Is Özil the key to a new era of success for Arsenal?

Let me start this article by taking you back to the 2003-2004 Premier League season. For all you Gunners out there reading this I probably don’t have to say what happened that year but for all you other fans living under a rock that was the year Arsenal were invincible meaning they didn’t lose a game in the Premier league that year.

Arsenal remains the only club in the modern Premier League to achieve this feet. Preston North End also achieved this but that was in the year 1880 so we can safely say Arsenal are the only team to achieve this title! The reason why I bring this up is because that was the last time Arsenal laid their hands on that prestigious title, the only trophy success the club has had since then was winning the FA cup in 2005.

Every Arsenal fan year after year asks themselves the same question, will this be our year? And I can vouch for that because I also fall victim into doing this every year. But the fans are always left disappointed and I find this a shame since the Arsenal squads since 03-04 have been decent squads with many stand out players (Van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Lehmann etc.) but there has never quite been a squad like the 03-04 Arsenal team. With players like Robert Pires, Ashley Cole, Dennis Bergkamp and the extremely affective Thierry Henry it was definitely the squad to beat at the time.

This year though I feel slightly more confident than I ever have with the squad of players Arsenal have now, although it may look slightly the same on paper as last season’s team which struggled to secure fourth  spot I assure you it is not. We have one key ingredient that will add that winning edge to our team, that diamond in the rough if you will Özil. With an astonishing 50 assists over the last 3 years it ranks him above the world’s best such as Messi, Ribery and Ronaldo in that field also his touch and ball control is second to none, take for example the first goal in his first match for the club against Sunderland when the high ball was played to Özil down the wing he just slightly touched the ball with his left foot stopping the ball from going away from him this would eventually lead to him providing a splitting pass to giroud who would finish with ease.

These are the types of opportunities that the Arsenal team of last season would not have taken up as they didn’t have that man who could dictate this type of play and now with Özil, Cazorla, Wilshere and Ramsey our midfield is arguably the best in the league. We are also seeing players like Giroud who did not stand out last season becoming key assets to arsenal’s recent success this season; I believe this is down to Özil. Although not solely his doing but definitely he is playing a massive role in their overall improvement as individual players.

Although it may be early days yet I really do see Özil and Giroud as a replica almost of the Bergkamp-Henry partnership. Like I said early days yet but I am sure we will see many more assists and goals coming from that end of the pitch, let me also take you to the other end of the pitch where we have two more players shaping up to look like a certain Keown – Adams partnership, that is Mertesacker and koscielny. Both these players have made massive improvements in all aspects of their game over the past two years with mertesacker looking like a completely different player from when he joined from werder Bremen and koscielny overtaking Vermalen as Wengers No.1 CB choice. I must say I agree with the boss on that one the two together provide that wall in defence that we have been missing since 03-04.

So the question I asked before was ‘’is Özil the key to a new era of success at arsenal?’’ and the answer to that question is yes. Like I mentioned before Özil is important for many reasons not only himself will he provide goals and assists I am sure, but he is making the best out of players like Giroud and Ramsey who need these world class players like Özil around them to blossom. So for all you gunners out there do not fear the squad the club have now will bring success to the team finally be it Premier league, Capital One Cup, FA cup or Champions league mark my words Arsenal will not be trophy less this season!

Wrote by Shane Carter.