsenal players in it. However, Mesut Ozil is just something else ladies and gentlemen. He is a class apart of everybody on this planet, and in my view just a few shades below Messi if he keeps going this way.
Let us get the stats out of the way first.
Touches by Mesut Ozil-73
Number of goals scored by Mesut Ozil-3
Number of shots on target by Mesut Ozil-3
Total shots by Ozil-4
Attacking third passes by Ozil-15/24
Through balls-2
Ball recoveries by Ozil-9. NINE.
Tackles by Mesut Ozil-3 successful, 4 attempted
Total passes by Mesut Ozil-39 successful, 53 attempted
Match balls taken home by Mesut Ozil-1
What an honour it is to have Mesut Ozil at our club. I think he will go down to be the man who changed the club again, a reversal of fortunes on an unprecedented scale. When he was sold to us some people said that he was pushed out of Madrid but that is not completely true, there were financial reasons involved. He was Real Madrid’s RvP, Fabregas and Nasri combined. They needed him sold to buy Bale. It changed the face of our club, nobody could believe Wenger had gotten him because any other club in the world would have gotten him with cash. Arsene got him with honesty, trust and transparency according to Ozil’s own admission of events..
Last night he was unplayable. Not because he made the most silky passes or split the defence through his vision. He was unplayable because he was there when it mattered- surging ahead alongside Lucas as the spaniard played a ball across for someone to hit in. It was the sort of ball which Giroud might not have gotten to or Walcott may have missed in earlier seasons. No problem, the G.O.A.T. was there to slot it home in signature style.
The second goal was one of sublime technical skill, a volley from Lucas’s chipped ball which went crashing into the net before their goalkeeper could realise what was happening. Those volleys are becoming a bit of a regularity and people might not appreciate them as much later but today, as we step into what feels like a new Arsenal timeline, we must take the time to appreciate what we witnessed. We are known to let off once we score a couple of goals, and yesterday that old tale was blown out of the water. There was Ozil, shouting at his teammates to press when Ludogrets had a run of play where they didn’t want to give up the ball. Ozil wanted the ball, he wanted to score. He was a man possessed.
The perfect Gooner stocking-stuffer! Get it here
Honourable mentions:
Alexis Sanchez: If Ozil had not scored that last goal, Alexis’ first would have been a shoe in for the goal of the night and is it stands, he still isnt far off. That chip, ooooof. It was a great idea and even better execution. It reminded many of Bergkamp and rightly so, because the skill and balance required to accelerate and then stop and swivel away from the defender before lifting the ball in a perfect arc over the flabbergasted Stoyanov and into the net. A goal Bergkamp would have been proud of. He was subbed in the second half and he was absolutely not happy about it, which shows you what level of player he is in that he wants to play every second of every game. His work rate as always was exemplary as always and there is not much more to say anymore. In 105 games for Arsenal FC, he has 48 goals and 28 assists. Give him the new contract. In fact, give him and Ozil the same contract. May they both retire with us.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain: Look at his name up on the team of the week picture from Whoscored and you will see that the Ox has been given a full 10.0 rating this week and it is very much deserved. He completed 87% of his passes and scored a good goal to boot. He also played two through balls, won two aerial duels, and most importantly, he made 6 successful dribbles. There was one point where he dribbled through their entire defence alone before being thwarted by the last man before he could take a shot. This shows a coming of age on his part, as he was also tracking back and overall seemed hell bent to take his chance, just like Theo. Maybe they share the same psychologist, who know but whatever it is, it is welcome.
A rare 6-0 upending of a minnow and goals of sublime quality. A happy week. Looking forward to the weekend and Boro now.
Till then, COYG!
Cheers on the result,
Sohum Sen is a half Bengali-half Gujarati Gooner from Kolkata, India. He lives the highs and lows with Arsenal and has a soft spot for Wenger. The things he loves most in the world are as follows- his little sister, his girlfriend and the Arsenal. Always available for a good debate, he fancies himself as a bit of a philosopher and as a tactician. He happens to be studying for a degree in Electrical Engineering, while simultaneously dreaming of writing a blog. He hopes to be a ST holder one day.
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